Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Net Express Dialog System Interrupting loops within Dialog. A Micro Focus COBOL application is using Dialog to display a counter. The Dialog panel displaying the counter has an interrupt button but this does not appear to take effect until the count is complete. The COBOL program executes a Dialog procedure, which refreshes the counter and returns control to the calling program. The interrupt button does not work because Dialog is never given control to process any user events. The loop returns directly to the COBOL program once the Dialog functions have been executed. Resolution: Alter the loop so that Dialog, having updated the counter, is given the opportunity to detect any user events. This is achieved by implementing a TIMEOUT, giving the user 1/100<SUP>th</SUP> of a second to interrupt the loop. When the interrupt button is pressed, the LOOP-INTERRUPTED procedure is executed, disabling the TIMEOUT. This prevents control returnin

Problem: This is a result of using the wrong program for the List View. Resolution: Make sure the assosiated program for the List View is actually the generated program for it.  Just verify the properties of the List View control from the screenset to know the exact program name. Old KB# 6552

Problem: How do I keep the key combination of Ctrl C or ctrl break from quitting the application? Resolution: If you are using Dialog System character mode screensets, you can move a value of 4 to ds-control-param of the control block. This will keep CtrlC keystrokes from quitting the app. Making a call to X"B0" with function 4 will stop CtrlC from quitting apps that don't use Dialog screensets. Old KB# 6563

Problem: When you save the screenset how does it know what STYLENAME to use? Resolution: If you specify a font side file and save a screenset, the characteristics of each defined style are saved in a text file with a .dft extension whenever the screenset is saved. The screenset can contain fonts defined in more than one environment. In this case entries are generated for each environment. If the file already exists, the styles are appended. For example, if you use a style name of "Heading1" to represent a typeface of Helvetica (Helv under Windows) bold 12 points, Dialog System saves the following definition in the .dft file: [WINDOWS] FONT-RECORD     STYLENAME Heading1     ATTRIBUTES BITMAPPED, PROPORTIONAL     POINTSIZE 12     TYPEFACE "Helv" END-RECORD Old KB# 6570

Problem: What is the correct way to configure/debug WOW Thin Client on a UNIX system? Resolution: First, make sure that you are using the version of WOW Thin Client on the Windows system that matches the version of the runtime. You cannot mix versions. Next, make sure you are using a Runtime Plus version or Development version of the runtime on the UNIX/Linux system. The Runtime Plus and Development versions support Thin Client, while the regular Runtime does not. If unsure, contact Support and give us the serial number; we can check for you. For normal execution: 1. Make sure the rpcstart script has execute permissions. For this example, it is located in the /usr/rmcobol directory and should look like this: #!/bin/sh # TERM=dumb; export TERM RM_LOAD_WOW_CLIENT=yes; export RM_LOAD_WOW_CLIENT cd /usr/rmcobol && runcobol ./helowrld.cob k (You can locate the rpcstart script anywhere, but make sure the rpcplus.ini file is in the same directory, and have the script change to th

Problem: How can I prevent or terminate disconnected WOW Thin Client Server process? Resolution: Use the Server configuration option under the [ServerConfig] section of the Server rpcplus.ini file: InactiveLimit This option specifies the maximum amount of time a server will wait for an already connected client to make another remote program call. Also, try UseKeepAlive, also in the [ServerConfig] section of the Server rpcplus.ini file. This option checks for connection terminations at the TCP/IP level. For it to work, the TCP/IP parameters KeepAliveTime and KeepAliveInterval must be set in the Windows system registry or the UNIX/Linux kernel. The Windows default is 2 hours. If you want to set a shorter time period, use regedit and go to: HKLM\\System\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\Tcpip\\Parameters Add two DWORD Parameters named "KeepAliveTime" and "KeepAliveInterval". The values depend on what time you'd like. For example: if you use 600000 (ms

Problem: How do I sort relative files? Resolution: See the attached source code example. Attachments: sortrel.cbl Old KB# 6144

Problem: Is there an example of how to read and write to a device? Resolution: See the attached example source code. Attachments: wrtdev.cbl Old KB# 6148

