Unanswered questions

Hi ,  since January (2026) we started the preparation to implement Changeman ZMF 8.3.1.  Investigation was ongoing. By accident , when checking some info on your website mid February , we discovered that since February 10 th (2026)  version 8.3.2 is available.   Since we discovered this by accident , we were surprised.Is there a way we can be informed when a new version is available ?  (We are already subscribed to newsletters)Or is no communication done on this topic ?

I am moving from Bluezone to Rocket TE and do not have macros in Rocket.  Is there a means to convert my bluezone VBA macros to a script that can be used with Rocket TE?

Our Cobol apps run natively on a Linux host with just local logging files, and I was wondering if there is any documentation on emitting (Opentelemetry) traces to an external collector (via network).If not natively supported, maybe people have some other ideas how to bridge the gap? Maybe building some integration via “Consolidated Tracing Facility” (CTF)?Thanks for any idea!Tung

Good morning, I have been working in COBOL for over 20 years and I have always believed that when a main program (PA) calls a second program (PB) using `CALL PB USING field1 field2 field3` and the procedure in PB is `PROCEDURE USING field1 field2 field3`, the parameters that are put in the `using` procedure of a program (PB) should be defined in the `linkage` section, but I see in the documentation this“ Data-name-1 must be defined as a level 01 or a level 77 entry in the Linkage Section , File Section or Working-Storage Section”This raises a lot of questions for me.Has this always been the case? If the variables in PB are defined in the working storage section, what relationship do the variables in PA have with those in PB? How does assigning values ​​to variables in PB affect the variables defined in PA? Could the call be made from PA without passing those parameters?

I have a customer who is using Shimms Universe database. Can anyone guide me to someone who can help build APIs and extract data for this customer? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Our team uses an Excel VBA macro to automate actions through Rocket Terminal Emulator (BlueZone). It was created on machines and is used by users that have Excel 32‑bit and the macro runs without any issues. New team members, however, are on Excel 64‑bit, and they are all getting the following error: Have anyone one else had similar errors and what was your solution?

I’m trying to configure the db.mvbasic.json file for includeMapping.I’m wondering if the issue I’m having is because in our programs, our $INSERT lines do not contain the file name.  Somehow, don’t ask me how, regardless of which file the $INSERT is in, the compiler finds it and adds it.For example, here’s a typical line:     $insert ENVIRON_CONSTANTS.INS.IBASENVIRON_CONSTANTS.INS.IBAS is not contained within an actual Universe account, nor is it in the same file as the source code.  This is confusing me when configuring the includeMapping section.Here’s what I tried:I added my development account to accounts section:    "accounts": [        {            "name": "devbtr",            "path": "/home/dev/devbtr"        }    ],ENVIRON_CONSTANTS.INS.IBAS is located under /home/dev/cadsrc/INSERTIn the account devbtr, the VOC entry that points to it is CADSRC.INSERT     CADSRC.INSERT0001 F0002 /home/dev/cadsrc/INSERT0003 /uvdata/uv/D_UFD/home/dev/cadsrc is NOT a Universe account. I tried:   

We do all our exports to CSV by lfieldump and this works for yearsNow, however, a customer came up with the idea of using a DOS environment variable to determine the directory instead of fixed directories.So instead of "Q:\outpute\export1.csv,"it should now be "%app_export%\export1.csv"(where app_export is defined differently on each client).Unfortunately, Uniface cannot handle this; the file system converts it to "?app_export?\export1.csv," and the file system complains.Is there a simple solution for this, i.e., any letter combinations that can be used at the file system level to resolve "%%app_export%"?Of course, I can use a few tricks to ask Windows/DOS what the resolution is before each fieldump, and then replace that part. But I'm reluctant to check all our programs for this and make changes :-)A customer 

I’m told that universe support says: . ... they receive very few support cases related to NLS…There are a couple of possible reasons for this, one being that no-one actually uses it. We have code that supports some high-range ascii characters that would otherwise cause problems with the item storage but are looking to test a proper unicode solution. I really don’t want to be the first down this path ;-) Mike

