Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  08 February 2011 Problem: Unable to start a server runtime and are receiving the warning message "exceeded licensed number of users". Resolution: Diagnostics: This error indicates a licensing restriction or an orphan runtime condition.To determine the maximum number of licensed AcuRCL users, perform "acurcl -v". To determine the maximum number of licensed runtime users, perform "wrun32 -v" in Windows environments or "runcbl -v" in UNIX environments. On UNIX, AcuShare will identify the number of runtime users currently on the system. AcuRCL handles its user count internally. Suppose you own a license for 35 users of the runtime and 15 users of AcuRCL. If you reach the AcuRCL limit with Thin Client connections and perform an "acushare -info" you will see 15 users. In this situation, you are correctly receiving this error due to reaching AcuRCL's license limit, although 20 runtime instances are still available.

Created On:  08 February 2011 Problem: Thin Client is unable to launch a server program and receives the error "connection failure, Alias does not exist". Resolution: This error indicates a problem with the Alias file (acurcl.ini).Verify that the Alias exists by performing an "acurcl -alias". Ensure that the Alias file that is created is the same one that AcuRCL is using. If the file does not reside in the default directory, set the AcuRCL server configuration variable SERVER_ALIAS_FILE to the correct location. Old KB# 33294

Created On:  14 February 2011 Problem: The key codes can be set in the cblconfig file. How can this be set directly in the program via the command "set configuration"? Resolution: Here is a programing sample:           set environment "KEYSTROKE" to "exception=2001 ^x".           set environment "KEYSTROKE" to "exception=2002 ^c".           set environment "KEYSTROKE" to "exception=2003 ^v".           set environment "KEYSTROKE" to "exception=2004 ^z".           set environment "KEYSTROKE" to "exception=2005 ^a".           Set exception value 2001 to cut-selection. 

Created On:  08 February 2011 Problem: Is Server Express certified on AIX 7? Resolution: There is a UNIX/Linux product matrix but AIX 7 is new and so does not feature: http://supportline.microfocus.com/productreleaselevels/unix.asp.  When installing Server Express 5.1 on AIX 7, you will receive a message stating that it is not supported. Micro Focus has in fact tested this version and does indeed certify Server Express 5.1 WrapPack 5 on AIX 7. We are currently repacking the product so as to remove the message during installation. Incident #2500847 Old KB# 33282

Created On:  09 February 2011 Problem: The OPEN I-O statement results in a file status 35, file not found, if the file does not exist.  The expectation is that OPEN I-O should create the file if it does not exist. Resolution: OPEN I-O will create a file only if the File Control entry for that file (the SELECT statement) includes the OPTIONAL phrase, or if the IO_CREATES Runtime Configuration is turned on. Adding the following in the Runtime configuration file should resolve the error:IO_CREATES ON Old KB# 33311

Created On:  10 February 2011 Problem: A Visual COBOL solution exists which contains several COBOL managed code projects.The solution build fine when the build is done from within Visual Studio 2010 or when done through the msbuild utility run from a Visual COBOL 2010 32-bit command prompt.However when the same solution is built using Team Foundation Server 2010 (TFS) it fails with errors that reference the assembly 'MicroFocus.COBOL.CompilerUtil. The error shows that MSBuild could not find the above said assembly. The build errors will look like the following:C:\\Program Files (x86)\\MSBuild\\Micro Focus\\Visual COBOL\\v1.0\\MicroFocus.COBOL.targets (533): The "CobolDependencies" task could not be instantiated from "MicroFocus.Cobol.BuildTasks, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0412c5e0b2aaa8f0".  System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'MicroFocus.COBOL.BuildTasks.BaseTask' threw an exception. ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundExc

Created On:  11 February 2011 Problem: The Micro Focus COBOL SORT provides a status indicator capable of returning detailed and meaningful error codes.  It is useful for catching situations like running out of disk space during a SORT operation.   This Knowledge Base article provides example code showing correct usage of the SORT STATUS. Resolution: The SORT STATUS data item operates in much the same way as the FILE STATUS for regular COBOL I/0.  It is a two-byte field where success is indicated if the first byte is zero, but a serious error is indicated if the first byte is 9.  Also, when the first byte is 9, the second byte should be interpreted as a usage COMP-X.You specify the SORT STATUS in the SELECT statement for the sort file, and you can check its value after each SORT operation (such as RELEASE and RETURN).The following sample programs show correct usage of the SORT STATUS, and can serve as a template for writing SORTs with input proc

