Before you can run the tutorial, you must download and install some additional software and the tutorial files. The following sections describe the tasks you need to perform to do this. Once you complete these tasks, the tutorial is ready to use.
You install a Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) server or servlet container so that the Micro Focus JVM COBOL runtime, under which your COBOL program runs, may be mapped to the server. Subsequently, your COBOL program is accessible in that environment.
Visual COBOL includes the Web Tools Platform (WTP), which is a component of Eclipse that is designed for the creation of web applications. In particular, it has support for the JEE stack. Micro Focus COBOL JVM projects can interact with the WTP to expose COBOL functionality in JEE Web services.
Upon completion of the Java server installation, you will have the ability to create a dynamic web project.
Determine which Java server or servlet container to install. You need install only one, and you need to choose which server best suits your requirements. The Micro Focus JVM COBOL runtime supports many of these: refer to the Application server support for JVM COBOL section of the Additional Software Requirements topic for your platform.
If you are new to Java, Micro Focus recommends that you choose Apache Tomcat, as it is a lightweight, open-source servlet container.
Support for other servers is also included, but is not detailed here. If you wish to install an alternate server, you will need to refer to the external supplier's documentation. In addition, you may need to configure your projects differently.
Your projects must target that same Java version used by the server you choose. By default, this tutorial uses Java 8 which is provided with Visual COBOL: