Rocket® COBOL

Problem: The LostFocus event cannot be used to perform actions after a date is selected since the this event is occurring as soon as the user clicks on the arrow down button to show up the calendar. Resolution: The event that should be used in this case is ValueChanged. As soon as a date is selected, the ValueChanged event can then take place. Attachments: DatePickerGainedFocusAlt.zip Old KB# 6580

Problem: Do you have any split key examples? Resolution: Yes, please see the two attached source code examples. Old KB# 6145

Problem: Invalid Procedure Name P224 / DSRUN Error 8,0,0 Resolution: Move the Screenset datablock from Working Storage into the Linkage Section. Old KB# 6572

Problem: How to get  Message Box to stay on top Resolution: right mouse click on message box and click on properties On the general tab there is a Parent selection field If you select $WINDOW , then the message box will stay on top. Old KB# 6557

Problem: DSRUN error 17,920,3 -- The bitmap '12345678.bmp'could not be found Resolution: It seems in 32bit, a byte should be allocated for the null character I.E.: if the filename with the dot and extension is 12 bytes, then the field to contain this filename should be 13 bytes. Otherwise, the DSRUN error 17,920,3 will occur (e.g. The bitmap '12345678.bmp' could not be found.) Therefore, make sure the field that contains the bitmap file names is one byte bigger than the actual size of the bitmap filename including its dot and extension. Old KB# 6564

Problem: Sometimes it is useful to generate a .cpb (copybook) file for a screenset via batch processing. How can I do this? Resolution: Open a Net Express command-line and go to the folder to find the related screenset. You should enter now: dswin /g screenset-name This produces the .cpb file related to screenset. Old KB# 6556

Problem: Dialog starts but the toolbar and shortcuts are white and the menu bar function doesn't do anything. Resolution: Check your system for the runtime modules Pan2nt.dll. If it is in a directory other than the cobol32\\exedll or Net Express\\base\\bin, delete it and reboot the machine. Old KB# 6555

Problem: Application Server appears to have been installed incorrectly. Resolution: The Application Server licensing directory should contain a file called semfile, with full access permissions to all users. Old KB# 6536

Problem: On some instances, the focus mark on a radio button is not seen. The radio button can be selected, but the focus mark is not seen. This behavior only occurs in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Resolution: This is not a bug, but it is actually an operating system setting issue. To be able to see the focus mark on the radio buttons, the "Hide underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the Alt key" option must be unchecked from "Display Properties > Appearance > Effects" in Windows XP and from "Display Porperties > Effects" in Windows 2K. You can get to Display Properties by right-clicking on your desktop and clicking on Properties -OR- by going to Start > [Settings] > Control Panel > Display. Old KB# 6571

Problem: Moving Dialog Systems screensets from UNIX to Windows Resolution: Dialog System's screensets that were created under UNIX can also be used on Windows with the 32-bit Dialog System character runtime. There is an important consideration in how to build those screensets. Under UNIX, the names can be in upper, lower, or mixed case. Windows Dialog System is expecting upper case. It's important to build your screensets under UNIX using upper case names. Old KB# 6560

Problem: Where to put the Dialog validation error file? Resolution: Here are 2 options for placement of the error file: 1) Do not specify any path with the error file from the resource files for the location error file. This will leave it on the same directory as the screenset -OR- 2) Specify an environment variable with the error file from the resource files for the error file location, save it, then set this environment variable to point to the location of the error file. This is more flexible, since, if the error file is relocated elsewhere, only the value of the environment variable needs to be changed. Example: 1. specify $ENVDserror.err from the resource files options for error file (ENV is an environment variable name which could be any name you choose) 2. save the screenset in runtime format 3. set the environment variable ENV to point to the location of the error file Old KB# 6562

Problem: 173 on CBL_NLS_GET_MSG when trying to run an EXE Resolution: This error may be caused by only doing one call to DSRUN on a DS Screen push button. The Push Pop demo shows that in some cases you have to do one call to DSRUN to Quit Set, and another call to Continue. Old KB# 6573

