Code conversion concepts

To learn how code conversion happens, understanding some key concepts such as Macro handling, Code pages, and CodeBuild is important.

Macro Handling

Mainframe Assembler code frequently uses Macros to encapsulate functionality for reuse. Macro behavior is typically determined at application runtime based on parameters passed from an Assembler program. Code conversion provides several mechanisms for expanding Assembler Macros prior to conversion to COBOL.

Code pages (EBCDIC vs ASCII)

Mainframe Assembler often contain character literals expressed as hexadecimal values corresponding to EBCDIC characters. Code conversion provides a configurable capability to automatically manage character literals in ASCII when emitting COBOL for ASCII environments.

CodeBuild

Code conversion is available through the AWS CodeBuild service. AWS CodeBuild is a build automation tool originally designed as a part of a CI/CD pipeline. In AWS Mainframe Modernization, AWS CodeBuild is used to automate the MCCAC Conversion tool and other tools such as the Micro Focus COBOL compiler.