Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  16 August 2010 Problem: In a Linux graphical environment, if an alphabetic character is edited in a numeric entry-field, runtime shows error message ACCEPT REQUIRED.  After that, runtime freezes and it's impossible to work with the application. Resolution: This message is quite common and it's usually caused by the working storage variable the entry-field has associated with it.  Check the version of the runtime using "runcbl -vv". If it shows that release is 8.1.2, the best thing to start with is to upgrade to release 8.1.2.1. Incident #2450328 Old KB# 31611

Created On:  03 August 2010 Problem: The XFD_PREFIX Configuration Variable is used to locate the XFD file. XFD_PREFIX allows you to define number of directories to search to find a XFD file. The runtime system will search each directory in order to locate a matching file.The documentation describes the separating directories entries are separated by a semi-colon (;). For example: XFD_PREFIX=/dir1; /dir2The problem is that setting XFD_PREFIX does not search multiple paths.  The XFD files in dir2 will not be found when attempting to open the file, and an error to this effect will be reported. Resolution: On Windows, the path separator is a semi-colon (:), but on UNIX/LINUX the separator is a colon (:). The correct syntax is: XFD_PREFIX=/dir1: /dir2 Incident #2443947 Old KB# 31556#XFD_PREFIX#DatabaseConnectors

Created On:  16 August 2010 Problem: A compilation job does not work properly when run in Acubench.  We are getting the output error window showing this message: "Result too large". Resolution: This issue was due to a mispelling of the compiler option -o used to locate where the compiled object will be placed. It's possible to use dots in the name of the directories. It can be useful for example to identify different financial years, like:c:\\directory\\directory.2009c:\\directory\\directory.2010This can be misunderstood by the compiler if not correctly managed.A compiler option like: -o c:\\directory\\directory.2010 can be read by the compiler as the will to generate a file named directory with extension 2010.As directory.2010 is a directory, the compiler will not accept this command line and will report the error message: "Result too large"To make compiler to work properly, remember to add the @.extension to the name of the compiled objec

Created On:  9 August 2010 Problem: The RM/COBOL installation fails on Windows with the following error message: "Unknown error 0x1002: CallOpenFirewallPort failed." Resolution: One of the requirements for the RM/COBOL installation is that the Windows Firewall either is running or is capable of running.You can check the current status of the Windows Firewall service by going to the Services control panel utility (Control Panel Services). Then right-click on the "Windows Firewall" service listing and select "Properties".From the "Properties" dialog, you will need to ensure that the Windows Firewall service is not set to disabled and that it can be "Started". If you cannot "Start" the service then you will have to address that issue before installing the Runtime. #firewall#Installation#RMCOBOL

Created On:  9 August 2010 Problem: Error message "Invalid Install Path" is returned  when saving the Relativity Data Source on a Windows PC. Resolution: This error is caused by the Relativity Data Client, Data Server or Relativity Data Manager data source name containing a non-valid character. Ensure that both the ODBC data source name on the client and server contain no illegal characters.  The data source name should only contain characters that are valid for file names.It is possible, however, to receive this error message without the data source name containing any invalid characters.  If this situation occurs, try using the data source after receiving the error message.  The data source should be usable.  If the data source is not functional, please contact Micro Focus SupportLine for assistance. Incident #2454963 Old KB# 31579#RelativityDataSourceDSNClient

Created On:  9 August 2010 Problem: The RM/COBOL installer requires that the Windows Firewall is enabled. However, Routing and Remote Access (RRAS) has disabled the Windows Firewall service and prevents the Firewall service from being started. If you try to start the Windows Firewall service with RRAS enabled you will receive the following error: "Error 170: The requested resource is in use" Resolution: In order to resolve this issue you will need to temporarily disable Routing and Remote Access during the installation RM/COBOL.To disable RRAS:1. Open the RRAS console (Start > Run > rrasmgmt.msc)2. Right-click 3. Select "Disable Routing and Remote Access"4. After disabling RRAS go the Windows Services console (Start > Run > services.msc ) and "Start" the "Windows Firewall" service. Incident #2460874 Old KB# 31581

