Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Method to shut down fileshare via a command file (without GUI interface) Resolution: Some new commands line commands have been added for FSVIEW with Net Express 4.0. If a password file has not been created or no password has been added for FSVIEW that needs to be done as FSVIEW is the admin user for Fileshare. FS /pf password.dat /u FSVIEW /pw FSVIEW Fileshare must be using the password file FS /s FSTEST /pf password.dat First test that this will works on a test machine. FSVIEW Server set the_server_name Admin password the_admin_password Server shutdown Exit If this works, take the commands after FSVIEW and place them in a control file (any name is fine;  e.g.,  "your_control_file") Retest by entering the following:  FSVIEW @your_control_file Old KB# 5311

Problem: The "Click here to install Net Express with .NET" link from the main install page does not bring up the next page. It seems as it was unable to load IWIZ01.HTM from the CD-ROM's \\autorun\\html folder. Resolution: 1. Open Windows Explorer 2. Open \\AUTORUN\\HTML from CD-ROM drive 3. Double-click on IWIZ01.HTM The above steps would allow to resume with the rest of the steps to install Net Express with .NET. The problem seems to have occurred only with a web browser (e.g. Mozilla Firefox) that was not Internet Explorer. Old KB# 5269

Problem: DISPLAY SPACE ... WITH ERASE EOL actually erases everything from its location to the end of screen, exactly the same behavior as using WITH ERASE EOS. Resolution: This is not a bug. Look at the "DISPLAY statement" topic in the documentations, and you will be able to see the following note under Format 3 in clause #21: "If the literal-1 is one of the following figurative constants it has a special effect as follows: SPACE clears from the specified cursor position to the end of the screen;" [...]" If you look at the documentations, you will note the MF at the beginning of the clause. That is, the feature is an extension to ANSI 85 that is specific to Micro Focus COBOL. This also means that DISPLAY SPACE ... WITH ERASE EOL may in fact erase to the end of line in some other compilers. You have then 3 alternatives to erase to the end of line: replace the figurative constant SPACE with " ", or replace the f

Problem: Which versions of Net Express are supported on Windows XP? Resolution: Only Net Express 4.0 with WrapPack 4.0.004 (all04n40.exe) or higher has been tested and is supported on Windows XP with SP2. Net Express 4.0 and Net Express 3.1 with SP1 have been tested and are supported on Windows XP with/without SP1. None of the previous versions (3.1 without SP1, 3.0, 2.0, and 1.0) of Net Express has been tested, and therefore none of them is supported on Windows XP. Old KB# 5268

Problem: When installing Net Express 4.0 on machine, click on setup to install, gets "invalid initialization file" message. Resolution: Use the following steps to correct the problem: 1.  The SETUP.EXE that is in the root directory of the Net Express folder must not be used.      Instead the command "cd \\setup" must be typed followed by the ENTER key to make the      Net Express\\setup folder the current directory. 2.  Type "setup.exe /ini=.\\nxsetup.ini /no_subsystem" and press ENTER. This will start the setup.exe program that is in the Setup subdirectory and tell it which initialization file to use during setup. In this case it is using the nxsetup.ini file within the Setup subdirectory and specifies the /no_subsystem option. Old KB# 5258

Problem: Does Micro Focus COBOL have an option to omit columns 1-6? (used for sequence#s in punched card days) i.e. begin COBOL text in column 1 (vs column 7) Resolution: The Sourceformat compiler directive determines the source program record layout. There are two alternatives: Sorceformat"Fixed" (the default); Sourceformat"Free" The "Fixed" format is the traditional "punched card" layout. columns 1-6, sequence number' column 7, indicator area, comments (*), continuation (-), Debugging (D), compiler directives                            and conditional compilation ($) columns 8-11, Area A, Division, Section and paragraph names columns 12-72 Area B, procedural statements columns 73-80, identification field (ignored by the compiler) The "Free&quot

Problem: Some directives that configure how files are dealt with, their internal format , for example FDCLEAR & IDXFORMAT, can be especified in any part of the source code. This article will set out the procedures to set those directives only for a particular file, as supposed to all the files in the program. Resolution: There are quite a few compiler directives that configure the behavior of the file handler. A few of them can only be set at the begining of the program (or outside, in cobol.dir or in the Net Express project...) and its settings will affect all the files defined in your program. But quite a few of them can be set/unset in any part of the program and this feature allows us to configure different behavior for each file defined in our COBOL program. You know that this is possible because when you access the online help for that directive (Contents / Reference / Compiler Directives ) you will see in the description for that directive somethin

