Rocket® COBOL

Problem: How can I display a JPEG (JPG) file from a Character based application? Resolution: Character based applications do not support the display of images. You could however use the ShellExecute api routine to display a JPG in the system default application for it. Attached is a demo that gets a JPG from a website and displays it using ShellExecute. Attachments: WinHTTP GET.zip Old KB# 5745

Problem: Method to open a large data file with Net Express to view the contents. Resolution: Have the following section setup in the extfh.cfg file: [XFH-DEFAULT] FILEMAXSIZE=8 Where the FILEMAXSIZE parameter specifies the number of bytes used internally to store file offsets. This also affects internal locking mechanisms: programs sharing the same file all need to use the same FILEMAXSIZE settings to ensure semaphores and record locks are handled correctly, thereby avoiding potential file corruption in shared files. FILEMAXSIZE={4|8} Default: 4 4 Limits file addressibility to 32 bit values which is compatible with earlier versions of Micro Focus products. 8    Allows up to 64 bit values for file addressing on Windows NT platforms when accessing the NTFS file system, but changes the underlying record locking mechanism. Therefore, if you are sharing very large files, that is files greater than 1Gb in size, all programs

Problem: CBL_SPLIT_FILENAME example in Net Express Help has been updated Open Net Express 4.0 Help Click Index tab Type CBL_SPLIT_FILENAME Click Display Scroll down to reveal "Example of the use of CBL_SPLIT_FILENAME" Click adjacent checkbox Below is a compilable version of the source shown in the Help. Resolution:             copy 'CBLPROTO.cpy'.       ************************************************************       *                                                          *       *   &n

Problem: Found cblcore modules  in many directories.  Can these safely be deleted? Resolution: Cblcore is a debugging tool - it puts out a cblcore dump anytime an abend occurs. By typing in CBLCORED from a command prompt, it will put up a pop up box and you can enable or disable it. If you have already resolved the abends and do have no need to look at the dumps, you can delete them. If this is occurring on your development machine, check the animate options and uncheck core dump to stop using the function. Old KB# 5752

Problem: Issue with Greek Characters when ANSI characters are used (on .Net). In a .Net Winforms environment Greek characters are not displayed correctly when passed into a Winform. Resolution: This is caused by conversions taking place between OEM and ANSI character sets and UNICODE. To resolve the problem you need to perform the following code when your application starts:- call "PC_WIN_SET_CHARSET" USING BY VALUE 0 This sets up the COBOL system so that all conversions are ansi based. Old KB# 5731

Problem: How can I get an error when a REDFINES source/target are different lengths? Resolution: This "error" would return an informational message from the checker and is not reported by default (as you have found).  If you want to see these errors then you will need to specify the WARNING"3" directive on your compilations. Old KB# 5734

Problem: Enabling a cobol program to recognize a printer plugged into a usb port Resolution:   The way to print via a USB-port and not the 'normal' LPT1/2 etc is to use the printer_redirection run-time tuneable. This redirects output on a file defined as ASSIGN TO PRINTER to whatever your default printer is. So, if that is connected via USB it should work. The printer_redirection tuneable causes ASSIGN TO PRINTER statements to go to the print spooler rather than LPTn. Therefore, provided the printer attached to the USB has been installed properly there should be no problem printing to it. There is no way to access ports directly in our product because the operating system APIs used for file handling do not handle USB port names. The printer_redirection mechanism is the only way that accessing a printer connected via USB can be done. To set the printer_redirection runtime tuneable you need to create a runtime configuration file and

Problem: Has one form, wants to be able to click on a button and have a different form popup Resolution: 1) Create a new Cobol, windows form, name the project FormPopup 2) Add another form to the project ( Right click on the project in solution explorer, select Add New Item, Select a Windows Form, name it Form2, click OK) 3) Add a button control to the first Form (Form1). 4) Double Click on the button to create the button click event handler 5) In the repository add this line of code: Class form-form2 as "FormPopup.Form2" 6) Go back to the button click event handler that was created (method button1_Click) 7) Add a working storage section with the following code: 01 newForm object reference form-form2. 8) In the procedure division add the following code: set newForm to form-form2::"New"() invoke newForm::"Show"(). 9) Build and Run (Instead of using the form's Show method you could use the ShowDialog method, but then t

Problem: Is it possible to specify a Y2K pivot date with MFSORT? Resolution: Unfortunately there is no way to specify the Y2K pivot year with MFSORT i.e. where the 20th and 21st centuries start. Old KB# 5431

Problem: Doing a static link of a ODBC program with Base release of Net Express 4.0 and base release of Application Server for Net Express 4.0. Resolution: Static link is not recommended for ODBC The issue was resolved by linking as Shared Another method would have been to upgrade development and Application Server for Net Express to the currect update levels available on our website. http://supportline.microfocus.com Old KB# 5717

Problem: Problem: The install of Net Express 4.0 on a Window XP professional  failed because the Setup reported erroneously an installed Application Server for NE 4.0. Resolution: Workaround: 1. Using regedit, rename the key   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall to Uninstall-temp 2. Start the NX setup. 3. At the setup welcome screen, rename the key back to Uninstall. Old KB# 5400

