WYSIWYG COBOL Screen Generator

IBM tooling history shows this category is real and useful. A modern implementation can combine a visual designer, metadata-driven model, multiple code generators, and round-trip import support into one native desktop application.

CICS BMS IMS MFS COBOL SCREEN SECTION wxWidgets C++ Import / Export Runtime Preview

For classic mainframe-style COBOL, the usual target is not raw screen code directly, but generated map or source artifacts. The strongest practical targets are:

CICS BMS maps
IMS MFS maps
COBOL SCREEN SECTION for workstation/runtime COBOL

A strong product direction is a COBOL Screen Painter / Map Generator that is copybook-aware, CICS-aware, able to import and export BMS, and optionally includes a wxWidgets runtime preview.

Classic green-screen form factor that inspires a modern 3270-style visual designer.

Core Visual Design Features

24x80, 27x132, or resizable logical terminal grid
Drag/drop labels, input fields, protected fields, and attributes
Alignment guides, ruler, and row/column coordinates
Preview modes for 3270 green-screen, color terminal, and browser emulation

The visual surface should behave like a terminal-aware layout engine rather than a generic form designer. That makes it possible to build layouts that map cleanly into BMS, MFS, or SCREEN SECTION output.

A terminal-style grid canvas is the heart of the WYSIWYG editor.

Suggested Screen Metadata

Screen name
Field positions
Length
Datatype
Protection
Intensity and color
Validation rules
Tab order
PF-key / AID-key actions
Mapset / map / copybook linkage

With a strong metadata model, the designer can drive code generation, preview behavior, import/export, and round-trip regeneration without losing structure.

A structured metadata model makes multi-target generation practical.

Generation Outputs

CICS/BMS: DFHMSD / DFHMDI / DFHMDF macros
IMS/MFS: MID/MOD source
COBOL SCREEN SECTION: 01/03/05 entries with LINE/COLUMN/PIC/USING
Optional WORKING-STORAGE, commarea layouts, and I/O copybooks

One visual definition should be able to emit several targets cleanly. This gives the user flexibility across classic green-screen environments and workstation COBOL runtimes.

One AST-backed screen definition can emit BMS, MFS, copybooks, and COBOL stubs.

Round-Trip Workflow

Import existing BMS, MFS, or SCREEN SECTION artifacts
Render them visually in the designer
Edit them visually
Regenerate source without destroying hand-edited business logic

This is one of the most valuable features because it allows legacy assets to be modernized and maintained instead of forcing greenfield-only adoption.

Round-trip import and regeneration preserves investment in existing source assets.

High-Value Enhancements

Field templates for dates, packed-decimal display, and signed numeric input
88-level driven validation
Generated ACCEPT/DISPLAY or SEND/RECEIVE stubs
CICS cursor positioning support
Help panels and error-message line reservation
Export to JSON/XML project format

These extras make the tool more than a painter. They move it toward a real application-generation aid that reduces repetitive coding around terminal input and output logic.

Frontend / Editor

wxWidgets C++ for native desktop behavior and strong custom painting
Grid canvas representing terminal cells
Property inspector on the right
Toolbox on the left
Live preview pane

Backend / Generator

Internal AST or screen model
Emit .bms
Emit .mfs
Emit .cpy
Emit .cbl

wxWidgets is a strong fit for a native C++ screen designer with custom drawing.

Suggested Class Structure

ScreenProject
ScreenDefinition
FieldDefinition
AttributeSet
GeneratorBMS
GeneratorMFS
GeneratorScreenSection
ImporterBMS
LayoutEngine
TerminalPreviewCanvas

If the goal is classic green-screen development, generate BMS and MFS. If the goal is portable COBOL on PC, generate SCREEN SECTION. If the goal is both, keep one visual model and emit multiple targets.