Problem: We are writing an output file that is a Record Sequential data file. We need to convert it to a Line Sequential file. Can this be doen from a Cobol program? Resolution: Yes. Reference the following example:           Identification Division.        Program-Id.  LORINCE.       * Converts Record Sequential to Line Sequential       * via  PRINTER  keyword in ASSIGN clause        Environment Division.        Input-Output Section.        File-Control.            Select Out1  Assign to Printer 'RS2LS.Dat'.       *    Select Out1  Assign to &#

Problem: A called program or a subprogram fails with RTS 114 error on EXIT PROGRAM RETURNING a value. The error occurs in INT, not in GNT. Resolution: Make sure the value is valid for return-code. It is not meant to return a string or any other value. Old KB# 5256

Problem: Install Application Server for Net Express by running setup from the SERVER subdirectory on the Net Express CD (Net Express 4.0, for other versions the directory takes other names), but this will install the base version of Application Server Expres for Net Express without any fixpacks or updates. If the user has applied the latest fixpacks to their base installation of Net Express to their development environment, they will want the end-users of the application to have a version of Application Server that is updated to the same level as the development environment.  (i.e., Application Server 4.0 with NetExpress 4.0,  App Server 5.0 with NetExpress 5.0, etc.) Resolution: To install Application Server with a certain level of fixpacks applied to it, download the corresponding Application Server Service Pack from the Micro Focus SupportLine web site. Service Packs for Application Server can be used to update an existing installation

Problem: Release 4.0: Working with sources to migrate SIEMENS copybooks and getting messages for TIMEOUT as follows: > Micro Focus Net Express V4 Version 4.0.38 Copyright (C) 1984-2005 Micro Focus International Ltd. URN AXCGG/AA0/00000   1514 01      TIMEOUT                                                  00031100 * 666-S***************                                                 (   0)** **    Res

Problem: Customer is doing Proof of Concept getting T0055*2*Connection does not support HOLD cursors error Resolution: Go to the XDB ODBC Driver Data Source Configuration and check With Hold Package under Optional parameters and see if this resolves the problem. Old KB# 5312#netexpress#COBOL#ServerExpress#AcuCobol#RMCOBOL

Problem: Is it possible to develop COBOL CGI applications by using Net Express with .NET? Resolution: Unfortunately, CGI is not supported in our current Net Express with .NET product.  According to the online help the following areas are not available: * Some CBL_ and PC_ routines (the majority are supported) * ADIS (Extended Accept/Display) * CGI * Micro Focus class libraries * Multithreading syntax * Mainframe performs (perform-type(osvs/vsc2)) * SOC 7 * Mainframe pointers * ANSI debug * GLOBAL declaratives in nested programs * CICS commands * Screen section * CALL-CONVENTION * Threading syntax such as THREAD-LOCAL-STORAGE and SEMAPHORE-POINTER. Please see the .NET online help for full details. Old KB# 5306

Problem: If lines are entered into a Multi Line TextBox similar to the following: Line1 Line2 Line3 Line4 then how is access to each of the individual lines in the control accomplished? Resolution: On a TextBox there is a "Text" property that provides access to all the text wtih x"0d0a" delimiters (Carride Return/ LineFeeds) between the lines. The user could retrieve the test to a pic x(..) and then UNSTRING the data as required. Alternatively there is a "Lines" property that is an array of the lines. The following code example might prove useful :           *****> Access each line in the MultiLine TextBox           *****> and add it to a ListBox                         perform varying ls-str

Problem: Which version of the windows compiler supports Unicode? Resolution: Micro Focus advises end-users with such requirments to employ the Micro Focus Net Express COBOL compiler, because there is now added support for many parts of the ISO 2002 COBOL standard including: o ISO2002 Object Oriented COBOL support delivering enhancements such as typed object references. o UNICODE support for global applications. Old KB# 5304

Problem: ProgramA is compiled with the directive $set CallFH "MyProgram".  When any file access occurs (e.g. Open i-o File) this correctly calls the "New file Handler" MyProgram.  However, the means to access the FCB of the relevant file is not at all clear.  For example, including the Directive FCDREG in the calling and called programs has no effect. Resolution: The following is a workable example of accessing the FCD below. The program turns on key compression in a file by setting the appropriate bits in the file's Key Definition Block. $set fcdreg select masterfile assign to ... organization is indexed record key is rec-key alternate key is m-alt-key-1 with duplicates alternate key is m-alt-key-2 alternate key is m-alt-key-3 with duplicates. select indexfile assign to ... organization is indexed record key is rec-key alternate key is t-alt-key-1

