Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  07 September 2012 Problem: How to improve the performance of an AcuConnect Thin Client application. Resolution: In general two are the most important factors in performance terms when executing Thin Client applications, the application and the network latency, rather than bandwidth, latency is almost always the cause for poor thin client display performance, increasing the bandwidth does not necessarily reduce latency. In fact, when a client sends a request to acurcl, it just makes the connection via a socket, once a client is connected to the child runtime, acurcl is never again utilized for that client except during the runtime shutdown, in this case, during the execution of the application, all the performance depends on the speed of the network. The above points to the fact that the memory requirements are those for the runtime, which are minimum. A thin client program is less affected by the network latency if it has fewer calls that require a response. Re

Created On:  10 September 2012 Problem: The main program calls by the data-item a module that is created into .DLL. Resolution: This is an issue with Net Express 5.1WS5 . The issue is fixed in Net Express 5.1WS6. Incident #2586639 Old KB# 36294#COBOL

Created On:  12 September 2012 Problem: Customer has a Visual COBOL Windows Forms application on which several comboBox controls reside. When the user selects a new item in the combobox the application needs to set some textbox controls to the value of the selected item.The problem is that the SelectedIndexChanged event also fires when the combobox is first created during the form load.How can SelectedIndexChanged event be used only when a user actually clicks on a new item and not when the form is being loaded? Resolution: You can set up a condition flag in working-storage so that you can avoid the first time the SelectedindexChanged event is fired. Example:       class-id testcomboselect.Form1 is partial                inherits type System.Windows.Forms.Form.      working-storage section.      01 isInitial   condition-value value

Created On:  12 September 2012 Problem: I have two projects of type .Micro Focus .INT/.GNT set up in a Visual COBOL Solution.  The startup project project1 contains program "program1.int" which is doing a call to "program2.int" which is in project2.I have added an application.config file to project1 and have set both the PATH and COBDIR environment variables to point to the output folder of project2 which is where "program2.int" resides.When the call to "program2" is made a run-time error 173 occurs which means that "program2" cannot be found. Why does this occur? Resolution: In Visual COBOL the environment variable COBPATH is used to locate .INT/.GNT files that are being called.Change your PATH setting to COBPATH and this should be found. Old KB# 36312

Created On:  24 August 2012 Problem: Program is executing a COBOL SEARCH statement but it appears to be failing on a data match that is definately in the table.What could be wrong?The program looks like: 01  ERROR-MSG                    PIC  X(28) VALUE SPACES.         01  ERR-IO-STATUS              PIC  X(02) VALUE SPACES.                                                                         

Created On:  09 September 2012 Problem: After installing NetExpress 5.1 WrapPack 6 (nxp3251060079.exe), applying WrapPack 7 (nxp3251070047.msp) fails with the following error: "Error 1920. Service EnterpriseLink Loader Service (ELService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services." Resolution: For some reason, the Net Express settings got corrupted and need to be repaired.  Here is the step to do a repair on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008: 1. Go to Control Panel > Program and Features 2. Select Micro Focus Net Express 5.1 3. Click on Repair from the tool bar above the column names 4. Click on Yes to allow NXP32MSI to update software  Here are the steps to do a repair on older Windows platforms: 1. Go to Control Panel >  Add or Remove Programs 2. Select Micro Focus Net Express 5.1 3. Click on Change 4. Click on Next 5. Select Repair 6. Click on Next

Created On:  10 September 2012 Problem: Customer has Oracles Pro*COBOL installed and is using the COBSQL option of Net Express to invoke the precompiler when compiling embedded SQL programs under Windows.Customer is getting following error from compiler: * CSQL-I-020: Processing output of ORACLE8 Precompiler* CSQL-I-027: Detected Working-Storage, now processing it* CSQL-I-028: Now processing through Procedure DivisionCOBPR0000S 000008:Must use option SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS(FULL) when there is embedded PL/ : "C:\\Work\\Net Express Projects\\testeval.pco"(618,7) * CSQL-I-001: Cobsql has finished returning to the CheckerRebuild complete with errors------------------------------------------ Customer asks, "How might I go about setting "SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS(FULL)"? Should this be done in the cobol.dir file? Resolution: SQLCHECK=SEMANTICS or SQLCHECK=FULL are synonymous and are Oracle Pro*COBOL directives not COBOL or COBSQL directives. From the Net Express docs: For both project setti

