A total introduction which covers all the basic COBOL elements and special features. New chapters emphasize COBOL-85 and discuss the limitations of COBOL-74. A thorough discussion of structured methodology, hierarchy charts, pseudocode and top-down testing is also provided.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Preface
COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe is a truly comprehensive work, providing in a single source all subjects normally covered in the one-year COBOL sequence. The scope is extensive, ranging from an introduction to COBOL, to maintaining sequential files and nonsequential files. The text also shows the new directions for COBOL in a chapter about Object-Oriented COBOL and an appendix devoted to the proposed changes in the COBOL 2000 standard.
All programs in the book can be run on personal computers or with minor modifications on mainframes or other platforms. The beauty of COBOL is that it can operate on any platform. This text provides instruction in ANS XOPEN standard COBOL. The one exception is the use of Micro Focus Object-Oriented COBOL in Chapter 20, since the final ANS standard has not yet been adopted.
Improvements in the Third Edition
The third edition responds to the requests of many students and instructors to provide access to Windows-based tools while maintaining the proven approach to teaching COBOL.
Features of this edition include the following:
The text has been modified to show the development of programs in a Windows environment. While the essential characteristics of COBOL remain unchanged, the development tools have not. This edition provides examples using one of the most popular Windows development tools available: Micro Focus (r) Personal COBOL(tm) for Windows(tm).
Chapter 19 has been added to explain the Year 2000 problem. This chapter discusses the sources of the problem, shows why it is a problem, and discusses several techniques to correct the problem. At the end of the chapter, we provide a list of World Wide Web sites where further information may be obtained.
Another new chapter (Chapter 20) demonstrates the concepts of Object-Oriented COBOL. This new approach to COBOL promises to be a way for companies to maintain the value of their legacy COBOL programs while still being able to use the benefits of object-oriented programming.
Appendix A provides extensive coverage of the Micro Focus Personal COBOL for Windows. In addition to explaining every menu item and button, this appendix also includes a brief tutorial allowing the student to experience process of creating a program.
Appendix B provides a guide to installing Personal COBOL for Windows and several techniques to make using the product easier.
Coverage of COBOL 2000 and intrinsic functions has been added in Appendix E. The 1989 extensions to COBOL 85 allow the use of predefined functions that had been missing in COBOL. This appendix also discusses the changes anticipated in COBOL 2000.
In Appendix G, there are 32 new projects for student programming assignments. Many of these projects build on previous tasks allowing the student to experience the development of systems and the performance of maintenance.
Various chapters have been changed to incorporate the changes in debugging and editing techniques used with a Windows programming environment as opposed to using a DOS compiler and debugger.
Benefits and Features
All of the features that have made the second edition successful have been retained and carried over into the third edition. These include:
Immediate entry into COBOL programming, beginning in Chapter 1. Programming is learned by doing, and the book has students writing a complete program from the very beginning. Chapter 2 continues the discussion by having them execute the program of Chapter 1 in a thorough introduction to the programming process.
Over 30 illustrative COBOL programs reinforce the discussion in the text and serve as both pedagogical aids and subsequent reference material. Every program is presented in a uniform and detailed format, including program narrative, record layouts, report layouts, test data, and processing specifications.
A thorough discussion structured methodology, hierarchy charts, pseudocode, and top-down testing is presented in Chapter 3 and followed throughout. Students learn the proper way to develop programs early on and follow the procedure throughout the text.
The availability of the sample listings enables students to reproduce and/or modify any of the programs without the tedium of data entry and further enhances the learning experience.
An abundance of short-answer (true-false and fill-in) questions, COBOL problems, and programming projects for every chapter, with answers to the odd-numbered questions provided in Appendix F.
Programming tips, dispersed throughout the text, that go beyond the syntactical rules of COBOL, and suggest stylistic considerations to make programs easier to read and maintain.
Extensive use of graphic aids, featuring a two-color presentation, with figures to further clarify the presentation. Where Micro Focus Personal COBOL is discussed, actual pictures of the screens assist the student in understanding the user interface.