Problem: How can I use ACCEPT to test for an escape key with a SCREEN SECTION? Resolution: See attached source code example. Attachments: scrntst.cbl Old KB# 6141

Problem: How can I get correct positioning with DISPLAY in pop up windows? Resolution: The LINE / POSITION is relative to the popup window, not the runtime window. Old KB# 6129

Problem: Is there a POP-UP window demo using program and subprogram? Resolution: See the attached source code example. Attachments: windemo.zip Old KB# 6146

Problem: Is there a POP-UP window example? Resolution: See the attached source code example. Attachments: window.cbl Old KB# 6147

Problem: How can I use C$SCRD to create a print file? Resolution: See the attached source code example. Attachments: scrd.cbl Old KB# 6140

Problem: Is there a C$SCWR example? Resolution: See attached source code example. Attachments: scwrtest.cbl Old KB# 6142

Problem: Is there a line draw graphics example? Resolution: See attached source code example. Attachments: linedraw.zip Old KB# 6133

Problem: How do I print rotated text? Resolution: Use the "P$SetFont" call with the LF-EscapementParam parameter.  See attached example POrient.zip Attachments: POrient.zip Old KB# 6127

Problem: How do I compensate for different printer's printable area's? Resolution: See attached example (POffset.zip) Attachments: POffset.zip Old KB# 6128

Problem: Is there a normalize data file example? Resolution: See attached source code example. Attachments: normal.cbl Old KB# 6136

Problem: Why are my bitmaps not displaying in my WOW Thin Client application? Resolution: The WOW bitmap control invokes the Windows API.  Since WOW Thin Client calls the Windows API on the client machine, any bitmap file that you wish to display needs to be accessible to the client machine. *The WOW bitmap control can use the RUNPATH environment variable/synonym to locate files on the client PC.      Old KB# 6447

Problem: Why doesn't the A option work with WOW Thin Client? Resolution: You can't  use the A option because the RPC Server uses it to pass the socket number to the COBOL process.  However, you can append arguments to the end of the command line tail like this: [ServerConfig] CmdArgs=myarg1 myarg2 myarg3 and the RPC Server will build this: A="5000 myarg1 myarg2 myarg3" where 5000 is the socket number being used, as defined by the rpcplus.ini file. From the RPC User's Guide: CmdArgs Restrictions: Windows Only Specifies alphanumeric data that should be appended to the command line used to start the server process. This data will be placed on the command line after the socket number and working directory (if specified). This is intended for use with thin client implementations on the server where rpcinit is not the initial program executed.  It is supported for all languages, but is particularly important when us

Problem: How do I correctly specify the inetd.conf entry for WOW Thin Client? Resolution: The /etc/inetd.conf (UNIX systems) entry for WOW Thin Client should read: rpcplus stream tcp nowait root /bin/sh rpcplus /usr/rmcobol/rpcstart The "rpcplus" part of this entry will show up in a process table listing (ps command). The "root" part of the entry may be changed to which ever account you wish to run the service. The beginning of the usr/rmcobol/rpcstart file (or where ever the rpcstart file is located), should have the following as the first line: #!/bin/sh Remember to do a kill -HUP on the process ID of inetd whenever you have changed the configuration file. This will save you having to reboot the system.      Old KB# 6438

Problem: How can I test a field to see if it is alphanumeric? Resolution: Please see the attached source code example. Attachments: alpnmtst.cbl Old KB# 6131

Problem: Why is CALL .. ON EXCEPTION not returning a STATUS value? Resolution: The CALL .. ON EXCEPTION statement does not return a STATUS value, but does go to the exception statement, whereas, on a CALL PROGRAM .. ON EXCEPTION statement returns a 3 digit STATUS value. Old KB# 6126

Problem: Is there an example LINAGE clause code? Resolution: See attached example source code. Attachments: linage1.cbl Old KB# 6134

Problem: How can I return a value to the O/S upon termination? Resolution: See the attached source code example. Attachments: returnc.cbl Old KB# 6138