Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  29 September 2011 Problem: In the product documentation under Database Access the STMTCACHE directive is defined as follows:STMTCACHESets the cache size for prepared statements used by OpenESQL. The default is 20. Depending upon your application and data source, performance improvements or data errors can result if this value is set higher than that.  What exactly does this mean?  What does the value of this setting actually refer to? Resolution: The setting of STMTCACHE refers to the number of prepared statements that the runtime will keep alive. The cache is managed on a least recently used basis. A statement can be recycled if it is not an open cursor. At one time we had problems with Oracle running out of resources so we introduced STMTCACHE to restrict the amount of server resources a client app could tie up. OpenESQL always uses prepare execute rather than direct execution so that any statement executed multiple times will execute faster on the

Created On:  21 September 2011 Problem: When using Visual COBOL R4 to create a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) project, the COBOL tab on the project properties shows as blank. Resolution: It appears that this problem is a known issue in R4 that has been fixed in subsequent releases. For R4 the workaround is as follows: Create a WPF application and then change the output type on the Application tab of the project properties page from Windows Application to Console Application and back again. After saving and reloading the project the COBOL tab should be accessible. Old KB# 34763

Created On:  04 October 2011 Problem: Executing the Runtime after installing an amendment license causes the following error message to be displayed: Use count exceeded (Loc 520) - Use count mismatch on local machine Resolution: This error can occur if you install an amendment license that adds use count while users are actively executing the Runtime.   The resolution is to either have all users terminate their Runtime sessions, or, reboot the server machine.The amended usage count will take effect after all users have terminated their Runtimes, or, the server machine restarts. Incident #2511568 Old KB# 34812

Created On:  23 September 2011 Problem: During installation of Net Express 5.1 on a Windows Server 2003 machine, a window appeared and displayed the following message:"Error 2878. On the dialog PreReqs the control PreReqList has a possible value: Either Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Later, Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or later, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6 or later, Microsoft Windows 2003...."The Net Express Installation is aborted after the OK button was clicked. Resolution: The following are the steps to get over the Microsoft Windows pre-requisite check in installation of Net Express 5.11. Open a command line prompt2  Change directory to the Net Express installation3. Run the NX installation file with the following parameters: INSTALLATION file name, e.g. nxp3251000157.exe  /V"CHECKPREREQLIST=" Incident #2529757 Old KB# 34768

Created On:  04 October 2011 Problem: When you attempt to uninstall a product in “Programs and Features” a new “Windows Installer” window appears and gives the following error: "Error opening installation log file. Verify that the specified location exists and is writable.”This is related to Windows 7 Professional. Resolution: This can occur if Windows Installer Logging is enabled, but the Windows Installer engine cannot properly write the uninstallation log file. This condition can occur if the Windows Installer's application heap becomes freed and thus loses the information on where to store the log file. When this occurs, Windows Installer attempts to write to the location 'C:\\Windows\\System32' and addresses it as a file. Proper behavior would be to write to the following location and file name: 'C:\\Users\\\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\MSIxxxxxx.log'. To work around this issue, stop and restart the Explorer.exe process using Task

Created On:  09 September 2011 Problem: When adding ActiveX Components to a .NET Windows Form in Visual COBOL, it builds correctly but when attempting to run the application an error like the following is displayed:Why is this? Resolution: The problem manifests itself in two ways.Most ActiveX controls are 32-bit so if your project is set to x64 or anyCPU and you are running on a 64-bit OS then this will fail.If you set the project type to x86 or are using anyCPU on a 32-bit system then it should work as long as you also set the Copy Local property to True on the references that are added to your project by the IDE. Incident #2536071 Old KB# 34732

Created On:  19 September 2011 Problem: When migrating programs precompiled with Oracle's Pro*COBOL preprocessor to OpenESQL there is an error reported on the following statement when it is in the working-storage section of the program.     EXEC SQL VAR TESTVAR IS VARCHAR2 END-EXECThe error reported by OpenESQL is:     "ES0114 Statement only allowed in the PROCEDURE DIVISION." If the statement is moved to the procedure division then OpenESQL does not display the error message.  Why is this happening? Resolution: The problem is that this is an Oracle Pro*COBOL extension and it is not supported in OpenESQL either in the working-storage section or in the procedure division.  The reason you see the error is because OpenESQL tries to be very flexible in what it allows since it is designed to work with just about any data source and it only recognizes as much SQL syntax as it has to. The preprocessor determines