Created On:  03 August 2010 Problem: When trying to animate a program the following error is returned: Load error : file 'cobdebug.3.so' error code: 198, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 198 Load failure Resolution: There are a number of reasons you could get this error.  The usual reasons are:1.  You're picking up the wrong cobdebug.3.so 2.  You're not finding cobdebug.3.so at all 3.  The supporting modules can't be found 4.  There are unresolved references in a CALLed subroutine.  Try compiling the program using the -U option.  Calls to genuine unresolved symbols will cause RTS 173 errors to be reported. Re-installing the product may resolve this problem. Incident #2440271 Old KB# 31555#198LoadFailure#cobdebug.3.so

Created On:  7 August 2010 Problem: How can I run an executable built with Net Express on another machine? Resolution: In order to allow an application built with Micro Focus Net Express to run on another machine requires the Micro Focus Server for COBOL to be present. This applies to applications built for internal use or for applications set to deploy in a production environment.There are two ways to accomplish this task.1.  Install Micro Focus Server for COBOL on the machine.  It will require a license.  2.  If you have Micro Focus Server for COBOL installed on another machine that has an available license to use, you can point to that machine by setting the environment variable ASLMFNET to the path of the license database and ensure that the PATH environment variable contains the location of the Micro Focus Server for COBOL bin folder.If you need a Micro Focus Server for COBOL product and/or license, please contact your Sales Account Repres

Created On:  22 July 2010 Problem: When using Database Connectors and the ACUFH configuration variable XFD_PREFIX is assigned a value, it is used to locate the XDF file.  When searching for a XFD file the documentation states that the runtime system search each directory path in the order until the XFD file is found.The documentation provides an example:XFD_PREFIX=/dir;/dir2The example is incorrect. Resolution: The various paths assigned to XFD_PREFIX configuration variable are separated by a colon (:), not a semi-colon (;). Incident #243947 Old KB# 31496

Created On:  12 July 2010 Problem: When using Net Express 5.1 to create an .EXE or .DLL program from an application that uses the Database Connectors add-on package a link error occurs for unresolved external "_ACUFH".This occurs because it is looking for the entry point of the ACU File Handler module and the import library ACUFH.LIB is not included in Net Express 5.1. Resolution: Please download the attachment ACUFH.ZIP to this article and unzip and save file "acufh.lib" to the folder C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Net Express 5.1\\Base\\Lib, (or other location if different install folder used)Reference this file in your link step.If you are using the Net Express 5.1 IDE then select Project->Build Settings->Link tab->Advanced in drop-down list and add acufh.lib to the "Link to Libs" entry field. Incident #2464277 Attachments acufh.zip Old KB# 31436

Created On:  21 July 2010 Problem: In the OnWeb Developers Guide there is an example like this on page 44:Using Host Publishing with OnWeb ActiveX controlYou can access the Host Publishing engine through the OnWeb ActiveXcontrol’s rule called “_Update”. The parameter for the _Update rulerepresents the entire CGI stream containing the submitted Host PublishingHTML form. It returns all the tables created during at run time.ExampleOnwebCtrl1.ClearParametersOnwebCtrl1.AddParameter cgiFromIISOnwebCtrl1.RunARule("myHPApp._Update")What is the name of that parameter (The name you set when you create the rule) Resolution: The issue here is that in Classic OnWeb (older versions of OnWeb) parameters were specified by sequence and parameter name was not used and that's why you have only one parameter. In Multi Platform (current versions of OnWeb) we use the parameter name and parameter value instead of sequence.What you need to do is split the cgi and add the parameters

Created On:  22 July 2010 Problem: Would it be possible for a (non-COBOL) application to connect to XDB (MFE/MFE test server) while that application normally connects DB2 via DB2Connect? Can XDB present itself outwards as “just another DB2 node”? Resolution: Assuming the non-COBOL application uses ODBC, the client could use the XDB ODBC driver delivered with MFE to create another ODBC DSN to connect to an XDB location Using DB2 Connect without ODBC, you cannot connect to XDB.  DB2 Connect is a DRDA Application Requestor (DRDA/AR).  z/OS DB2 is a DRDA Application Server (DRDA/AS).  The XDB Link is also a DRDA/AR like DB2 Connect; but the XDB Server is not a DRDA/AS and therefore won’t appear as “just another DB2 node”. Old KB# 31497

