Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  28 March 2012 Problem: Is there a way for one program (Program A) to open files, accept input from a screen, then call a second program (Program B) for file processing without Program A closing the files and Program B reopening files? Resolution: Declaring the file FD as external in both programs accomplish the desired task: FD custom-file external. 01 custom-record ....etc This way the file can be opened and closed in ProgramA and read, write, etc. in ProgramB. ProgramB can not open again the file because it will generate an error. Incident #2191524 Old KB# 35719

Created On:  26 March 2012 Problem: Installing new product SX5.1 produces the following error message: cobgetmsg: Can not find message file install.lng Resolution: This problem is normally related to the Product File not being binary copied to the UNIX Directory or Untarred incorrectly.  Uninstall SX5.1 and re-copy the Product zip file to the desired directory before untarring/unzipping the Product file. Incident #2547310 Old KB# 35690

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: The following command line has embedded quotes, and X’91’ Function 35 fails to execute it: CMD /K "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\TestData\\Bin\\TestProg.exe" -i"aData" -o"aData" Resolution: When a command line requires quotes, additional quotes are required as follows: CMD /K ""C:\\Program Files (x86)\\TestData\\Bin\\TestProg.exe" -i"aData" -o"aData"" Incident #2542130 Old KB# 35708

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: While compiling COBOL code with embedded SQL statements with COBSQL, Visual Studio JIT Debugger pops up with a message "Unhandled win32 exception occurred in procob.exe [2432]". The number in the [ ] keeps changing each time the error message is popping up. Resolution: The exception actually occurs when the source code contains hex ‘1A’: 123456   05    DFHERROR  PICTURE X   VALUE  IS  ''.were the above literal or the value between '' is actually hex ‘1A’ In the Net Express editor, the above line will be displayed in two lines as shown below: 123456   05    DFHERROR  PICTURE X   VALUE  IS  ''.Hex '1A' is in fact an end of file mark. In Notepad, this character is displayed as a box, which is commonly used for displaying non-printable characters. This end of file mark is the real cause of the exc

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: Installation Wizard prevents Net Express 5.1 to be installed without installing the following prerequisite software first: Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5 Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Resolution: When installing Net Express 5.1, the Installation Wizard takes the user to the Custom Setup screen where several features can be selected to be installed. The first feature listed in the Custom Setup screen is "Net Express support for .NET", which enables the user to use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 to develop both native and managed (or .NET) COBOL applications. If the user does not wish to use this feature, then the install will not require MS Visual Studio 2008 to be installed first. To disable a feature from the Custom Setup screen, the user needs to click on the icon, which is left to the feature, and click on "This feature will not be available". Incident #2547192 Old KB# 35706

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: When calling the COBOL library routine PC_READ_DRIVE the drive letter is sometimes returned in upper-case while other times it is returned in lower-case.  How can I make this consistent so that the drive letter can successfully be used in comparisons? Resolution: This is actually a Windows issue in that the underlying API call can return the drive in either upper-case or lower-case depending opn how the system was setup and some other factors.To ensure consistency in your application please use the appropriate intrinsic function to convert the drive letter returned to either upper-case or lower-case as show below:MOVE FUNCTION UPPER-CASE(DRIVE) to DRIVE Incident #2565230 Old KB# 35696

Created On:  28 March 2012 Problem: Installing just Acuserver 64bit trying to execute the Control Panel it fails with the message “The program can’t start because acme2.dll is missing from your computer”. Resolution: The problem is that the acme2.dll for 64bit is downloaded just when the runtime is installed. The solution is either to install the runtime or copy that dll from the installation media at: DISK1\\Program Files 64\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl910\\AcuGT\\bin. Incident #2561691 Old KB# 35718

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: Although EXEC SQL INCLUDE SQLCA END-EXEC statement is present in the source code and mode=ANSI is set among the other COBSQL directives, the precompilation process flags the "SQLWARNING" keyword below with "Must include SQLCA when mode=ANSI and WHENEVER SQLWARNING used":  EXEC SQL   WHENEVER SQLWARNING     CONTINUE  END-EXEC. Resolution: The problem occurs due to the CP preprocessor that will by default expand any copybook definitions to ensure that a single source file gets passed to the precompiler. This includes the "EXEC SQL INCLUDE SQLCA END-EXEC" statement. This means that when the processed source gets passed to Pro*COBOL, it sees the expanded SQLCA. As results, Pro*COBOL reports the error. To prevent CP from expanding the SQLCA copybook, specify the SY option between P(CP) and ENDP. Incident #2544813 Old KB# 35709

Created On:  30 March 2012 Problem: Visual COBOL R4 was installed on a new computer on which older applications developed with Net Express also existed.  Visual COBOL starts OK but when attempting to create a new or open an existing COBOL project the following error is displayed: “Runtime DLL ‘CBLRTSM’ version 1.3, entry point mf_id_dynlink_lib_check not recorded in registry, not found or incompatible with requirements of dynamically bound COBOL program. Dynamic binding of RTS required Any Runtime DLL, at least Version 3.0” What does this mean? Resolution: This particular problem occurs because Visual Studio is trying to load one of its system .DLLs but it is finding and loading a .DLL that was compiled with Net Express 3.0 which was linked for dynamic binding. This is why this particular .DLL is trying to load the COBOL run-time "cblrtsm.dll" for Net Express 3.0.Since the COBOL run-time system "cblrstm.dll" from Visual COBOL is already loaded into

Created On:  28 March 2012 Problem: In Visual COBOL, is there a way to have a user click on a button in a .NET Windows Form application and have it automatically print the current form to the default printer? Resolution: Windows Forms Screen PrintThis sample program demonstrates how to use the System.Drawing.Printing class to both provide a means of doing a Print Preview via Dialog Box for the current Form and provide a means to print the form to the default printer. The attached program displays two buttons that can be clicked,one to invoke the print preview function and one to print the current form. Incident #2566324 Attachments screenprintvc.zip Old KB# 35713

Created On:  23 March 2012 Problem: Trying to code an embedded OpenESQL call to a function in an Oracle database which returns a VARCHAR2 result.Using Oracle ODBC driver 11.2.They get sqlcode -10000 on the call but the same call seems to work for SQL Server database. ORACLE stored procedure function call: create or replacefunction function1 return varchar2 as begin  return 'some value';end function1; COBOL:        identification division.       program-id. Program1.        environment division.       configuration section.        data division.       working-storage section.           EXEC SQL INCLUDE SQLCA END-EXEC.           EXEC SQL BEGIN DECLARE SECTION END-EXEC.  &nb

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: Using Visual COBOL in 32-bit native application although problem also occurs in Net Express 5.1. After executing select into with array fields the fields appear to be populated corrected and no error occurs. But on the very next SQL statement a RTS 114 error will occur. Here is a sample which uses the Oracle sample EMP table.  The 114 error occurs on the cursor open after the select into array.       $SET SQL(DBMAN=ODBC)  sourceformat(variable)        WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.        EXEC SQL INCLUDE SQLCA  END-EXEC.        *> -------------------------------------------       *> DECLARE TABLE for EMP       *> -------------------------------------------          EXEC SQL DECLARE EMP TABLE &

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: I have upgraded my version of Server Express, now I have this XFHLOG file that gets created.  It did not happen in the previous version. Why is this and how do I turn it off? Resolution: The LOG option is documented as follows: When LOG is set to ON, any unusual file-related situations, such as corrupted files, or automatic file recovery, are noted in a log file for later examination. This option used to be OFF by deault. You can turn it off in the extfh.cfg file:[XFH-DEFAULTS]LOG=OFF The XFHLOG file that gets created is in binary format, you can display the text version of it using the cobfhprint command. Old KB# 35700

Created On:  22 March 2012 Problem: Which port does the Micro Focus License Server use when a client requests a  license using the License Administration on their PC? A customer needs to open up the port on their firewall as currently they have access blocked when requesting a new key. Resolution: The default port is 5093.   Old KB# 35676

Created On:  29 March 2012 Problem: I have developed an ASP.NET Web Site using Visual COBOL running locally on my development computer. I now wish to deploy it under IIS on a production machine on which Visual COBOL is not installed. How do I do this? Resolution: The following are instructions on how to deploy a Visual COBOL ASP.NET web site onto a production server running Windows 7 and IIS 7.This includes web sites that call native .dlls that are using the ACU/RM file handler:Deploying COBOL ASP.NET Web Services and Web Sites developed with Visual COBOL under IISBecause the COBOL 2010 Runtime product does not include the COBOL compiler the following steps must be used when deploying the web site to a Production server.In this example the web site is in folder C:\\testwebsite and the name of the web site is also testwebsite.1. On the target computer, install the COBOL 2010 Runtime product.2. Open the Micro Focus License Manager and install the authorization code for the CO

Created On:  27 March 2012 Problem: Customer was getting the following error while compilation of below BMS Map code Snippet.  ====================================================         LCLA  &L                                                       *                                                                    &nbs

Created On:  28 March 2012 Problem: I'm trying to get an F4-key exception from a Combo Box control it seems that doesn’t work. Any other F1-F9 keys generate an exception, but an F4-key won’t. Is this a limitation? Or what needs to be done to make this happen? Resolution: There is a configuration variable called WIN_F4_DROPS_COMBOBOX This configuration variable applies only to programs running under Windows. Its default value is "1" (on, true, yes), so, combo boxes use the standard Windows handling for the key. Pressing while a combo box is active causes it to drop its drop-down list, and the COBOL program is not notified of an exception. When this variable is set to "0" (off, false, no), pressing with a combo box active causes the COBOL program to get the exception, but the combo box does not drop its drop-down list. Incident #2191737 Old KB# 35720

