Plain Money Notes

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v6.1.1 · COBOL gets its columns back

Corrects the COBOL example’s fixed-column layout so the Darcula lexer highlights complete words instead of dimming the sequence area.

The fix

Jack’s COBOL was correct in spirit and dressed incorrectly for the lexer.

The syntax highlighter treats the first six columns of traditional COBOL as the sequence-number area. Because the original example began its statements in column one, it dimmed the first six characters of lines such as IDENTIFICATION and PROGRAM-ID.

Version 6.1.1 moves the program text into the traditional Area A position. Complete keywords now receive the intended Darcula colors, and the article briefly explains why the leading spaces belong there. The code frame also carries a compact, explicit COBOL label in its top-left corner so nobody has to identify the language by archaeology.

Validation

  • Rebuilt the complete Hugo site and committed its deployable output.
  • Verified that the rendered code no longer emits the dim sequence-area token around IDENTI, PROGRA, DATA D, or WORKIN.
  • Added and enforced visible language metadata on every highlighted code frame, including Jack’s COBOL and Fortran programs.
  • Re-ran the full automated and semantic audit suite.

Credit

Diagnosed, corrected, tested, documented, and released with Morpheus, the repository-specific Codex AI agent collaborator for Plain Money Notes.