Rocket® COBOL

Problem: I/O error : file 'AS1S' error code: 9/220 (ANS74), pc=0, call=1, seg=0 220     Attempt to execute more than one SORT or MERGE simultaneously The problem is input procedure is working fine and is releasing all records, but while returning the records it is abending and is throwing the error as mentioned above. What could be the reason for this, since no other sort or merge statements are being executed? 006200 PROCESS-RECORDS. 006400     SORT AS1S-SORT-FILE 006500     ON ASCENDING KEY AS1S-SD-NO 006600     INPUT PROCEDURE IS 3100-INPUT-PROCEDURE 006700     OUTPUT PROCEDURE IS 3200-OUTPUT-PROCEDURE. <snip> 007700 3100-INPUT-PROCEDURE SECTION. 007800* 007900        MOVE 100                 TO AS1S

Problem: A program encounters file status 9/007 (which means "disk space exhaused") on a record sequential file open for output.  At the point of error, the file size is 512 bytes beyond 1 GB that is, 1073741312 bytes. Resolution: This file size limitation is not imposed by Micro Focus.  It is probably imposed by the UNIX system.    The default ulimit on AIX 5.2 is 2097151, as can be seen by entering the following command:    ulimit This amount 2097151 is specified in units of 512-byte blocks.  In bytes the value is 2097151 * 512 = 1073741312.   That's one block short of exactly one gig.   2^30 = 1073741824 = 1 gig           So, the default AIX ulimit is 1 GB even on 64-bit systems.   This seems low by today's standards.  This default 2097151 might even be the "hard" limit, and if so, root privi

Problem: cobscan64 runs the Scan64 utility. The Scan64 utility enables you to check programs for pointer violations. You use Scan64 to help you migrate applications from 32-bit to 64-bit COBOL systems. If you have developed COBOL programs using the Server Express 32-bit development environment that you want to migrate to the Server Express 64-bit development enviroment, you should run Scan64 before compiling and running them with the 64-bit system development environment. Resolution: Note: Scan64 cannot detect invalidly-sized data items provided to prototyped CALL statements that require pointers. You can only use Scan64 on applications that have been compiled to intermediate code. The format of the command is: cobscan64 [-v] [-m] [-ttfile [-ltlist]] filename where the parameters are:   -v         Internal addressing information is displayed. This can be useful to our support  &nbsp

Problem: Customer used to have the COBCAP environment variable,  Now, however, the variable no longer exists. What can be used instead? Resolution: COBCAP was an old means of mapping external file names which was retained for backward compatibility. It was superseded (and its use was deprecated) about 10 years ago, and it was finally dropped from Server Express in 2001. COBCAP was replaced by the ASSIGN "EXTERNAL" directive (or the EXTERNAL reserved word in the ASSIGN clause of a SELECT statement), along with an environment variable or a configuration file to create the exact mapping of logical name onto physical name. For full details and examples of filename mapping and assignment, please refer to the Server Express File Handling Manual. Old KB# 7236

Problem: In Server Express, when a record is read with lock and then within the same process another attempt is made to read the record the extended file status code 9/068 will be returned. This would typically happen where a program reads a record with lock, then calls another porgram and attempts to read the same record. In Object COBOL this lock is ignored and a file status of  '00' is returned but in Server Express 9/068 is returned. This only happens if the access takes place within the one process. Normal record locking applies to both products for for records lockded in another process. Resolution: It may be that you want Server Express to behave the same as Object COBOL Developer Suite, particularly in the case of legacy applications where the activation of the record lock is not expected. To disable the record lock and have a file status of '00' returned on the read of a record that has previously been read with lock within th

