Rocket® COBOL

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

Created On:  24 December 2010 Problem: My COBOL program retrieves the command-line:       working-storage section.       01 CMDline pic x(128) value spaces.       ...       procedure division.       accept   CMDline from command-line       ....To launch a program I like to debug this way: anim program.int command-line and receive no command-line in the animated program.It works fine when I test in run mode:  cobrun program.int command-lineWhat am I doing wrong? Resolution: Use in anim mode this command:anim program.int END command-line The END added is a directive for Animator Server Express 5.1 Bookshelf Debugging Guide Chapter 4: Directives for Animator:END End directives to Animator and begin directives for user program Old KB# 32747

Created On:  30 December 2010 Problem: After trying to run a program after an upgrade of Server Express, a 211 error occurs:Load error : file 'pi'error code: 211, pc=0, call=1, seg=0211     Program not executable by Run-Time SystemWhy is this happening? Resolution: This can occur if the program was not recompiled after the upgrade. It is recommended that all programs be recompiled after upgrades of Server Express to avoid issues such as this one. This error can also occur if the program was compiled under one cobmode and then execution is attempted under a different cobmode. Merely changing the cobmode at the time of execution using the following may clear this.       export COBMODE={desired bitmode} Old KB# 32759

Created On:  06 January 2010 Problem: Is there a routine that automatically calculates the number of days between two dates in Net Express? Resolution: The FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE is a simple date-to-number conversion.Once the dates has been converted to numeric values comparable to a base date, one can then be subtracted from the other.Have a look at the following:WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.01  INPUT-DATE-1                PIC 9(8).01  INPUT-DATE-2                PIC 9(8).01  NUM-DATE-1                  PIC 9(8).01  NUM-DATE-2                  PIC 9(8).01  NO-OF-DAYS         &nb

Created On:  31 December 2010 Problem: The secondary error 90 means in Vision Version 4 or 5, on open, an index segment's internal revision number does not match the internal revision number stored in the header of the first data segment. Normally the error code 98,90 is returned by the runtime when it finds that the user count in the header record of a Vision file has a negative value.  This normally arises when a runtime has crashed and has not had the chance to correctly update the header record that normally occurs during a normal shutdown. Resolution: Try fixing this by Resetting the Internal Revision Number. This option resets the internal revision number of all segments in the specified Vision file to the revision number of the first data segment. It does this without rebuilding the entire file. To use this option, you must have exclusive access to the file. The command is: Vutil32 -fixvers  [ -q ]  [ file ] The files can be listed on the command

Created On:  05 January 2011 Problem: When you load a project and rebuild, you get an error message in the build tab saying: ERROR OPENING CDI2 HANDLECompiler: Error during creation of debug information file Resolution: This error message is displayed when a project has become corrupt. You will need to create a new project (.APP) file and then import the files that you were using in the corrupted project. Once you have imported the files, you should then be able to get a clean rebuild of the project. Incident #2472850 Old KB# 32768

Created On:  13 January 2011 Problem: A multi-threaded application returns this error without a real reason: "RECEIVE/WAIT in locked thread - deadlocked". This error began to occur after the upgrade to runtime version 8.1.0. Earlier runtimes the application did not encounter the error. Resolution: This error is usually shown when: - the application is executing either a RECEIVE or a WAIT statement - the current thread has no messages and it appears as locked. The tread may be locked for one of the following reasons: - a LOCK THREAD statement - INPUT-OUTPUT operations on a file - event procedure of a GRID control (ECN-3671) ECN 3671 has been introduced in release 8.1.0. This is its description: SUBJECT: Threads and event procedures Change Number: ECN-3671 Status: Complete Type of Change: Correction Priority: Medium Incidents: 99-047136 Date: 2007-04-11 Product: ACUCOBOL-GT Module: runtime New Version: 8.1.0 Machines Affected: All Known Versions Affected: All D

Created On:  12 January 2011 Problem: AcuSQL Version 8.x gives an “Invalid column name” error if the WHERE clause uses double-quotes around the value.For example:     WHERE COLUMN-1 = "ABC"This worked without error in Version 7.x but in 8.x the select fails with the error "Invalid column name". Resolution: AcuSQL for SQL Server version 8.0 changed the communication technology used to access SQL Server, from dblib to ODBC. This is due to the fact that dblib had been discontinued by Microsoft and was no longer supported. ODBC requires single quotes around string values, where the old dblib allowed double quotes.  This is a permanent restriction. To resolve the error modify the ESQL in the COBOL program to use single quotes around the WHERE value. Old KB# 32874

Created On:  23 December 2010 Problem: AcuXDBC Version 8.1.3 on Windows Server 2008 R2 gives a side by side error when trying to execute any of the batch files or xdbcutil directly. Resolution: The Server must have the correct Roles installed.  In the Windows Server Manager check which Roles are listed.  Add File Services and Application Server if not already present. Old KB# 32745