Problem: Ported project from another machine to a different test machine. Trying to start animation from project. Resolution: One scenario for this error is as follows: The build settings for the EXE were sent to another directory other than the debug folder - **this was found by highlighting the EXE on the left hand side and doing a right hand click and choosing build settings -- the "file on disk" option had been changed to send the EXE to a different location other than the default "debug" or "release" folder. Trying to start animation from the top which was pointing to the debug folder if you hits browse and goes to where the exe is located it starts the easier method is to just highlight the exe on the left hand side and do a right hand click and choose animate Old KB# 5425

Problem: When creating an XML file from a COBOL program, how would you prevent groups/items being output to the XML file?  This may be necessary when the items or groups hold no data at all. Resolution: Define the groups/items in the COBOL program with the COUNT IN clause, e.g. 03 Main IDENTIFIED BY "Main".      05 A PIC X(6) IDENTIFIED BY "A_TAG" COUNT IN A-CNT.      05 B PIC X(6) IDENTIFIED BY "B_TAG" COUNT IN B-CNT.           07 B-ATTR PIC X(6) IDENTIFIED BY "B1_A" IS ATTRIBUTE.           07 B-SUB PIC X(6) IDENTIFIED BY "B_SUB_TAG" COUNT IN B-SUB-CNT.           ... Moving 0 (zero) to the count variables wil stop the associated elements or groups being output to the XML file. Old KB# 54

Problem: When this statement is run        DISPLAY "TEST" WITH BLINK AT 0101. there is a gray colour back ground - is the a limitation? Resolution: Unfortunately, BLINK is not a supported capability under Windows Old KB# 5456

Problem: Is it possible to use Telnet in a COBOL system on the .Net platform. Resolution: Neither COBOL or the .Net Framework (V1 or V2.0) has support for the Telnet protocol. There is however many 3rd party .Net libraries that provide support for Telnet on the .Net platform. Old KB# 5407

Problem: What performance can be expected from Fileshare? Resolution: The overhead of running Fileshare is considerable.  This is only counteracted as the number of concurrent users increases.  For example: Time taken to write 100 records. Users             Non-FS               FS 1                 0.1 seconds          1.0 second 5                 0.5 seconds          1.2 seconds 10                1.5 seconds        &nbsp

Problem: 'Verify Server Settings' returned this error.    Resolution: Norton Internet Security was enabled on the PC and did not for some reason report that it was blocking access to this IP.   When this was resolved, publishing worked OK. Old KB# 5435

Problem:   Is Visual Studio 2005 supported in Net Express 4.0? Resolution: Currently the Net Express 4.0 product works with Visual Studio 2003. The Net Express  5.0 version works with VS 2005. Old KB# 5399

Problem: In the Cobol program below  the field 'db_email' is filled with the value '-1' and NOT 'Null.'   ...     working-storage section.          77 ws-value     pic S9(04) comp-5.     77 ws-name      pic x(10) value spaces.          procedure division.     ....     move 'robert' to ws-name     move 1        to ws-value     compute ws-value = ws-value * -1     exec sql             insert into table (db_name,db_email)                          &nb

Problem: Release 4.0: We would like to include the actual wrap- and fix pack all05n40 into our silent installation, but we failed to add it to the wrapper.ini file in cinstall. Resolution: You can also start the installation of  service packs / fix packs / wrap packs / add pack silently by adding the parameter -q, so \\..>all05n40.exe -q will install the pack silently. From a batch file, it might be better to use start /wait all05n40.exe -q to stop the batch until the pack installation is finished. Old KB# 5719

Problem: A standard user is trying to invoke Net Express. Resolution: The user requires full access to the installation path, the demos, and the Micro Focus registry structure. Old KB# 5418#RMCOBOL#COBOL#netexpress#ServerExpress#AcuCobol

Problem: Data entry field should display as blank until a new value is keyed into field. Resolution: This is an ADIS configuration option that can be set up with ADISCF and saved in a modified ADISCTRL file. Since you are migrating from an older version of Micro Focs COBOL to the current version, search the system where the older version is installed for an ADISCTRL file and copy it to the new system. The ADISCTRL file should be in the folder where the application programs are executing.                                                                                 

Problem: Receving a not found error when doing a invoke such as:-                invoke wordserver "GetSpellingSuggestions"                        using       ws-work                        returning   ws-suggestion Resolution: The problem here is in the method name "GetSpellingSuggestions". This has "get" as the first 3 characters so the COBOL OLE runtime thinks you want to get a property "SpellingSuggestions" rather than do a method call. You can fix this by making a "setdispatchtype" call to tell the runtime that the next call is actually a method c

Problem: Unable to debug C and COBOL programs at the same time -- why? Resolution: This is expected as you can only use on hard mode/low-level debugger at a time in Windows.  Both Visual Studio and Net Express use the low-level debugging support i.e. they conflict. Your options to get around this are: 1) Debug the C in Visual Studio and run the COBOL. 2) Run the C from Net Express (Animate Settings) and debug the COBOL. 3) Run the C from the command line and use CBL_DEBUGBREAK. Alternatively, you could switch to .NET where you can have the C and COBOL mixed together within Visual Studio as managed code. Old KB# 5454

Problem: This error: "The program ... has been modified since the last compile. This may lead to unpredictable results when browsing and animating." is produced after a compile of the program. Resolution: the "$" should be in card column 7.      1          $set sql(dbman=odbc)      2        ****************************** Like this:      1        $set sql(dbman=odbc)      2        ****************************** Old KB# 5403