Created On:  13 September 2012 Problem: Is it possible to download a version of 'MF Visual Cobol for Eclipse' that just contains the MF Visual Cobol parts as plugin for being installed additionally to an already existing Eclipse version?  Allowing Eclipse to run with MF COBOL Plugin and any other plugins is what we need. Resolution: Visual COBOL for Eclipse will still need to be installed into your program files and licensed as normal.Step 1:You need this update site for AJDT if not installed into your eclipse.Get fromhttp://www.eclipse.org/ajdt/downloads/ Make sure you get the AJDT for your version of eclipse, and add it to your update sites in eclipse.http://download.eclipse.org/tools/ajdt/37/update The above for 3.7 eclipse file ajdt_2.1.3_for_eclipse_3.7.zip. Step 2:You need to get at the update site for Visual COBOLThis is contained in your Visual COBOL installation.On my machineC:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Visual COBOL 2010 R4\\UpdateSite.zip You need to

Created On:  16 August 2012 Problem: When using Dialog System Addpack in Visual COBOL can I use project types x64 or anyCPU? Resolution: Dialog System is provided as a 32-bit native .DLL and therefore it can only be called by a 32-bit project.  Although it may appear to work correctly when using calling Dialog System from a project defined as anyCPU when run on a 32-bit computer it will fail if the same application is moved to a 64-bit computer.All projects that contain programs that call Dialog System should be defined as "x86" Platform. Old KB# 36228

Created On:  27 July 2012 Problem: I have a managed code COBOL project in Visual COBOL for Visual Studio that contains multiple COBOL programs that I need to call from a C# main program. I am using the ilsmartlinkage compiler directive so that the COBOL compiler will generate a .NET class for the linkage section group items that are being used as parameters to the COBOL programs.Each COBOL program has the same linkage section parameters defined by using a common copybook.This works fine if there is only one program in the COBOL project but as soon as I add a second program, I get compile errors because it is trying to generate a duplicate class name for the linkage section group.How do I get around this? Resolution: You can get around this by using the ilsmartnest directive in conjunction with ilsmartlinkage.When specifying the ilsmartnest directive the compiler will generate a unique class for each of the parameter groups by qualifying its name with the program name that i

Created On:  15 August 2012 Problem: I am trying to uninstall Web-to-Host version 6.3 and the error: "Win64 not supported" appears. Resolution: This only happens when both 32bit and 64bit versions of Java installed prior the installation of Web-to-Host 6.3. In such case, in order to properly uninstall W2H, use the installer (thus as if you were going to install the product again) and choose 'Modify an existing instance' option. Then the product will be uninstalled. Old KB# 36220#Rumba#Web-to-Host

Created On:  16 August 2012 Problem: I have a managed code application that has a main project (.EXE) that calls programs in other projects (.DLLs) When the call is made to some of the programs in these other projects I get the following error: Inner Exception: BadImageFormatException Could not load file or assembly 'file:///X:\\PLK\\LXXO000.dll' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format. What is causing this error? Resolution: This error means that most likely you have a mismatch between project types in regards to bitism such as a project defined as x64 or anyCPU is trying to call a program in a project defined as x86.When calling between projects, you must ensure that the project types all match so that 32-bit calls 32-bit and 64-bit calls 64-bit, etc.When you are using anyCPU it may work correctly when calling x86 or x64 projects on one computer and then fail when run on a different computer where the bitism is different.

Created On:  23 August 2012 Problem: When an ACUCOBOL-GT runtime terminates, all dynamically allocated memory is released. There are two situations where this is not true: CALL PROGRAM "program" using and CHAIN "program" using ....... Both terminate the current runtime but do NOT release dynamically allocated memory. This has been found to cause various problems including "Illegal Operation" errors and other unexpected results. For this reason, if you are using CALL PROGRAM or CHAIN, be sure to DESTROY all bitmaps, fonts (except those accepted from "standard object") and menus which have been created by that run unit. The exception here is any of these whose handles you may be passing in the USING section which you want to use in the called program. A second area which can cause problems is the situation where a subroutine is called several times, and each time it allocates memory by one or more of the above means. If prior to the EXIT PROGRAM you have not DESTROYED these i