Does anyone have an accurate handle on how and when AUTOLOGOUT triggers?   The manual says….Use AUTOLOGOUT to enable or disable automatic logout. With AUTOLOGOUT enabled, UniVerse logs you out automatically if you have not pressed a key within a specified time.But I don’t believe that is accurate.   We’ve had some confusing results in testing.   A process on a loop with periodic TIMEDATE() displays (output only) does not trigger.  Similarly a loop process with no screen output but just a SLEEP X also does not trigger even in between loops before it goes back to sleep.So, we are trying to understand the actual nuts and bolts of how/when it triggers.   Thanks for any help.Steve DouglasVP Systems AdminMBMS, LLC

This pertains to the use of external filehandlers, where my COBOL class is compiled with CALLFH"abcdef", which in tern needs to call fh/aaaaaa.dll which exists in the sub folder fh.The COBOL has :CALL “fh/aaaaaa” using ………During animation I debug the class, debug abcdef, but when it gets to the CALL “fh/aaaaaa” it doesn’t raise an exception but doesn’t execute the code either.I can see from procmon that the assembly was indeed loaded as well as the .pdb but just ignored almost as though it was looking for the programid but that didn’t match.Is this not supported?Is there an COBOL .NET  replacement for COBPATH ?Neil 

​​​​​​I am currently launching a Python script from RM/COBOL with CALL SYSTEM. Seems there is some overhead associated with SYSTEM, I am looking for a more efficient method.  Are there any alternatives recommended? 

We have a web page built in against an HTML widget in our CS. Clicking a button on the web page uses a JS trigger to start loading a CS form and populating it with data. Whilst this is happening (can be up to 10 seconds before the entire form is loaded/shown) the web page is active and there is no indication at the client end that anything is happening. I’d like to turn on the ‘Processsing’ function, as per the refresh/loading of the page in the first place, from JS calls to the HTML widget before the activate of the triggered form, and off again after the form is loaded. (So the user doesn’t think nothing is happening and click the button several times (causing multiple instances of the form to fire up). Is this possible? Putting the DSP into ‘locked/processing’ state without the round trip to the server refresh… Iain

I have a JCL script that executes a COBOL program through a procedure (PROC0001). Specifically, the goal is to pass parameters to the procedure so that any COBOL program can be executed, and this is source code that is running in a production environment. However, when I try to run the same code on my PC with Enterprise Developer for Eclipse 11 on a Windows platform, the following errors occur:But when running the JCL script, a series of errors occur.Specifically, here is the relevant portion of the JCL script://JCL0001 JOB (0),'JCL0001',CLASS=?,MSGCLASS=?,USER=????????//STEP1 EXEC PROC=PROC0001,// PROGRAM=PGM00001,// DSN=DBP,// PLAN=PPGM0001,// LOAD1=PGMS.LIB.LOADHere I attach the part of PROC PROC0001 that I find relevant://PROC0001 PROC PROGRAM=XXXL9999,// DSN=XXX,// PLAN=XXXP9999,// LOAD1=STEC.LIBDUMMY.LOAD,// LOAD2=STEC.LIBDUMMY.LOAD,// LOAD3=STEC.LIBDUMMY.LOAD,// OUTC=*,// RGN=0K,// PARMS=&PARMSAnd the result of the execution produces the following errors:1 //JCL0001 JOB (0),

I am trying to call non-static Java methods from an executable file since static methods work fine in this environment.  I can accomplish this using cobjrun but it seems like the $java$ is not resolved correctly without cobjrun.I have tried adding all mf*.jar from the VisualCobol/lib directory into my CLASSPATH before execution but always get a load error similar to the following:Load error : file '$java$JavaCalculator'error code: 198, pc=0, call=1, seg=0198     Load failure Here are the files that show the failure:natcobol.cbl       $set ooctrl(+p-f)       program-id. natcobol.       class-control.          claJavacalled is class "$java$JavaCalculator".      * The above maps the Java class 'JavaCalculator' to the COBOL class name 'claJavacalled'       working-storage section.        copy "javatypes.cpy".           01 hCla            object reference.           01 l1              jlong value 10.           01 l2              jlong value 5.           01 retl            jlong.           0

Where can you download these clients? I can only find 5.4.2 and 5.4.1

We would like to open a PDF file in the program and extract an attachment (in this case, an XML file) from this PDF file.Is there a way to do this?