Created On:  11 February 2011 Problem: A newly-created indexed file containing zero records (or an indexed file from which all previously-existing records have been deleted), will have size zero in the data portion but will occupy at least 3K in the .idx portion.   Why is that? Resolution: The 3K or more of data held in the .idx portion of an empty indexed file is header information necessary to define the file.  The header information includes the primary key position and its length (or the position and length of each of its pieces if it is a split key) and its data type (numeric or character).   It also includes the position, length and type of each of the alternate keys, as well as other defining information about the file.For indexed files of type MF"8" a.k.a  IDXFORMAT"8", the data portion and index portion are held in one disk file.  This one file will show at least 3k even when the file contains zero data records; this 3k

Created On:  11 February 2011 Problem: By default, the definition of the figurative constant HIGH-VALUES is hex FF.  Users may want to change this, particularly users of the Native Language Set (NLS) feature.  In native languages, such as Spanish or French, the collating sequence is different and there may be a more appropriate definition for HIGH-VALUES than the default hex FF. Resolution: The following COBOL program sets HIGH-VALUES to the uppercase letter A, which is the 66th character of the ASCII sequence if you begin counting from 1 rather than from 0.   Following the same method as this example, HIGH-VALUES may be set to any character, if the user knows the location of the character in the ASCII sequence starting from 1.   It may even be set to characters beyond the end of the ASCII sequence, up to 255.   The OVERRIDE compiler option does not necessarily have to be specified in a $set statement in the source code.   I

Created On:  11 February 2011 Problem: A large COBOL program compiles and runs fine under Visual COBOL 2010 R3 on a 32-bit Windows XP computer. The program is compiled as managed code with a target of AnyCPU.The same program is run on a 64-bit Windows 7 computer and a .NET StackOverflow Exception occurs on a PERFORM statement in the program.The program has a large number of PERFORM and PERFORM THRU statements.Why does it run fine on a 32-bit computer but fails on a 64-bit computer? Resolution: The amount of stack space used in a 64-bit program is about double that of a 32-bit version. There are two known resolutions to this issue:1.  Using the Configuration Manager, change the target type of the project from AnyCPU to x64.2.  Try adding the compiler directive PERFORMTYPE(VSC2) to the project properties under the COBOL tab. Incident #2499057 Old KB# 33325

Created On:  11 February 2011 Problem: The NetEvents.ini is a text file with that name and for example this content:C:\\AcuSupport\\FDP\\netdefgenC:\\Program Files\\Acucorp\\Acucbl811\\AcuGT\\sample\\dotnet\\amortcontrol\\eventsIt has to be a text file which contains paths to directories which contains you .net DLLs.  The number of paths is limited to 64.Would using the FILE-PATH statement in the CREATE command and a .xml file be a vaild alternative? Resolution: Yes. However, it is not recommended or tested to use multiple paths (although it may be possible).  FILE-PATH needs the whole path the file name, while NetEvents.ini asked just for the directories paths. Incident #2501150 Old KB# 33334

Created On:  08 February 2011 Problem: Thin Client fails to connect to the server with the error "connection to server refused, error 267". Resolution: Diagnostics: Error 267 in Windows environment means Invalid Directory. An invalid directory path/name or inadequate permissions on one of the directories or sub directories causes this error.Ensure the working directory specified in the Alias entry is correct. Check the permissions for all leading directories to both the runtime and object files. Check the AcuRCL configuration file (acurcl.cfg) to ensure the correct path specification is set for SERVER-RUNTIME. This must be set if the remote runtime is installed in a different directory than AcuRCL. Old KB# 33287

Created On:  04 February 2011 Problem: When using Net Express 6.0 in Studio Enterprise Edition 6.0, Net Express crashes when trying to use the options (Get, Check Out, Check In, Undo Check Out, Add to Source Control, and Remove from Source Control) listed under the ‘Source Safe’ menu. Resolution: Turn off the multi-threading option for Source Control. This is accomplished by going to Options > Source Control > and deselecting ‘Use multi-threading’ checkbox. Incident #2498853 Old KB# 33162#Studio#Enterprise#COBOL#AccessViolation#netexpress#StudioEnterpriseEdition

