The Windows and AIX
language support is almost identical. However, there are differences between the
Windows and the AIX platforms that you should keep in mind.
When
developing applications to be portable between the Windows-based and the AIX
workstations, consider these items:
- Hard-coded file-names in source programs can lead to problems. Instead of
hard-coding the names, use mnemonic names so that you can compile a program
without having to change the source code. In particular, consider how you
refer to files in the following language elements:
- ACCEPT and DISPLAY statement
- ASSIGN clause
- COPY (text-name and library-name)
statement
- Windows represents integers in little-endian format. AIX
maintains integers in big-endian format. Therefore, if your Windows
COBOL program depends on the internal representation of an integer, the
program is probably not portable to AIX. Avoid writing programs that rely on
such internal representation. If your program requires
manipulating the internal representation of Windows-format integers, use the
BINARY(S390) compiler option and avoid using USAGE COMP-5
data items.
- Windows represents class national data items in little-endian format. AIX
represents class national data items in big-endian format. Therefore, if
your COBOL program depends on the internal representation of such data
items, the program is probably not portable between COBOL for Windows and COBOL for AIX.
Avoid writing programs that depend on such internal representation.
If your program does not depend on the internal representation of class
national data items, your program is probably portable between COBOL for Windows
and COBOL for AIX, but you must convert file data to the representation of the
target platform.
related references
BINARY
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