Do I need to recompile all the COBOL programs?

[Shreya Khatri]

Hi,

A copybook is used in several COBOL programs. If we add some fields to copybook which are used by some modules but not all the programs, is it necessary to recompile all the modules which are using this copybook even though the program does not use newly added field? Please suggest.

[enrico-sorichetti]

in general it is a good practice to have everything aligned!
usually a change management tool will, on its own, rebuild the modules referring to a changed copybook

[Shreya Khatri]

Thaks enrico!

[Robert Sample]

If the added fields change the length of the record, then you need to recompile every program using the copy book. Otherwise, you may not need to recompile every program -- it depends largely upon whether the added fields are all at the end of the record or not.