Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  29 June 2011 Problem: With Visual COBOL for Visual Studio you can tell what version is installed by clicking on Help-->About Microsoft Visual Studio from the IDE and then clicking on the Visual COBOL product in the list of installed products.Version numbers will show as:Visual COBOL 2010 R4 Version 1.3.00046.So how does one tell what version of the COBOLRuntime 2010 product is installed on a production computer under Windows where Visual Studio 2010 in not installed? Resolution: You can tell what version of the COBOLRuntime 2010 product is installed by using Windows Control Panel-->Add/Remove Programs and clicking on Micro Focus COBOL 2010 Runtime in the list.Then click on the link for: Click here for support information:Version information will appear as 1.n.nnnnn where:1.1.nnnnn = R2 release1.2.nnnnn = R3 release1.3.nnnnn = R4 releaseetc. Old KB# 34208

Created On:  16 June 2011 Problem: After upgrading Visual COBOL for Visual Studio R3 to the R4 release, the following error message is reported when starting Visual Studio 2010: Resolution: This error is caused when both the Visual COBOL for Visual Studio R3 and Visual COBOL for Eclipse R3 products are installed on the same computer and you upgrade the Visual Studio product to the R4 release. This leave the products in an inconsistent state as one is at release level R3 and the other is at release level R4.Uninstall the Visual COBOL for Eclipse R3 product and install the R4 version instead.  This will make the products consistent and the error will no longer appear. Old KB# 34173

Created On:  16 June 2011 Problem: What are abstract classes in managed Visual COBOL and how do I use them? Resolution: Abstract classes are used for creating base OO classes that contain both Abstract methods and implemented methods.Abstract classes cannot be instantiated directly but instead they must be inherited by a derived class in order to be used.The Abstract methods defined must be implemented by the derived class much like in an Interface.Methods that have been implemented in the Abstract class itself can be called directly when the derived class is instantiated.Example:  program-id. Main.       data division.       working-storage section.       01 calculate type DerivedClass.       01 added     binary-long.      &nbs

Created On:  28 June 2011 Problem: This article applies to licensing in Visual COBOL R4 and other Micro Focus products which use the latest CES version. Resolution: We have introduced a licensing daemon (mfcesd), primarily to support single threaded  applications but with some other benefits, such as cleaning up licenses if  a crash occurs. The product  talks to the daemon and the daemon talks to Safenet. If the daemon is not running you may see an error ‘Cannot communicate with licensing daemon’. There are two new scripts to start/stop the new daemon startmfcesd.sh and stopmfcesd.sh. If we want to shutdown the licensing completely then we should stop the daemon first then lserv and then vice versa when starting up again.stopmfcesd.shstoplserv.shstartlserv.shstartmfcesd.shThese scripts are in /var/microfocuslicensing/bin and should be run as root.There is a new utility mfcesdchk which will check if the daemon is running and report the version number.mfcesdchk

Created On:  20 June 2011 Problem: Server Express includes utilities such as Animator, sde, dfed, and mflmadm.  These are full-screen character-mode graphic utilities.  Sometimes they appear garbled or unreadable, and function keys or cursor keys may not work as intended.  These problems can be fixed by setting up the terminal emulation. Resolution: 1) Download the PuTTY terminal emulator from http://www.putty.org.   It's free.  Specifically, download the Windows installer for everything except PuTTYtel and install it on your PC.2) Start PuTTY and configure it as follows:Type the name of your Unix/Linux machine in Host name, and select either Telnet or SSH.  Also type the name of your machine in Saved Sessions, then press Save.Then on the left side under Category: Under Terminal, click Keyboard, then under The Function Keys and Keypad: If you using Linux: click LinuxIf you using AIX, Solaris, HP/UX, and SCO: click SCOClick Window,