Created On:  30 August 2011 Problem: When executing cob –V the following error is returned: cob32: Can't open message file '/opt/microfocus/sx51wp6/lang/default/cob.lng' Resolution: This error is normally due to the environment variables not set correctly. Make sure you have COBDIR, LD_LIBRARY_PATH/LIBPATH and PATH environment variables are set properly. If the environment variable are set correctly, then remove the contents of $COBDIR and reinstall the product. Incident #2527432 Old KB# 34359#cobcob.lngcob32cob64

Created On:  20 September 2011 Problem: We are getting the error "\\Micro was unexpected at this time" when using version 9.0.1 AcuXDBC batch files on 64-bit Windows. Resolution: The AcuXDBC installation includes eight batch files to assist in administering:acuxdbcs.bataddfile.batainit.batasql.bataxset.batdemo.batgenxconf.batodbcsql.batInvoking them on a Windows 64-bit machine results in the error:"\\Micro was unexpected at this time"The same .bat files all work as expected on 32-bit Windows.Explanation/Resolution:The batch files did not account for the fact that 64-bit Windows have parentheses in the path.  Those parentheses cause problems for the DOS batch processor.Attached to this article is a zip file containing modified batch files that work on 64-bit machines.  Simply download and extract to the bin directory of your 9.0.1 installation.  By default that is C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl901\\AcuGT\\bin.The same applies

Created On:  23 August 2011 Problem: I am having a problem linking 'C' lib content in Visual CCOBOL.  In the Visual COBOL solution where linking to C libs is being specified, e.g. Links Settings had "diskcopy.lib" specified. When building the solution errors where returned such as:  unresolved external symbol _open referenced in function _diskcopy_open. Resolution: The words 'open', 'close', 'read' and 'write' in diskcopy.c were not compatible with the latest VISUAL STUDIO 2010 build and have to be amended to '_open', '_close', '_read' and '_write'. Try to rebuild and it should complete without further problems. Incident #2524182 Old KB# 34348

Created On:  01 September 2011 Problem: When creating XML comments for a method in a Visual COBOL source program using the characters "*" followed by ">>", the comment is displayed in Intellisense when the method is referenced from within a program that resides in the same project as the source containing the comment but if the source is in a different project than the referencing program then the comment is being ignored.Why is this and how can I get it to work? Resolution: There is an option under Solution Explorer Project Properties > COBOL Tab > Advanced Options called XML documentation file. If you check this and provide a filename in which to store the comments then it will work correctly from within different projects. This must be turned on in the project containing the source with the comment in it. Incident #2535275 Old KB# 34381

Created On:  19 August 2011 Problem: During compilation of a COBOL program which utilizes embedded SQL to access an ODBC-enabled data source, the following error message is received:* 801-S**    External Compiler Module message**    CE0001 odbcecm or dependant module not found Resolution: This is an indication that you do not have a product release which supports the loaded ODBC drivers. For instance, you might have 64-bit ODBC drivers but the installed Micro Focus product and release only supports 32-bit ODBC drivers.It is also possible that your environment is not set up correctly to take advantage of the ODBC drivers (for instance the library paths are not set correctly). The ODBC library directory should be listed in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH.  Verify that the correct libraries are being picked up (and not being pre-empted by other libraries). 64-bit ODBC support on UNIX was added beginning with Server Express 5.1 WS

Created On:  18 August 2011 Problem: When using the compiler directive CALLFH(ACUFH) you receive the following error message after building the project:DUMP-UG.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _ACUFHobj\\x86\\Debug\\Menu.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals Resolution: To resolve this issue you will need to souround the ACUFH option string in quotes (").  For example:CALLFH("ACUFH") Incident #2532915 Old KB# 34339#COBOL