Created On:  11 January 2011 Problem: With AcuODBC users had the capability to access more than one table with the same name, and this was called multi-company support. How this can be done with AcuXDBC? Resolution: AcuXDBC offers convenient ways to manage multiple company data sets. For example, you may have two sets of data for Company01 and Company02. The layouts of the data files are the same, but the file names have different prefixes or suffixes. For example, ACCT01 and ACCT02 may be the accounting files for Company01 and Company02. They are stored in different directories. Rather than having to set up system catalogs for each of your companies individually, you can do one of two things: 1. You can have a different configuration file for each company. In this configuration file, you can use wildcards and substitution characters (defined in the configuration file) to identify which data files to access, allowing you to have a single system catalog that gets p

Created On:  06 January 2011 Problem: Given a date for example yyyymmdd how can we establish the day of the week (for example Sunday, Monday etc.) Resolution: The following program may help:      *****************************************      *****************************************       Working-storage section.       01  INPUT-DATE.           05  INPUT-YY                PIC 9(4).           05  INPUT-MM                PIC 9(2).           05  INPUT-DD                P

Created On:  31 December 2010 Problem: A General Socket error is generated because of AcuRCL setup and firewall issues.  Thin Client fails to connect to the server with the error connection failed "general socket error". Resolution: If you not using the default port, ensure the port is specified in the acuthin command (e.g. "acuthin server:port alias"). Verify that you are using the correct IP address or server name. Ensure that the Windows service or UNIX daemon is executing on the server by performing "acurcl -info".On Windows servers, ensure the service is installed by performing "acurcl -query servername". Verify that the client can communicate with the server by doing "ping servername" or "acuthin -p servername:port". If this fails, it would indicate a network configuration problem. Verify that the client can communicate with AcuRCL by performing "acuthin -p servername:port. Ensure that a valid AcuRCL configuration file is available and that the DEFAULT_USER is se

Created On:  11 January 2011 Problem: The License Manager is started and the he /tmp/LMF-common is created.  We get LMF 010: Unable to contact License Manager. Resolution: This message is displayed when the permissions of /tmp/LMF-common are not right . The permissions of /tmp/LMF-common must be prxwrxwrxw (LM-common is a pipe file). Incident #2494189 Old KB# 32839#COBOL

Created On:  21 December 2010 Problem: XML Extensions can be configured to not export empty occurrences when the XML EXPORT function is called.  Unfortunately, this option might cause non-empty occurrences to be suppressed in the output document. Resolution: A patch for the XML Extensions Runtime Library is available in the Product Updates page on the Micro Focus web site (http://www.microfocus.com).  This patch addresses the XML EXPORT issue with OCCURs. Incident #2453539 Old KB# 32736#XMLExportOCCUROCCURs

Created On:  16 December 2010 Problem: Licensing for Server Express Remote Development Option (RDO) is managed by the remote server and this includes issuing the Windows client license. When you start the Eclipse IDE for the first time on your client machine you will be prompted to enter the details of the license server.  If you make a mistake in entering the license server details, communication between the client machine and the license server machine will fail, thus returning the error message:ServerExpressRDO: Error: Feature "ServerExpressRDO" is not licensed to run on this server Resolution: When you start up the Eclipse IDE on the client machine, it only prompts for the license host the first time.  In so doing it creates a file called licensehost.txt which is stored somewhere on the client machine.  Having incorrectly entered the license server details, you will need to locate this file and then delete it.  In so doing, the ne

Created On:  15 December 2010 Problem: When trying to run the MFSORT utility from within a .bat file, an error occurs when attempting to redirect the output of MFSORT to a filename using command line redirection if the filename is specified as an environment variable.The following error will be written to the file an errorlevel will be set to 8.     "Unable to write to SYSOUT. Switching to console output instead"Example:@ECHO OFF SET OUTFILE=outfile.datECHO [�TE% %TIME%] Step MFSORT started. >> %OUTFILE%MFSORT USE DATA.DAT ORG LS RECORD (F,7) GIVE DATA.DAT SORT FIELDS (1,7,ch,a) >> %OUTFILE%ECHO [�TE% %TIME%] Step MFSORT finished.  Error Level = %ERRORLEVEL% >> %OUTFILE%ECHO Error Level = %ERRORLEVEL% Resolution: This can be remedied by setting the COBSW environment variable to S5 in the .bat file.Example:@ECHO OFFSET COBSW= S5SET OUTFILE=outfile.datECHO [�TE% %TIME%] Step MFSORT started. >> %OUTFILE%MFSORT USE DAT

Created On:  10 December 2010 Problem: Is it possible to obtain the Decimal Code of any ASCII character? Resolution: This simple COBOL program shows how to do it.       identification division.       program-id. ASCII-TO-DEC.       remarks.              environment division.       special-names.           decimal-point is comma.       input-output section.       file-control.       data division.       file section.       working-storage section.        01 ASCII-VALUE                 &nbs

Created On:  12 December 2010 Problem: Is it possible to remove a table from the catalog of AcuXDBC? Resolution: The best way to remove an existing table from the system catalog of AcuXDBC is using the tool "asql" located in the BIN directory of the AcuXDBC installation. This tool is a batch file that can have a .bat or a .sh extension, depending on the Operating System.To start the tool, just use this command line:C:\\>asqlSQL (/? for help) ==>A new prompt is shown. From here, it is possible to drop the table simply using this syntax:SQL (/? for help) ==> drop table mytable;If there are doubts about the name of the table, or about the owner of the table, just run this query:SQL (/? for help) ==> select t_owner, t_name from genesis_tables where t_name='MYTABLE'; T_OWNER                        T_NAME -----------------

