Generate more meaningful COBOL names from wsdl when using top down Web Services

When generating COBOL from wsdl, data element names may exceed the maximum number of characters allowed by COBOL. There are two options currently available for shortening the names to an allowable length: truncating on the left or on the right. Neither option produces a satisfactory name. Truncation on the left renders the generated name awkward or meaningless as it chops off the high order portion of the name. Truncation on the right also removes meaning from the name; it also potentially generates data element names differentiated only by a numeric suffix, which can be confusing to the developer working with the generated structures.

We propose another way to generate names of acceptable length, to be added as an optional preprocessor before the truncation option is applied. We would supply a table of from/to values (e.g. description/desc). If a generated COBOL name exceeds 30 (the maximum COBOL length) and the lookup option is selected, the logic would iteratively match substrings of the generated name against the "from" options in the table, substitute the "to" value when a match is found, and check the length again. Once the generated element name reaches 30 characters or less, no further substitution is done. If all rows in the table are exhausted and the element still exceeds 30 characters, the left or right truncation is applied as selected.

We are open to other methods of generating more meaningful COBOL names.