Created On:  07 July 2011 Problem: The runtime produces an error when the file exceeds 2 gigabytes in size. Resolution: On UNIX systems that support large files, the USE_LARGE_FILE_API variable allows you to turn on or off file system API support for very large files (greater than 2 gigabytes). Support for large files is enabled when USE_LARGE_FILE_API is set to "1" (on, true, yes).   Some UNIX systems do not support files greater than 2 gigabytes in size. In those situations, setting this variable to the default of "0" (off, false, no) causes the runtime to use the standard 32-bit file system API.   **This runtime configuration variable has no effect on Windows platforms. This can also be set in the UNIX environment:USE_LARGE_FILE_API=1  export USE_LARGE_FILE_APIThe logutil utility supports large (>2GB) transaction log files. The host operating system must allow such large files.   Old KB# 34234#2GB#AcuCobol#LargeFile#Vision

Created On:  05 July 2011 Problem: In Visual Studio 2010 there is a setting to specify which extensions should be treated as COBOL copy files, like .cpy, .cob, .cbl etc.How does one specify that a file without any extension should be treated as a COBOL copy file? Resolution: From the Visual Studio 2010 IDE menu navigate to Tools-->Options-->Text Editor-->COBOL-->Miscellaneous-->Copy file extensions.Add a comma to the front of the list of extensions, by default this looks like:.cbl,.cpy,.cobchange it to look like:,.cbl,.cpy,.cobThe "," means that a file with no extention will also be recognized as a copy file extension. Incident #2525900 Old KB# 34229

Created On:  19 May 2011 Problem: Having received your keys for full licenses for Server Express, it appears that they will expire in x days. Resolution: There are two different model types for Server Express and Server for COBOL licenses; model 1 and model 2.  These different model types only really apply to the runtime product, Server for COBOL, but not the compiler product, Server Express.  If you encounter this problem, it is likely that the license keys shipped to you are model 2 type.  In order to resolve the issue, contact your Micro Focus sales representative asking for the model 2 keys to be converted to model 1.  Note that this is a purely commercial issue and cannot be resolved by your SupportLine representative. Incident #2517325 Old KB# 34106

Created On:  02 June 2011 Problem: The Consolidated Tracing Facility (CTF) has been enhanced in Visual COBOL for Visual Studio to work with managed code applications.  How does one set up this tracing in a managed code project? Resolution: If you are using the .NET environment, instead of setting the MFTRACE_CONFIG variable you can configure CTF tracing in an app.config file in the same folder as its associated app.exe file. The configuration statements must be inserted in an section in the as CDATA. For example: mftrace.dest = binfilemftrace.emitter.binfile#location = c:\\logsmftrace.level.mf.rts = infomftrace.comp.mf.rts#pgm = truemftrace.comp.mf.rts#pgmload = truemftrace.comp.mf.rts#syspgm = true <]]> Old KB# 34135

Created On:  13 June 2011 Problem: MFXDBC utility fails to add xfd file to syscat.When a command-line like this is executed:mfdbcutil -d "C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Server 5.1\\systemCatalog" -x "C:\\XFD" -a myfileThis error is generated:Error: A4ParseXFD failed opening file 'myfile' Resolution: Upgrade to the latest releases of MFXDBC:- Server Express 5.1 Wrap Pack 5- Net Express 5.1The new release XDBC 2.0 will be available at the end of June 2011. Incident #2518820 Old KB# 34151

Created On:  06 June 2011 Problem: With runtime 9.0.0, C$PARAMSIZE may cause a Memory Accesso Violation.  The same statement is working correctly under previous version of runtime. Resolution: This issue may be introduced by ECN-4048, deployed in 9.0.0. To disable this ECN and restore the previous behavior, upgrade to 9.0.1 and use one of the following solutions: Add the environment variable ECN_4048 in \\etc\\cblconfi and set it to 0 or FALSECompile the program with the pre-9.0.0 compatibility option (-c81) Incident #2512590 Old KB# 34149

Created On:  13 June 2011 Problem: Unable to compile INT to GNTcob32 -C nolist ./cobopt -uv Program.int* Micro Focus Server Express V5.1.00 Code Generator* Copyright (C) 1984-2009 Micro Focus (IP) Ltd. All rights reserved* Accepted - verbose* 019-C Program checked with non-optimal alignment. Optimal alignment is 8* Generating FG4-250* 013-R Illegal intermediate code (at 0X1757 in seg 0)cob32: error(s) in code generation: Program.intHowever on previous versions of Server Express this does not happen. Resolution: Here the int was created using a very old version of Net Express which was then ftp'd to Server Express 5.1 WebSync5. Once recompiling the int file first with Server Express 5.1 WebSync 5 then the compile command worked producing the gnt file. Old KB# 34150

