Head on over and check it out.  Don’t forget to read more info here about it.

OCWebEditor ver. .01 Alpha

The intention of this project is to provide an on-line Editor/Compiler/Debugger for OpenCOBOL.  The idea was arrived at looking at Gary Cutlers OCic.  I thought that was a wonderful idea and I created a very simple front-end for the compiler on the web.  During the iterations of edit/upload/compile/test I was getting more and more frustrated with all the switching from one app to another.

That was when I decided I needed a full COBOL IDE with the ability to compile right there on the web. Thus the OCWebEditor was born.

The OCWebEditor will be done in a few phases. Following is the current roadmap for this project.

Once Add1to has the project management up and running I will load the source into it.

PHASE 1: (Current)

• Editor Plug-in
  • Rather than struggle with creating my own editor plug-in I used the awesome power of the web and FOSS. I went and found one that was already working. (Why re-invent the wheel). The current Plug-in is EditArea by Christophe Dolivet. It beats out many of the other FOSS editors in that it works, lot’s of built-in functionality, being supported, and most important, WELL documented.
  • Current features of EditArea:
    • Easy to integrate, only one script include and one function call
    • Tabulation support (allow to write well formated source code)
    • Customizable real-time syntax highlighting (currently: PHP, CSS, Javascript, Python, HTML, XML, VB, C, CPP, SQL, Pascal, Basic, Brainf*ck, and probably more…)
      • IMPORTANT TO NOTE. THE ONLY SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING IS FOR OpenCOBOL at this time.
    • Word-wrap support : I DISABLED THIS
    • Search and replace (with regexp)
    • Auto-indenting new lines : NOT USED
    • Line numerotation
    • Multilanguage support (currently: Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, and probably more…)
      • NOTE: I NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THIS USEABLE ON THE FLY
    • Possible PHP gzip compression (compress the core files to one file of ~25Ko)
    • Allow multiple instances
    • Full screen mode
    • Possible plugin integration
    • Possible save and load callback functions
    • Possible dynamic content management
    • Can work in the same environment than “prototype” and “mootools”‘s like libraries.
• Single-User design
  • Currently I am just getting it to work. Plain and simple. This means it is designed around a single-user. So, once I put it into Alpha availability you will be able to use it, but will share it with all users. This means your code will be available to everyone using it.
• Compiler
  • The compiler will be usuable with manual addition of parameters. Meaning you will be able supply any compiler switch you need for compiling. e.g -Wall -x etc…
  • All output from the compiler will be dumped to the “console” and “log” tab of the UI.
    • In order to achieve this I had to redirect the console output to .log and .err files then read them back and display them for the cgi output. Apparently the compiler does not send to stdout.
• Load
  • You will be able to load the source into the editor by clicking on the filename in the file list.
  • You will be able to load multiple files into the editor
• Save
  • You will be able to save any changes made to the code in the current source tab.
• New Source
  • You will be able to create a new source file which will load a template designed for CGI
• SaveAs
  • You will be able to save the current source tab AS <filename.cob>
• Run
  • You will be able to run the current source tab (AFTER COMPILING IT) and see the output in the console tab.

Phase II

• Multi-User
  • Ability to have your own work-space/projects
• Source and Library
  • Have both a source folder and library (copy books) folder
• Per user configuration
  • Ability to configure default compiler and project settings
• Download source files
• Upload source files instead of copy/paste/save_as

Phase III

• svn integration
• debugger (curtesy of Frederico)
• TBD

Stage 1: OCKit4Web.

This is a version of OpenCOBOL and company, entirely as a hosted solution. So persons will be able to sign up for free. They will receive a shell account from me. They’ll then have a console in GNU/Linux to compile and test OpenCOBOL programs. If the tests that DamonH is doing turn out well, the entire interface may even be Web based. This version will have a great focus on Web App production.

Stage 2: OCKitVM.

This is a version of OpenCOBOL a guest inside a VirtualBox virtual machine (VM henceforth). Initially it will be Debian or Ubuntu [server] based. In the future other VMs might follow (BSD, Fedora, Suse, Puppy Linux etc). Due to licensing restrictions we will never be able to distribute a VM with Windows or Mac as the guest operating system. But the VMs we distribute will run on Windows, Mac and anywhere else VirtualBox runs.

