Using the COBOL Outline view

When you open a file in the editor, an outline of the file opens in the Outline view. In the Outline view, you can expand or collapse program divisions, show or hide parts of a program, or filter parts of a program.

About this task

The divisions in a COBOL program are identified by icons in the Outline view:
Icon Outline element
Identification Division icon IDENTIFICATION DIVISION
Configuration Section icon CONFIGURATION SECTION
Input-output Section icon INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION
Data Division icon DATA DIVISION
File Section icon FILE SECTION
Working-storage Section icon WORKING-STORAGE SECTION
Local-storage Section icon LOCAL-STORAGE SECTION
Linkage Section icon LINKAGE SECTION
Report Section icon REPORT SECTION
Procedure Division icon PROCEDURE DIVISION
Function icon
 FUNCTION
Declaratives icon DECLARATIVES
Icon for parent data element PARENT DATA ELEMENT
Icon for data element DATA ELEMENT
Section icon SECTION
Paragraph icon PARAGRAPH
Copy icon COPY

Procedure

  • To expand the nodes in the Outline view, select Expand Outline from the drop-down menu. To collapse the outline to the nodes, select Collapse Outline from the menu.
  • To filter the program divisions in the Outline view, click one of the toolbar buttons at the top of the view. Click a button to activate the filter. Click it again to restore the outline view to its original state.
    Option Description
    Sort elements by name toolbar button Sorts sibling nodes in the outline in ascending order by name.
    Division icon Causes the outline view to show only the four divisions (identification division, environment division, data division, and procedure division) in programs. The content of the divisions is not shown.
    Hide Nested Programs icon Hides nested programs in the outline view.
    Data Division icon Shows the data division contents in the outline view. The other divisions in the program are hidden.
    File Section icon Shows the contents of the file section of the data division.
    Hide Subordinate Data Items icon Hides subordinate data items in the outline so that only level 1 data items are shown.
    Procedure Division icon Shows the contents of the procedure division in the outline, including sections and paragraphs in the procedure division. The identification division, data division, and environment division are hidden.
  • To hide parts of the program according to their name:
    1. Select Filters from the drop-down menu.
      The COBOL Element Filters window opens.
    2. Type a name pattern in the field.
      You can use the * and ? wildcard characters in the filter string. Separate multiple filter strings with commas.
    3. Click Ignore case to match strings in upper, lower, or mixed case.
    4. Click OK.
      The Outline view hides any program elements that match the filter strings entered.
    5. To show any of these filtered elements, select Filters again, delete the filter strings from the field, and click OK.
  • To synchronize the editor with the Outline view, select Link with Editor from the drop-down menu.
    When you place the cursor on a line in the editor, the Outline view expands to display the corresponding node. To disable this behavior, clear the Link with Editor option on the menu.
    Note: When you select a node in the Outline view, the corresponding line in the editor is always shown. This action affects only the link from the editor to the Outline view. It does not affect the link from the Outline view to the editor.