TC-main:
TinyCOBOL is an effort to bring a free COBOL compiler to Linux. It
generates GNU assembler for the IA32 (i386) Linux, FreeBSD, Win32 platforms. 
A executable binary is then created using the GNU assembler and linker. 
The project is approaching the first beta release with many statements 
already implemented.



0.55:
This release contains mainly bugs fixes, and enhancements.  
It includes updates to the main compiler, run-time,
the regression test suite.
The grammar was modified to enable compilation with Bison.
The MOVE run-time routines have been updated and improved.
ScreenIO has been updated to handle screen status and function keys.
Support for [SIGN IS] {LEADING/TRAILING} [SEPARATE] clauses,
have been added to the compiler run-time.
Preliminary work as started on the NIST test programs.

Important note:
Effective with version 0.55, to compile the TinyCOBOL compiler
will require Berkeley's YACC (byacc) version 1.9.3 or Bison.
Version 1.9.3 of YACC (byacc), only available on the snapshots web 
page, has been modified to handle huge grammars such as COBOL.
Using previous versions of Berkeley's YACC on the TinyCOBOL grammar,
will result in an abort on a table overflow error.


0.54:
This release contains mainly bugs fixes, and enhancements.  
It includes updates to the preprocessor, main compiler, RTS,
the regression test suite, EVALUATE, GOTO, READ, WRITE, RETURN,
DELETE, START, REWRITE statements.
Support for multiple WHEN clauses in SEARCH statement,
[SIGN IS] {LEADING/TRAILING} [SEPARATE] clauses,
FLOAT-LONG (COMP-2) FLOAT-SHORT (COMP-1) floating point types,
INSPECT...CONVERTING clause, have been added to the compiler.


0.53:
This release contains mainly bugs fixes, and enhancements.  
It includes updates to the preprocessor, math verbs, 
the regression test suite, gdb debug stabs, 
STRING/UNSTRING statements, ACCEPT from COMMAND-LINE and 
ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLE statements. 
Support for the dynamic CALL statement, 
ACCEPT  DAY, DAY-OF-WEEK, ON EXCEPTION and ERASE clauses, 
ADD and SUBTRACT (CORRESPONDING option) statements, 
EXTERNAL clause in the SELECT statement, BINARY-CHAR, 
BINARY-SHORT, BINARY-LONG, BINARY-DOUBLE and 
COMP-1/COMP-2 (preliminary) floating point types, 
support for the Debian package format 
have been added to the compiler.


0.52:
This release contains bugs fixes, and enhancements, 
including updates to the preprocessor, math verbs,
MOVE (CORRESPONDING option) statement, COMPUTE (exponent operator) statement,
enhancements to the regression test suite.
Support for the BLANK WHEN ZERO clause, SYNC clause, qualification,
OCCURS...DEPENDING ON... clause (variable-sized tables),
RECORD VARYING ... DEPENDING ON ... (variable-sized records) clause,
multiple record defines for FD entries, sequence of source programs,
have been added to the compiler.


0.51:
This release contains bugs fixes, and enhancements, 
including updates to the math verbs, the STRING statement,
file IO READ/WRITE statements, DISPLAY/ACCEPT statements,
SET statement, abbreviated conditional expressions.
Reference modification, pointer types, EXTERNAL semantics (preliminary)
have been added to the compiler.
The new pre-processor will now execute by default.
The Win32 (preliminary) platform, using the Cygwin emulation layer,
is now supported.


0.50:
This release contains bugs fixes, and code enhancements, 
including updates to the math verbs, the EVALUATE statement,
file OPEN/CLOSE statements, file LINE SEQUENTIAL IO.
The CALL BY CONTENT, JUSTIFIED RIGHT, and REPORT SECTION (preliminary) 
statements has been added to the COBOL grammar.
The DISPLAY/ACCEPT LINE/POSITION statements have been added, as an 
extension to the standard COBOL grammar.
Sample programs with CGI, SQL, and GUI interfaces have been added 
to the source distribution. 

0.4:
This release contains bugs fixes, and code enhancements, 
including updates to the GO TO statement, the screen I/O 
statements, SORT statements. A preprocessor has been added
to handle fixed and free syntax, and all COPY statements. 
Support for external file name assignment in SELECT and 
FD statements has been added as an extension to the standard 
COBOL 85 grammar.


0.3:
This release contains bugs fixes, and major modifications.  
It includes an update to the IF/ELSE statements to include 
abbreviated conditional expressions. The addition of static variables, 
the EVALUATE statements, variable length (1, 2, 4, 8) binary fields, 
the screen I/O statements. The CALL BY ... RETURNING variable has been 
added, as an extension to the standard COBOL 85 grammar.


0.2:
This release contains bugs fixes, and code enhancements, 
including updates to the IF/ELSE relational, class, name, 
sign conditionals statements. The CALL BY VALUE has been 
added, as an extension to the standard COBOL grammar.


0.1.5.5:
This minor release contains some bugs fixes, and some
code enhancements, including updates to the PERFORM
statements. With this release all PERFORM statements
are functional and conform to the COBOL 85 standard.


0.1.5.3:
In this release, along with some bug fixes, the
INITIALIZE, CURRENCY, PERFORM WITH TEST BEFORE/AFTER
option statements have been added to the COBOL
grammar.


0.1.5.0:
This release contains some additions to the COBOL 85
grammar and some bug fixes.


0.1.0.1:
bug fix release.


20000507:
An implemented SEARCH statement for tables, and more
bug fixes.


20000302:
Better configuration/installing, a new ability to read
environment variables using the ACCEPT verb, use of
library DB version 2.xx+, implementation of START ...
GREATER THAN or Relative files, an enhanced DISPLAY
verb to enable to direct output to stdout/stderr, and
many bug fixes.


991210:
Ability to use GDB for debugging, with COBOL source
lines listing, breakpoints, and variable
display/modifying, 32-bit binary storage and
operations on variables with "USAGE IS COMP", and
table access support using the SET statement.


991103:
The following features are implemented: ACCEPT from
time/date, DISPLAY, and file input/output (READ,
WRITE, REWRITE, START) for indexed, relative, line and
line sequential files. The functions for STRING,
UNSTRING, INSPECT, SET and ALTERNATE KEYS are
currently in development.


991028:
Initial release.
