Kobol 1.0
User Manual
Copyright 2002
theKompany.com
There are no WYSIWYG design tools, but rather tools that allow you to quickly and professionally develop sophisticated program systems. With Kobol you get powerful project management features for complex program systems. The editor supports syntax highlighting for Cobol, C/C++, etc. It is a powerful editor with many features that are handy for quick work. The following pages will describe to you how to use Kobol.
When you purchased Kobol you received versions for both Windows and Linux. This chapter will explain how to install Kobol and its various subsystems. If you're reading this document you should already have Kobol, but if you don't, you can download a demo or purchase a copy at http://www.thekompany.com/products/kobol/. When you purchase Kobol you are entitled to free electronic updates for the life of the product for all supported platforms, this does not include add-on modules that are available separately.
You will need to be running a 300Mhz or better processor with at least 64MB of RAM, and either a Linux or MS Windows operating system. Koobl for Linux has been statically linked with all the libraries required, so you don't need to worry about installing anything else for Kobol - just run it.
If you are using a Linux system then you need to unpack the Kobol installation package into whatever directory you like (we recommend /usr/local), by using the tar command: tar -zxvf Kobol-1.0.0.tar.gz or tar -jxvf Kobol-1.0.0.tar.bz2 Please note that the version number will change with each release, so the file name may not match the example. The command creates the directory Kobol-1.0.0 and puts all the files there. Now go into the directory with the following command: cd Kobol-1.0.0 Now just run installation script as root: ./install.sh If you have tried to install as a user other than 'root', then you will receive a warning message. The installation script will tell you where the files are installed so if you want to remove Kobol from your Linux system you will only need to remove /usr/local/kobol directory and the binary file /usr/bin/kobol.
To install Kobol on a Windows system you need to run the exe installation file. Now just follow the prompts as you would with any other Windows installer. If you select a 'typical' installation, then not all features will be installed. If you select a 'full' installation, you can disable features later if you like with 'Control Panel->Removing and Add Programs'.
The installation script on Linux copies the Kobol binary file to /usr/bin. So to run Kobol you just need to type kobol on the command line. If /usr/bin is not in your PATH environment variable you will need to type the full path+filename - /usr/bin/kobol. Please remember that to start Kobol you don't need any other systems (except XServer) running on your Linux system, such as KDE or any other desktop manager. You can use any window manager that you wish. If you are using Windows then you need only open 'Start menu->Programs->Kobol' and click on the shortcut for the application.
If you run Kobol from a command line then you can add command line attributes. The X11 version of Kobol knows about -display, -font attributes. For example: kobol -display=Unix:0š-font=9x15bold You can also add the name of file to open in Kobol: kobol myfile.cob Then kobol will start up and load the file into the editor immediately. You can use "open with kobol" in windows by right clicking on Cobol files. Kobol uses various external programs to provide specific features rapidly. Specifically we use cobmake and cob2gcc for compiling. Cobmake creates Makefile from your project file created in the Kobol IDE. Cob2gcc is compilation program which is used to generate C++ sources from COBOL code. The final step will use the make command to build your application. Kobol comes with both cobmake and cob2gcc integrated with the IDE so you don’t really need to worry about them.
Kobol has a standard and intuitive style interface with toolbars, menus and tabbed windows for accessing various sub functions quickly. On the left side of the main window you will see a tabbar that has various elements, such as: Project, Files, Docs. The tab bar allows you quick navigation within the work space. The main window is occupied by the editor.
On the top of the editor you can see a tab with the names of all opened files, this allows you to easily cut/copy/paste parts of code between these windows. We understand how it is to be working hard and not want to take your hands off the keyboard, to this end you can use the Alt+Left and Alt+Right key combinations to navigate between editor windows. Pop up the ToolTips are active pretty much everywhere in the application that they are needed, and these icons are no different.
Finally, under the editor window and mouse buttons is the Message Panel (which we will explain later). You can use Ctrl+M to enable/disable the panel if you want to get some more screen real estate, or if you need it open because you are debugging. Kobol makes heavy use of 'Dock Windows', this allows you to essentially tear off any visible toolbar or panel and position it wherever you want on the screen, either internal or external to the program, docked or free floating. This allows you to customize your work environment so it is comfortable and natural for the way you work.
