Volume 4
Volume 4, Number 28 |
July 7, 2006 |
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John D. Haney
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Abstract: Microsoft’s .NET Integrated Development Environment (IDE) provides a process where old legacy COBOL programs can appear as if they were written in a contemporary language such as C#. This is accomplished within the .NET environment by creating a solution that consists of two projects. The first contains the C# program with the graphical user interface. The second contains the legacy program and a COBOL proxy program that provides the link between the C# program and the legacy program. A COBOL data object class supplies the mechanism for the transference of data between the proxy program and the C# program. By the use of this process only slight modifications to the legacy program are necessary to run a legacy COBOL program by proxy. This project would most appropriately be integrated in an advanced programming course.
Keywords: COBOL, .NET, C#, legacy, proxy
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Recommended Citation: Haney (2006). Running Legacy COBOL Programs by Proxy with COBOL.NET. Information Systems Education Journal, 4 (28). http://isedj.org/4/28/. ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2005: §2533. ISSN: 1542-7382.)