Created On:  19 August 2011 Problem: When compiling a program after an upgrade the error "Bad magic number for shared library" is obtained. Everything seems to be in order. For instance, the system is 64-bit, the cobmode setting is 64-bit, and the library being referenced is 64-bit. The database is an Oracle database and it is also 64-bit. Resolution: In this case check the procob executable (it may be on a client system) to see which format (32-bit or 64-bit) it is. To find this on a UNIX or Linux system, execute:    file procobThe file format will be returned telling you if the procob executable is 64-bit (explicitly stated) or 32-bit (won't explicitly state 64-bit). If you are using 64-bit and the procob executable is not 64-bit, obtain the 64-bit procob executable (Oracle may have to be contacted for that). Incident #2523812 Old KB# 34342

Created On:  30 August 2011 Problem: When executing cob –V the following error is returned: $ Specified in column 7 of otherwise blank linePRN=RXCAY/AAI:9p.Z5.51.07 PTI=WrapPack 6 PTI=ES BASIS line number sequencing erroretpglwg:/opt/microfocus/sx51sp6/bin # Resolution: The environment variables COBDIR, LD_LIBRARY_PATH/LIBPATH and PATH are set correctly. Even though you have this issue, compiling a COBOL program using correct parameters for the cob command does work correctly. This issue was correct by deleting the contents of $COBDIR and reinstall the product. Incident #2527432 Old KB# 34360#cobcobver

Created On:  26 July 2011 Problem: The problem occurs on the Windows 7 64-Bit platform using AcuBench V9.0 Screen Designer when creating a new AcuBench product. When using screen designer and adding a GRID, Notice its completely blank and has no grid patterns etc. This issue is only linked to this platform configuration. Resolution: You simply create a separate Windows .bat file to execute AcuBench .Within this you just set PATH=(Setting the PATH to nothing and executing AcuBench - the grid (columns and rows) displays). Old KB# 34275#GRIDBLANKACUBENCH

Created On:  08 August 2011 Problem: Users have both data files, with and without extension. Using AcuXDBC, there is a file-suffix variable they can set into the configuration file, but it will not find any that do not have a suffix. Needs to be able to see both. Resolution: Multiple suffixes are not support by AcuXDBC; but there are two workarounds that users with the same issue have implemented: a) Use multiple acuxdbc.cfg configuration files and point these in separate DSN's. b) Setting Up File Aliases, as we mentioned in our AcuXDBC User's Guide: Chapter 5:Installing AcuXDBC; 5.5 Loading the System Catalog with Your XFDs; 5.5.1 Setting Up File Aliases. In this last approach you do not have to use the FILE-SUFFIX variable in the acuxdbc.cfg fil; but you will need to add the files to the System Catalog using the following syntax: xfdname#tablename#filename.dat (or whatever is the suffix you are using or none). This way AcuXDBC will link the table name with the fi

Created On:  05 August 2011 Problem: In which version of Acu4GL for Oracle was Oracle 11G R2 supported? Resolution: Although Oracle 11G has been support by Acu4GL for Oracle since version 8.1.0, support for Oracle 11G R2 did not begin until version 8.1.2.1. Incident #2526126 Old KB# 34311

Created On:  01 August 2011 Problem: Users have the utility called CHKLOG to periodically clear the event.log, but there is no utility to clear the connect.log file.  How is this done? Resolution: You can go ahead and delete the connect.log as it will create a new one for the next log entry. If you receive an error message when trying to delete it you will need to stop the server first. You can disable the creation of the connection log by deleting the "InstallDirectory" entry from the [SimbaServer] section of the odbc.ini file, which is located in the Relativity Data Server installation directory. Incident #2530278 Old KB# 34296

Created On:  29 July 2011 Problem: There is a problem with the Visual COBOL R4 documentation for using the RM compatible C$RERR routine.The documentation states:Configuring the RM/COBOL File Handler  In acurmfm.cfg, set the file handler. DEFAULT_FILESYSTEM RMFMTo retrieve RMFM file status codes or call C$RERR in your COBOL programs: In acurmfm.cfg, set the following environment variables. set CONVERTSTATUS=rmstatset COBCONFIG=cobconfig.cfg  *> cobconfig.cfg is your MF COBOL run-time configuration file.In cobconfig.cfg, set the following environment variable: set ACU_LIBRARY=TRUE-------------------------------------------------------This does not work. Resolution: The COBCONFIG and CONVERTSTATUS environment variables must actually be set in the computers environment instead of in the acurmfm.cfg file.  If you follow the instructions in the documentation you will get a Runtime Error 173 on the call to C$RERR.If the COBCONFIG and CONVERTSTATUS envir