System concept presentation at the beginning of most chapters, as COBOL instruction has come to require additional material beyond the language itself. There are detailed discussions of control breaks, data validation, techniques for table lookups and initialization, storing, the balance line algorithm for file maintenance and the organization of indexed files.
While focusing on the proven techniques of structured programming and the established syntax of COBOL 85, the text also introduces the concepts of object-orientation and previews the significant changes in COBOL 2000.
Software and Supplements
The following software and supplements are available from Prentice Hall: SOFTWARE - Micro Focus Personal COBOL for Windows 3.1 with object-orientation and Personal Dialog System. Compatible with Windows95 and WindowsNT, Personal COBOL provides all the tools to help you learn and use COBOL. The software includes an integrated editor, compiler and animator for creating, debugging and executing COBOL programs. Prentice Hall offers an affordable package of COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe, Third Edition with the Micro Focus Personal COBOL Compiler. Please order ISBN 0-13-975178-5.
Instructor's Resource Manual (ISBN# 0-13-081513-6)
Prentice Hall Custom Test. Based on the powerful testing technology developed by Engineering Software Associates, Inc. (EAS), Prentice Hall Custom Test allows the educator to create and tailor the exam to their own needs. Please order ISBN# 0-13-081515-2
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to our editors at Prentice Hall, Laura Steele, Alan Apt, and Marcia Horton, without whom this project would not have been possible. We also want to thank the many other individuals who helped produce the third edition. Irwin Zucker, who supervised the production, Kate Kaibni, editorial assistant, who worked hard to provide us with timely chapter reviews, and Joel Berman, our marketing manager at Prentice Hall, who developed the innovative campaign to make this book a success.
We also want to acknowledge our reviewers, who through their comments and constructive criticism, made this a far better book: Robert V. Binder, Robert Binder Systems Consulting, Inc. Dinon Boyer, University of Akron Georgia Brown, Northern Illinois University Jan De Lassen, Brigham Young University Ida M. Flynn, University of Pittsburgh Frank T. Gergelyi, NJIT Ken Goldsmith, University of Miami Tom Gorecki, St. Charles Community College Carol C. Grimm, Palm Beach Community College Monica Holmes, Central Michigan University Ann W. Houck, Pima Community College David Lee James W. Payne, Kellogg Community College Nicholas Ross, University of Illinois at Chicago Wendell I. Pope, Utah State University Daniel H. Rindfleisch, Computer Specialist with Federal Government Daniel R. Rota, Robert Morris College Richard H. Saracusa, Northeastern University Ron Teemley, DeVry Institute of Technology Donat Valcourt, Northeastern University Ron Williams, McLennon Community College Jackie Zucker, University of Miami
A final word of thanks to you, our readers, for choosing this book. Please feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions via email. Robert Grauer rgrauer@umiami.miami.edu Carol Vazquez Villar Arthur R. Buss bussa@william.jewell.edu
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe is a truly comprehensive work, providing in a single source all subjects normally covered in the one-year COBOL sequence. The scope is extensive, ranging from an introduction to COBOL, to maintaining sequential files and nonsequential files. The text also shows the new directions for COBOL in a chapter about Object-Oriented COBOL and an appendix devoted to the proposed changes in the COBOL 2000 standard.
All programs in the book can be run on personal computers or with minor modifications on mainframes or other platforms. The beauty of COBOL is that it can operate on any platform. This text provides instruction in ANS XOPEN standard COBOL. The one exception is the use of Micro Focus Object-Oriented COBOL in Chapter 20, since the final ANS standard has not yet been adopted.
Improvements in the Third Edition
The third edition responds to the requests of many students and instructors to provide access to Windows-based tools while maintaining the proven approach to teaching COBOL.
Features of this edition include the following:
The text has been modified to show the development of programs in a Windows environment. While the essential characteristics of COBOL remain unchanged, the development tools have not. This edition provides examples using one of the most popular Windows development tools available: Micro Focus (r) Personal COBOL(tm) for Windows(tm).
Chapter 19 has been added to explain the Year 2000 problem. This chapter discusses the sources of the problem, shows why it is a problem, and discusses several techniques to correct the problem. At the end of the chapter, we provide a list of World Wide Web sites where further information may be obtained.
