Can't you write a small test program and experiment?
These are the missing pieces for me to do that:
Learn how to login to the editor (which is different from my current interface).
Create a file.
Create a syntactically correct COBOL program.
Compile it.
Link it.
Save it to a library that I can execute from.
Create the associated JCL to run it.
Submit it.
Figure out how to access the MF logs.
Go through the INCREDIBLY PAINFUL debugging cycle as I work through the JCL issues that I screwed up.
Lose 2 weeks of my life to a task I hope to never repeat.
The editor make me long for the days of edlin.
JCL debugging is as close to torture as you can get.
I've done most of the above, in multiple pieces over the last 5 years. Last time was about a year ago. It was horrible.
I'd rather whine here, since I know SOME of you are past
COBOL programmers. I'll also forward the code to a couple
of other people as well.
