Compiler Overview

In BBj 4.0 and higher, the Business BASIC compiling features make it possible to use the IDE not only for BBj development, but also for PRO/5 or BBxPROGRESSION/4. The BASIS IDE provides a convenient graphical front-end for the BBjCpl, pro5cpl and bbx4cpl Business BASIC compiler utilities, simplifing the process of converting large numbers of files into token format. After configuring the compliers, select any combination of files or directories in the NetBeans Explorer and choose Compile or Build from the menu. The IDE does not contain built-in compilers. It assembles all selected source files for compiling, invokes the specified compiler as a process in a new execution thread, feeds it the appropriate command line parameters along with the selected files, and then displays the results when the process is finished.

Compiling from within the IDE returns automatic linking to the source of any reported errors. The NetBeans Compiler Output Window displays errors found during the compiling process as hyperlinks. Double-clicking on a hyperlink opens the original source file in the Source Editor, where the line containing the error is highlighted.

Configuring the Business BASIC Compilers

From the Tools menu, open the Options dialog and expand the Building folder to view the different options that control compiling in the IDE. The Business BASIC Compiler Types option controls which version of Business BASIC to use for compiling. The choices available in the drop-down box are BBj (the default), BBx, PRO/5, and BBxPROGRESSION/4. The compiler utility (BBjCpl, pro5cpl or bbx4cpl) specified in this option creates the tokenized files. In addition, each separate compiler type contains a set of parameters that the developer must configure before compiling.