Rocket® COBOL

Attempting to launch the Web to Host configuration wizard on Windows Vista gives the error message: "No valid extensions are available for configuration!". Problem: When attempting to access a local installation of Web to Host on a Windows Vista PC the following error is encountered: ‘No valid extensions are available for configuration!’ Resolution: This is a result of the MIME type changes noted below and documented by Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326965 For some reason .htpl files are not recognized by IIS server. After adding *(text/plain) to MIME types on IIS server, those files are read correctly. Old KB# 14431#Web-to-Host#Rumba#OnWeb#ProClient

This article addresses what to do when an XFD Directive does not check to ensure the Date mask matches the Picture clause. Problem: The Compiler $set createxfd (xfd-directory=C:\\...) Directive does not check to ensure that the Date mask matches the COBOL Picture clause. This results in parse errors with MFXDBC when loading the resultant XFD into the System Catalog. For example, the following will compile and build the XFD without an error reported. This generates a parse error with MFXDBUTIL.bat.: $xfd date=yyyymmdd 03 BMRT-PAYEE-DOB PIC 9(9) COMP. Resolution: In order to resolve this, either modify the Date directive or the COBOL Picture clause so that they match, as follows: $xfd date=yyyyymmdd 03 BMRT-PAYEE-DOB PIC 9(9) COMP. or $xfd date=yyyymmdd 03 BMRT-PAYEE-DOB PIC 9(8) COMP. Incident Number: 2278907 Date: 18 May 2009 Name: Angela Clark Description of change: Date: Name: Description of change: Old

This article explains how a Net Express request key is generated to activate the product. Problem: How is a  Net Express request key generated in order to activate the product? Resolution: From the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Net Express > Configuration > License Management System. The License Management System Configuration window should appear. Check your product and its components. Click Generate full license. Using the generated license key, go to the Licensing Solution web pages at http://supportline.microfocus.com/licensing/LicensingHome.aspto generate your own product activation key. Use the response key generated from the License Solution web pages to activate the product. Old KB# 14433#COBOL#Licensing#netexpress

This article addresses a known issue regarding the inability to use DB2 option REOPT with Net Express for binding parameters. Problem: The REOPT DB2 directive is currently not supported and the REOPT_VARS directive, which is an older form of the directive, is supported but not working properly. Is there a fix for this? Resolution: The HotFix level 3 for Net Express version 5.1 WrapPack (WebSync) 03 is available which supports the REOPT DB2 directive for binding parameters. Please contact Micro Focus SupportLine if this HotFix is required. Incident Number: 2280263 Old KB# 14374

This article explains how to prevent the command line from discontinuing processing a batch compile to ask the user for input. Using the given directives will ensure that it continues the whole way through. Problem: When compiling a long list of applications, there may be the need to ignore some errors and just continue on to the next application. Normally, if the compiler comes across a reference to a copybook that cannot be found, the user is prompted to Stop/Retry/Continue/Alter-path and the user must select one of the options before the compiler will continue. This is not the desired behavior when running batch compiles. Resolution: To avoid the batch stoppage, the user can specify the compiler directive NOQUERY. It details that for each missing copybook the compiler encounters; it will produce an error message and continue without any interface with the user. This is the ‘Continue’ option that the user was presented with before. The user should also

This article addresses what to do if you receive a "Failed to load component vsxrte" message when applying the latest WrapPack of Net Express 4.0. Problem: During the install of the latest WrapPack of Net Express 4.0 (ALL08N40.EXE), the IDE FixPack is failing with the following error messages: Failed to load component vsxrte Invalid access to memory location [Abort] [Retry] [Ignore] The above is followed by the message: Microsoft Visual C Runtime Library Runtime Error! Program: This application has requested the Runtime to terminate in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information.[OK] From this point, the WrapPack resumes the install with the rest of the FixPacks. At the end, it reports that the following FixPacks were not installed: RTS10N40.EXE, XFH10N40.EXE, and CMP10N40.EXE. Obviously, IDE11N40.EXE was not installed either. Resolution: 1. Stop the Micro Focus Directory Server service by going to Control Panel, Administrator

This article discusses how to define column names in a SQL statement that contain spaces and the words “OF” or “IN”. Problem: I am getting the ES0100 incorrect SQL statement syntax when a column name contains spaces and the word “OF” or “IN”. How is this resolved? Resolution: This is happening because there is a problem with the OpenESQL pre-processor when using column names with embedded spaces and reserved words which are surrounded by square brackets. The column name is flagged as an error. If the column name is enclosed within double quotes " " instead of square brackets [ ] then the error is not generated, for example: EXEC SQL DECLARE MYCUR CURSOR FOR SELECT [Item Num] ,[Completed Quantity] ,[Unit of Measure] FROM [TESTTAB] WHERE [Order N

