Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  26 October 2012 Problem: How do you set a combo box on a Windows Form to read-only?  It is not one of the combo box properties like it is in the properties of a Textbox control. Resolution: You can disable the Combobox so that no data can be entered into the Textbox portion or the list portion of the control as follows:      set comboBox1::Enabled to false If you want your users to be able to pick from the list but not enter a value in the Textbox then change the dropdownstyle property to dropdownlist.      set comboBox1::DropDownStyle to type ComboBoxStyle::DropDownList Incident #2597108 Old KB# 36516#COBOL#VisualCOBOL#netexpress

Created On:  23 October 2012 Problem: Fileshare has been installed as a Windows service using the command fsservice -i.Although the Fileshare service was set to Automatic with Server for COBOL 4.0/5.0/5.1 or COBOL Server 1.0/2.0/2.1, the service is not started after reboot.Event Viewer reports the following two errors:"A timeout was reached (30000 milliseconds) while waiting for the Micro Focus Fileshare Service service to connect." "The Micro Focus Fileshare Service service failed to start due to the following error: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion." Resolution: This problem occurs when Fileshare is started as a service while the CCITCP2 daemon is not running.The CCITCP2 daemon has to be installed as a service and has to be started before starting the Fileshare service. Here are the steps to set up the Fileshare service properly:1. open a Command Prompt session that is run as administrator (i.e. right-click on the C

Created On:  24 October 2012 Problem: This article discusses the "database failure" error when running $COBDIR/lmf/lmfinstallYou have recovered a corrupt LMF database using the install script:  $COBDIR/lmf/lmfinstall.Your COBOL version is prior to Server Express 2.2 Service Pack 2. Restarting licensing fails with a message: “License Key database is empty”.You attempt to install licenses into the empty database and receive the message: "database failure". Resolution: The problem is that directory $COBDIR/lmf contains database files (mflmfdb, mflmfdb.idx, mflmfdbX, mflmfdbX.idx). These database files do not belong in $COBDIR/lmf and must be removed.The lmfinstall script allows the user to create an empty database in a directory of their choosing (the default is a directory called mflmf).If the user attempts to install into $COBDIR/lmf (install over itself) then it will fail but it still create the database filesThen when the user reruns the script to create a database in

Created On:  17 October 2012 Problem: We want to be able to activate our Cobol 2010 Runtime licenses via their Proxy Server but when doing so see the following error: Error: Unable to comunicate with Micro Focus ,The remote server returned an error: (407) Proxy Authentication Required. Resolution: Please note that this issue is resolved in Visual COBOL version 2.1, if you are using a previous version of this product please try the following: To allow for safe net license activation through a proxy server you can use the following CesAdminTool.exe.config file modification, this file is normally placed in the following folder: C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Common Files\\SafeNet Sentinel\\Sentinel RMS License Manager\\WINNT\\CesAdminTool.exe.config The proxy configuration will be set in internet explorer , for further info you could read http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sa91de1e(v=VS.90).aspx To make it work, you should modify the file with:   <> 

Created On:  25 October 2012 Problem: Executing an OPEN OUTPUT on a Vision file, file-status is returned with a value of 39,01. ACUCOBOL-GT documentation says that this status means: “Existing file conflicts with the COBOL description of the file. (open) Mismatch found but exact cause unknown (this status is returned by the host file system)”. Resolution: More specifically, this error may be caused by the structure of the Vision file that is going to be opened. If the indexed file is of version 3, the limitation for split keys is 6 segments maximum. Vision files version 3 that have more than 6 segments in a split key can generate error 39,01 when an OPEN is executed. This can be solved reducing the number of segments or upgrading the file system to Vision version 5, which presents a higher limit (16 segments maximum). Incident #2431301, 99-008951 Old KB# 36508#archive#COBOL

Created On:  17 October 2012 Problem: You can use ANT to compile COBOL Files from the command line in Visual COBOL for Eclipse, but how can this be done for individual COBOL programs? Resolution: First ensure your COBOL environment is set up and ensure the mfant and ant-contrib jar files (from the Visual COBOL bin directory) are on your classpath. Assuming your project is in c:\\workspace\\fred, your build configuration is called “New Configuration”, and you want to compile program1.cbl and program2.cbl, use the following command line: ant -f .cobolBuild New_Configuration.FileCompile -DfilesList="C:\\workspace\\fred\\program1.cbl,C:\\workspace\\fred\\program2.cbl " You can modify the entries in the -DfilesList parameter as needed. NA. Old KB# 36447#COBOL