Problem: Applications initially developed with COBOL WorkBench use the OEM format for data when Net Express ( and Dialog System of Net Express) use ANSI format. How to correctly display OEM characters under Dialog System? Resolution: Add the following Function at the Global Dialog SCREENSET-INITIALIZED       CALLOUT-PARAMETER 1 CONFIG-FLAG $NULL       CALLOUT-PARAMETER 2 CONFIG-VALUE $NULL       MOVE 16 CONFIG-FLAG       MOVE 1 CONFIG-VALUE       CALLOUT "dsrtcfg" 3 $PARMLIST this dsrtcfg call is documented in Dialog System: Display Character Set Conversion By default, the Dialog System run-time assumes that data passed to it is encoded for correct display in Windows environments, that is, the passed data will have a correct visual representation when Windows displays the characters using the ANSI

Problem: An application that is running in Net Express using the COBCONFIG_ variable to point at a .cfg file that contains the entry: "set printer_redirection=TRUE" This correctly sends the output to the spooler rather than the LPT port. However, when the application is deployed against Net Express Application Server the output goes straight to LPT1 rather than the spooler. Resolution: The cobconfig_ setting isn't linked in any way to the application. When deploying you need to set cobconfig_ as a system environment variable to point at the .cfg file that you have created that contains the printer_redirection=TRUE in order for it to be picked up by the application. Old KB# 6539

Problem: shmem Checksum error Resolution: This message indicates a shared memory  problem. The only recourse is to reboot. Old KB# 6534

Problem: The following message from CCI appears occasionally: Unrecognized CCI session ID - could not disconnect user Stack overflow: PID 64474, proc rts64, addr 0x11f7fdff0 PC 0x3ff800e5d08 /fs_up[5]:64474 Memory fault (coredump) The result is that Fileshare freezes and the session has to be killed and started again. Resolution: The problem seems to be that the fs_up process overflowed its stack, got a SIGSEGV and terminated with a core dump. Increasing the process stack size resource limit may help in resolving the problem. This can be achieved using the ulimit command.  Use 'ulimit -s' to check the current stack size and and 'ulimit -s <size>' to change the size.  This will change the setting of the soft limit for a particular user - i.e. the user who starts Fileshare.  Increasing the soft limit requires root permissions but reducing it does not.  To change the hard limit you would need to edit

Problem: Tabbing from a numeric entry field that is supposed to become zeros if blanks get reset to blanks only when the application is run outside Net Express. This seems also to occur only on Windows 2000, not on Windows NT or XP. If the application is run within Net Express, the zeros remain in those fields. However, the zeros become blanks once it is run outside Net Express or in an Application Server environment. Resolution: A part of this problem is down to the code. For example, in the window dialog there is a GAINED-FOCUS event that would cause a REFRESH-OBJECT command for a list box. As this event is in the window dialog and does not exist in any of the object dialogs, this event will be called any time the window or any of its objects get the focus. This means that the event is called more than needed causing the problem with the numeric entry field to become blanks even if it should remain zeros. The other part of the problem is related to entry field

Problem: Calling the aslmpclocate the error:  "fail 0000000099" appears even after entering the key in the registry. Resolution: This error message means that there is/was a problem with the Admin rights on this machine/server. You need Admin-rights for the Registry Key SOFTWARE before it will function properly. Old KB# 6538

Problem: No Applicaton Server licenses available, but there is an adequate supply of licenses which are not in the "system" (timeout) state. The directory to which COBDIR points is not the actual directory but a soft link to it. Resolution: Although not officially supported, experience has shown that users' COBDIR value may be to a soft link rather than the actual Micro Focus product installation directory.  However, this does not hold true for the license installation via apptrack.  The user who runs apptrack to install the Application Server license(s) must have COBDIR set to the actual directory name, not the name of a soft link. In general, Application Server licenses are bound to the COBDIR-specified directory at the time the licenses are installed.  On systems with multiple product installations, care must be used in the setting of COBDIR relative to the prodoct for which the licenses are intended. &nbsp

