File Names

File Names represents the name of the file to be opened. The rules for resolving the name of the file are described below.

1.	If File starts with "-F", all file operations are executed on the physical file indicated in File. -F causes the file name to be used as is, without applying iscobol.file.prefix and iscobol.file.suffix to it.

2.	If File starts with "-E " or if iscobol.file_env_naming=1, then File contains the name of a configuration property that defines the physical name of the file.

3.	If File starts with "isf://server-name:serverport: " or just "isf://server-name: ", the next characters identify the name of a file that is managed by the File Server. See The ISF protocol for more details.

4.	If File is "-P SPOOLER", all file operations are redirected to the print spooler.[A]

5.	If File is "-P PREVIEW", all file operations are redirected to the preview manager that shows the print preview. The preview window allows job to be saved into a pdf file on disk. This feature requires the itext-2.1.7v3.jar library to be listed in CLASSPATH in order to work correctly.[A]

6.

If File is "-P PDF filename", all file operations are redirected to the PDF manager that generates the PDF file named filename; the default name (when filename is not indicated) is iscoboljob.pdf. In order to allow isCOBOL to print a pdf file, the itext-2.1.7v3.jar library must be listed in CLASSPATH.[A]

7.	If File is "-P SPOOLER-DIRECT", all file operations are directly redirected to the printer.[A]

8.	If File is "-P ###", where ### doesn’t match with any of the above, ### is passed to the current system command interpreter and the file allows the command output stream and input stream to manage, depending on the open mode.[A]

9.	If File is "-S IN", all file operations are redirected to the standard-input device.

10.	If File is "-S OUT", all file operations are redirected to the standard-output device.

11.	If File is "-S ERR", all file operations are redirected to the standard-error device.

12.	If File is "-Q <printerName>", all file operations are redirected to the named printer. Details are explained in -Q <printerName> syntax.

13.	If File is "PRINTER?", all file operations are redirected to the print spooler in RM/COBOL compatibility mode. It differs from "-P SPOOLER" in terms of text positioning rules.

 

Data is converted using the current encoding while working with print files. You can avoid this conversion by using + instead of - in file assignments (i.e. +F, +P SPOOLER, +S OUT, etc.)

 

[A] Piping is allowed only for

•	print files; files that are implicitly or explicitly ASSIGN TO PRINTER

•	line sequential files; only if the program is compiled with -flsu option