Problem: You may encounter a File Status error 9/068 (record locked) on reads of records in an INDEXED file that you know are being read by other processes but you are certain are NOT being LOCKed. For example,  assume several processes are all running the same program. The program has LOCK MODE MANUAL set in the SELECT clause. It opens the file I-O, sets the record pointer using START NOT LESS THAN and then READ's NEXT through the file with out any locking on the reads. Provided there is not a different program accessing that file there should NOT be any record locking take place, but it can. Resolution: Specify the NODETECTLOCK compiler directive. NOTE: This error does not occur if the file is opened INPUT              This did not behave in this manner in Object COBOL Developer Suite               The lock

Problem: Sometimes the user many want to use animator and faultfinder without the animator generating information files.  Is this possible?  If so, how? Resolution: If the compiler directive NOANIM is implemented the compiler will not create the animator information file (.idy) If Tte compiler directive NOANIM is used , the flag -g is useless Old KB# 7281

Problem: After migrating an application from VAX to Solaris UNIX and Server Express, one may notice that the last byte in some data items in his output files appeared differently than it did when the program was run on the VAX. Resolution: For numeric data items of usage DISPLAY, the sign is encoded in the last byte (unless the SIGN TRAILING SEPARATE clause is specified for the item).  There are two popular conventions for encoding the sign in the last byte:  the ASCII convention and the EBCDIC convention.  Micro Focus uses the ASCII conventin by default, and apparently VAX COBOL uses the EBCDIC convention. The compiler directive named SIGN can be used to change Server Express's behavior in this regard.  For compatibility with the VAX,  the following option can be specified on the "cob" command used to compile the programs:   -C SIGN=EBCDIC Old KB# 7221

Problem: On HP/UX the following command: : cobjrun -version Produces the following output: Error occurred during initialization of VM Unable to load native library: /opt/java1.3/jre/lib/PA_RISC/libjava.sl Resolution:   The HP/UX environment should be set up as follows: 1.2.1.4 Environment Variable Settings for HP-UX This section lists example environment variable settings that enable COBOL/Java working on HP-UX platforms, using the default JVM which was selected when Server Express was installed. You will need to change the settings given below to specify the relevant directories on your system. export JH=/usr/java1.2 export COBDIR=server-express-directory export PATH=$JH/bin:$PATH export PATH=$COBDIR/bin:$PATH export SHLIB_PATH=$JH/jre/lib/PA_RISC:$JH/jre/lib/PA_RISC/hotspot: $JH/jre/lib/PA_RISC/native_threads:$COBDIR/lib:$SHLIB_PATH export CLASSPATH=$COBDIR/lib/mfcobol.jar:$JH/jre/lib/rt.jar:. export COBCPY=$COBDIR/cpylib ex

Problem: Customer saw references to both extsm and extsmlfs in the Knowledge Base and wanted to know what the difference was between them. Resolution: extsm is the 'default' module; extsmlfs module was first introduced with Object COBOL Developer System. With that product Micro Focus did not make large file support the default, and so we provided a second version of the external sort module which supported large files. See the extract from the Programmer's Guide to File Handling from OCDS 4.2: "10.1.3.1 Large Indexed Files By default, the file handler can handle files that are up to a maximum of 2 Gigabytes in size. However, if you need to create larger indexed files, you can use the IDXFORMAT Compiler directive to create IDXFORMAT"8" files. These files comprise a single file (as opposed to the usual .idx and .dat files). Even with IDXFORMAT"8" files, however, the COBOL run-time system currently imposes a limit on file size of 2 Gigabytes. To enable you to

Problem: Installing Server Express v2.2, gets message about AIX version saying 'product was built on AIX 4.3.3 but you are running AIX 5.2.0, please confirm you want to continue'. Should he continue?   Resolution: Yes. This is normal and expected in this case, he was installing the 32-bit version of Server Express v2.2. Old KB# 7213

Problem: When software is delivered in binary form only, how can the COBOL version used to build the software be identified. Resolution: This is possible although identifying the point-release of a product would be very time consuming and only possible by Micro Focus technicians. Binaries built using Object COBOL can be differentiated from those built under Server Express  by looking at the library dependencies. Use "ldd $binary_name" Binaries built under Object COBOL  will have a dependency on libcobol, binaries built under Server Express will have a dependency on  libcobrts. On AIX 4 use "dump -Hv $binary_name" 'ldd' lists dynamic dependencies of executable files or shared libraries. So, using ldd on 'demo' when it's been compiled with Server Express returns the following: Note that the 'grep' command is used to filter the output.   ldd demo | grep l

