Is there a free (as in beer) Flow chart generator for COBOL Code?

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btelles picture btelles · Apr 8, 2010 · Viewed 11.2k times · Source

I've never read COBOL in my life and have been tasked with rewriting the old COBOL code in a new language. Are there any free or free-to-try software packages out there that will generate a flow chart for a COBOL program?

I've looked at "Visustin" and "Code Visual to Flowchart"

Visustin blanks out part of the code and does random rotations in the demo version, which causes the demo to be less accurate.

I couldn't get Code Visual Flow Chart to work correctly with our code.

Know of any other packages I might try?

Answer

brydgesk picture brydgesk · Apr 8, 2010

I don't envy you. For the most part, tracing through a COBOL program by hand is fairly straightforward (albeit tedious). I've been in the same situation, and ended up doing it by hand. It never hurts to learn a new language anyways, so it's not entirely in vain.

Look for the phrase "PROCEDURE DIVISION" and start there. Follow into any "PERFORM" statements you run into to trace the logic. If you don't end up killing yourself you'll come out a better person.

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