Reading COBOL "data files"

From: Scott Hooper (shooper_at_rxworks.com)
Date: 07/15/04 

Date: 14 Jul 2004 22:38:17 -0700

I have read through all the newsgroups I could find and am getting
very confused about what to do with my files. I have a heaps of
FILExxxx.DAT files, some with matching .CTL files, that I need to read
into something like Access, dBase or delimited text. The files were
created using a custom program written in RM/COBOL-85. I have all the
.COB files. What I can't do is spend any money on a one-off tool. I'm
hoping that somebody can offer me a VB, VB.NET or C# code solution for
reading these.

Also, I have this entire COBOL program but can't run it as I get
messages talking about the need for me to install the RM/COBOL
runtime. Is this available free anywhere? I understand the developer
tools would cost, but surely the runtime is free for end users?

Many thanks in advance,
Scott Hooper