Problem: Sample Scenario: When a user clicks on a bitmap they may have the option to go out to MS Paintbrush and change the bitmap. However, if they select the bitmap again while still in that same run unit it will display the original bitmap prior to being changed. It is not until they exit the screenset and re-load that the changed bitmap will be displayed. Resolution: To dynamically change a bitmap you should associate a master field with the bitmap object first. This means that you just need to populate the PIC X(..) master field with the path to the bitmap and then then do a REFRESH-OBJECT on the bitmap control. Old KB# 6568

Problem: Fileshare is performing about 10 times slower on Net Express 4.0 than on Net Express 3.0. Resolution: The reason why Fileshare is slower in performance is while running with asynchronous comms, the process gets dropped by CCI, if no messages are waiting.  The fix for this is to switch the comms to synchronous using the /sc option in FS but that requires a password file to be used. When you are using synchronous comms, it is quite tricky to shutdown the FS server, because it can take quite a while to respond to the screen.  If the FS server is idle, then it will only be checking the keyboard once every two minutes ( by default ) and so a user hitting escape will likely not get the response from it, that he expects. In the product is an API FSMGR, which provides ways of controlling FS remotely but there is no program provided.  You have to create your own or use something like the FSVIEW addpack. The solution to the per

Problem: Dialog System Error 3, 52, 55 on RETC. Error 4/007 on a read. Resolution: This error occurs as a result of application processing which causes a change of directory for the current process. Unless Control bit 3 is set (DS-NO-NAME-INFO) then each RETC will result in the screenset being reloaded to retrieve the name details for the currently active object when the RETC occurs. If the screenset is not on COBDIR or the full screenset file path name is not specified, then the file open will fail as a result of the change in directory. This subsequently causes the file read fail 47. Old KB# 6565

Problem: The use of 3D objects (radio buttons etc.) in Dialog System 2.5 and later has caused confusion with some of our Customers. This article documents how the 3D support in Panels 2 works and what code is required in your Micro Focus COBOL/Dialog System applications. We will be looking at the following Micro Focus products: Workbench/Object COBOL 3.4 (16 bit). Dialog System 2.5 (16 bit). Workbench/Object COBOL 4.0 (32 bit). Dialog System 2.5 (32 bit). Net Express 2.0 with Dialog System 3.0 (32 bit). Resolution: The following notes are split by operating system and then by Micro Focus product. The information is presented in the form of bulleted items so that it can be used as a checklist in the event of problems. [General Points of Interest] Panels 2 (16 bit) uses a DLL written by Microsoft called CTL3DV2.DLL or CTL3D.DLL. These are available from the Microsoft web site. There is also a 32 bit DLL available from Microsoft called CTL3D32.DLL. 32 bit

Problem: If you are trying to control the licensing errors that your application may return in a shell script, you may have realized that, for example, the following license error ASLM: License database has been moved returns a return code of 4. Resolution: The codes for the ASLM error messages that are in the documentation - Application Server > Help Topics > Licensing Error messages - should correspond to the return codes. Not all possible messages are documented here so for the complete list please see below. Messages 17, 23 and 24 are appended by text from the multipart message, whose numbers are 48, 49,50, giving a user level summary of what this means (so you should get a return code of 17, 23 or 24). In the same way, when you get a return code 28, messages 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 are shown... 0001 "ASLM: License database does not exist" 0002 "ASLM: No license database header" 0003 "ASLM: Error opening Li

Problem: Dialog System: Use of the Vocabulary features: using "EMBEDDED DIALOG SYSTEM functions " in a COBOL program Resolution: DS online help: ____________________________________________________________________________ 1) Generate the Vocabulary Copybook. ( DS online help: Dialog System Vocabulary-> Using the vocabulary ) From the Dialog System main window, load a screenset, using the Open option from the File menu. Select the Generate option from the File menu, and then select Vocabulary Copybook. This will generate a .cpy file with the same name as the loaded screenset. The vocabulary copybook contains a list of all of the objects within a screenset. Each variable in the copybook is given the same name as the object in the screenset that it represents. ... ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Add dslang.cpy to the program using the vocabulary. The file dslang.cpy is provided in the sou