Created On:  01 July 2010 Problem: I need to limit the number of rows that will be returned in a cursor fetch to a specified number when using SQL Server.  How is this done? Resolution: The SELECT TOP (n) construct can be used to limit the number of rows returned to (n) number of rows.Example: Only 2 rows will be returned until the fetch results in a SQLCODE = 100 no more records.EXEC SQL                                                   DECLARE CSR3 CURSOR FOR SELECT TOP (2)                           "A"."CustomerID"          &nbsp

Created On:  19 May 2010 Problem: There exists documentation that shows how to pass an argument in a C$JAVA CALL, but it's not easy to understand the correct syntax when more arguments are involved. Resolution: This article explains how to pass more than one single argument in a C$JAVA CALL, when a COBOL program interhoperates with a JAVA class. You can pass as many arguments as the method requires. You will need to specify the correct method signature, which you can obtain using the Java class dissassembler utility "javap":$ javap -s myclassLet's say you've got a method that takes two Strings and three numbers as arguments, and returns an integer.The signature would be "(Ljava/lang/String;Ljava/lang/String;III)I" (this will be returned by javap).CALL "C$JAVA" USING CJAVA-CALL,                          &n

Created On:  7 July 2010 Problem: We created a COBOL COM Server program using the Net Express Class Wizard and have a file defined within the Input-Output section within the Object itself.  When trying to open the file for output a file status 9/004 "Invalid Filename" is returned. Resolution: This is happening due to the location of the file definition within the COM Server program.  Although it will compile cleanly, file definitions cannot be placed within the Instance Object itself.  Files need to be defined as shown in the following example:$set ooctrl( p)                                                   class-id. testobj           &nbs

Created On:  29 June 2010 Problem: I need to uninstall a Liant product on a Windows machine. However, I need to perform the uninstall silently without using the GUI uninstaller. How is this done? Resolution: In order to uninstall RM/COBOL v12.02 from a machine you can use the Windows Instrumentation command-line interface (WMIC).  The Windows Instrumentation command-line interface is available on any PC running Windows XP Professional, or later.Below is the syntax for two WMIC functions that are necessary for uninstalling products.-------------------------------------To get a list of installed products:wmic product get nameTo uninstall a product:wmic product where name="application name" call uninstall /nointeractiveWhere, application name, is the name of the program you wish to uninstall (use the exact name provided by the previously generated list).-------------------------------------The following examples demonstrate how to use the Windows Instrumentati

Created On:  30 June 2010 Problem: While installing the Relativity Data Client version 12 you receive the following error:Activation context generation failed for "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Liant\\Relativityv12\\reldbsrv.dll".Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.CRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="8.0.50727.4053" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis. Resolution: The Relativity Data Client version 12 requires the Microsoft Visual C 2008 redistributables.  They can be downloaded from here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9b2da534-3e03-4391-8a4d-074b9f2bc1bf&displaylang=en Incident #2462023 Old KB# 31337

Created On:  19 March 2010 Problem: I was trying to execute a batch file when this error appears: Can't open message file '/opt/cobol/cobdir/rts.msg'. Resolution: This is an Oracle message.  The Oracle runtime needs to be built as described in Knowledge Base Article: 4093 http://kb.microfocus.com/article.aspx?article=4093&p=2 Old KB# 31278

Created On:  01 October 2009 Problem: The runtime routine CBL_DIR_SCAN_READ returns a value of 127 which is not a file status code as described in the Net Express help. Resolution: Here are 4 possibilities to get the returncode 127 in CBL_DIR_SCAN_READ even the CBL_DIR_SCAN_START returns 0 (o.k.) (there might be more…): 1. When wildcards are used in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START the appropriate FLAG must be set in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START.2. When quotes are used to specify the search pattern in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START (see: KB 1444).3. When pattern-length in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START does not specify the real length of the pattern but e.g. the length of the buffer, it might cause a 127.4. When the handle in CALL “CBL_DIR_SCAN_READ” is not passed BY REFERENCE. See the attachment for a demo. Incident #2355833 Attachments KB-DirScan.zip Old KB# 31273