Created On:  08 March 2012 Problem: Alfred is no longer in the AcuBench Tools menu. How do you get Alfred back in the Tools menu like in previous versions? Resolution: In AcuBench go to the Tools menu, Customize, Tools tab.  Click the plus sign, , then name it Alfred and enter the following: Command: C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl910\\AcuGT\\bin\\wrun32.exe Arguments: -c ..\\tools\\alfred.cfg ..\\tools\\alfred.acu Working Directory: C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl910\\AcuGT\\bin\\ Then click Close. Alfred can now be started from Tools, Launch Tools. Incident #2561976 Old KB# 35627

Created On:  14 March 2012 Problem: When trying to run ccitcp2 or another Micro Focus application that uses port 86 (for example Enterprise Server) you get a message saying port 86 is in use. Resolution: Port 86 is recognized as a standard for Micro Focus.  There is a file called /etc/services that lists ports, and often port 86 is already shown there, populated when the OS is installed, for mfcobol.  Search the file /etc/services for “mfcobol”.  You should find several lines that look similar to this one: mfcobol                               86/udp                                            &n

Created On:  24 February 2012 Problem: Attempting to register the version 9.1.0 AcuToNet.dll assembly using:   regasm20acu.exe /register /codebase AcuToNet.dll Gives this error: RegAsm : error RA0000 : Failed to load 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl910\\AcuGT\\bin\\AcuToNet.dll' because it is not a valid .NET assembly Resolution: In version 9.1.0 the AcuToNet.dll is a .Net version 4 assembly so the regasm20acu.exe will not work. There is a new version attached to this article, regasm40acu.exe which will successfully register the AcuToNet.dll assembly in version 9.1.0.  Download regasm40acu.zip and extract it to the 9.1.0 bin directory, then execute:   regasm40acu.exe /register /codebase AcuToNet.dll n/a Attachments regasm40acu.zip Old KB# 35565

Created On:  27 February 2012 Problem: When closing the Net Express IDE a message box is displayed for the following error message:     "X016: Undefined query identifier or location not open"This follows another message for "The SQL option XBD local server option is running. Would you like to stop the server" to which I click on the "YES" button. What does this X016 error mean and how can I get rid of it? Resolution: This error message is simply an annoyance and there is a simple way to get rid of it by uninstalling the XDB component of Net Express, if you are not using it. Go to Control Panel > Add Remove Programs and click on Net Express 5.1 and select Change. When it asks what you would like to do select Modify. When the Net Express install screen shows you a list of components, click on the box to the left of XDB Relational Database and select the last option which is to not install the component. It sh

Created On:  08 March 2012 Problem: In debugging of version 9.1, if customer double clicks on variable, it it displays the fully-qualified name of the variable then the value. Resolution: The program needs to be compiled with -Gd and –Gy compiler options, using -Ga will result in the reported behavior. Incident #2561768 Old KB# 35626

Created On:  01 March 2012 Problem: When compiling a DB2 application using Net Express the DB2(BIND) directive is used to create a DB2 Bind file that can be used to bind the application to the database.But when using the DB2 BIND command as follows the error shown is displayed.Why?SQL>db2 bind @dynamic.bnd LINE    MESSAGES FOR dynamic.bnd------  --------------------------------------------------------------------        SQL0061W  The binder is in progress.        SQL0031C  File "BINDV810L       `                   ü   «   O                  œ " could not be opened. LINE    MESSAGES FOR dynamic.bnd------  ------------------

Created On:  12 March 2012 Problem: I created a Visual COBOL program that uses the following syntax:     SELECT OPTIONAL TEST-FILE     ASSIGN TO DISC FILENAME     ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL     FILE STATUS IS FILE-STATUS.where FILENAME is defined as:01 FILENAME     PIC X(30)   VALUE "TESTFILE.DAT".When performing the statement:OPEN OUTPUT TEST-FILEa file-status value of "35" is returned which means file does not exist.This program worked fine under RM/COBOL.What is causing this problem? Resolution: The word "DISC" is not recognized by the Visual COBOL compiler.  According to the documentation for the File-Control entry the keyword should be "DISK" and not "DISC".The compiler is interpreting the word "DISC" as being a data-item name that should contain the name of the file when it is opened. Since

Created On:  21 March 2012 Problem: A client was getting the following error when compiling/linking their application programs on AIX 5.3: cob –z progname.cbl ld: 0711-552 SEVERE ERROR: Object progname.o: Csects with symbol numbers 82 and 74 overlap. They had only just upgraded AIX 5.3 with patch level TL12 Service Pack 5 (5300-12 Service Pack 5) - (oslevel -s 5300-12-05-1140) This error occurred for any compile that linked object code (eg .so’s and executables). Resolution: Ultimately this came down to the fact that IBM made changes to the system linker.  The client was initially running Server Express 5.1 WP4 on AIX 5.3.0.0 5300-05. They wanted to move to IBM POWER7 processors and so they upgraded AIX to patch level TL12 Service Pack 5 (5300-12 Service Pack 5) oslevel -s 5300-12-05-1140 They were informed that to run AIX 5.3 on POWER7 patch 5300-12 Service Pack 5 needed to be installed. After applying the OS patch, when they compiled and linked their COBOL programs