Created On:  19 October 2012 Problem: During installation of Visual COBOL the following error is observed:                    Micro Focus Product - Standalone Installer                               www.microfocus.com pax: VisualCOBOL2.1/visualcobol_devhub_2.1.pax : No such file or directory Resolution: This problem is likely to be caused by a space problem on filesystem containing the current working directory or the installation destination directory which is /opt/microfocus/VisualCOBOL by default but can be overridden using the -installlocation option. Incident #2596802 Old KB# 36463

Created On:  22 October 2012 Problem: The AS/400 Scheduled File transfer fails to run. Resolution: AS/400 scheduled batch transfer feature enables users to schedule file transfers to run at a desired time. It provides the ability to execute the file transfer sessions unattended. It can be configured with various options and the file transfer profiles will be executed accordingly. The important thing to remember is that the scheduled batch window must be active in order for it to execute file transfer profiles included in it at a scheduled time. Please perform the following steps to run a scheduled batch file transfer: · Launch a file transfer profile (.RTO) file · Then click on Transfer -> Batch to launch Batch Transfer window · Open a batch file transfer profile (.BTF) by clicking on the “Open” button · Click on the “Run Batch” button and it will launch scheduled batch window. Leave this window active in order for the scheduled batch transfer to run the file transfer pr

Created On:  17 October 2012 Problem: If experiencing errors when using Visual COBOL for Eclipse you can see the errors in the Eclipse log file, it is not easy to see how these errors occur in realtime or when exactly they occurred, or know what Eclipse is doing at the time of the problem. Resolution: You can start the Eclipse IDE with the consolelog option, this will show you events/errors as they occur on a console, and this could help you understand which areas of the software are affected. > Open a Visual Cobol command prompt and type:> cd C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Visual COBOL\\eclipse\\ > press enter> then type:> eclipse.exe -consolelog > press enter You will see a console window open up and in there what Eclipse is loading/doing. NA. Old KB# 36446#COBOL

Created On:  16 October 2012 Problem: One of our programs drops thru an Exit Program to the next paragraph. We are testing a new Cobol program and it is not honoring the Exit Program verb. Sample code follows:        Identification Division.       Program-Id.  LORINCE.       Data Division.       Working-Storage Section.       1   A       Pic 9.       Procedure Division.       P1.           Move 0 to A           Display ' A = ' A           If A < 3            Perform Varying A From 1 by 1 Until A > 3  &

Created On:  19 October 2012 Problem: When a Visual COBOL installation fails, is there any way to get more information on what the installer was doing? Resolution: There are a number of ways to get more information on what the installer is doing and finely control the installation process.  All of these options can be found if you use the -mfhelp flag.  Most of these options are for internal Micro Focus testing, however several, such as -extractonly, can be useful for diagnosing installation issues.Depending on where in the installation process the error has occurred you should see a log file in the current directoy.  The log file may also appear in /tmp or /opt/microfocus/logs.  Examining the log file should help diagnose the cause of the problem and should be submitted to Customer Care if reporting an installation problem.Also, it is possible to manually install the product.  Splitting the install into different steps will allow you to see exactly

Created On:  05 October 2012 Problem: I look in $COBDIR/bin and I see the "cob" command, but I also see "cob32" and "cob64".   If I want to compile in 32-bit mode, should I use "cob32"?   Likewise, should I use "cob64" for 64-bit mode? Resolution: The intention is that end-users will use the basic "cob" command under all circumstances.  The "cob" command will notice the active cobmode at the time, then invoke either "cob32" or "cob64" behind the scenes as appropriate. The COBOL system is actively operating in one mode or another at any one time.  The current mode can be revealed by entering the "cobmode" command. The mode can be affected by setting the COBMODE environment variable.  For example:  $ export COBMODE=32  $ cobmode Effective Default Working Mode: 32 bit  $ export COBMODE=64  $ cobmode Effective Default Working Mode: 64 bit The mode can also be affected by various flags or options of the "cobmode"

Created On:  03 October 2012 Problem: Customer is converting from Server Express 5.1 on AIX to Visual COBOL Dev Hub 2.1 on AIX.He is using a cobconfig.cfg file that sets the run-time tunable multi_close_limit=10.This does not cause a problem under Server Express but under Dev Hub 2.1 it causes an error in the config file handling.Is this tunable still supported? Resolution: The multi_close_limit tunable was originally introduced because of a problem where the runtime ran out of file handles when repeatedly opening and closing the same file, in certain circumstances. The runtime was changed to allow re-use of file handles for equivalent access modes. The support for the multi_close_tunable was disabled in Visual COBOL 2.1 but it has actually been unsupported since about Server Express 2.2.Removing the tunable from the cobconfig file will resolve the problem. Incident #2594590 Old KB# 36397#netexpress#ServerExpress#COBOL#VisualCOBOL

