Mapping Java data types to COBOL data structures

Learn how the COBOL structure maps to the Java™ structure, and about the limitations of mapping.

Role of the COBOL copybook
A COBOL copybook contains a section of code that defines data structures of COBOL program. You can generate a copybook from an existing Java rule project.
Supported Java data types for mapping to COBOL data structures
To share rules with COBOL applications, the BOM must use only Java types that map to COBOL structures.
Collection type
Collection interface and its concrete implementation classes in Java are supported when Java types map to COBOL structures.
Enum type
The enum data type in Java is supported when Java types map to COBOL structures. You can specify that it maps to the PIC X type or the PIC 9 type in COBOL.
Map type
The Map interface and its concrete implementation class in Java is supported when Java types map to COBOL structures. The key-value pairs in Map map to a COBOL group table. The keys map to Map-key and the values map to Map-value in the group table. The size of the Map data maps to a numeric item as a table size in COBOL.
Unsupported characters and reserved words
If a BOM variable name contains a character that COBOL does not support, the copybook generation process outputs an error.

Parent topic: Converting a BOM to enable the BOM for COBOL