AbstractSURGE, a COBOL pre‐processor for the machine generation of source programs, is described. The article presents the coding procedure by which the user communicates with SURGE, and briefly introduces the general logic of both the pre‐processor and generated programs. The main capabilities of SURGE are described as file sorting, selective retrieval and tabular report preparation, including multiple levels of totals and a capability for certain other kinds of computation. Non‐proprietary and relatively machine‐independent, this package appears to reduce the need for hand‐crafted COBOL programs and to be remarkably easy to learn and use. It is suggested that SURGE also may offer a suitable prototype for extending the concept of source‐program generation to other goals such as file updating and the production of FORTR