Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Release 4.0 above: Installation - Install NetExpress on Microsoft Terminal Server and/or Citrix Resolution: To use Netexpress on a Terminal Server or with Citrix you have to ensure the following things: This file system.dat in ..\\documents and settings\\all users\\application data\\micro focus\\netexpress\\4.0 must have normal user rights. The user needs to have read access to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. They also need write access over HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Micro Focus for Net Express. Old KB# 4275

Problem: If you animate and double clicking on a variable that has a NULL value, the examine box comes up. When the Change button is clicked it might be expected that a 'box' is displayed as the ASCII representation of the NULL value.  Instead it might only display spaces for the NULL values Resolution: Changing the Examine Results Font to 'Courier New' displays a 'box' for the ASCII representation of NULL values.  The customer was using the 'Terminal' font. Click on Options | Customize.  On the Fonts tab select Examine Results, click 'Change' and select the appropriate Font. Old KB# 4273

Problem: Having created html web pages using Form Designer and have then used the Internet Application Wizard to create a CGI program, there will be .cpy and .cpf copyfiles that relate to the fields on the web page form. Modifying the html in Form Designer by adding fields, these copyfiles should be regenerated with the new fields included. An incident had been reported that saving the page in Form Designer would not regenerate the copyfiles. Resolution: The Net Express 4.0 Websync WrapPack in use was all07n40.exe (wrappack 4.0.007). If  encountering  this problem, to ensure that Net Express 4.0 WrapPack all08n40.exe to be installed. Old KB# 4336

Problem: Creating COM objects has always been done using a COBOL class. However did you know you can expose a .NET managed COBOL program as a COM object? How? Basically, you add a couple of class-attributes to any COBOL program that is compiled with the ILOBJECTIFY directive (which is the default in Net Express 5). Resolution: Here is a sample that shows how to expose a .NET managed  "Hello World" COBOL program as a COM object. The sample comprises: helloworld.cbl - the COBOL program blddeliver.bat - builds the program as an assembly bld.bat - puts the program in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) usehw.cbl - the test harness to try out the program helloworld.cbl:        $set sourceformat"free"        program-id. Program1 as "HelloWorld".        environment division.       &

Problem: Using the ASP.NET Website Admin Tool and the Login Control Resolution: ASP.NET 2.0 provides a website admin tool that allows you to view and manage your websites configuration.  The attached .zip file contains a WORD document (ASP.NET_Website_Config.doc), which has step by step instructions for using the Website Admin Tool to create and manage users, roles, and access permissions. For more information on this tool take a look at the following link: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms228053.aspx Also included in the .zip file is a demo website, Login, which uses the Login control that is new to ASP.NET 2.0.  The demo also uses the HttpContext class to get the name of the user for the current HTTP request.  For more information on this class take a look at the following link: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httpcontext.aspx Attachments: Website_Config_and_Login.zip

Problem: It is possible to create a virtual file handler that can replace EXTFH.  This is accessed from a program via the CALLFH directive.  However, this applies globally to a program.  How can it be made to apply to only certain files? Resolution: As stated above, there is a restriction that means the CALLFH directive applies to all files defined within a program.  Here are a couple of suggested solutions to this issue: 1) Separate programs.  There is a need to place all the file handling that requires    EXTFH in one program and the user defined filehandler in another.  The    advantage is that this is easy to implement and maintain but may make the    coding of programs more complex. 2) Add intelligence to the user defined filehandler. To add logic to your own    filehandler to determine the file currently being used.  Thi

Problem: Is the data stored in a COBOL file stored as portable data? That is, if copying a COBOL file to little or high endian systems, will still be able to access the data? Resolution: The answer is no, but there are workarounds. Defining data within programs as COMP-5, the local bit ordering will be used and therefore it will vary within different platforms.  Obviously this is the type needed to define if passing this data to C programs that the define it as int, long.... But Micro Focus COBOL allows to define data as COMP-X which is a platform portable data type.  COMP-X has the same bit ordering as COMP-5 in some platforms but it differs in others. So the solution would be to store data in files as COMP-X, but if doing a lot of mixed language programming, ensure to move COMP-X to COMP-5 data items to be used as parameters for the call. Old KB# 4302

Problem: Is there any easy way to identify any other products running under the Micro Focus runtime on Windows ? Resolution: To use the Windows command prompt command:- tasklist /FI "MODULES eq cblrts*" and this will list any processes that are running under the Micro Focus Net Express runtime. Old KB# 4330

Problem: This issue applies to Net Express 4.0 pre-all07n40 wrappack v4.0.007. Assuming that there is an existing htm/html web page form with the <PRE> tag included in the html text, then it was possible that saving this form in Form Designer could alter the format of the page. Resolution: This happened during EHTML preprocessing where line splitting did not keep the format of the text. This is fixed with the All Websync WrapPack v4.0.007 (all07n40.exe) and higher. Old KB# 4306

