Rocket® COBOL

Created On:  20 September 2010 Problem: While trying to insert a new record using MS Access 2007 with AcuXDBC 8.1 the following error was encountered:NULL not allowed for column(#-nn)The FD for the file contains fields with COMP-3 data, but work fine with AcuODBC. Resolution: The way to work around this error is to insert zero (0) into all COMP-3 data fields that do not already contain a value. This provides an explanation: COBOL does not have a concept that corresponds directly to SQL’s NULL. The closest candidates in COBOL are data items that contain either SPACES or LOW-VALUES. In SQL, NULL is often used to indicate that the data is missing or not applicable.  To maintain the integrity of the source data and to ensure that any data written from your application back to the COBOL source is accurate, you must provide a representational mapping between COBOL’s SPACES and LOW-VALUES and the corresponding SQL column values. Use the NULL_NUMERIC_WRITE variable to indica

Created On:  21 September 2010 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."The system cannot execute the specified program"“This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect.”A number of Knowledge Base articles have provided explanations for the cause of the errors and provided resolutions for the Version 8 series of runtime, which included contacting SupportLine or downloading files from the SupportLine website. Please see articles 2731, 14870, and 14931 for further details. Resolution: Starting in version 9.0, Microsoft.VC80.CRT and Microsoft.VC80.MFC will be included with distribution media in a directory named “BIN-REDIST”. However, these files are not installed during the installation process and must be copied to

Created On:  16 September 2010 Problem: The RM/COBOL Runtime can be configured using the RM/COBOL Registry Configuration Utility (rmconfig.exe).  This utility stores the RM/COBOL configuration options in the Windows registry.  In order to move these configuration settings to a new machine, you will need to locate and export the proper registry entries. Resolution: The RM/COBOL Runtime can be configured using the RM/COBOL Registry Configuration Utility (rmconfig.exe).  You can choose to configure the Runtime for a "All Users" or "This User".  Below are the RM/COBOL configuration registry locations:32-bit WindowsAll Users = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Liant Software Corporation\\RM/COBOL\\CurrentVersionThis User = HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Liant Software Corporation\\RM/COBOL\\CurrentVersion64-bit WindowsAll Users = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Liant Software Corporation\\RM/COBOL\\CurrentVersionThis User = HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWA

Created On:  06 September 2010 Problem: If you have more than one type of runtime, differentiated by the suffixes used when compiling them, and one type is spaces, you may run into trouble when trying to call a subroutine suffixed by spaces from a routine which is not suffixed by spaces.If you are working with an Operating System that allows your runtimes to be formatted as:Progname. (with a fullstop but no suffix)...you may experience the following problem.Problem DefinitionYou have two types of runtimes, one is suffixed *.COB (compiled as –o @.COB) and the other is suffixed *.CB2 (compiled as –o @.CB2).  Thus:Type 1 :  progname.COBType 2 :  progname.CB2Your config file has the following variable set:CODE_SUFFIX     COBIf you were running a COBOL program of Type 1, how would you call a COBOL program of Type 2 from within your Type 1 program?  Resolution: To change the CODE_SUFFIX variable from within your cobol program, add the

Created On:  13 September 2010 Problem: When trying to compile a COBOL program the following error is being returned:cob32 environment variable not set? Resolution: The cause of this error is if you modify the $COBDIR/lang/C/cob.msg file trying to get the gcc, GNU compiler to work with Server Express. The gcc is not supported using AIX, Sun or HP/UX RISC. Once the modification is removed, you will be able to compile. Incident #2449289 Old KB# 31712

Created On:  20 August 2010 Problem: Is it possible to identify the version of the Operating System from an ACUCOBOL-GT program? Resolution: ACUCUBL-GT offers a native library called WIN$VERSION.  This routine returns version information for Windows and Windows NT host platforms. However, this routine does not recognize the latest Windows Operating Systems recently introduced on the market.While WIN$VERSION will be updated, it is possible to obtain this information using a Windows function called GetVersionExA.The related documentation can be found at this URL:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724833(VS.85).aspxA sample program is provided attached to this article. Incident #2450426 Attachments GetVersionEx.cbl Old KB# 31635

