Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Net Express 3.1 is certified on Windows 95 (Windows 98 recommended), Windows NT V4.0 (Windows NT Service Pack #5 or later), Windows 2000, or Windows XP Professional. Net Express 4.0 is certified on Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (Windows NT Service Pack #6a or later), Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional. Net Express 5.0 is certified on Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (Windows NT Service Pack #6a or later), Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista. NetExpress 5.1 is certified on Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000 Resolution: Net Express 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1 are certified on Windows Server 2003. Old KB# 6960

Problem: 114 on 'acccgi' when running a COBOL CGI Application under Windows 2003 / IIS6 Resolution: This problem has been fixed in the runtime fixpack for Net Express 3.1 and 4.0. Old KB# 6952

Problem: Sometimes it is a requirement to distribute an application in only one .exe file. How do you do this with an application that uses Dialog System for its user interface and therefore, contains its screensets in many .gs files that can not be linked? Resolution: It is not possible to include screensets (.gs files) within a .exe. If what you want is to distribute everything within one file, your only alternative is to create a .lbr library file. In the earlier COBOL systems (Workbench), you could distribute an application as .int or .gnt files and any other read-only files packaged in .lbr files. You would have to include a small additional .exe file, called a trigger, to start the application. In Workbench you would use the Build utility to create this trigger, but this utility has not been included in Net Express. In Net Express, you distribute applications linked into .exe and .dll files. .int and .gnt files are only used for running within the ID

Problem: Net Express doesn't appear to integrate with Seapine Surround source control, how do I make that relationship. Resolution: You can use any SCCS that conforms to the Microsoft Common SCC Interface spec. The Net Express Source Control module will use the SCCS interface specified in the registry under MyComputer\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\SourceCodeControlProvider\\ProviderRegKey. The last SCCS to be installed should be register itself here, so the last SCCS installed on the machine will be the one used by the Net Express Source Control module. Make sure that Net Express is not up when software is installed,  Net Express only looks for a Source Code Control System when it is first opened. Opening Net Express after the installation will show SourceControl in the menu bar. Old KB# 6955

Problem: When using an extfh.cfg file to access a file >6GB that is located using a physical path, often the physical path is mistakenly configured as:     [\\\\TESTING\\\\DATA\\\\TF.DAT]     IDXFORMAT=8     FILEMAXSIZE=8 Resolution: To configure a physical path in an extfh.cfg file, you need to enure that an extra set of \\\\ characters are at the begining of the path, so in this instance it should read: [\\\\\\\\TESTING\\\\DATA\\\\TF.DAT]     IDXFORMAT=8     FILEMAXSIZE=8 Old KB# 6971#RMCOBOL#COBOL#netexpress#ServerExpress#AcuCobol

Problem: The error was encountered when running Net Express from a DOS prompt. The error refers to the runtime, and the compiler starts without any problems. Resolution: This occurs when there are other software products installed in the same path as the Net Express installation.  In this case, some old DLL files of a previous version of Net Express were found on the path of the new Net Express installation.  Removing these DLL files the problem no longer occurs.   Ensure that path where you install Net Express is free of any existing Net Express installations, or other software products. Old KB# 6977

Problem: The Type keyword has been replaced in VB.NET to Structure. Resolution: You would define a Type in VB: Type CustFullName    LastName As String * 20 '20 characters    FirstName As String * 10 '10 characters End Type In VB.NET, it will have to be defined as follows: <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> Structure CustFullName        <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst:=20)> Public LastName As String '20 characters        <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst:=10)> Public FirstName As String '10 characters End Structure Old KB# 6967

Problem: When executing a program from command-line, and you need to pass the program a parameter, use: "accept dataname from command-line" which gathers the parameter following the program name typed at the prompt. Resolution: When you execute your program from a command prompt like this: C:\\MYAPPS\\SYS4044B.EXE DAILY SUMMARY define this variable in working-storage (the actual name isn't critical): 77  runTimeParameter pic x(255). and use this statement in your procedure to collect the parameter:     accept runTimeParameter from COMMAND-LINE If you were to display runTimeParameter you would see this output:     DAILY SUMMARY KB19232 6/30/2004 Old KB# 7007

Problem: SQL Server 2000 - global tables work, but need to use local temporary table and those are not working. Resolution: You need to use dynamic SQL and the EXECUTE IMMEDIATE statement to create the temporary table. Use something like the following: declared a string-        01 preptmp pic x(100). move create statement into the string             string               'Create table #empbas2 (emp_id char(10), '               ' name varchar(30))'               INTO preptmp             end-string. used dynamic sql to execute the statement        

Problem: A Java application is trying to call a COBOL program, which does nothing except throw out some displays.   The code in the Java is extracted from the MF examples:     private void callInterface() {         int retcode;         Object[] params = {record};         try {             retcode = runtime.cobcall("TESTCALL", params);         } catch (Exception e) {             e.printStackTrace();         }     } "record" implements "DataType" as required. When executing this (as a JUnit test within Eclipse), this gives a CobolException - program not found.&

Problem: Is it possible to add version information to a COBOL .dll or .exe? Resolution: It is possible to add your own version details to an .exe or .dll. First of all, you need to create an .RC file. Create the .RC file using a text editor - an example of the contents and parameters of the .RC file are below: 1 VERSIONINFO                                                             FILEVERSION    1,1,1,1                                        &nbs

Problem: how to read parameters from a file? Resolution: To read paramaters from a file, use the INDD compiler directive: INDD Causes ACCEPT statements to be read from a specified file. Syntax: >>-.---.--.----.--INDD--"fname"------------.><     -/-    ---- --INDD---------------------            -NO- Parameters: fname Name of file to be read for the specified ACCEPT statements. When this parameter is not specified the name used is SYSIN. Properties: Default: NOINDD Phase: Syntax check $SET: Initial Comments: When INDD is specified, all format 1 ACCEPT statements which either have no FROM option or specify FROM SYSIN (or the mnemonic-name associated with SYSIN) are transformed into READ statements, reading from a file with the specified external filename. The filename can be mapped onto physical filenames in the same way as other files with

Problem: This document details what is needed to configure and use the Micro Focus External File Handler, File Tracing. When problems occur while using Micro Focus indexed files, such as data and/or index corruption, you may be asked to enable File Tracing in your application, in order to assist Micro Focus SupportLine personnel in resolving the file issues.   After enabling File Tracing, you would run your application in the normal manner with the goal of reproducing the reported error within the indexed files. File Tracing will cause each file handling I-O operation, including data, to be written to the trace file. Micro Focus personnel can then use a special debugging tool to replay the trace file step-by-step using a "before" image of the files being traced. This allows us to locate the particular I-O operation which may have caused the files to become corrupt. For more general information on how to configure the External File Handler and a

Problem: 114 error when loading Net Express. Resolution: Please try the following when you get this error: 1) Open a Net Express command prompt:    Start, Programs, Micro Focus Net Express 4.0, Net Express Command Prompt 2) At the command line enter:    mfnetx /n If this works, then you probably have a corrupt project (.APP) file.  You will need to recreate your project file from scratch. If this is not the issue then look at the following: Lets take a step back and see if anything runs.  As before, open a Net Express command prompt and enter "COBOL" at the command line followed by pressing RETURN. Does this give the 114 error ?  If not (control and C breaks out of the compiler), then go to the following folder: \\net express\\base\\demo\\adsamp and enter: cobol adsamp anim; Does this work? If it does, then the next step is to ensure that your installation o

Problem: Support for CURRENT TIMESTAMP is likely to be required in migrations from Cobol AS/400 with Embedded SQL to Windows platforms using Micro Focus COBOL and OpenESQL. This is an example of a sentence where CURRENT TIMESTAMP is used. In this case, CURRENT TIMESTAMP is substituted by the current date time at execution and used as a value for column TSCOLUMN:            EXEC SQL                        INSERT INTO MYTABLE  (COLUMN1,                                       COLUMN2,                     

Problem: File Type:  LINE SEQUENTIAL File Charasteristics: Tab-delimited fields If you view a record via the "Examine" option when animating, or directly via the data file editor in a project, the tab characters are not visible. If, when in the animator, you toggle to view in HEX, it shows spaces where the tab characters are assumed to be. Resolution: To see the tab characters, you need to set the EXPANDTAB runtime configuration switch to OFF. You can do this by setting this in either extfh.cfg (which is the default file-handler configuration file) in the local directory, or by using the EXTFH environment variable to specify a different file-handler configuration file. For example: set EXTFH=C:\\working directory\\my.cfg An example of a config file is as follows (either my.cfg or extfh.cfg): [XFH-DEFAULT] EXPANDTAB=OFF    By default EXPANDTAB is ON. This means that if the file is viewed via either the data fi