Created On:  31 January 2011 Problem: Uninstalling a pre-GA version of Visual COBOL R3 does not remove the Visual COBOL R3 online documentation and prevents the online documentation from being updated by subsequent installations of Visual COBOL R3. As a result, if you perform the following steps: 1. Install a pre-GA version of Visual COBOL R3. 2. Uninstall the pre-GA version of Visual COBOL R3. 3. Install the GA version of Visual COBOL R3. The online documentation for Visual COBOL is as it was after you performed step 1. Resolution: To resolve this issue you need to manually remove the online documentation for the pre-GA version of Visual COBOL R3 then update the GA version of Visual COBOL R3 to include the correct online documentation. Note: The following steps are for Windows 7 and will differ slightly for other versions of the Windows operating system. To manually remove the online documentation for the pre-GA version of Visual COBOL R3: 1. Use the Run as administrator

Problem: When requesting a license from Micro Focus License Server 4.0, a prompt to download the TM1.TMP file.  Once downloaded, the license is not installed on the product that requested it. Resolution: The license server may be installed on a Windows Server 2008 environment with IIS 7.5 or 7.0 installed.  In order to resolve the issue, please perform the following: Log into the License Server machine as a local administrator. Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. Within the IIS Manager, navigate to alias created for the License Server and double click on the "Compression" icon. Make sure that "Enable dynamic content compression" is unchecked. Open a command line and type "iisreset" to reset the IIS.   Old KB# 33079#Windows2008#7.0#TM1.TMP#IIS#LicenseServer#7.5

Created On:  03 February 2011 Problem: Cannot install Visual COBOL / Net Express products due to Orphaned Registry entries, this issue usually occurs in Windows Vista or Windows 7. For example, the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Wow6432Node\\Micro Focus exists but you cannot change permissions or do anything with those keys, access is denied. Even when logging on with the local Administrator account you cannot see these keys or even change the permissions. This key could already exist due to other or older products but where removed. Resolution: 1. Download and install SubInACL: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8ba3e56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en2. From an Administrators command prompt, run:>cd /d “c:\\program files (x86)\\Windows Resource Kits\\Tools”>subinacl.exe /subkeyreg “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Wow6432Node\\Micro Focus” /grant=administrators=f3. On 64 bit machines using regedit, check that the key

Created On:  01 February 2010 Problem: Enterprise Server is trying to connect to a database via XA.  The following error message appears:CASXO0002S Switch Load Module for resource UDB failed to loadThis occurs even though a valid ESDB2XA.dll was generated and does exist.  Resolution: After stopping the service named MFDS, the customer was entering:casstart /r in a Net Express Command Prompt.  The console log showed a successful start.The trouble was caused by MFDS not having sufficient authority to run the Enterprise Server.The solution in such cases is to modify the properties of the service named MFDS, assigning it to an administrator account. Incident #2285214 Old KB# 33119#VisualCOBOL#StudioEnterpriseEdition#netexpress#COBOL#Enterprise

Created On:  01 February 2011 Problem: COBOL source modules that originally worked successfully in a different environment, would not work under Server Express and Oracle 10g.   Characters in columns 69 through 72 were being ignored, whereas the COBOL compiler from the original environment would see and parse these characters. Resolution: SupportLine wrote a COBOL program capable of scanning source files and reporting lines having characters (other than space characters) in columns 69 - 72.   The problem was solved when the customer used this program to identify, and then modify, those lines of code.  The program, named "check69-72", as well as a Readme.txt file, is attached to this Knowledgebase article. Incident #2196977 Attachments Readme.txtcheck69-72.cbl Old KB# 33118#netexpress#ServerExpress#COBOL#EnterpriseServer#StudioEnterpriseEdition#VisualCOBOL#Enterprise