This article explains what you can do if you receive this error during compilation. Problem: This error may occur during compilation: “cobchecker64: fatal: relocation error symbol check: referenced symbol not found”. The text of the error message will resemble the following: ld.so.1: cobchecker64: fatal: relocation error: file /opt/cobolse5wp4_64/bin/cobchecker64: symbol check: referenced symbol not found. This is caused by a mistake in the library path environment variable. Resolution: On AIX, the name of the library path environment variable is LIBPATH. On 32-bit HP/UX, it is SHLIB_PATH, and on all other UNIX and Linux platforms, it is LD_LIBRARY_PATH. The environment variable is supposed to contain a colon-delimited list of directory locations where the system linker should look for libraries. When using Server Express, this must include $COBDIR/lib (where $COBDIR is an environment variable pointing to the install location of Serve

This article addresses how to resolve the runtime error message 199. Problem: A runtime 199 will occur when a program is accessing a file that is located on a remote resource and somehow a network "glitch" happens that will get the runtime/file handler confused. In rare situations, it may be caused by an out-of-date installation of Net Express 4.0 which was reporting 199 errors instead of the actual runtime errors. How can this be resolved? Resolution: If this issue is seen on Net Express 4.0, and the version of Net Express 4.0 installed is not 4.0.38 then it should be upgraded with the all08n40.exe WrapPack available from http://supportline.microfocus.com. This should solve the issue if the 199 errors are being improperly reported by the runtime system. The actual runtime errors should now be reported. If this is an already upgraded version of Net Express 4.0, or a later version of Net Express, some possible workarounds include: a) Move the file being rea

This article describes what to do if your bitmap buttons show poorly when disabling them. Problem: You have a program with bitmap buttons that display as expected, but they display poorly when disabling them. Resolution: When you disable a button, Windows will turn most of the colored area of the bitmap gray. A clearly defined button with clear cut lines and colors will turn into gray nicely. However, if you have lots of loose points that define colors and depth you risk having a very big gray area without form. In this case, clean the bitmap and define a clear form with a straight outside color. Additionally, you can read and apply the principles found in the ACUCOBOL-GT User Interface Programming manual, chapter 3, section 3.7.1 Drawing the Image. Incident Number: 2263605 Old KB# 14425

Acushare will not allow new runtimes to start and behaves incorrectly when commands are issued. Problem: When starting a program, a message that "Acushare 7.0 or later not running" is received.The Unix command “ps -ef | grep acu” reports that no runtime processes running. “acushare –start” returns "already running", and “acushare –kill” reports "failed to connect to server". Resolution: Typically this indicates that Acushare was terminated abnormally (kill -9, which it can't catch,) or it crashed. Should acushare terminate unexpectedly, its master shared memory segment may be left behind. Before restarting acushare, you should use the "acushare -clean" command to remove the stranded memory segment. $ ./acushare acushare: failed to connect to server $ ./acushare -clean acushare: shared memory segment removed $ ./acushare -start acushare: ope

This error occurs running a sample program from the addpack for ACU DataConnect Problem: When running a sample program from the addpack for ACU DataConnect using the following sequence of events, a 173 Called program file not found in drive/directory error can occur. This can be the results of the following sequence of events: The sample program is copied from the COBDIR directory using the following command: cp $COBDIR/sample/acu4gl/demo.cbl to a /tmp or user directory Use the following command to compile the program: cob -v demo.cbl Use the following command to run the program: cobrun demo The following error occurs:Load error : file 'acufh'error code: 173, pc=804, call=1, seg=0173 Called program file not found in drive/directory This error occurs because of the following $set statement: demo.cbl: $set callfh(acufh) The actual file is ACUFH that is, the file name is upper case on disk. Resolution:

This article describes the proper alignment of data within a COBOL group item using the ‘h2cpy’ utility. Problem: When creating COBOL applications which use C language routines and data is passed within a struct (structure) the alignment rules for COBOL do not always agree with the rules used when defining the struct in C. When a struct is defined in C, the alignment of data items on proper boundaries occurs automatically. When attempting to duplicate the definition of the struct in COBOL, there is no automatic adjustment for alignment rules. How is it possible to achieve alignment of data within C language structures? Resolution: An easy way to achieve the proper alignment of data within a COBOL group item is to use the utility ‘h2cpy’ which is delivered with the Server Express product. The h2cpy utility uses a C language header file (.h) as input and it produces a COBOL copyfile (.cpy). The structures found in the .h file will be translated to

