HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Documentation
The extensive documentation provided with this product ensures that users
with special or advanced requirements can find the information they need.
For normal use of the product you need read only a small part of the
documentation. This section describes the structure of the documentation
and where to look for what you want.
The manuals supplied with the COBOL system are as follows:
* This Getting Started with COBOL introduces the system, briefly
explains its features and leads you through installing it.
* The Language Reference gives a detailed description of the COBOL
language supported by the system, including Micro Focus COBOL,
ANSI'74, ANSI'85, X/Open, IBM OS/VS COBOL, IBM VS COBOL II, IBM
DOS/VS COBOL and other extensions.
* The Error Messages manual lists and explains the error messages
you might receive when compiling, generating, and running a
program. It suggests possible causes and how to correct them.
* The COBOL Operating Guide describes the COBOL development cycle
and gives complete operating information for each component of the
Micro Focus COBOL system.
* The Compatibility Guide gives information helpful in converting
applications from certain other COBOL dialects. It describes the
file conversion programs supplied, gives details of COBOL language
that you may need to alter, and lists differences between versions
of products.
* The Pocket Guide is a pocket-sized quick reference guide, listing
directives, COBOL syntax and other information about the system.
* The Master Index combines all the book indexes to provide a single
index to all the books. (It includes index entries for the
Toolbox Operating Guide, which is not supplied with Micro Focus
COBOL.)
Several of these books are generic across the UNIX version of the COBOL
system and the version for DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. These are
the Language Reference, Error Messages and Compatibility Guide. The
COBOL Operating Guide in the UNIX version of COBOL takes the place of two
books in the version for DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. References in
the generic manuals to the COBOL System Reference and the COBOL User
Guide should be taken as references to the COBOL Operating Guide.
Notation
A standard notation for representing the syntax of commands is defined in
the Prefaces to the manuals. Wherever possible the manuals use this
notation. Where special requirements make it necessary to use a
different notation, the notation is explained in the place where it is
used.
You may wish to look at the Preface to this manual now to familiarize
yourself with the standard notation.
Release Notes
Information about the COBOL system that became available too late to go
in the printed manuals is presented in an on-disk text file called the
Release Notes, located in the "docs" subdirectory of your COBOL system
directory. The Release Notes also document where the version of the
COBOL system as supplied differs from the manuals.