Problem: Which XFHFCD.CPY should I use? Resolution: A number of XFHFCD copybooks are provided with Net Express.  Although the following is documented it is repeated here as other customers have asked for clarification. Mainframe Express use XFHFCD2.CPY 32-bit Net Express use XFHFCD2.CPY 32-bit Net Express and creating a virtual file handler under Fileshare use XFHFCD3.CPY 64-bit Net Express use XFHFCD3.CPY .NET Support and Net Express with .NET use XFHFCD3.CPY 32-bit Server Express use XFHFCD2.CPY or XFHFCD3.CPY 64-bit Server Express use XFHFCD3.CPY Old KB# 4311#netexpress#RMCOBOL#AcuCobol#COBOL#ServerExpress

Problem: A blank page displays when viewing the documentation for Net Express, Mainframe Express or Revolve, when using Internet Explorer 7.  This happens after clicking on the name of a section in a chapter in the Table of Contents (TOC). Resolution: Instead of clicking on the name of the section in a chapter, click on the chapter name in the TOC and scroll down to view the information in the section. This problem is fixed in the latest WebSync for Mainframe Express, and will be available in the WebSync2 for Net Express 5.0, and the first WebSync for Revolve 7.0. Old KB# 4333

Problem: Getting Error message:- 1606 - Could not access network location \\\\USERID$\\PRV\\My Pictures\\. when attempting to Install Net Express V5 Resolution: This issue is caused by a corrupt registry entry that the Microsoft Installer technology checks. In the case the corrupt registry was at:- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurentVersion\\Explorer\\User Shell Folders In this case the value of "My Pictures" was set to the location above. Setting it to the default of:- %USERPROFILE%\\My Documents\\My Pictures resolved the problem. Please see Microsoft KB at  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886549/en-us for more details on other potential corrupt keys that could cause this. Old KB# 4299

Problem: This program demonstrates how to create a Windows 32-bit .DLL from a COBOL program which can be called by a Microsoft Visual C program. Resolution: The .DLL will be loaded by the C executable CALLER.EXE. The entry points will be made public and then GETSTR1 will be called to get the first string to display and GETSTR2 will be called to get the second string to display. Both of these strings will then be output in the Window which is created and maintained by CALLER.EXE. This program was tested using Microsoft Visual C/C V6.0. SOURCE FILES: ========== Program Files Description ---------------------  --------------------------------------------------------- WINDLL.CBL           Program which is built into WINDLL.DLL and is called by CALLER.EXE WINDLL.DEF          Definitions file created by the Net Express build. CALLER.C &

Problem: When building web pages the resulting page on the client side has Net Express comments included which bloats the html size.  These comments look like <!--/*MF NetExpress embedded COBOL begin*/>. Resolution: In eht02n40 of the all08n40 Net Express 4.0 WrapPack, a new preprocessor flag (NOCGICOMMENT) has been added to optionally ignore the MF comments being inserted into the HTML sources at runtime. This means that pages output by the COBOL CGI program will not include the comments (you can check by viewing the html source from a browser), but the source in the project will have them. Below is a description of the flag: CGICOMMENT Causes the preprocessor to insert Micro Focus specific comments into the output HTML codes. Syntax: >>-.---.-.----.--CGICOMMENT----------------><     -/- -NO- Parameters: None Properties: Default: CGICOMMENT   Phase: Syntax check   $SE

Problem: Assuming that an Indexed datafile exists that you want to be able to look at without having to write a COBOL program read and display all the fields. This file may also include compressed fields etc. Resolution: Net Express has a tool called the Data File Editor which will allow you to look at such things as indexed files in a text editor style format. It also displays compressed fields in numeric display format. Firstly, for the Data File Editor to be able to read an indexed file it needs to have a file that specifies the layout of the file so it can mask the data. The obvious thing it uses to create this is the FD as specified in your program. To create this file do the following: Open a project with a program that you know has the file you want to read specified in the FD. Compile the program if it's not already compiled. In the left hand pane of the project (i.e. Project View) right click on the program name .cbl (ie progname.