Created On:  30 August 2010 Problem: When debugging a program, it may be helpful to set breakpoints and have them held between debugger sessions. The breakpoints are usually stored in a file named for the user and with a .adb extension that is created during the initial debugger session. For example, if the user's login is rsmith, the file containing the breakpoints would be named rsmith.adb. However, in this particular case, no .adb file was being created and therefore no breakpoints were being held. Resolution: If you define the ACUCOBOL variable twice, each pointing to a different version directory, this creates a conflict. Due to this conflict, no .adb file was being created. Removing one of the ACUCOBOL definitions will allow the .adb file to be created. Incident #2454075 Old KB# 31658

Created On:  16 September 2010 Problem: Visual COBOL documentation covers the use of the cobol.exe command to compile native code unmanaged programs but it does not cover .NET managed code programs.How does one compile and generate a .NET managed code assembly from COBOL source code from the command line outside of Visual Studio? Resolution: Although the Visual Studio IDE is the recommended method of compiling and building managed code assemblies the cobol.exe utility can be used to compile COBOL source and generate managed code assemblies as well as native code objects from a Visual COBOL command prompt.To do this you use the -ilgen or -ilgen(sub) directives with the cobol command.See the documentation in the section under General Reference > Compiler Directives > .NET COBOL command line compiler directives for a complete list of the directives that can be used to create managed code assemblies.You can use this from a Visual COBOL command prompt which is av

Created On:  9 September 2010 Problem: When converting an application from Net Express 3.1 to a later release of Net Express, running the application under Server fror COBOL results in the following error message being displayed:"Procedure entry point mF_PALETTE could not be located in the dll cblrtss.dll" Resolution: The mf_palette entry point was something that was present in Net Express 3.1 but not in later product releases.It sounds as if one or more of your application files did not compile successfully in the newer Net Express version so the 3.1 version is being picked up incorrectly.Try the following:1.  Check the timestamp of the executable files in the application and make note of any that have an older timestamp than you expect.2.  Make sure that the PATH and COBDIR environment variables do not reference a location that contains an older 3.1 compiled version of any of the application files or the Net Express run-time files.3.&nbs

Created On:  30 August 2010 Problem: Acu4GL for MSSQL version 8.1.0 is installed properly on Windows XP with no errors. However, while attempting to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database the program encounters an error: 9d,17. Resolution: Verify that the argument for configuration variable A_MSSQL_DEFAULT_CONNECTION is a valid server name or its IP address rather than the name of a database. Incident #2453785 Old KB# 31659

Created On:  9 August 2010 Problem: A Visual COBOL 2010 solution contains two projects.  The first project is a managed code COBOL project that calls the .DLL of the second project which is a native unmanaged COBOL project.Can Visual COBOL 2010 be used to start debugging in the managed code program and then continue to debug in the called native code COBOL project? Resolution: No. This type of mixed mode debugging is not currently supported in Visual COBOL 2010.However, you can add a reference to the unmanaged project in the references folder of the managed code COBOL project and call the unmanaged program automatically through Platform Invoke but you cannot debug the unmanaged program.Microsoft refers to this managed to native debugging as mixed-mode debugging.There is an option available to “Enable mixed-mode debugging” in the Properties > Debug dialog. It only appears for managed projects and it is to allow mixed mode debugging for Microsoft languages (

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:  17 August 2010 Problem: OpenOffice is a popular alternative to Microsoft Office. Is it is possible to automate OpenOffice applications from COBOL ? Resolution: OpenOffice has a programming interface for control called UNO. Also available is a UNO COM automation bridge that allows client applications that support COM Automation (IDispatch) to access openoffice applications.Net Express COBOL supports COM Automation and can therefore be used to control OpenOffice.Attached is a working example of this.  This demo has been tested with OpenOffice V3.2.1. Attachments OpenOffice.zip Old KB# 31617

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:  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:  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:  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:  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:  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:  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:  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:  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