The isCOBOL IDE creates and maintains two kinds of programs:

Standard programs are written from scratch by the user. The user uses the Code Editor to maintain the source code.

To create a new text file (source file or copybook) in the project, right click in the isCOBOL Explorer area and choose New / Source File or New / Copy File from the pop-up menu.

Note: Every new program is created with the -sf option set by default amongst its compiler options. This means that the IDE will try to compile the source code as a Free format source code. If you plan to write (or paste from other sources) code written in a different format (Ansi or Terminal) you should edit your compiler options accordingly. See Compiling for details.

Screen Programs are designed by the user through the Designers views (see The isCOBOL IDE Perspective for details). The isCOBOL IDE automatically generates the COBOL code for these programs. Screen Programs will be covered in-depth in Screen Programs.

Screen Programs and standard programs can coexist in the same Project.