This article explains how to display active sessions when using the Connection Viewer to monitor RSS clients. Problem: After installing and configuring RSS Server on Windows Server 2003, the Connection Viewer application doesn’t properly display the currently active sessions. Is this due to insufficient permissions granted to the account under which the Connection Viewer is running? If so, how can this be resolved? Resolution: To remedy the problem, find the account that is configured in IIS: On the IIS server where RSS is installed, open the IIS Services Manager Navigate to the Web server instance they are using.  Right click and select “Properties”. In the Web Site Properties dialog, select the “Directory Security” tab. Under the “Authentication and access control” section, click the “Edit…” button. If the “Enable anonymous access” checkbox is selected, make a note of the account in the “User Name” field. Check to see if “Integrated Windows

This article explains what to do when a 013-R illegal intermediate code (at 0X101 in seg 0) occurs during a rebuild of an object oriented Cobol program in Net Express 3.1. Problem: When rebuilding an object oriented Cobol program in Net Express 3.1 the project failed with a “Rebuild complete with errors” message, and then displayed the following message code: 013-R Illegal intermediate code (at 0X101 in seg 0). Resolution: This can be resolved by using a Net Express 3.1 FixPack. Go to www.microfocus.com Click on Support Click on SupportLine Home Login Click on Product Updates on the left panel Scan to bottom of screen and click on Product Archives Scan down the screen to Net Express 3.1 Service Pack 1 Install the FixPacks: ide15n31.exe and cmp16n31.exe Incident Number: 2280262 Old KB# 14393

This article describes how to decode RETURN-CODE after calling a CBL_ file handling library routine. Problem: When the RETURN-CODE is NON-ZERO after calling a CBL_ file library routine how can it be decoded in order to provide information about the cause of the failure? Resolution: The return code is X'0000' if it has been successful. If it has not been successful, the return code is 9<byte> where byte is PIC 9(4) COMP. For example, if the file status is 9/188 (file name too large), the return code will be X'39BC', where "39" is the ASCII character "9" and "BC" is decimal 188. If the RETURN-CODE special register is inspected or displayed in decimal, the value will be 14780 (X'39BC' converted literally to decimal). The easiest way to decode the RETURN-CODE is to move it to a data item which describes FILE STATUS. 01 file-status pic xx comp-x. 01 redefines file-status. 03 fs-byte-1 pic x. 03 fs-

This article explains how to create and print a hardcopy compilation listing using TBOX / SDE developers tool. Problem: One of the options within SDE during program compilation is to create a listing file. This option is enabled by using F4 while the compilation command menu is displayed. By default this listing is not automatically sent to a printer. How can you get the SDE or TBOX integrated development tools send listing to a printer? Resolution: In order to have the SDE or TBOX integrated development tools send a listing to a printer, the environment needs to be set to force the listing output to a system printer. Before starting SDE or TBOX set an environment variable named DD_LST so that it contains the command needed to ‘pipe’ output to the system’s ‘lp’ command. For example: export DD_LST=”> lp”.Then start the development tool SDE. This will cause the listing created during the compile to be routed to the system print

This article explains how to capture the process ID for the currently running COBOL application. Problem: How can the process ID (PID) within a running COBOL program be captured? Resolution: To capture the process ID for a currently running COBOL application, you can code a COBOL CALL statement to use the system function getpid(). The standard C libraries contain the function getpid(), which can easily be called/used from within a COBOL program. Sample COBOL code fragments Sample program fragment Include the ctypes copy file from within the COBOL product directory as the first line in the COBOL program. copy '$COBDIR/demo/c-cobol/ctypes.cpy' WORKING-STORAGE SECTION DATA DIVISION Define the data item where the process id should be returned 01 current-pid long PROCEDURE DIVISION Call 'getpid' returning current-pid The returned integer can be used as a part of temporary filenames, or to identify log file en