Kobol has two File views. They are located on the panel named "Files". The first is a list style interface, you can open a directory or select a file by single clicking on it. Here is an example: By right clicking you can switch to "Tree Mode", which is the second interface, to do copy, paste, delete; insert a file or directory in the current project and reload the current dir if there are new elements.
Our next file style is 'Tree Mode', this is where you can expand or collapse directory structures by clicking on the icon next to the name, or double clicking on the name. While this is useful for certain types of operations, it can create a cluttered view as well. You can switch back to 'list mode' by just right clicking and selecting it from the pop up menu.
The Project Panel is for managing your project and the files within it. If no project exists, then the root folder name will say "No project". If you double click on that name, you will get the "Project Open Dialog". This is a nice shortcut to using the menu bar. Right clicking in the Project panel will allow you to add, delete, create and open files as well as perform various CVS operations.
The Documentation Panel provides you ready access to various documents to help you in with your COBOL programming. Kobol has a very friendly integrated help system, however it is currently un-populated as we research and implement an HTML version of the COBOL standard. The help works when you set the cursor on the word you are interested in and press F1 on your keyboard. The documentation window will now appear with help information regarding the selected word. For example entering the word "MOVE" and pressing the F1 button will open a manual page about the attributes of the verb and its description.
The Message Panel is a basic output window where the various programs and functions of Kobol will output their messages. If the line in the message panel contains a line number, then you can highlight the line you are interested in, click on it, and the appropriate window will come up with the appropriate text. Currently Kobol only supports output from cobmake, make, cob2gcc, which makes it very handy for debugging your COBOL code.
Kobol provides keyboard shortcuts for almost all the available actions in the application.
F1 - popup help for the word/tag that the cursor is on.
F3 - find next action.
Ctrl+M - Show Message window.
File operations:
Ctrl+N - New file.
Ctrl+O - Open file.
Ctrl+W - Close file.
Ctrl+S - Save file.
Ctrl+Q –
Quit from Kobol.
Editor operations:
Ctrl+Z - Undo.
Ctrl+Shift+Z - Redo.
Ctrl+X - Cut.
Ctrl+C - Copy.
Ctrl+V - Paste.
Ctrl+A - Select All.
Ctrl+I - Indent.
Ctrl+U - Unindent.
Ctrl+Space - Complete word.
Alt+Left, Alt+Right - switch to prev,next editor window.
Search operations:
Ctrl+F - Search.
F3 - Search next.
Ctrl+R - Replace.
Ctrl+J - Goto Line.
Project support in Kobol allows you to organize your COBOL development in a logical structure you can easily work with. Kobol works with your projects based on the file extension, you need to use .kob for the project name. The files in a project are organized in a tree - like structure that mirror the directories and file structure on your disk. You can perform operations against the entire project such as scanning files and directories, CVS operations and such.
Creating new project is quite simple. By selecting the menu item "Project->New Workspace" you will see a dialog for setting the "Project directory", "Project Filename", and "Project Name" which contains some information for you. So enter in the "Project Name" a short description or name of your project. In "Project Directory" you must select the directory where the files for your project will be. If the directory does not exist you can write the full directory filename in the lineedit then the directory will be created. Also you can use the "Create New Folder" button in "Open dialog" which you can run by clicking on the button "...".
In lineedit "Project File Name" you must enter the file name of a project file. The file name must have the extension ".kob". For example - "my_project.kob". Once you've done this, click on "OK" and your project will then be opened in the "Project Panel" where you can start adding files.
To add files to a project, you can right click on the projects folder in the "Project Panel" and select "Add files to folders". This will open up a dialog that allows you to select what files you want to add. If you select a different directory for the files to include, then they will be copied into your work directory. You can create a new folder inside a project by selecting the 'New Folder' option. Simply enter the folder name and click on 'Ok'. This will create the directory on your disk at the same time.