Created On:  02 October 2012 Problem: Does Visual COBOL support the Net Express WINDOW1 preprocessor for ACU type popup windows for character applications?  For example: The following works in Net Express 5.1: $set preprocess(window1)  working-storage section. 78 note-height value 16. 78 note-width value 41. 78 no-of-chars value note-height * note-width. 01 note-window pic x(10).  01 dummy pic x.  01 note-data value all "- wallpaper ".       03 note-char pic x occurs no-of-chars.  screen section. 01 input-data highlight.       03 line 4 column 6 value " Accept and Display positions ".       03 line 5 column 6 value " are relative to the top left ".       03 line 6 column 6 value " corner of the window. ".       03 pic x using dummy.  01 note-screen pic x(no-

Created On:  25 September 2012 Problem: Customers started already working with Windows 8 and MS SQL Server 2012, which are not officaly supported by our version 9.1.1. Resolution: Our just released version 9.1.2 officially supports Windows 8, SPARC running Solaris 11 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012. N/A Old KB# 36376

Created On:  25 September 2012 Problem: The original source file for the program has been lost.  Can the source code be extracted from the compiled object? Resolution: If the object was compiled for source level debugging then yes, Micro Focus engineers can extract the source.  To check the progam, execute it in debug (wrun32 -d programname or runcbl -d programname depending on platform).  If you can see the lines of the source then decompiling is possible. Your Account Manager can provide information on the cost and availability for such services. n/a Old KB# 36374#decompileundebug

Created On:  25 September 2012 Problem: A Vision version 4 file is about 5 GB total size with 37 million records.  It has two keys and there is a need to specify an existing field as another key.  A COBOL program was created to read the existing file and write to the new file.  That program executed very slowly.  It had not finished after running for over a day.  The file is used for a batch process that must run every day so a faster method is needed. Resolution: The vutil -unload and -load options will produce much faster results in moving the data from the old file to the new file.  First, unload the data into a binary sequential file using:      vutil -unload -b originalfile tempfile Next create the new empty file with an OPEN OUTPUT from a COBOL program.  Next, after you have an empty file with the new definition load the data with:      vutil -load -b temptfile newfile Lastly rename the

Created On:  02 October 2012 Problem: Customer is converting an application created using Net Express and Oracle Pro*COBOL to Visual COBOL managed code using OpenESQL.In Pro*COBOL they could use the following statement to change the date format of date fields returned in SQL queries:EXEC SQL ALTER SESSION SET NLS_DATE_FORMAT = 'MM-DD-YYYY' END-EXEC.Is there an equivalent method in Visual COBOL using OpenESQL? Resolution: Starting in Visual COBOL 2.1 several SQL directives have been added to control the returned formats of SQL Date and Time fields. Please see Visual COBOL documentation under Data Access, Database Access > Reference > OpenESQL > Compiler directives for full details of these directives.DATE Controls the reformatting of date values in output parameters and in input parameter character host variables when DETECTDATE is also specified. TIMEControls the reformatting of date values in output parameters and in input parameter character host variables when

Created On:  19 September 2012 Problem: In certain instances CTF traces are not generated as expected.  This can be caused by mftrace being set somewhere else in the environment variables and sometimes this can be hard to find. Resolution: Stop the ES Region Open the Enterprise Developer command prompt and type SET MFTRACE_CONFIG=C:\\LOGS\\CTF.CFG next MFTRACE_LOGS=C:\\LOGS next CASSTART /RCICSSERV If CICSSERV is the region name.  Recreate and see if log files are generated now. To Stop the region when you start this way you must stop using the following command: CASSTOP /RCICSSERV * C:\\LOGS must exist and CTF.CFG must exist within the C:\\LOGS directory. Incident #2585243 Old KB# 36358#COBOL

Created On:  08 October 2012 Problem: Customer is using Visual COBOL for Visual Studio and needs to dynamically upload a file to an ftp site using the .NET Framework classes.  Can you provide an example of how this can be done? Resolution: Here is an example of uploading a file to an ftp site using Visual COBOL for Visual Studio managed code and the .NET Framework classes. $set ilusing"System.Net"$set ilusing"System.IO" program-id. Program1 as "testftp.Program1".data division.working-storage section.01 cFtpWebRequest type System.Net.FtpWebRequest.01 cFtpWebResponse type System.Net.FtpWebResponse.01 cFileInfo type FileInfo.01 fileContents type Byte occurs any.01 cFileStream type FileStream.01 writer type Stream.procedure division.try   set cftpWebRequest to type FtpWebRequest::Create(new type Uri("ftp://ftp.microfocus.com/testfile.txt")) as type FtpWebRequest   set cFtpWebRequest::Method to type "System.Ne