Created On:  26 July 2012 Problem: Running FSSERVICE -i to install Fileshare as a service fails with the following error:"FSS005-S Fileshare Service failed to install." Resolution: User Account Control in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 extends to the Command Prompt and prevents users (even those with administrator privileges) to run a command to install a program as a service. You need to open a Command Prompt that is run as administrator to install a program, such as FSSERVICE, as a service. To run FSSERVICE command from the Command Prompt:1. Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut2. Click on Run as Administrator3. Issue the FSSERVICE command You should then get the following message: "FSS004-I Fileshare Service installed successfully." Incident #2584419 Old KB# 36153#netexpress#EnterpriseServer#Enterprise#EnterpriseDeveloper#COBOL#StudioEnterpriseEdition#VisualCOBOL

Created On:  26 July 2012 Problem: After configuring the RM/COBOL Runtime to use the RM/InfoExpress Client for remote file access, the printing mechanism for your COBOL application no longer functions. Resolution: When the RM/COBOL Runtime is configured to use the RM/InfoExpress client, all UNC paths(\\\\servername\\resource) are handled by the InfoExpress client.  This includes any shared printer that is referenced by a UNC name.  However, you can instruct the RM/InfoExpress client to ignore certain UNC paths using the "PathPrefixExcluded" configuration keyword in your RM/InfoExpress client configuration file(rmixclnt.ini).  The RM/InfoExpress client configuration file, rmixclnt.ini, is a text file that contains configuration keywords for the client.  This file should be placed in the Windows directory(C:\\Windows) on an affected client machine.    For more information on the RM/InfoExpress client configuration file and the "PathPrefixExc

Created On:  20 August 2012 Problem: Microsoft documents that in a .NET managed code applications all shared assemblies that are used by the application must either be installed in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) or they must be made located in the same folder as the startup program. They specifically state that the PATH environment variable will not be searched when attempting to locate assemblies that are called.I have a need during development for my application to load different versions of assemblies, in different stages of development, under various conditions.  How can I configure my application to find the correct assembly if PATH cannot be used? Resolution: The .NET COBOL runtime does its best to provide the same level of searching as our native runtime does, so it has similar search loaders, this includes a searcher that does use the PATH environment variable. If the .DLL assemblies are located within the PATH they will be found and loaded. This was something

Created On:  14 August 2012 Problem: Application is a .NET Windows Forms application written in Visual COBOL.  Is it possible to share the working-storage data in the main form with other subforms without the requirement to pass the data in the linkage section? Resolution: Attached is an example of how the EXTERNAL clause may be used to share data between programs. Form1 and Form2 both have defined in working-storage a data record defined as: 01 company-record external.     05 contact    pic x(30).     05 company pic x(30).     05 phone      pic x(20). Because it is defined as external in both programs it actually refers to the same data item so changes made to the data in one program are automatically reflected in the other. There are other ways of sharing data between programs such as creating a class containing properties defined with the static attribute. T

Created On:  26 July 2012 Problem: If you are using RM/COBOL data files with a Visual COBOL application, it might be necessary to enable Fileshare(remote) access for your RM/COBOL data files. Resolution: The Fileshare Server(fs.exe) is included with the Visual COBOL product in the installed bin directory and can be executed from the Visual COBOL Command Prompt.  Below are instructions for configuring the Fileshare server to enable RM/COBOL file access: Start a Visual COBOL Command Prompt box from your installed VCR4 Start Menu. Specify the following in the fs.cfg file: /s /cm CCITCP/d dbase.ref where is the name you want to give to this Fileshare server. Specify the following in the dbase.ref file: /f * /ap ACUFH This line tells Fileshare to use application ACUFH for all files.  Please see the Fileshare documentation if you desire any other Fileshare configuration. Set environment variable A_CONFIG to specify a config.cfg file.  If you want to access RM files

Created On:  14 August 2012 Problem: Users are asked to save the profile when exiting the Rumba program. The setting "Do not save profile on exit" in the Rumba options would only work if one user logs on to one PC but if you have several users on one PC it will ask the question again per user, each user who logs in has to change the setting within the software to not ask to save upon exiting. Is a registry fix or a config file that can be edited so that it does not prompt to save, for all users who log into the PC? Resolution: After a Rumba install, there is a config file located in \\system called: RumbaPage.exe.config and in this file the default setting is AskToSave:AskToSave   After the first activation of Rumba by the user, this file is copied to his local data file folder: %localappdata%\\ Micro Focus\\Rumba and saved under the name:Rumba.configThere you can change the value to DoNotSave, and you are all good:DoNotSave Old KB# 36218#Rumba