This article addresses the unpredictability of the value in the RETURN-CODE special register once COBOL has called an Oracle routine. Problem: In an application that uses Pro*COBOL, COBOL passes control to Oracle routines (for example, during a SQL CONNECT), after which the flow of control returns to COBOL. On one occasion the COBOL special register RETURN-CODE had been modified by Oracle and that it carried a large and meaningless value. This was despite the fact that the SQL statement had succeeded and the SQLCODE was zero. As a rule COBOL does not modify RETURN-CODE (except if the program contains RETURNING syntax or if a fatal runtime error occurs). A meaningless value supplied by Oracle will remained unmodified within COBOL. At the end of the program, COBOL will report this RETURN-CODE to the invoking shell. The shell can access it via "$?", for example: cobrun myprog if [ $? -ne 0 ] then echo "non-zero return code" fi On one occasion, a shell script noti

This article explains why Deletion of Service Interface fields with many subordinate fields hangs for a long period of time. Problem: The process to delete a large Service Interface field in Interface Mapping Toolkit consumes the CPU usage at 100% for a long period, and causes it to hang for a long period of time. This problem is an internal one where the deletion function is doing extra unnecessary manipulation of internal structures, especially when deleting a field that has many subordinate fields. Resolution: This problem was identified in Net Express 5.0, and has now been fixed in Net Express 5.1. Incident Number: 2154960 Old KB# 14380

This document describes how to send the "at sign" to the Rumba emulator from a script. Problem: When sending the "@" character to the Rumba display from a script, the character does not appear on the display as expected. How can this be done? Resolution: There are times when it may be desirable to send the "@" character to the Rumba display from a script. For example, if an email address needs to be inserted into a field. One might expect to call EMSendKeys to perform this task as follows: EMSendKeys "User@mydomain.com" This script doesn’t work as expected, because the "@" sign is interpreted as an escape sequence to introduce 3270 keyboard mnemonics. To properly send the "@" character, it must be doubled as shown here: EMSendKeys "User@@mydomain.com" This will result in the expected string being sent to the display: User@mydomain.com. Old KB# 14420#Rumba

The maximum number of tabs/sessions allowed in RUMBA Notebook. Problem: What is the maximum number of RUMBA printer sessions allowed in RUMBA Notebook? Resolution: The RUMBA Notebook is a program that allows users to run a number of applications at the same time. These applications may include different components of the same version of RUMBA software and Windows applications such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word. Each application or RUMBA window is run in a separate tab of the Notebook. There is no hard coded limit on the number of tabs that can be opened in the notebook session. It depends on the size of the memory of the workstation that RUMBA notebook is running on. Incident Number: 2279305 Old KB# 14430#Rumba

This article describes how to overcome the following error produced by the rebuild command: “***Error during sort operation - status 9-037”. Problem: While rebuilding data files with the ‘rebuild’ command, the following error appears: “***Error during sort operation - status 9-037”. What is it and how can it be resolved? Resolution: File status 9-037 indicates a permission problem. It means rebuild does not have permission to create a particular file. Check that the user has write permissions on the output file specified on the "rebuild" command. The rebuild command also creates temporary work files while it runs. By default it tries to create these temporary files in the current directory, so the user must have write permissions in the current directory. If the TMPDIR environment variable is set, rebuild will create its temporary files there, so the user must have write permissions there. In one historical case, an en

How to capture network packets using WireShark. Problem: In order to troubleshoot certain types of issues, it may be necessary to take a network trace. Also known as a 'sniffer trace', this captures all communication to and from the workstation, providing a low-level view of network traffic. Resolution: To take a network trace using WireShark: Install the WireShark network sniffer. WireShark can be downloaded from http://www.wireshark.org/download.html When the installation completes, start WireShark. Select Capture > Interfaces from the menu. Click the Options button for the desired interface. Configure the capture options: Capture packets in promiscuous mode. This option allows for the capture of packets with destinations other than the workstation where WireShark is running. Normally, this should be left checked. Limit each packet to. This option should be left unchecked to allow all packet data to be captured. Capture Filter. This

This article explains how to invoke a UNIX command from within COBOL using CALL “SYSTEM” and retrieve the return code of the command. Problem: Micro Focus Server Express and Visual COBOL provide a way for UNIX commands to be invoked from within COBOL. This is done by calling a routine named SYSTEM. Individual UNIX commands such as "ls" or "pwd" can be invoked, or entire shell scripts or executable programs can be invoked. How can the return code from the UNIX command be retrieved and communicated back to COBOL? Resolution: Here is an example of the COBOL syntax for invoking a UNIX command: CALL "SYSTEM" USING CMD-LINE. "SYSTEM" (uppercase) preserves the COBOL screen and state of the terminal, then calls the UNIX system() routine (lowercase), then afterwards restores the COBOL screen and terminal. For more information about "system", see the system(3) man page. It is possible to call "system" (lower