BCS COBOL Studio

A standalone native COBOL IDE for Linux, built with C++20, wxWidgets and the real GnuCOBOL (cobc) compiler and GNU gdb debugger as subprocesses — no emulation, no wrappers.

Features

• Editor — wxStyledTextCtrl-based editing with COBOL syntax highlighting, free/fixed/auto format detection, line numbers, bookmarks, find/replace, zoom, and split-aware multi-file tabs.
• Projects — JSON project files (.gcp) with source and copybook directories, compiler/linker options, library paths, environment variables, run arguments, and a project tree panel.
• Real build — Build / Rebuild / Clean invoke the installed cobc compiler asynchronously. Compiler output is parsed into a Problems panel with clickable file/line navigation.
• Run — Build-and-Run (or run an existing executable) with stdout/stderr captured into an Output panel.
• Debug — GDB integration over the MI protocol: start/pause/restart/ continue, step into/over/out, breakpoints (synced to the editor gutter, Ctrl+B), call-stack and variable panels, plus a raw GDB console — all running inside the IDE.
• ISPF-inspired shell — a Command ===> field (SAVE, BUILD, REBUILD, CLEAN, RUN, DEBUG, STOP, FIND, LOCATE, LIST, NEW, EXIT, HELP, …) and configurable PF keys.
• Themes — light, dark and system themes.
• Extras — copybook lookup (COPY resolution), symbols/outline panel, search in project, source printing, integrated terminal, recent-projects list, and new-project templates.

Requirements

On Gentoo:

emerge dev-lang/gnucobol sys-devel/gdb x11-libs/wxGTK

Build

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

Run

./build/bcs-cobol-studio

Optionally open a project or source file directly:

./build/bcs-cobol-studio examples/copybook-example/copybook-example.gcp

Tests

ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

The test suite covers the JSON project format, compiler-output parsing, build-command construction, and the CobolParser module.

Example project

examples/copybook-example/ is a small, fully working project:

examples/copybook-example/
├── copybook-example.gcp   # project file (JSON)
├── main.cob               # COBOL program that COPYs the record layout
├── copybooks/
│   └── employee-rec.cpy   # copybook (included, never compiled directly)
└── employees.dat          # data file read by the program

Open it, press F6 (Build and Run), and it compiles with cobc and prints the employee records from employees.dat.

Keyboard shortcuts

ISPF command field

SAVE, COMPILE, BUILD, REBUILD, CLEAN, RUN, DEBUG, STOP, FIND <text>, LOCATE <line|symbol>, LIST, LIST SYMBOLS, NEW, EXIT/QUIT, HELP. LIST without arguments lists the project's source files; LIST SYMBOLS lists the symbols of the current file.

Default PF keys: F3 Close, F4 Exit, F5 Build, F6 Run, F7/F8 scroll, F9 Continue, F10/F11 prev/next tab. All configurable under Tools > Settings.

Project file format

.gcp files are plain JSON:

{
    "name": "copybook-example",
    "executable": "employee-report",
    "format": "free",
    "compiler": "/usr/bin/cobc",
    "source_directories": ["."],
    "copybook_directories": ["copybooks"],
    "library_directories": [],
    "libraries": [],
    "debug_info": true,
    "warnings": true,
    "module": false,
    "compiler_options": "",
    "linker_options": "",
    "run_arguments": "",
    "run_working_directory": "",
    "environment": []
}

• source_directories — scanned recursively for .cob, .cbl, .cobol sources to compile.
• copybook_directories — searched for COPY-referenced copybooks; never compiled directly.
• compiler — optional; when empty the compiler discovered on PATH is used.

Source layout

src/
├── main.cpp                 # entry point (wxIMPLEMENT_APP)
├── app/                     # Application, ProcessRunner, Json
├── ui/                      # MainFrame, MainMenu, ToolBar, dialogs
├── editor/                  # CobolEditor (STC) + CobolLexer
├── project/                 # Project (.gcp) + ProjectManager
├── compiler/                # cobc discovery, command build, output parsing
├── debugger/                # GDB/MI session handling + breakpoints
├── terminal/                # integrated shell subprocess
├── parser/                  # COBOL symbol/outline parser
├── settings/                # persisted settings (config)
└── filesystem/              # FileManager helpers
templates/                   # new-project starter programs
examples/copybook-example/   # runnable example project
resources/                   # icons and desktop file
tests/                       # unit tests (ctest)

Installation

cmake --install build --prefix /usr/local

Installs the binary, a .desktop file, hicolor icons, templates and the example project.

Notes

• Compiler, copybook and gdb discovery are done against the real installed tools; nothing is simulated.
• Dark theme uses GTK hints when built with GTK3 support.