Another new chapter (Chapter 20) demonstrates the concepts of Object-Oriented COBOL. This new approach to COBOL promises to be a way for companies to maintain the value of their legacy COBOL programs while still being able to use the benefits of object-oriented programming.
Appendix A provides extensive coverage of the Micro Focus Personal COBOL for Windows. In addition to explaining every menu item and button, this appendix also includes a brief tutorial allowing the student to experience process of creating a program.
Appendix B provides a guide to installing Personal COBOL for Windows and several techniques to make using the product easier.
Coverage of COBOL 2000 and intrinsic functions has been added in Appendix E. The 1989 extensions to COBOL 85 allow the use of predefined functions that had been missing in COBOL. This appendix also discusses the changes anticipated in COBOL 2000.
In Appendix G, there are 32 new projects for student programming assignments. Many of these projects build on previous tasks allowing the student to experience the development of systems and the performance of maintenance.
Various chapters have been changed to incorporate the changes in debugging and editing techniques used with a Windows programming environment as opposed to using a DOS compiler and debugger.
Benefits and Features
All of the features that have made the second edition successful have been retained and carried over into the third edition. These include:
Immediate entry into COBOL programming, beginning in Chapter 1. Programming is learned by doing, and the book has students writing a complete program from the very beginning. Chapter 2 continues the discussion by having them execute the program of Chapter 1 in a thorough introduction to the programming process.
Over 30 illustrative COBOL programs reinforce the discussion in the text and serve as both pedagogical aids and subsequent reference material. Every program is presented in a uniform and detailed format, including program narrative, record layouts, report layouts, test data, and processing specifications.
A thorough discussion structured methodology, hierarchy charts, pseudocode, and top-down testing is presented in Chapter 3 and followed throughout. Students learn the proper way to develop programs early on and follow the procedure throughout the text.
The availability of the sample listings enables students to reproduce and/or modify any of the programs without the tedium of data entry and further enhances the learning experience.
An abundance of short-answer (true-false and fill-in) questions, COBOL problems, and programming projects for every chapter, with answers to the odd-numbered questions provided in Appendix F.
Programming tips, dispersed throughout the text, that go beyond the syntactical rules of COBOL, and suggest stylistic considerations to make programs easier to read and maintain.
Extensive use of graphic aids, featuring a two-color presentation, with figures to further clarify the presentation. Where Micro Focus Personal COBOL is discussed, actual pictures of the screens assist the student in understanding the user interface.
System concept presentation at the beginning of most chapters, as COBOL instruction has come to require additional material beyond the language itself. There are detailed discussions of control breaks, data validation, techniques for table lookups and initialization, storing, the balance line algorithm for file maintenance and the organization of indexed files.
While focusing on the proven techniques of structured programming and the established syntax of COBOL 85, the text also introduces the concepts of object-orientation and previews the significant changes in COBOL 2000.
Software and Supplements
The following software and supplements are available from Prentice Hall: SOFTWARE - Micro Focus Personal COBOL for Windows 3.1 with object-orientation and Personal Dialog System. Compatible with Windows95 and WindowsNT, Personal COBOL provides all the tools to help you learn and use COBOL. The software includes an integrated editor, compiler and animator for creating, debugging and executing COBOL programs. Prentice Hall offers an affordable package of COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe, Third Edition with the Micro Focus Personal COBOL Compiler. Please order ISBN 0-13-975178-5.
Instructor's Resource Manual (ISBN# 0-13-081513-6)
Prentice Hall Custom Test. Based on the powerful testing technology developed by Engineering Software Associates, Inc. (EAS), Prentice Hall Custom Test allows the educator to create and tailor the exam to their own needs. Please order ISBN# 0-13-081515-2
Acknowledgments
We are especially grateful to our editors at Prentice Hall, Laura Steele, Alan Apt, and Marcia Horton, without whom this project would not have been possible. We also want to thank the many other individuals who helped produce the third edition. Irwin Zucker, who supervised the production, Kate Kaibni, editorial assistant, who worked hard to provide us with timely chapter reviews, and Joel Berman, our marketing manager at Prentice Hall, who developed the innovative campaign to make this book a success.