VirtualBox allows many useful features to allow OpenCOBOL inside a VM and apps compiled inside that VM to seem as if they are runing native. The two primary features are Seamless Windows and the fact that the Guest can communicate with the Host. So now output from STDIN, STDOUT, STDERR and others, can be routed both ways.

OCKitVM will allow us to distribute a version of OpenCOBOL and company (see below) that doesn’t really require native installs. So it will “just work” regardless of the operating system if runs in. So long as VirtualBox just works that is.

Stage 3: OCKitNative.

This version will be a native install for various operating systems. The first release of OCKitNative will be Ubuntu/Debian based. Fedora, BSD, OpenSolaris, Windows, Mac and others will follow.

This is the largest undertaking because it requires a lot of testing and answering a lot of questions. Do we install OpenCOBOL to compile with VisualC? A freeware C compiler? GCC? If VisualC for instance, then we have to get a license for VisualC so we can test properly (I don’t break software licenses). Because this is the largest of the jobs, it’s also last on the list. The original idea for OCKit didn’t even entail a native install, just an “instant on” virtual machine distribution. But demand for native installs means that eventually we’ll need to create them. To do so we need volunteers.

A note: Most of the conversation regarding OCKit will be taking place at http://add1tocobol.com. I have a plethora of tools there (more coming) that will allow me to track the OCKit varieties development, set roadmaps, tasks, follow bug reports and more there, that this forum doesn’t really offer us.

Link for this blog post at add1tocobol.com: http://add1tocobol.com/blog/2010/11/12/ockit-stages/

JCurrey and team at Currey Adkins have a wonderful product to assist in this and I love what they’ve done. At some future date I will be making a post about it. In the meantime I want to toss out an idea for Roger and the others helping him with the OpenCOBOL compiler.

We’re able currently with OC to do the following:
ACCEPT query_string FROM ENVIRONMENT "query_string".
MOVE "somevalue" TO some-literal.
ACCEPT somefield FROM ENVIRONMENT some-literal.


Essentially we’re able to accept a value from the environment into a variable. It’s fantastic and wonderful in it’s simplicity. What I would like to see is more direct web integration in the OpenCOBOL compiler. Imagine for a moment the beauty of being able to do something like:
ACCEPT first-name FROM POST "first-name".
ACCEPT search-value FROM GET "q".
ACCEPT inventory-item(count) FROM POST "inventory-item" (count).

And other such things.

The compiler would have to have inbuilt the ability to read the query_string (for GETS), url-decode them, and then process them into separate variables. For the POST variables it would have to read from the keyboard, url-decode and then convert to specific variables. For the COBOLer though, this would simplify their ability to interact with web forms.

Thoughts?

Instructions:

tar -xzf OCKit4Web.tar.gz
cd OCKit4Web/Installs
./install.sh

This will create the directory /home/username/usr and everything else that is needed. It will compile and install VBISAM, GMP, and OpenCOBOL into the said usr directory. Then you should be good to go.

The team will be adding more soon and this is just a short late night post.

Download OCKit4Web.tar.gz

Since it is a compiled language unlike PHP, Java, VBS, JS and adnausium, it is FAST. This is due to it not needing to be run through an interpreter first. The Second reason would be security. Many of the internet applications and websites are rife with security holes. Most specifically SQL injection. Also known as SQLi. This is where a hacker inserts an sql query statement into a field on your website. When the field is submitted it is then executed by the database. Nasty stuff. If they know the structure of your database they can get all sorts of information. This can usually be found by sniffing the data sent over in a post to the back-end from the PHP or Java. With COBOL all you need to do is submit the field data from the page and let COBOL decide how to handle it. If you use SQL as your data storage it will not matter since COBOL will call the required StoredProc that will handle getting and putting your data. Any SQLi contained in the field data is treated exactly as that. Data. So your hacker is just simply out of luck. If your data is contained in COBOL files preferably in indexed files it’s even safer since COBOL doesn’t need SQL. COBOL has been handling data in an efficient manner long before database systems were created and not much has changed since.

