SuperBOL Extensions

Code Repositories

The SuperBOL team typically maintains several code repositories for each client:

  • gnucobol-superbol: This is a common GnuCOBOL repository for all SuperBOL Subscription clients. This repository normally contains the entirety of the contributions made for various clients.

    The following branches are available in this repository:

    • gnucobol-superbol-3.x: our contributions to GnuCOBOL 3
    • gnucobol-superbol-4.x: our contributions to GnuCOBOL 4 (currently not used)
    • gitside-gnucobol-3.x: the official branch of GnuCOBOL 3 that we are following
    • gitside-master: the official branch of GnuCOBOL 4 that we are following

  • gnucobol-$CLIENT: This is a client-specific GnuCOBOL repository. It contains the version of GnuCOBOL SuperBOL maintained for that specific client. It may contain additional temporary contributions (developed specifically for that client and not yet propagated to the common repository) or exclude certain contributions (to limit the introduction of incompatibilities).

  • gnucobol-config-$CLIENT: This repository sometimes contains a specific configuration for a client’s application. Indeed, some legacy codebases occasionally use a combination of features that do not match GnuCOBOL’s default configurations. In such cases, we provide a specific configuration to be used when compiling the client’s COBOL source files.

Available Extensions in your version

Since each repository can contain different contributions, you can easily list the features included in your version. There are two ways to do this:

  • In the Git repository: You can check the contents of the CHANGES-superbol/ folder at the root of GnuCOBOL. This folder contains one file per contribution. You can then verify if the contribution you are interested in appears in this folder.

  • Via the command line: You can run the command cobc --superbol-features, which displays the list of contributions integrated into that compiler:

$ cobc --superbol-features
cobc (GnuCOBOL) 3.3-dev.0
SuperBOL features:
- 2025-11-20-odo-in-redefines
- 2025-11-25-allow-spaces-between-parens-in-PICTURE-la-MF
... [rest of output] ...

All Extensions

  • 2025-11-20-odo-in-redefines: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the use of OCCURS DEPENDING ON within a REDEFINES clause when the new configuration option odo-in-redefines is enabled.

  • 2025-11-25-allow-spaces-between-parens-in-PICTURE-la-MF: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the presence of **spaces between the parentheses of a PICTURE**, such as PIC X( 9 ), when the new configuration option space-in-picture is enabled.

  • 2025-11-25-inspect-with-or: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the use of OR after an INSPECT ... BEFORE or INSPECT ... AFTER, such as INSPECT str TALLYING counter FOR CHARACTERS BEFORE "1" OR "2".

  • 2025-11-25-new-level-heuristics: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the compiler to tolerate many more missing periods in the DATA DIVISION by using a new heuristic for detecting level numbers. Warning: It may introduce regressions compared to code already functioning with GnuCOBOL. These regressions should be reported to us to correct the behavior.

  • 2025-11-25-print-token: This extension introduces the -fdump-tokens option to assist in debugging the parser.

  • 2025-11-28-better-out-of-bounds-messages: [Ergonomics] This extension improves error messages for overflows/out-of-bounds errors, typically by displaying the actual values and bounds.

  • 2026-01-12-compatibility-autoconf-2.69: This extension allows the use of autoconf versions starting from 2.69 instead of 2.70.

  • 2026-01-15-fix-sign-normalization-on-MOVE: [BUGFIX] This extension fixes a behavior that prevents sign normalization during a MOVE when a DISPLAY NUMERIC was not correctly signed during initialization.

  • 2026-02-05-add-superbol-testsuite: This extension introduces a new test suite specific to SuperBOL.

  • 2026-02-05-shared-superbol-config: This extension introduces a common configuration for all options introduced by SuperBOL extensions.

  • 2026-02-06-superbol-atscript-tests: This extension introduces a new format based on autofonce for certain SuperBOL regression tests.

  • 2026-02-07-allow-more-extra-dots: [BUGFIX] This extension fixes an incorrect GnuCOBOL behavior that does not support redundant periods if they are separated by line directives, typically introduced by COPY statements.

  • 2026-02-08-allow-unterminated-strings: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the absence of a string terminator when the new configuration option unterminated-string is enabled.

  • 2026-02-08-missing-dot-after-SPECIAL-NAMES: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the absence of a period at the end of instructions in SPECIAL-NAMES, just before INPUT-OUTPUT, DATA DIVISION, or PROCEDURE DIVISION.

  • 2026-02-08-missing-dot-before-or-after-FD: [MF-COMPAT] This extension allows the absence of a period in a field before or after FD or SD.

  • 2026-02-17-autostop: [Ergonomics] This extension allows a COBOL command to be interrupted mid-batch using an environment variable to launch a debugging session. See the Batch Switch section.

  • 2026-03-10-handle-spzero: [MF-COMPAT] Compatibility support for the Micro-Focus compiler’s SPZERO option.