cobol-parser
Python library for parsing IBM Enterprise COBOL source into an AST. Supports dependency extraction, dead code detection, program flow analysis, and CRUD matrices. 99.1% parse success on the NIST COBOL-85 corpus.
Install
pip install -e ".[dev]"
Requires Python 3.11, 3.12, or 3.13.
Install the CLI globally (uv)
To get the cobol-parser command on your PATH in any directory, without
setting up a project virtualenv:
uv tool install . # from a clone of this repo
uv tool install --editable . # dev mode: picks up code changes without reinstalling
uv tool install builds the Cython fast-path extensions as part of the
install, so the CLI runs at full speed. Verify it worked from anywhere:
cobol-parser --version
After pulling new commits (non-editable install only), rerun uv tool install . --reinstall to update.
Quick Start
from cobolparser import parse_cobol
result = parse_cobol(source, filename="prog.cbl")
if result.success:
print(result.ast.program_name)
print(result.ast.to_json())
CLI:
cobol-parser parse program.cbl
cobol-parser analyze program.cbl # dynamic call analysis
cobol-parser dead-code program.cbl # unreferenced paragraphs
Generate test data from a copybook
gen-data turns a copybook record layout into a CSV of synthetic records —
one column per elementary field, values that always fit the field's PICTURE,
USAGE, and level-88 domain:
cobol-parser gen-data CUSTOMER.cpy --rows 100 --seed 7 -o customers.csv
from cobolparser.generators import CopybookDataGenerator, DataGeneratorOptions
dataset = CopybookDataGenerator(
DataGeneratorOptions(rows=100, seed=7)
).generate_from_file("CUSTOMER.cpy")
print(dataset.to_csv())
A seed makes output byte-identical across runs; omit it and the seed that
was drawn is reported on dataset.seed (and by gen-data --describe) so any
run can be replayed. REDEFINES and FILLER are excluded by default, and
OCCURS tables expand to one column per occurrence.
Commands
# Tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v
python -m pytest --cov=cobolparser --cov-report=html
# Lint / format / type-check
ruff check .
black .
mypy cobolparser/
Documentation
Full reference: .okf/index.md
License
Proprietary — Copyright © 2026 Samuel Dion. All rights reserved. See LICENSE.
1 maintainer
Metadata
1 maintainer
Release files for cobol-parser 1.8.0
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Built distributions (wheels)
Total release size: 180.5 MB
Release files / cobol_parser-1.8.0-cp313-cp313-win_amd64.whl
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| Size | 6.1 MB |
| Tags | CPython 3.13 Windows x86-64 |
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| Size | 6.1 MB |
| Tags | CPython 3.12 Windows x86-64 |
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| Tags | CPython 3.12 Linux glibc 2.17+ x86-64 |
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|---|---|
| Size | 47.3 MB |
| Tags | CPython 3.11 Linux glibc 2.17+ x86-64 |
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