Created On:  09 August 2011More Visual COBOL results at kb.microfocus.com Problem: While attempting to install Visual COBOL 2010 you receive the top message below or while attempting to install COBOL 2010 Runtime you receive the bottom message below:What does this mean? Resolution: These error messages are correct in that Visual COBOL for Visual Studio and COBOL 2010 Runtime products cannot be installed on the same computer.  Visual COBOL is the development environment which integrates into Visual Studio 2010. It has all the components of the COBOL 2010 Runtime product installed with it so that you can test your applications on the development computer without the requirement of a production runtime license. The COBOL 2010 Runtime product is for production use and it contains all of the files necessary to run the developed applications on a computer where Visual COBOL is not installed.  These products each are licensed separately.  Where you might h

Created On:  05 August 2011 Problem: Beginning with version 8, unlike previous versions of the ACUCOBOL-GT Runtime, when the bin directory is copied to another Windows machine or a client PC is mapped to the bin directory on a server one of the following or similar errors may occur. ACUCOBOL-GT Runtime initialization errors such the following are usually corrected by copying the Microsoft redistributables, Microsoft.VC80.CRT and Microsoft.VC80.MFC, into the bin directory as discussed in articles 2731, 14870, 14931, and 31750. "The system cannot execute the specified program."“This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect.”"The application failed to initialize properly."The directions provided in those articles were followed, however, the error below continued to persist."The application failed to initialize properly." Resolution: It was discovered that the installation had been done from a net

Created On:  02 August 2011 Problem: Using runtime 8.1.1 or earlier on Windows 7, no Font dialog box opens when called. A CALL "W$FONT" USING WFONT-CHOOSE-FONT returns value -1. Resolution: Windows 7 manages the Font dialog box in a different way than Windows XP. It is now mandatory for it to call the native API comctl32.dll. However, setting WIN32_NATIVECTLS to 0 (the default value) causes the exclusion of the said dll. So, a workaround may be to turn WIN32_NATIVECTLS configuration variable ON, using runtime 8.1.1 or earlier.  From runtime 8.1.2, this is no longer necessary and the Font dialog box is shown correctly, regardless of the value of WIN32_NATIVECTLS.See ECN-3976 for further information about this issue. Incident #2530193 Old KB# 34299

Created On:  10 August 2011 Problem: The error message "can not create temporary directory" appears when compiling a program, or when executing a utility (such as Micro Focus's mfsupport utility). Resolution: Here are a few items to check in resolving this problem:Is the TMPDIR environment variable set?  Micro Focus follows the value of this environment variable when creating temporary files. If TMPDIR is set, does the directory pointed to by TMPDIR exist?  If so, do you have permission to write in that directory?  You can test this by using a UNIX command to create or "touch" a new file in that directory.If TMPDIR is not set, Micro Focus uses default locations of /tmp or /var/tmp.  Is there a permissions problem, or a disk space problem, in these locations?To solve the problem, you could set the environment variable TMPDIR to a location having adequate permissions and disk space. Old KB# 34324

Created On:  01 August 2011 Problem: Commencing on version 9.0.0, there is a new location of the installation and the licenses on Windows platforms. Resolution: New Installation location on Windows:The Windows installation directory structure for all extend products has changed. In particular the former directory "Acucorp" has been renamed to "Micro Focus". For example, version 8.x of ACUCOBOL-GT is installed here: C:\\Program Files\\Acucorp\\Acucbl800\\AcuGT Now, version 9.0.0 and higher is installed here: C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl900\\AcuGT Windows license file location changes:Version 9.0 now follows the Microsoft guidelines for license file locations. When using a standard ACUCOBOL-GT installation and License Activator you should see no change in behavior. However, license files are no longer created in the installation directory (C:\\Program Files\\Acucorp\\Acucbl900, by default on Windows XP). Instead, license files are created in an a