We also want to acknowledge our reviewers, who through their comments and constructive criticism, made this a far better book: Robert V. Binder, Robert Binder Systems Consulting, Inc. Dinon Boyer, University of Akron Georgia Brown, Northern Illinois University Jan De Lassen, Brigham Young University Ida M. Flynn, University of Pittsburgh Frank T. Gergelyi, NJIT Ken Goldsmith, University of Miami Tom Gorecki, St. Charles Community College Carol C. Grimm, Palm Beach Community College Monica Holmes, Central Michigan University Ann W. Houck, Pima Community College David Lee James W. Payne, Kellogg Community College Nicholas Ross, University of Illinois at Chicago Wendell I. Pope, Utah State University Daniel H. Rindfleisch, Computer Specialist with Federal Government Daniel R. Rota, Robert Morris College Richard H. Saracusa, Northeastern University Ron Teemley, DeVry Institute of Technology Donat Valcourt, Northeastern University Ron Williams, McLennon Community College Jackie Zucker, University of Miami
A final word of thanks to you, our readers, for choosing this book. Please feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions via email. Robert Grauer rgrauer@umiami.miami.edu Carol Vazquez Villar Arthur R. Buss bussa@william.jewell.edu
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From the Back Cover
Key Benefit: A total introductory COBOL package — complete with Microfocus Personal COBOL for Windows compiler — this machine independent introduction covers all of the basic COBOL elements and special features. Key Topics: Includes 30 illustrative COBOL programs — presented in a uniform and detailed format, including program narrative, record layouts, report layouts, test data, and processing specifications. COBOL programs in the book as well as data files for the nearly one hundred student projects are available via FTP. Allows reproduction and/or modification of any of the programs without the tedium of data entry. Market: For anyone interested in COBOL running on either a PC or mainframe.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for beginning COBOL but lacks Mainframe focus,
By jonathan.rosenberg@jnli.com (Lansing, MI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
I have taught COBOL for a number of years and have always used Grauer Villar & Buss. This new edition, although commendable in adding Microfocus Cobol, lacks true Mainframe focus. A few years ago there was an accompanying small book that greatly added to the mainframe concepts - but is no longer available. However, the flow of the book, the explanations, examples and summaries have proved to be an excellent textbook for professional training, especially when accompanied with appropriate JCL and CICS textbooks. Still above all, I rate this at the top of COBOL books - but don't agree with the authors assumption that the mainframe is no longer a relevant part of COBOL programming.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great resource for beginning/intermediate Cobol programmers,
By
This review is from: COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe (3rd Edition) (Paperback)
This book is a great resource for the beginning or intermediate Cobol programmer. Very clear explanations and abundant examples aid understanding. The authors favor a "hands on" approach which encourages the reader to try out the concepts in each chapter. The example code is included on the CD (along with the input files for the exercises) which is a great timesaver.The authors are careful about pointing out differences between Cobol-85 and Cobol-74 as they arise. While this may seem to be a minor point with the advent of the latest Cobol standard, it is helpful to those who work with older systems that are not fully Cobol-85 compliant. The Fujitsu Cobol environment comes along with the book. The Fujitsu compiler is a big improvement over the DOS-based compiler and editor that came with the second edition. An appendix provides some step-by-step examples to help the reader get up to speed with the compiler. The book is weighted more towards micro computers - if you are working in a mainframe environment, you will probably want to find additional references on JCL, CICS, etc. The book may not be the best choice for someone who has no previous programming experience, but for readers who have some background in programming (in any language) and are interested in learning Cobol, this book & compiler set is the best resource I've seen for Cobol at this level. I strongly recommend it.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent beginner book,
By A Customer
This review is from: COBOL: From Micro to Mainframe (Paperback)
I teach programming at the university level and have recently switched to this publication as the main text for my classes. The book provides fantastic examples and explains concepts at a level a beginning programmer can understand. As with any text, the solutions are available in the instructor's manual (available from the publisher). The extensive support provided by the publisher's web site and by the authors themselves is unmatched. As this book was written to be instructive, it lacks somewhat as a reference guide, but is still a valuable resource for any junior programmer.
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