Problem: Problem when running a sample downloaded from the Micro Focus web site. The sample is a Net Express 4.0 CGI application that sends email using CDO to access an SMTP server. When running the sample on a development server it can send email fine. When the application is moved to a test server that has Application Server 4.0 installed, the following error message is displayed in the browser: execution error : file '' error code: 200, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 Run-Time System internal logic error (in rtsarea.c 85. line 400). The Application Server is unprotected. see incident 2104379. The Application Server was updated with aps05a40.exe (4.0.005?) The CDO sample was on the Micro Focus website. see incident 2105768 Resolution: The sample was being linked using the static and multi-threaded options. After changing these options to dynamic shared and single threaded the problem was resolved. Old KB# 5257

Problem: Micro Focus has both Net Express and Mainframe Express. Is the Net Express Interface Mapping Tool just Mainframe Express's Component Generator renamed?   Resolution: The answer is no. Net Express has an Interface Mapping Tool which allows one to select fields for mapping to a new display format. In COBOL, one can describe a data item's data type precisely, using its picture-string. COM, Java and XML (used for sending data between a client and a Web service) each define their own sets of data types. The Interface Mapper maps the COBOL types in your program onto the types available in COM, Java or XML. CG (Component Generator) is an interface allowing creation of Java and web components to allow testing of a legacy application that has been web enabled. CG allows one to (1) analyze an application, (2) capture its output screens (BMS or MFS), (3) create an eBiz transaction for displaying the output or for allowing access to a VSAM dataset or

Problem: NetExpress releases 4.0 - 5.0 Overview of file handler parameters. Resolution: To get an overview of file handling, please refer to: Net Express  Help -> Help Topics -> Content -> Reference -> File Handling -> File Handler -> Configuration -> Configuration file parameters - Overview Old KB# 5307

Problem: A legacy code is added to a solution, and it is set as "Console Application" for the output type. The solution gets rebuild successfully, but a class is unable to call the "console" application. There is neither a warning or error. Resolution: When a program's output type is set as "Console Application," it will be built as an EXE. In other words, it cannot be called. The output type should then be set as "Class Library", so it can be built as a DLL. Old KB# 5284

Problem: The install of Net Express with .NET goes to a certain point, and it then abends without displaying any errors. In this case, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 is already installed. Resolution: Net Express with .NET requires the following products to be installed first: Net Express 4.0 with at least WrapPack 4.0.001 (all01n40.exe) Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 with its own prerequesites It is worth to note that Net Express with .NET is an addon to Net Express 4.0. In other words, it does depend on Net Express 4.0. Old KB# 5283

Problem: RETURN-CODE always 255 when program starts to execute Initcall"mfextmap" has been used to load the External File Mapper Resolution: Do not use the initcall"mfextmap" compiler directive to load Mfextmap. Initcall is causing RETURN-CODE to be initialized improperly. There are two alternatives to using the compiler directive to get the External File Mapper loaded into memory. 1) Add the following call statement: call "mfextmap" at the beginning of the initial program of your run unit (process). This will get the External File Mapper loaded and available to the application programs. 2)  Use a "tunable", a configuration file and an environment variable to set up the External File Mapper without making changes to your application programs. Open Net Express 4.0 Help, and click Contents (tab),   Programming,     File Handling,   &nbsp

Problem: If a program has a long running block of code that adds items to a listbox or listview then the User Interface does not reflect the changes until the code has completed. Is it possible to update the control while the processing takes place ? Resolution: This occurs because all the processing is taking place on the same thread as the user interface. While the COBOL is processing data and adding items to a listbox the user interface will not respond as the Windows message Q is not being processed. The simplest mechanism to do this is by calling the "DoEvents" on the Application class at various points in the code. This will ensure that the Windows message Q will be processed at that point to reflect changes in your user interface. A more complex approach would be run the COBOL processing on a seperate thread from the user interface. This will ensure that the user interface is responsive while the COBOL processing takes place. Ol

Problem: What does compiler directive SOURCETABSTOP do? Resolution: SOURCETABSTOP sets how many spaces tabs are expanded to when the checker reads the source code. In the Visual Studio IDE, when you press tab you get one space whereas, in the Micro Focus IDE, pressing tab will insert a set number of spaces.  With SOURCETABSTOP"8" this would be 8. Old KB# 5302#netexpress#AcuCobol#ServerExpress#COBOL#RMCOBOL

Problem: Can MFSORT be used outside of Net Express? Resolution: MFSORT is part of Micro Focus' development and application server products.  It works on Windows, Linux and UNIX. Old KB# 5305