Created On:  21 December 2010 Problem: What version of the Liant products are supported on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2? Resolution: Only Liant version 12.05 and above products are compatible and supported on Windows 7.  No Liant products older than version 12.05 will work properly, or, be supported on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. Please contact your Micro Focus Maintenance Sales Account Manager for assistance with upgrading to the latest version of RM/COBOL. Incident #2493463 Old KB# 32734

Created On:  21 December 2010 Problem: We have installed the 32-bit Relativity Data Client, Data Server, or, Data Manager on a 64-bit Windows machine.  After the install, the Data Client, Data Server, or, Data Manager are unavailable in the ODBC Administrator located in the Windows Control Panel. Resolution: The 32-bit Relativity Data Client, Data Server, and, Data Manager are 32-bit ODBC drivers.  Therefore, you will not find them listed in the 64-bit ODBC Administrator.  The 64-bit ODBC Administrator can be found in the Administrative Tools area of the Windows Control Panel.In order to create 32-bit data sources, you must, instead, run the 32-bit version of the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator.  You will find it here:   C:\\Windows\\SysWoW64\\odbcad32.exe #RelativityODBC

Created On:  16 December 2010 Problem: An ASP.NET web application builds succesfully in Visual Studio but when trying to run or debug the application strange compiler error messages occur which point to source code in the App_Code subfolder or in temporary files. Resolution: The problem you are seeing is because you have an App_Code folder, which gets compiled at run-time and is only expected to be part of a Web Site, not a Web Application which is precompiled. What is happening is that the contents of the project, including the classes in App_Code, get built to an assembly but at run-time the ASP.NET server is compiling the contents of App_Code and specifying references to all of the project references plus the project output. That means that the compiler is attempting to compile classes with a reference to compiled versions of themselves and not surprisingly it is getting rather confused hence the strange error messages.If you rename your App_Code folder to a different na

Created On:  16 December 2010 Problem: How do you use COBOL syntax on an ASP.NET Web page to call Eval method for binding? Resolution: The .NET Framework Eval method is used on a web page to dynamically assign a value to an object in COBOL.For example, if you wanted to bind the value of the ProductID object to the text property of a grid column you could use the following:...<ItemTemplate>  <asp:Label ID="ProductID" runat="server" Text='<%# super::"Eval"("ProductID") %>'></asp:Label></ItemTemplate>' runat="server">If you are using this type of code on a web page in an ASP.NET Web application then you will also have to update your .aspx to include Language="COBOL" on the page.We don't specify the Language property by default so that aspx pages don't generate a reference to our CodeDom, so that it is not required on a deployment machine unless absolu

Created On:  10 December 2010 Problem: What do you do when you need to create documentation for the user-defined classes and methods declared in your .NET COBOL applications? Resolution: It is a good practice to provide descriptions of the classes and methods declared in your managed COBOL applications files by adding XML documentation comments in the source files. For example, the descriptions are used by the Visual Studio IntelliSense Quick Info feature that shows tool-tips about the classes and methods you can use. You can configure your project to generate an XML file with the comments at build time. From this file you can create documentation in CHM, Help 2 or MS Help Viewer format using a third party utility such as Sandcastle. To add XML documentation comments do the following: 1. Open your solution in Visual Studio. 2. Open a source file which is part of a managed COBOL project. 3. Position the cursor on a line preceding a method or a class declaration. 4. Type

Created On:  06 December 2010 Problem: What are the pre requisites when somebody wants to rebuild a new ACUCOBOL-GT Runtime on a UNIX/Linux platform with the integration with C-ISAM (on SOLARIS)? Resolution: To relink the runtime, use each platforms’ native ANSI C compiler. For relinking the runtime the GCC compiler is only supported on Linux platforms. Run a standard make runcbl in the ACUCOBOL-GT lib directory just to check if it’s working before running the integration with C-ISAM or other tools. If it’s not working, the two questions to ask are:Do you have a C compiler on your platform ? Which C compiler are you using ? For the special integration with C-ISAM: a) Ask if the IBM libisam.a file is a 32 or 64 bit version because if it’s a 32 bit version, you have to link it with ACUCOBOL-GT 32 bits and if it’s a 64 bit version, you have to link it with ACUCOBOL-GT 64 bits. b) Modify the filetbl.c file in the lib directory#define USE_CISAM 0 à #define USE_CIS

Created On:  09 December 2010 Problem: How do you call a SQL stored procedure/function that returns a value to the program? Resolution: The result parameter can be specified in the SQL call as follows:   EXEC SQL      :myResult = CALL myFunction(namedParam=:paramValue)   END-EXECOr you can specify an OUT parameter which will contain the value set in the stored procedure.   EXEC SQL      CALL getDept(:empName IN, :deptName OUT)   END-EXEC Incident #2491320 Old KB# 32652#VisualCOBOL#netexpress#Enterprise#COBOL