Created On:  20 September 2012 Problem: Because of missing symbolic links to the multi-threaded Xerces shared objects, you will receive the following load error when executing threaded programs that use Xerces on UNIX platforms:Load error : file 'cobrtxml_t.so'error code: 198, pc=0, call=1, seg=0198 Load failure (No such file or directory)orLoad error : file 'cobrtxml64_t.so'error code: 198, pc=0, call=1, seg=0198 Load failure (No such file or directory)This issue occurs both with 32-bit and 64-bit programs. Resolution: Create missing symbolic links (libxerces-c_t.so, libxerces-c_t.so.28, libxerces-c64_t.so, libxerces-c64_t.so.28) to multi-threaded Xerces shared objects (libxerces-c_t.so.28.0, libxerces-c64_t.so.28.0) provided in the product. Logged in as the root user : cd $COBDIR/libln -s libxerces-c_t.so.28.0 libxerces-c_t.soln -s libxerces-c_t.so.28.0 libxerces-c_t.so.28ln -s libxerces-c64_t.so.28.0 libxerces-c64_t.soln -s libxerces-c64_t.so.28.0 libxerces-c64_t.so.28

Created On:  19 September 2012 Problem: Customer has a Net Express native code application that uses the Net Express OLE Domain class library support to program Excel OLE Automation in COBOL.  Customer tried to move this into a .NET managed code program in Visual COBOL and it doesn't compile.  How can he use Excel OLE Automation from within a managed code program?The following code works in Net Express: $set ooctrl( P)ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION. FILE-CONTROL. ******************************************************************class-control.MSExcel is class "$OLE$Excel.Application".*****************************************************************data division.working-storage section.01 WS-CSVFILE  pic x(30).01 WS-XLSFILE  pic x(30).01 WS-PASSWORD  pic x(20).01 ExcelObject   object reference.01 WorkBooksCollection object reference.01 Workbook object reference.01 WorkSheets object reference.01 Worksh

Created On:  19 September 2012 Problem: Customer is using Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2.0 to create a native COBOL application that uses embedded SQL to access a SQL Server database through ODBC.  The ODBC DSN has been setup to use the SQL Server driver and the Text Connect button is successful in the ODBC Administrator.  When the customer starts OpenESQL Assistant in Visual Studio it correctly displays the list of available DSNs and when they are expanded the list of tables is also displayed.  When a table is checked and the Assistant tries to display the columns it displays an error that no columns are defined for the table.  What is the problem? Resolution: Check to see if the ODBC DSN is using an out of date SQL Server ODBC driver. You should upgrade to use SQL Server Native Client 10.0 or later instead of the standard driver for SQL Server. What happened is that in Visual COBOL 2.0 OpenESQL changed the default behavior to mainframe and the Assist

Created On:  08 October 2012 Problem: How do I get the DMPAPER parameter for custom paper size - in this case it is 9x12? Resolution: With reference to the PC_PRINTER_DEFAULT_PROPERTIES (which sets one or more of the properties of the default printer for all PC_PRINTER_ routines), please set the P-PAPERSIZE flag to 0 - which Microsoft define as the custom setting.  Once this has been done, you can add your own values to P-PAPERLENGTH and P-PAPERWIDTH, to the nearest millimeter, to define your own custom page size. Incident #2595190 Old KB# 36413#COBOL

Created On:  17 September 2012 Problem: I have a .NET managed code application compiled in Visual COBOL 2.0 which is using the PC_PRINTER_OPEN library call to print a document.  When making the call the application is setting the flags parameter to 8 which is supposed to cause it to print in landscape mode instead of portrait but it appears to be ignored and it prints in portrait anyway.  What is the problem? Resolution: There is a known problem in Visual COBOL when trying to set landscape mode using PC_PRINTER_OPEN in managed code.The flag will be ignored. This has been fixed but will not be available until Visual COBOL 2.2. The problem only exists in managed code as it prints in landscape mode fine in native code. Also, there is a workaround for the problem by calling PC_PRINTER_SET_DEFAULTS to change the orientation to landcape mode before the PC_PRINTER_OPEN call is done. This assumes that the printer you are opening in PC_PRINTER_OPEN is t