Created On:  11 May 2011 Problem: In troubleshooting Server Express issues that occur in a UNIX/Linux environment, customers are often asked to provide COBOL programs for testing. Those programs are commonly temporarily downloaded from Pivotal and saved onto a support technician's Windows machine before being transported to a Unix or Linux system for testing. Many times, when those files are opened in a Unix or Linux editor (such as vi) on the testing machine, the files are seen to have a Windows Carriage-Return Line-Feed character (^M) appended to the ends of the lines of text. How can these be removed without using UNIX/Linux tools such as sed, vi or vim? Resolution: Do this using a copy of the file in question on the Windows system:(Note: The resolution depends on the Microsoft Visual Studio application being already installed on the technician's Windows machine).- on the Windows machine, in Windows Explorer, right-click on the document - in the menu wh

Created On:  08 June 2011 Problem: When installing a valid development license key for Server Express the error message "This is an expired temporary license" is received. Resolution: This issue has been known to occur in early versions of Server Express such as 2.0 and 2.2.The resolution:(Note: please be sure to have your valid license keys on-hand before executing any of the following procedures).If there are any lapsed license keys in the development license database un-install those. Next, refresh the license database and try installing the valid license key again. If that does not clear the issue you will need to recreate/reinstall the development license database, following the steps used to recover from a corrupt development license database. For Server Express 2.2 Service Pack 2 onwards, you can use $COBDIR/lmf/lmfdbrecover. For older products you will have to reinstall the license manager in order to recreate the license database. Please refer to the docu

Created On:  01 June 2011 Problem: After installing Visual Cobol for Eclipse R4 the JVM project entry on File > New is not visible just after installing the product. Resolution: To fix this open the Eclipse IDE then go to > Window > Reset Perspective. If you have reused an old workspace the perspective settings would not have the new menu items. Old KB# 34134

Created On:  13 June 2011 Problem: Does Web-to-Host support the use of double byte characters like is used in Japanese or other Asian languages for example? Resolution: Web-to-Host features support for double-byte character sets (DBCS) to enable customers with emulation needs in territories where DBCS is the standard. This is supported from Web- to-Host version 6.1 but please note that we only have DBCS support in Web to Host 6.1 Java clients. Old KB# 34148#Web-to-Host#Rumba

Created On:  25 May 2011 Problem: After installing just ACUXDBC on 64bit windows, then trying to access ACU vision files via ACUXDBC gives load failure on acuxdbc04.dll. Resolution: If you just install the ACUXDBC product your path will be not updated to point to the location of support files required to run ACUXDBC. The path has to be manually changed to include the 32bit AcuGT\\bin directory. By default, the product will install into the following directory structure:"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Micro Focus\\Acucbl9xx\\AcuGT\\bin"This is the directory that needs to be added to your path. Incident #2507260 Old KB# 34120

Created On:  13 June 2011 Problem: After developing a native code application using Visual COBOL for Visual Studio R3 it was deployed to a computer where COBOLRuntime2010 product was installed. A valid license for COBOLRuntime2010 had been installed and shows correctly under MF License Manager.  When running the application on this system an error 245 occurs with the following message:    No Valid Product Licenses Resolution: Licensing for the COBOLRuntime2010 product was changed between R2 and R3 of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio.  If you had installed a license that was generated for R2 initially then it will fail with this error message.  Contact Micro Focus Support and have them generate a new license using product type COBOLRuntime2010 Production.  This will generate the appropriate key for COBOLRuntime2010-Deploy in the license database file. Incident #2522698 Old KB# 34153