The next feature is available from the menu "Project->Add new files" (note that the option "Project->Add existing file..." is the same as the right click in the project tree). When you add a new file, Kobol will prompt you with a 'save file' dialog so it knows where to put the new file and what to call it.
A powerful companion feature is the menu item 'Project->Scan for new files'. When you select this you will get a checkable tree like file/directory structure which is not included in the current project. From here you can easily select missing files. In the dialog on top you can select the project's folder which you want to check for existing new files. Below you can enter a mask for files that you want to exclude. In the tree you can select files for addition by clicking once on files that you are interesting in. When you click on the checkbox you will have all files and subdirectories with files selected for addition. When you clear the checkbox on the folder you will clear all selections inside. So this feature allows you to very quickly navigate a project directory for new files and select them for addition.
Kobol also has very basic CVS support which will continued to be enhanced in the future. Now you can update or commit changes of the entire project directory by selecting "Project->Update/Commit Project". This feature will save changes in your files and run the "cvs" command. The command will output all messages in the "Message window" and there you can see which files were modified or which files are updated from other developers. You can also update/commit for one file by selecting "Project->Update/Commit" or use "Project Panel" by right mouse clicking. Note that using cvs commands for a folder will updates all files and directories recursively inside the folder.
As previously mentioned, basic CVS support has been added to Kobol. Soon we will be adding features such as log browsing, merging and resolving conflicts among other features. You must have CVS installed on your Linux system to use it, on Windows you need to select "CVS support" in the installation wizard. To work with CVS in Kobol on a project you need to have the project uploaded by using the "cvs checkout" command from a console. After that you will have a project with directories CVS inside folders. Once you have done this, then CVS operations will be available in Kobol. CVS documentation will be added to the Kobol help system to keep it consistent with the other integrated "sub" systems.
The Editor that is used in Kobol is another product developed at theKompany by Max Judin and is used in a variety of our products. The editor has standard features for editing, powerful highlighting system which allow you easily navigate in your code, on the fly checking for, and repairing errors.
Word completion has also been implemented for speeding up your work even more. By selecting the menu item "Options->Fonts" you can modify the font used in the editor window. Monospace font is really more useful for editing, but you can select any font available in the 'font dialog'. By selecting the menu item "Options->Editor" you can choose your own settings to control the behavior of the editor. Other options available are:
Auto indent: Allows you to save the indentation used in the previous line.
Backspace Indent: Remove indent by pressing backspace.
Smart Home: With this feature when you press the "Home" button the cursor jumps to the first non' space symbol in the line and then with the second pressing the cursor jumps to the beginning of the line.
Wrap cursor: If you have a long line, the text will automatically go to the next line.
Replace tabs: Sometimes it is better to uses an actual space instead of a tab to indent code, this option will go through and replace the tabs with a specified number of spaces.
Remove Trailing Spacers: This will eliminate embedded spaces at the end of the document.
Margins: Indicator Margin: Not currently used, but a future release will be used to indicate code folding, bookmarks and more.
Selection Margin: Allows you to select a range or area more flexibly than would otherwise be possible. Word completion can be a big time saver when working on extensive document. It is very simple to use, while typing just press "Ctrl+Space" and you receive a popup menu that contains all word that you already have entered in the text that match the symbols currently entered. Just select what you want and press 'Enter'.
In general we will do our best to support you free of charge, should your needs go beyond our freely available services then send to support@thekompany.com
Bugs take priority over features and we will address them as quickly as possible. We have a mail list for Kobol customers set up. If you purchased from our web site you would have received information on it already, if you purchased from another source then you will need to register your product so that you can join the mail list. The mail list is called kobol@thekompany.com
Our web site has product information available as well if this document doesn't answer your questions. Please see www.thekompany.com/products/kobol. You can also send an email to info@thekompany.com. Kobol is available from many online and brick and mortar retailers, but it can also be purchased directly from our website at www.thekompany.com/products/kobol.
Kobol: Alexander Yakovlev
cob2gcc: Jacques V Damme
cobmake: Alexander Yakovlev & Dmitry Poplavsky
TKCEditor used in Kobol by: Max Judin
Icons, graphics, splash screen and packaging by: Bogdan Munteanu & John Grantham