1.1 Overview of User Interface Features

ACUCOBOL^TM-GT is part of the extend^TM family of Acucorp solutions.
In addition to the standard display handling included in ANSI-85 COBOL, ACUCOBOL-GT offers a comprehensive set of extensions for programming and managing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). With these extensions, an ACUCOBOL-GT developer can add a full-featured, native GUI to an existing program entirely in COBOL. The purpose of these extensions is to:

• allow developers to create a fully graphical program in COBOL for use on systems such as Microsoft Windows.
• allow developers to use a mix of graphical and character-based interfaces in one program. Graphical features can be added to an existing program without the need to rewrite the entire user interface.
• allow programmers to develop graphical interface specifications that are portable to a variety of host systems.
• support graphical features in a way that is natural for COBOL.
• mimic existing COBOL screen syntax as closely as possible to simplify the task of reworking a character-based program into a graphical program.
• avoid the need to do event loop programming that is common for graphical systems, but foreign to most COBOL programs.
• make it easy to add new features in the future.

ACUCOBOL-GT supports the emulation of graphical controls and windows on character-based systems. This emulation allows you to more easily write a single program that will run on both character and graphical systems. ACUCOBOL-GT supports the emulation of floating windows and the following control types: label, entry field, push button, radio button, frame, check box, list box (including infinite capacity list box), and combo box.

You can also use ACUCOBOL-GT's traditional text-oriented mechanisms for creating your user interface, such as the textual forms of the ACCEPT and DISPLAY verbs, and Format 1 of the Screen Section. In addition, you can use the Screen Section extensions to define and process both character-based and graphical user interface screens.

• syntax extensions for creating native floating windows, toolbars, and controls (such as buttons, entry fields, and labels)
• the ability to create and manage menu bars with pull-down submenus
• configuration variables for customizing windows, importing icons, and mapping colors
• many host specific features such as message boxes and context-sensitive help

Specifically, ACUCOBOL-GT's GUI programming supports include:

• native floating (moveable) windows, including:
• modal and modeless window types
• default and custom window size and position
• dynamically resizeable windows
• configurable borders
• programmable title bar
• optional system menu
• GUI controls, including:
• labels
• entry fields
• standard and infinite capacity list boxes
• combo boxes
• push buttons
• radio buttons
• check boxes
• frames
• bars*
• scroll bars*
• tabs*
• bitmaps*
• grids*
• web browsers
• ActiveX controls
• menu bars and submenus
• display of bitmaps and bitmap buttons*
• toolbars*
• access to the native message box facility
• access to the native file open and file save-as dialog boxes*
• access to the native help facility and support for context sensitive help
• specialized mouse handling
• font selection and handling
• custom colors
• the ability to play ".WAV" audio files on MS Windows systems with sound capabilities

ACUCOBOL-GT runtime supports include:

• full object code compatibility
• the creation and runtime management of native floating windows and graphical controls on Microsoft Windows and Windows NT
• automatic text-mode emulation of floating windows and most graphical controls, except bars, scroll bars, tabs, animated bitmaps, bitmap buttons, and toolbars
• automatic mouse support
• automatic menu bar handling
• extensive color mapping facilities
• access to the Windows print spooler
• automatic multi-tasking support
• network compatibility
• access to all memory available under Windows

More:

Floating windows and graphical controls

Automatic GUI runtime support