Problem: The new HOSTARITHMETIC compiler directive available in Server Express can guarantee decimal truncation when ON SIZE ERROR is not specified. Resolution: Does 9 1 = 0?  If a data item can hold only one digit (PIC 9), and currently has the value 9, what should be the result of adding 1? If the resulting value of an arithmetic expression is larger than the maximum value the target item can store, then a "size error" condition exists.  If the ON SIZE ERROR clause is present, then no value is stored in the target, and the imperative statement(s) in the clause are executed. If no ON SIZE ERROR clause is present, then the arithmetic results are undefined.  This rule is documented in the ANSI standard, as well as in Micro Focus and IBM documentation.  Thus, the result of the following code fragment is undefined, and it is a programming error to rely on any specific result: 01 num-ws pic 9 value 9. add

Problem: The behaviour of VARCHAR2 host variables have changed in Pro*COBOL v8.0 You have VARCHAR2 host variables defined as PIC X(n) and are having problems with tests/compares in your WHERE clause after upgrading your version of Oracle. Resolution: Oracle have a configuration option for Pro*COBOL to revert back to the old behaviour. In the $ORACLE_HOME/precomp/admin/pcbcfg.cfg file, add the following: PICX=VARCHAR2 From now on by default, PIC X(n) host variables will no longer have the trailing spaces truncated unless you have this  configuration option. Old KB# 7280

Problem: The Object COBOL Developer Suite (OCDS) manual states that if the HOST-NUMCOMPARE compiler directive is used it MUST have a value setting of 1 or 2.  (e.g $set HOST-NUMCOMPARE"1"). What is not stated is that if no value is set (i.e. $set HOST-NUMCOMPARE) it assumes the same behaviour as if HOST-NUMCOMPARE"1" were set. The Server Express manual make no mention of the values 1 or 2 being required. It states that the allowable settings are either NOHOST-NUMCOMPARE (default) or HOST-NUMCOMPARE. However, the behaviour for the setting $set HOST-NUMCOMPARE (without 1 or 2 set) differs in that in Server Express it assumes the same behaviour as if NOHOST-NUMCOMPARE were set. Resolution: To get the same behaviour in Server Express as in Object COBOL Developer Suite for the setting: If you have the following set in Server Express: $set HOST-NUMCOMPARE you should try the setting: $set HOST-NUMCOMPARE"1" e

Problem: To determine the format of a Micro Focus executable file, use the Server Express cobfile command.  The cobfile command is available in Server Express 2.0 and later. Resolution: This command checks for intermediate code files (.int files), generated code files (.gnt files) Animator information files (.idy files), and library files (.lbr files) produced on Server Express (32-bit and 64-bit) and OCDS Version 4.1 and later.  It also checks for screen output recording files (.scn files, where n is a hexadeximal digit between 1 and F) and keystroke files (.key files). The cobfile command takes the following format: cobfile file [file] ... where file is the filename of a Micro Focus executable file. For example: cobfile myprog.int displays one of the following: myprog.int: Micro Focus 32-bit intermediate code file myprog.int: Micro Focus 64-bit intermediate code file If the cobfile command does not recognise a a file

Problem: Investigating 173 error on calls to COBOL callable shared objects (CSO) and third party products Resolution: The first thing to look at is to check that the third party product is 32-bit if you are using the 32-bit version of the COBOL product or 64-bit if you are using the 64-bit version of the COBOL product. If your application uses more than one third party product, cut it down to a version that only includes the third party product that is giving you problems.  Once that is working you can start adding other products to your application. Check the third party documentation for libraries that have to be linked to your application. Sometimes your third party product provides 2 versions, one threaded and one non-threaded. Choose carefully the one that matches your application. If you are migrating from .int/.gnt code to callable shared objects, please notice that callable shared objects are executables to the OS and unlike .int or .gn