Created On:  26 July 2012 Problem: Entering the command "acurcl -info" gives Socker Error: 10035. Resolution: While /etc/hosts had the server name defined correctly /etc/sysconfig/network did not. This must have changed a few days ago when we installed a new piece of software on the server which messed up the server name in /etc/sysconfig/network. As soon as I corrected this the socket error stopped appearing. Incident #2575420 Old KB# 36152#acurclsocket10035

Created On:  09 August 2012 Problem: Is SQL Server 2012 supported in AcuCobol? Resolution: SQL Server 2012 will be supported/certified in AcuCobol Extend V9.1.2 due for release in September 2012. Old KB# 36203#Acu4GL#AcuSQL#SQLServer2012

Created On:  16 August 2012 Problem: Customer has a managed code .NET solution in Visual COBOL where many of the programs to be called actually reside in managed code class library assemblies, (.DLLs) that reside on a network share called \\\\compname\\myprograms.When I try to call one of these programs I get the following error:    Could not load file or assembly 'file://\\\\compname\\myprograms\\ManagedCustomer.dll' or one of its dependencies. Operation is not supported.    (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131515)If I move the programs to a folder on the local drive it works correctly.How can I configure this to load my programs from a network share? Resolution: This error occurs because of the User Access Control Trust issues associated with .NET assemblies.  Assemblies downloaded from the Internet or that reside on a network drive are not trusted by default.To allow for these assemblies to be loaded you can add the following highlighted section

Created On:  26 July 2012 Problem: Which is the exact syntax to use as a connection string with AcuODBC or AcuXDBC? Resolution: With AcuODBC, the connection string to use is:"Dsn=acuodbc_demo;Uid=yourusername;Pwd=yourPassword" With AcuXDBC Client, the syntax is:"acuxdbc04:system/manager/xvision:acuxdbc.cfg" where system is the default user of AcuXDBC syscat and manager is its default password. With AcuXDBC Client, connected to AcuXDBC Server:"acuxdbc03:system/manager/xvision:acuxdbc.cfg@20222:servername!acuxdbc04"where 20222 is the default port of AcuXDBC Server service. With AcuXDBC, using JDBC libraries:"jdbc:vortex:system//manager/testjava:acuxdbc.cfg!acuxdbc04" Incident #2584530 Old KB# 36155

Created On:  25 July 2012 Problem: The calculation is coded as follows: COMPUTE BEN-ER-PER-COMMUTED ROUNDED = (BEN-ER-CASH-LSUM-COMMUTED / COMM-FACT) / BEN-ER-FULL-ANNUAL * 100 The values loaded into COMM-FACT and BEN-ER-FULL-ANNUAL are zero. If the value inserted into BEN-ER-CASH-LSUM-COMMUTED is 63, the result is 300.00 It would seem as though where a value is loaded into the last integer digit the result is returned with a value other than zero. Resolution: In normal circumstances you cannot divide by zero and the SIZE ERROR option should be used. However, AcuCobol has the following configuration file setting A_CHECKDIV. This variable allows you to specify an alternate runtime response to a divide by zero condition when the statement does not include a SIZE ERROR clause. In COBOL, a division by zero produces a size error condition. The SIZE ERROR clause allows the programmer to specify actions to take when this condition occurs. If there is no SIZE ERROR clause,

Created On:  25 July 2012 Problem: Compiling with the native compiler option --intel caused an immediate runtime MAV. Why is this? Resolution: After investigation by our development team it appears the problem on Windows when running programs compiled with –n or --intel is caused by Windows machines that have Data Execution Protection (DEP) enabled for all processes. Please set the following runtime configuration variable: - USE_EXECUTABLE_MEMORY TRUE When set to "TRUE", this variable enables a COBOL program compiled for Native Code (-n compiler option) to run on a Windows machine that has Data Execution Protection (DEP) enabled for all processes. The default value is "FALSE". Incident #2552337 Old KB# 36149