To The Cobol Programmer; Before Using This Guide; Scope Of The Guide; Organization Of The Guide - IBM 5280 Programmer's Manual

To the COBOL Programmer
Before Using This Guide
Scope of the Guide
Before using this guide, you should be a ware of the topics covered, the
experience and knowledge you should have to use it, and the other IBM 5280
and host system manuals you will need. It is the purpose of this section to give
you this information; reading the text that follows may save you time.
To use this guide, you should be either experienced or trained in the COBOL
language. The guide is not intended as a tutorial for a beginner wishing to
learn the COBOL language. (The objectives of the guide are given in a later
section.)
The IBM 5280 host compilers for OS/VS and DOS/VSE convert source
programs written in COBOL into load modules executable on an IBM 5280
system.
The information in this guide, together wIth that in the IBM 5280 COBOL
Language Reference, GL23-0031, should provide you with most of the
information you need to write COBOL programs and compile them on the
host system.
The guide also provides information on executing a COBOL program on the
IBM 5280. You will need additional information that is to be found in IBM
5280 publications (in, for example, the Message Manual). A list of these
manuals and their order numbers is at the end of this chapter.
Organization of the Guide
Objectives of the Guide
The information in this guide is presented in the order a 5280 COBOL
program might be coded, compiled, executed, and debugged:
• Chapters 1 through 6 provide rules, guidelines, and examples for writing
transaction I/O, data communications, and printer and other I/O.
• Chapter 7 provides information on the procedures in the host system for
compiling your source module. This chapter also describes the compiler
options and how to specify them when you compile a program
• Chapter 8 contains 5280 system information relating to the execution of
a COBOL program; for example: allocating data sets, loading a
COBOL program, error messages issued during execution, factors
affecting performance, etc.
• Chapter 9 describes compiler and language facilities you can use to
debug a program.
Refer to the "Contents" or "Index" for a more detailed listing of topics.
The objectives of the guide and how to use it are given in the sections that
follow.
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