Problem: A customer upgrading to a new version of Server Express, or rebuilding his/her runtime, may encounter problems when running CICS applications. Resolution: IBM supply a file mkcicscobol. Their documentation states that this must be run whenever a new version of a Micro Focus product is installed, whenever a new version of CICS is installed, or whenever a new version of any supported database product is installed. The script apparently creates a 'language message file' and a runtime library. Further IBM documentation states that this should also be done if the runtime is rebuilt. For specific technical information, Micro Focus would recommend that you contact IBM. Old KB# 7260

Problem: Micro Focus run time system error 114 - attempt to access item beyond the bounds of memory - can be one of the most difficult problems to troubleshoot.  However, there are only a few common reasons for the error and Server Express offers more debugging options than previous Micro Focus products.  Occasionally, the problem will be obscure and difficult to find, but those instances are relatively rare.  This article will discuss how to approach diagnosing RTS 114 errors within the Server Express and Application Server environment. Resolution: The most common reason for RTS 114 errors reported on UNIX systems came into being with the ability to create and use callable shared objects.  On hardware which has the capability, Server Express can compile your COBOL source to either 32 bit or 64 bit code.  However, the UNIX operating system cannot handle a mixture of 32 and 64 bit code in the same application. Whe

Problem: BAD MAGIC NUMBER WITH C PGM INCLUDING COBOL Resolution: There is no way to mix 32-bit and 64-bit objects in the same executable.   Using the -q64 option of "cc" invariably creates 64-bit objects, but this COBOL product application consists of 32-bit objects, and the two object types cannot be linked. Old KB# 7181

Problem: The Net Express project file (.APP) is several MBytes large. Is there a possibility to get it smaller? Resolution: The Project file (.APP)  is formatted as an ISAM IDXFORMAT"8"-file. Therefore, the Net Express ISAM-rebuild command-line can be used: REBUILD.EXE  INFILE.APP, OUTFILE.APP to delete unused records from the APP-file within. Old KB# 7145#RMCOBOL#COBOL#AcuCobol#netexpress#ServerExpress

Problem: You can create the same behaviour as using a @mylist.lnk with Net Express with Server Express by using a cat command as part of your cob command.   The cob command includes a 'cat filename' where filename contains a list of files to be submitted to the cob command, seperated by spaces.   Resolution: echo tictac.cbl > list.lnk You can then submit tictac.cbl to the cob command by simply typing cob 'cat list.lnk' tictac.cbl gets compiled.  So if you have a file which contains a list of files to be submitted to the cob command you could use this method. NB. the cat command needs to be contained between backquotes. Old KB# 7191

Problem: Error while trying to compile a COBOL program: Load Error 'cobcheck.1.so' Resolution: Set LIBPATH to include $COBDIR/lib Old KB# 7158

Problem: cob not finding include files for cc, error 1506-296 (S) #include file <oci.h> The script which compiles a mixed language application, uses the syntax -CC -I /pathname to include c header files. Resolution: The cob command returns the error 1506-296 include file not found because there is a space between the -I and pathname. When the space is removed the cob command compiles the cobol and c programs without error. Old KB# 7171

Problem: If you would like the exact attribute/colour combinations to be saved and restored using cbl_read_scr_chattrs and cbl_write_chattrs Resolution: You need to either: 1. Set-up the colours in the current palette.  A simple way of doing     this (and achieving consistent results on Windows and Unix     platforms) is to add the following call to the start of the program:         CALL "CBL_SCR_SET_PC_ATTRIBUTES" 2. Use the alternative set of calls, CBL_SCR_SAVE and CBL_SCR_RESTORE,     which were designed to overcome all the issues described above.     These are documented in the Creating UIs manual. Old KB# 7180