Created On:  31 January 2011 Problem: Uninstalling Visual COBOL R3 does not remove the Visual COBOL R3 online documentation. If you continue to use Visual Studio, the online documentation for Visual COBOL R3 is still displayed even though Visual COBOL R3 is no longer installed. Resolution: To resolve this issue you need to manually remove the online documentation for Visual COBOL R3.Note: The following steps are for Windows 7 and will differ slightly for other versions of the Windows operating system.To manually remove the online documentation for Visual COBOL R3:1. Use the Run as administrator option to run Start > All Programs > Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 > Visual Studio Tools > Manage Help Settings - ENU.        The Help Library Manager is displayed.2. Click Remove content.    3. Click Remove in the Actions column of the Visual COBOL R3 row, then click the Remove button.   &nbsp

Created On:  20 January 2011 Problem: We are unable to start animating our program in Net Express.  What should we do? Resolution: This problem is due to permissions set in the registry. These have to be checked and compared with the following:In Windows 7 run REGEDIT and navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Micro Focus\\NetExpress\\5.1\\COBOLThe permissions should be by default:CREATOR OWNER: Allow - Special PermissionsSYSTEM: Allow - Full Control and ReadADMINISTRATORS: Allow - Full Control and ReadUSERS: ReadIn Windows XP run REGEDIT and navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Micro Focus\\NetExpress\\5.1\\COBOLThe permissions should be by default:CREATOR OWNER: Allow - Special PermissionsSYSTEM: Allow - Full Control and ReadADMINISTRATORS: Allow - Full Control and ReadUSERS: Read Incident #2494468 Old KB# 33036

Created On:  19 January 2011 Problem: The extfh.cfg looks like this:[/mf/MicroFocus/data/FILE]Striping=onMaxStripeSize=2000000000MaxStripeFiles= 30[/mf/MicroFocus/data/FILEStriping=onMaxStripeSize=2000000000MaxStripeFiles= 30 Resolution: As you can see in the extfh.cfg there is a space in between the '=' sign and value after ( 30) in MaxStripeFiles. Removing this space will result in the correct behavior. Old KB# 33020

Created On:  01 January 2011 Problem: The large file support has been enabled by the configuration setting:USE_LARGE_FILE_API 1When running the program and the large file is accessed a file error 30,22 occurs.  On HP-UX error 22 means "invalid argument", which doesn't make sense. Resolution: The issue occurs on systems that do not support full 64-bit file addressing on some file system types (HP-UX is an example).  The problem is that by default Vision places file locks at the end of the file address space, and on those systems that address may be invalid.  The resolution is to add the follwing setting to the Runtime configuration file:LARGE_FILE_LIMIT_2TB 1,This forces the file access locks that Vision usually places at the end of the file address space to be placed within the 2TB boundary.  If this does not resolve the error then the boundary for locks must be further limited.  Do that by adding:LARGE_FILE_LIMIT_1TB 1

Created On:  21 January 2011 Problem: When the "acurcl -start" command is performed on a Windows server, the error "AcuRCL Service Error: 3" is displayed and AcuRCL fails to start. Resolution: This error is encountered when upgrading to a newer version of AcuRCL without removing the prior service. Perform "acurcl -remove" to remove Windows service from memory and then start the new version "acurcl -start". If not using the default port, indicate the port number when removing and starting the service: "acurcl -remove -n portnumber" and "acurcl -start -n portnumber". Incident #2183038 Old KB# 33057

Created On:  14 January 2011 Problem: We are trying to find the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Office\\14.0\\Excel\\InstallRoot in a Windows7 64 bit environment.On page 3 in “When I’m 64” it says (the example with AcmeSoft) that software in 32 bit versions was located in KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\AcmeSoft is now located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Wow6432Node\\AcmeSoftUnder 32 bit programs he searches for an Excel installation in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Office\\14.0\\Excel\\InstallRoot – that works fine.So based on the “When I’m 64” article, we should be able to find the same information on 64 bit Windows in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Office\\14.0\\Excel\\InstallRoot – but can’t cause the entry doesn’t exist in the registration DB.What needs to be done? Resolution: When you accesses the registry, you should not worry about the WOW6432Node, Windows will apply this automatically if the application is 32 b

Created On:  20 January 2011 Problem: Web.config files can be greater than 250kb when creating web projects in Visual Cobol but IIS shows an error indicating that it cannot read a config file beyond 250kb. Resolution: The link below provides information on how to chage the default size of a web.config file:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954864By applying the changes indicated in the Microsoft forum you will be able to run your web application with web.config files greater than 250kb. Incident #2487425 Old KB# 33037