Created On:  22 June 2010 Problem: The ASLM Semaphore Error 1002 was received when a Net Express 5.1 executable was called from within a trigger program. Resolution: The error occurred because a previous version of Net Express' runtime files were used during execution instead of the current version the application uses.For example, a user originally built an .exe with Net Express 3.1.  They upgraded their environment to Net Express 5.1 and recompiled their application with Net Express 5.1.  However, they inadvertently copied a runtime .dll into the Net Express 5.1 Bin directory.  Including a prior version .dll in the Bin directory will generate an Error 1002.  Remove any .dll's that were copied over into the Bin directory to eliminate the error. Incident #2460776 Old KB# 31264

Created On:  05 October 2009 Problem: Starting an ASP.NET program can causes a delay of 90 seconds before even the smallest "Hello COBOL world"-program begins execution. This might happen, when the computer has no access to the external internet Microsoft Network Monitor shows that the program vainly tries to access crl.verisign.net on port 80 several times. Resolution: The web address crl.verisign.net belongs to the Certificate Revocation List @ VeriSign. The program tries to verify whether its certificate has been revoked or not. 1. A certificate revocation list (CRL) for the site could be manually imported, following:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996972(EXCHG.65).aspxhttp://www.amug.org/~glguerin/opinion/revocation.html#obtaining 2. Following the description in MSDN:http://blogs.msdn.com/pfedev/archive/2008/11/26/best-practice-generatepublisherevidence-in-aspnet-config.aspxorhttp://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowssecurity/thread/3c6

Created On:  19 March 2010 Problem: Server Express 2.2 has a different behavior than Server Express 5.1 WS4.A difference identified regards ACCEPT behavior which can be seen in the following code: ACCEPT ST-BANK-AMOUNT AT LINE 07 COLUMN 15            WITH AUTO UNDERLINE HIGHLIGHT UPDATE       ON EXCEPTION                                       DISPLAY "ERROR BANK AMOUNT" AT 2302           ACCEPT DUMMY AT 2379 SECURE                   GO TO ACCEPT-ST-BANK-AMOUNT              NOT ON EXCEPTION   &

Created On:  19 March 2010 Problem: After upgrading from Server Express 2.2 to Server Express 5.1 WS4 it was noticed that there are some differences in behavior among the two systems in terms of the DISPLAY command behavior.For example:01  DISP-LINE-1.                                        05 FILLER       PIC X(01) VALUE SPACES.             05 FILLER       PIC X(10) VALUE "ABCDEFGHIJ".       05 FILLER       PIC X(05) VALUE SPACES.             05 FLD-0011     PIC X(02) value "AA" If the program contains the following state

Created On:  23 June 2010 Problem: When compiling using the Net Express IDE the error "Micro Focus License Manager Service not Running" is displayed in the output window. Resolution: Check the setting of the COBDIR environment variable either in the computers environment or in the project properties under the IDE settings.This error will occur if COBDIR is set to point to an invalid location or it is overwriting the current value in the environment which is the default location of "C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Studio Enterprise Edition 6.0\\base\\bin".COBDIR should not point to the location and name of the directives file cobol.dir.It should instead be set to the folder name where your executables reside if they are .int or .gnt.When COBDIR is set you should always include the current setting so that the new setting will be appended to the current one instead of overwriting it.Example:COBDIRC:\\testdir;%COBDIR%In most cases you do not need to set

Created On:  19 March 2010 Problem: When trying to start the data editor on an AIX machine, dfed, the following error appears:Execution error : file 'sysfld'error code: 40, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 40     National Language Initialization not set up correctlyEven setting up the .profile file according to the manual with the following does not help.LANG=fr_FRexport LANG Resolution: This is something specific to an AIX platform.The only way to get this to another locale setting is to do the following:To change the locale setting, use the Manage Language Environment menu in SMIT, or edit the file /etc/environment and ensure that value LANG=en_US is set.After rebooting the system, you should now see that the output of locale is as follows:# localeLANG=en_USLC_COLLATE="en_US"LC_CTYPE="en_US"LC_MONETARY="en_US"LC_NUMERIC="en_US"LC_TIME="en_US"LC_MESSAGES="en_US"LC_ALL= Old KB# 31276