Problem: Haven't you ever wondered why there is not a simple way of obtaining this, like an intrinsic function, or using INSPECT? Or maybe you have tried something like:        working-storage section.            77 ws-name                      pic x(50).          77 ws-count                     pic 9(03).          procedure division.            move "Micro Focus" to ws-name          inspect ws-name tallying ws-count for characters      

Problem: Error message; "Failed to set up Integrated Development Environment At least one Net Express option failed to install .please exit setup and start install again" Resolution: This can be caused by a problem with the 16-bit subsystem setup on the workstation To check if the 16-bit subsystem is setup properly; - Reboot your workstation to ensure that you are working in a clean environment.  *** Please ensure that you are log on as a user that has administrator rights *** - Once the machine is rebooted, move your cursor on your taskbar, right click and bring up Task Manager. - Go to Start/Accessories/Command Prompt to start a Command Prompt. - type the following command; command.com, and press enter.   - Under normal circumstances you should see a new process in your Task Manager called NTVDM.EXE - If you have a problem, you should see and error message usually something like; "WOW NTVDM illegal instruction m

Problem: Received an error when trying to open a file.  The file status returned is '9 '.  What does this mean? Resolution: There are several different file status code values that can be returned from an I/O operation.   The default file status codes for this version of COBOL is ANSI'85 (Please read the documentation on the ANS85 compiler directive in the on-line help).  The values returned from an I/O operation are in the range '00' through to '49'.  The values are returned into a 2 character field. However, the Micro Focus file system also has an extended version of file status codes. To activate these, the NOANS85 compiler directive must be set.  The values returned from an I/O operation are returned into a field where the first character is defined as pic x, and the second is defined as pic x comp-x (i.e. hex storage).  When an I/O operation fails the first field will always be 9 and

Problem: The simplest way is to retrieve the contents of the environment variable USERNAME, as in the code pasted below Others ways are to use the WIN32 APIs  GetUSerName or WNetGetUser, as described in MF NeXx sample page getuser.zip :    Using WIN 32 Api to get the current user logged using the win 32 api in Cobol getnuser.zip:   Using WIN 32 Api to get the current user logged on the network using the win 32    api in cobol   Resolution:         working-storage section.        01  ENV-value                pic x(200).        01  ENV-name.                pic x(11) value "USERNAME". &n

Problem: The toolbar no longer appears when I launch Net Express. Have opened and closed IDE multiple times and it won't be displayed. Doesn't appear to be minized anywhere. Resolution: From the IDE View -> Dockable Windows , check Toolbar and the Toolbar should now be displayed. Old KB# 6899

Problem: Error when registering a COM Server created using Interface Mapping Toolkit. File not found. Resolution: This error can occur as the COM DLL is dependant on the comservices.dll that resides in the base\\bin where you installed Net Express. If you add base\\bin to your path then the DLL will register correctly. Old KB# 6902

Problem: If you use charset"ebcdic" in a OpenESQL program that uses SQL Server you will get the following error when linking:- error : unresolved external symbol _OESQLEBC@12 Resolution: You need to link your EXE with  OESQLEBC.OBJ  that is supplied with Net Express Old KB# 6904

Problem: Are there any examples of accessing Excel from COBOL via COM? Resolution: There are examples in Net Express which show how to access Excel and Word from COBOL.  The demos can be found in:    \\Net Express\\Base\\Demo\\OLEDEMOS\\EXCEL    \\Net Express\\Base\\Demo\\OLEDEMOS\\WORD    \\Net Express\\Base\\Demo\\OLEDEMOS\\REPORT The downside with OLE is that you are reliant on the vendor of the OLE server for details of the methods they make public.  In Microsoft's case this is normally in the Visual BASIC for Applications on-line help. Old KB# 6935

Problem: Receiving a -170 syntax error on SELECT statement containing a WHERE clause. The WHERE clause contains a host variable declared as a group item. Resolution: Although you can use groups of data items as a single host variable in embedded SQL, group items are not permitted in the WHERE clause. Old KB# 6898