The Demonstration Program
After your installation and setup are complete, you may run the demonstration program (demo.cbl), which can be found in the Connectors sub-directory within your $COBDIR/demo directory. This program illustrates many of the Database Connectors product capabilities, including how to:
- Map RDBMS data types to traditional COBOL data types
- Compile a COBOL program in preparation for interfacing with an RDBMS
- Modify records within the RDBMS database
The demo program simulates what might be used in a distributor’s shipping department. You'll create a table named orderfile, which contains information about the orders placed by the distributor's customers. The orderfile table has the following columns of information (the database data type and COBOL data type are shown for each).
| Column Name | Data Type | COBOL PIC |
|---|---|---|
| ORDER_NUM | CHAR(4) | pic x(4) |
| ORDER_DATE | DATE | pic 9(6) |
| CUSTOMER_NUM | CHAR(3) | pic x(3) |
| SHIP_INSTRUCT | CHAR(40) | pic x(40) |
| BACKLOG | CHAR(1) | pic x |
| PO_NUM | CHAR(10) | pic x(10) |
| SHIP_DATE | DATE | pic 9(6) |
| SHIP_WEIGHT | NUMBER(8,2) | pic 9(6)v99 |
| SHIP_CHARGE | NUMBER(6,2) | pic 9(4)v99 |
| PAID_DATE | DATE | pic 9(6) |
Here is the COBOL file descriptor (FD) that matches the orderfile table. Note that the FD entries must match the names of the RDBMS fields and must match their data types:
fd orders.
01 order-record.
03 order-num pic x(4).
03 order-fields.
05 order-date pic 9(6).
05 customer-num pic x(3).
05 ship-instruct pic x(40).
05 backlog pic x.
05 po-num pic x(10).
05 ship-date pic 9(6).
05 ship-weight pic 9(6)v99.
05 ship-charge pic 9(4)v99.
05 paid-date pic 9(6).