Problem

In Visual COBOL for Eclipse, how do I make a copybook in one COBOL project available to other COBOL projects?

Solution

Instead of having the copybook in a COBOL project, place the copybook into a COBOL Copybook project. Here are the steps:

1. In Visual COBOL for Eclipse, create a project of type "COBOL copybook", named for example, "my_copybooks".
   • From the menu, select File -> New -> COBOL Copybook Project, and enter a name for the project
2. Move desired copy file(s) from an existing COBOL project into "my_copybooks" project
   • Select the copy files in the COBOL project using CTRL-Click
   • Drag the selected files to the new COBOL Copybook project
3. Add reference to "my_copybooks" project in each COBOL project that needs to access the copybook
   • In each COBOL project, go to Project Properties -> Micro Focus -> Build Path
   • Choose the "Projects" Tab
   • Click "add" button to add a reference to another project
   • Choose the "my_copybooks" project

Instructions tested with Visual COBOL for Eclipse 3.0