The original COBOL programming language standard was published in 1959. The language has evolved as users requested new features and implementers added their own filigrees. As such, no two COBOL compilers support exactly the same “language”. The current COBOL Language standard (ISO-IEC 1989:2023) specifies a very different language than the original. COBOLworx chose to base the GCC COBOL compiler (gcobol) on that ISO-IEC standard.
The actual COBOL code from which production programs are compiled were written to the dialects supported by IBM, Microfocus (now Rocket Software) and many other variants. The objective of gcobol is to provide a compiler that lets you compile existing COBOL source code with a minimum of manual intervention_, changes_. So gcobol supports various dialects including “mainframe” and “microfocus”. Dialects will be enhanced and added as needed to support compiler usage.
The project has not addressed the Report Writer, Screen Section, or Object Oriented Programming features. User-defined function support is largely complete. While database interface language preprocessors MAY work as on GnuCOBOL and elsewhere, no testing has been done to verify their function.
As usual, “All Contributions Accepted” in the normal “Free and Open Source Software” sense of the term. The project has limited resources and a deep roadmap. COBOLworx would be happy to consider diverting resources to address a particular requirement under a professional services contract with the proviso that the finished work be contributed to the GCC project.