Generating an Executable Program
Once you have written your EQUEL program, it must be preprocessed to convert the EQUEL statements into COBOL code. This section describes the use of the EQUEL preprocessor. Additionally, it describes how to compile the resulting COBOL code.
The EQUEL Preprocessor Command
The following command line invokes the COBOL preprocessor:
eqcbl {flags} {filename}
where flags are
-a
VMS: Accepts and generates output in ANSI format. Use this flag if your source code is in ANSI format and you wish to compile the program with the cobol command line qualifier ansi_format. The code that the preprocessor generates is also in ANSI format. If you omit this flag, the preprocessor accepts input and generates output in VAX COBOL terminal format. For more information, see Source Code Format. 
-d
Adds debugging information to the runtime database error messages EQUEL generates. The source file name, line number, and the erroneous statement are printed with the error message.
-f[filename]
Writes preprocessor output to the named file. If the -f flag is specified without a filename, the output is sent to standard output, one screen at a time. If you omit the -f flag, output is given the basename of the input file, with the ".cob" extension.
-l
Writes preprocessor error messages to the preprocessor's listing file, as well as to the terminal. The listing file includes preprocessor error messages and your source text in a file named filename.lis, where filename is the name of the input file.
-lo
Like -l, but the generated COBOL code also appears in the listing file
-n. ext
Specifies the extension used for filenames in ## include and ## include inline statements in the source code. If -n is omitted, include filenames in the source code must be given the extension ".qcb".
-o
Directs the processor not to generate output files for include files.
This flag does not affect the translated include statement in the main program. The preprocessor generates a default extension for the translated include file statements unless you use the -o.ext flag.
-o. ext
Specifies the extension the preprocessor gives to both the translated include statements in the main program and the generated output files. If this flag is not provided, the default extension is ".qcb".If you use this flag in combination with the -o flag, then the preprocesssor generates the specified extension for the translated include statements, but does not generate new output files for the include statements.
-s
Reads input from standard input and generates COBOL code to standard output. This is useful for testing unfamiliar statements. If the -l option is specified with this flag, the listing file is called "stdin.lis."
To terminate the interactive session, type Control D (UNIX) or Control Z (VMS).
-w
Prints warning messages
-?
Shows what command line options are available for eqcbl
The EQUEL/COBOL preprocessor assumes that input files are named with the extension ".qcb". To override this default, specify the file extension of the input file(s) on the command line. The output of the preprocessor is a file of generated COBOL statements with the same name and the extension ".cbl" (UNIX) or ".cob" (VMS).
If you enter only the command, without specifying any flags or a filename, a list of flags available for the command is displayed.
The following table presents the options available with eqcbl.
Eqcbl Command Options
The following are eqcbl command options:
eqcbl file1
Preprocesses "file1.qcb" to:
UNIX: file1.cbl 
VMS: file1.cob
VMS: file1.cob
eqcbl -l file2.xc
Creates listing "file2.lis" and preprocesses "file2.xcb" to:
UNIX: file2.cbl 
VMS: file2.cob
VMS: file2.cob
eqcbl -s
Accepts input from standard input and write generated code to standard output
eqcbl -ffile3.out file3
Preprocesses "file3.qcb" to "file3.out"
eqcbl
Displays a list of available flags
Last modified date: 01/30/2023