Can I use COBOL for AJAX. Most certainly. You can pass and get data via a standard XmlHTTPost using Get or Post just like with PHP and Java. There are many examples available for how to do this. We should soon start having working code available for download on this site.

There is not much more to say at this time about this. Later I will write a series of tutorials guiding you in creating a web app using COBOL, HTML5, and a little JavaScript. I will not be getting into any CSS as that will be outside the scope.

Here is the roadmap at this time for these tutorials:
1.Web-servers and Hosts and requirements
2.Installing OpenCOBOL
3.Creating the basic AJAX page with HTML5 and JavaScript
4.Creating a basic COBOL cgi to use with the AJAX page
5.Expanding the My Library application

As more items come up for the tutorial they will be added.
Until then, go get OpenCOBOL from http://opencobol.org and play around if you anxious to get started. The community is full of wonderful helpful people who love the language and want to make OpenCOBOL one of the best open source languages available.

(To comment click “Read More”)

So, what does Creative Commons mean? This quote about Creative Commons licensing is taken from http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Frequently_Asked_Questions:

How does a Creative Commons license operate?

A Creative Commons license is based on copyright. So they apply to all works that are protected by copyright law. The kinds of works that are protected by copyright law are books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings, for example. Software programs are also protected by copyright but, as explained below, we do not recommend that you apply a Creative Commons license to software code.

Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others may exercise your copyright rights—such as the right of others to copy your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, to distribute your work and/or make money from your work. They do not give you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright—including, importantly, fair use or fair dealing—nor do they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas.

Creative Commons licenses attach to the work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license. This means that if Bob has a copy of your Creative Commons-licensed work, Bob can give a copy to Carol and Carol will be authorized to use the work consistent with the Creative Commons license. You then have a license agreement separately with both Bob and Carol.

You should be aware that Creative Commons licenses only affect your rights under copyright. You are not licensing your trademark or patent rights, if any, when you apply a CC license to your work.

Creative Commons licenses are expressed in three different formats: the Commons Deed (human-readable code), the Legal Code (lawyer-readable code); and the metadata (machine readable code). You don’t need to sign anything to get a Creative Commons license—just select your license with our License Chooser.

One final thing you should understand about Creative Commons licenses is that they are all non-exclusive. This means that you can permit the general public to use your work under a Creative Commons license and then enter into a separate and different non-exclusive license with someone else, for example, in exchange for money.

So what does CC by SA mean?
This quote is from http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/meet-the-licenses:

Attribution Share Alike (by-sa)

Choose by-sa license This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.

1. Eliminated the right and left side panel.
2. Widened the chat widget to the full width of the site.
3. Eliminated Author info, Comments and so on. Chat just needs chat and nothing more.
4. Made the chat area taller.
5. Put a green border around the chat to distinguish it more clearly from the surrounding page.
6. Reduced clutter in the title, and extra un-needed padding.

That of course gives us some ideas for the future. So some ideas I am tossing around include:

1. Creating Mozilla, Chrome and other “apps” out of our chat page, or just out chat room entirely and eliminating ALL of the non-chat related clutter.
2. Somehow publically logging the chats, right on the main chat link. That way anyone that missed out can catch up.

If anyone has any suggestions please post below in the comments section.

Well, a Contributor can submit posts, pages, comments and other content for review by an editor. Once an Editor has approved their submission, it will be published. This permission level is good for new friends who’ve just joined our site.

Authors on the other hand, can publish their own submissions without waiting for approval from an Editor. For the main site, we generally will make someone an Author once we get to know them better.

Finally Editors can publish their own submissions and edit anything anyone else has submitted. Editors for the main site will be rarer.

Why the difference? Well, we want the main content to be approved content. It’s our public face after all.

But Forums and Wikis have different rules.  A Forum is a kind of free-for-all, everyone is free to post whatever they want. This is good for asking questions, having discussions and so on. While a Wiki is specifically made so that everyone can post and edit any of the content.

These permissions will help us to keep spam to a minimum, while allowing great flexibility for everyone in our community. So if you want to post, or share articles, just sign up. If anyone has any questions about the permissions, feel free to contact us. You can email Aoirthoir via Add 1 to COBOL dot com or call him at 440.941.3396.

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