HI all,  I have just recently upgraded from Accuterm 7 to the latest version of Accuterm 8.1.1.1134. I am currently having an issue if I attempt to run a second instance of Accuterm, the first instance of Accuterm is displayed. I have 2 Accuterm sessions saved on my desktop, the first open fine. When the second session is selected the first session displays. In settings I have checked the option to "open sessions in a new window instead of a new tab". any suggestions would be gratefully received. thanks George.

I have a COPY project that is used in other COBOL projects. In this COPY project, there are lines of code that need to be continued because they exceed 80 characters. For example:05 PIC X(70) VALUE "(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- "x)".In fact, the Enterprise Developer IDE for Eclipse 11 reports the following errors for this line:- COBCH0026S Literal too long- COBCH1007E VALUE literal size 227 > data item size 70. Literal truncated.And since it's a COPY project, I can't apply compilation directives. In fact, I don't understand why the IDE is trying to compile a COPY. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?Thank you very much.

We have been trying to standardise our jbase environment across accounts.  But we are experiencing a problem with loosing the C:\jbase\6.2.1.1\bin assignment and therefore can not use the base jbase programs like LIST.THIS IS QUITE A PROBLEM !WE have placed the statement in the OBJECTLIST in the system environment variables for the administrator and the account login.We have placed in into the OBJECTLIST in every remote.cmd we can find.when we restart the services we then log in on the server as administrator or as the account and start a jshell.Things look good and the OBJECTLIST is as we expect when we use jdiag - all great BUT as soon as we login to a real jbase Account we loose the OBJECTLIST for c:\jase\6.2.1.1 and are simply lefty with the local account BIN and LIB can anyone help please !at the moment it would appear that dialing in as a dumb screen on telnet works ok via the remote.cmdMany thanks  :) 

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Visual Cobol?I have a book on the subject but the author gave the reader a bogus web address.Or do I just have to wait to be told where to go to get my copy of the compiler. I like working with Visual Studio Community. 

I have a program that creates a Wintegrate pop-up window. Within this window, among other things, I place a picture in a specific location. Currently, the x/y coordinates used to place the picture are based solely on the window it’s self.Problem: the picture seems to move around if I resize and/or move the window. Or worse, if I move the program to a different computer.The solution that I am looking for, is a way to determine exactly what are the x/y coordinates of the upper/left corner of the window as compared to the full monitor screen. This would allow me to calculate exactly where I want to place the picture, within the window, no matter the size or location of said window on the monitor.

Hi all,I’ve been looking looking into what is involved in updating UD and UV systems.  The Universe 14.2.1 installation guide has a link for  the  “U2 Product Availability Matrix” -->  https://rbc.rocketsoftware.com/buildmatrix.asp  Unfortunately, this takes me to a dead-end with “This rbc.rocketsoftware.com page can’t be found”.  Where can I find this document?Thank you,Jonathan WellsAptron Corporation

Currently our ACUCOBOL (compiler v.10.3.1) print modules use WIN$PRINT to create PDF files using locally installed PDFCreator (on the user’s Windows machine) and -P SPOOLER.  We are looking for an alternate solution which will enable us to use a PDF printer installed on the Linux server instead.  All the options we’ve explored so far, incl. cupspdf; C$PDF and -P PDF involve extensive code changes or loss of predefined formatting.  Is there a solution available which will allow us to do the conversion with minimal code impact?

Hi everyone, I’m attempting to install the UniVerse Personal Edition version 14.1.1 on MacOS Tahoe 26.1 on an M1 Macbook. I’m following Rocket’s official PDF (see attachment) on how to do this via a Docker container and using the supporting files from their Github: RocketSoftware/multivalue-containers Because I’m on Apple Silicon, I adjusted the Dockerfile as follows:Replaced the original FROM to force AMD64 emulation since I’m on ARM:FROM --platform=linux/amd64 rockylinux/rockylinux:latestI also added this to fix a permission error that occurs.RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/*uv.sh Now, I consistently hit a segmentation fault in the installer during the init_uvsm step. Below is an excerpt of the output logs where the error occurs after running docker compose up:universe-server  | universe-server  | Starting UniVerse...universe-server  | UVSMM is started.universe-server  | Starting uvsm...universe-server  | /usr/uv/bin/uv.rc: line 562:  3654 Segmentation fault      $uvbin/init_uvsm $init_u