Created On:  19 April 2011 Problem: An issue has been found where a NESTED program containing a GLOBAL file with a split ALTERNATE key referenced in one of the sub programs returns the compiler error: ‘COBCH0012S Operand alt-key-definition is not declared’ – where alt-key-definition is the ALTERNATE access key as defined in the SELECT statement. This was encountered in Net Express 5.1, but seems not to have been an issue in Net Express 3.1. So in exactly which version it happened is not clear, but it could have been as far back as Net Express 4.0. Take the following SELECT statement for an INDEXED file in the calling program (as this is in a NESTED program the file does not need to be defined in the called sub programs): SELECT TESTFILE              ASSIGN TO “TESTFILE.DAT”              ORGANIZATION IS INDEXED      

Created On:  14 April 2011 Problem: The column is defined as - VARCHAR2(30 BYTE) NOT NULL - with attempts to populate with spaces. Acu4GL appears to be changing the value from spaces to null prior to the update - causing the update to fail. Resolution: Before there was an SQL standard, Oracle made the design decision that empty strings in VARCHAR/ VARCHAR2 columns were NULL and that there was only one sense of NULL (there are relational theorists that would differentiate between data that has never been prompted for, data where the answer exists but is not known by the user, data where there is no answer, etc. all of which constitute some sense of NULL). By the time that the SQL standard came around and agreed that NULL and the empty string were distinct entities, there were already Oracle users that had code that assumed the two were equivalent. So Oracle was basically left with the options of breaking existing code, violating the SQL standard, or introducing some sort of

Created On:  20 April 2011 Problem: How does one handle the processing of more than one form in a .NET Windows Forms application in Visual COBOL?  How do I create the forms, show the forms, hide the forms etc.? Resolution: In a .NET WinForm application, a form is simply an instance of the System.Windows.Forms.Form class so it may be manipulated like any other .NET object.When you first create a Windows Form Application a main form named Form1 is automatically added to the project and it is instantiated in the main.cbl program which is the entry point of the project.Other forms can be added by right clicking on the project name in Solution Explorer add selecting Add->New item->Windows Form.You can then instantiate and manipulate these new forms from your main form.Please download the attachment MultiFormDemo.zip from this article and unzip it onto your C:\\drive retaining the folder structure in the .zip file.Using Visual COBOL open up the solution C:\\MultiFormDe

Created On:  11 April 2011 Problem: Installing Server Express gives an error message "install error, check disk space/permissions and try again". Resolution: This is a generic error message and will be displayed for a number of different reasons.  You can verify the reason by running the install script with the -x flag to get debug information:> sh -x installThis will show each command in the script that is executed. '[' -f /opt/microfocus/cobol/etc/cobopt ']' '[' x./usr/lib64/gcc/x86_64-suse-linux/4.3/32 '!=' x. ']' chmod 644 /opt/microfocus/cobol/etc/cobopt ed /opt/microfocus/cobol/etc/cobopt /opt/microfocus/cobol/./bin/cobgetmsg -s2 -p/opt/microfocus/cobol/. -e install.lng 6install error, check disk space/permissions and try again exit 1In the above example, the ed command failed while trying to modify /opt/microfocus/cobol/etc/cobopt.  Investigation showed that the ed editor was not installed as part o

Created On:  14 April 2011 Problem: When the "acurcl -start" command is performed at the Command Prompt on a Windows server, the error "AcuRCL Service Error: 997" 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". This error may also indicate an expired evaluation license. Old KB# 33894

Created On:  30 March 2011 Problem: When animating any COBOL programs that contains Linkage Section fields in Net Express, the Change button to allow editing of the value of these fields is disabled. The other buttons, such as Monitor and Add to List, are enabled. Resolution: Reinstalling the product fixes this problem. Incident #2459848 Old KB# 33810

Created On:  29 March 2011 Problem: When running a form designer in Net Express 5.1 you get an error message indicating:Internet Explorer 4.01 or greater is requiredThis error message appears even though you have a higher version of Internet Explorer installed. Resolution: You will need to install the latest WrapPack for Net Express 5.1 so that this error message disappears and you can continue working with the form deisgner.You can download the WrapPack from the SupportLine website:   www.microfocus.com/supportline Old KB# 33790