Problem: The documentation for NetExpress states that for this to work it is necessary to have SCP and SAMBA installed. Could something like Microsoft Services for UNIX be used in place of SAMBA? Resolution: Publishing or indeed using other options like verify server settings, unix publisher uses scp to interrogate the capabilities of the cobol system publishing to.  This is unavoidable; scp has to be used for this. Samba (or anything equivalent) is not needed for publishing. Importing a project, then that is when something that maps the unix end to a drive is needed. Something other than Samba should work ok, as it should be transparent to the Net Express IDE. Old KB# 4308

Problem: 'Page cannot be found' message when trying to edit an htm page or view Solo admin. If you double-click a .htm file in a Net Express Web project or if you double-click the Solo web server icon in the Windows systray to bring up it's admin screen, but get an error '404 the page cannot be found', then the problem may be with configuration of the Windows Internet Explorer Web browser. Resolution: Check the Internet Explorer browser settings by selecting the Tools menu from Internet Explorer, select "Internet Options...", select the "Connections" tab, click the "LAN Settings..." button, and notice if the "Use automatic configuration script" checkbox is checked. If it is checked, then a script may be specifying configuration information that may affect interactions between the browser and web server. Please contact your IT administrator to find out what configuration can be altered to allow it to

Problem: Net Express 3.1 When using the PC_PRINTER_OPEN or PC_PRINTER_DEFAULT routines, it has been found that using a printer name with spaces in it i.e HP Laser, causes an error 9. Other than remove the space - is there anything else I can do? Resolution: Put the printer name in quotes, and add a NULL terminator, for example: move "spacey printer name" & x"00" to l-printer. Old KB# 4286

Problem: DEMO - How to set the date on a WinForms DateTime control Resolution: INTRODUCTION ========== This demo shows how to set the date on a DateTimerPicker control in .Net WinForms DESCRIPTION ========= This demo shows: o     How to create a instance of the DateTime class o     How to set the DateTimePicker control to a specified date. REQUIREMENTS ========== Net Express V5 OPERATION ======= Build and run the example project. This has a datepicker which has been set to 25th December 2006. Look at the code in the Form_Load event. This uses the DateTime class to set the date on the picker control. Keywords: demonstration, sample, example, demo, .net , winforms , datetime , datepicker control demo.ex demo.ne Attachments: DateTime.zip Old KB# 4321

Problem: A potential memory leak has been encountered in Net Express. This was first encountered by a client running a Net Express 4.0 application that uses OpenESQL embedded SQL support to access a SQL2000 database. They could connect to the database ok. However, when they did a large amount of accessing they eventually received the following error: Communication Link Failure. Testing showed memory usage increase (in Windows task manager) as repeated calls to the database were made until they eventually ran out of memory - subsequently causing the error above. This only occurred in their production environment. Resolution: A lot of time was spent looking for leaks in the database, ODBC driver and OS etc. and making certain patch levels for these were correct. However, it was found that a simple CALL "CBL_DEBUGBREAK" had been inadvertantly left in the COBOL program that was called for each database access. Testing showed that each time this r

Problem: .cblproj not installed when loading a Visual Studio 2005 COBOL Project. The Visual Studio integration was installed with Net Express V5 however the error message above was still displayed. Resolution: To resolve this issue:- - Open a Net Express V5 command prompt - cd c:\\program files\\micro focus\\net express 5.0\\packages - regsvr32 cblprj.dll The issue was caused by some previous Beta versions of Net Express 5 being installed on the same machine. Old KB# 4307

Problem: This demonstration works fine on Net Express and on Server Express. The aim of this demonstration is to simulate a functionality  which exists on the transation manager TDS of GCOS7 which launches x transactions ( == PROCESSES ) launching x TPRs ( == x COBOL programs ) under TDS, when a transaction has overpassed a TimeLimit, TDS stops the transaction.... Resolution: The multithreaded launcher named ctrlbythread        gets the command-line        retrives the firts parameter of the command line ( which is the program to be called )        sets a new command-line with the parameters after the firts one ==  program to be called           ( see KB 21920: http://supportline.microfocus.com/mf_kb_display.asp?kbnumber=21920)        se

Problem: Release 4.0: Runtime DLL 'CBLRTSS', version 4.0, entry point CBL_CTF_TRACER_GET not recorded in registry, not found or incompatible with requirements of dynamically bound COBOL program. Dynamic binding of RTS requires: Any Runtime DLL, at least Version 4.0 Resolution: There is a mismatch between the update version of the compiler and the update version of the application server (runtime). Please update the runtime to the same level as the development environment. recent: all08n40.exe for Development environment / aps10a40 for Application Server. Old KB# 4304

Problem: Is there a way to turn the default file locking from exclusive to automatic without having to code LOCK MODE IS AUTOMATIC on the SELECT statement. Resolution: It is possible to affect this via the AUTOLOCK compiler directive. Old KB# 4280#RMCOBOL#netexpress#COBOL#AcuCobol#ServerExpress

Problem: When using the GUI Interface Mapping Toolkit within Net Express to create a Web Service mapping for a COBOL subprogram which will be run as a service, the drop-down list of possible data types is a bit confusing. The IMTK currently allows you to create mappings between fields in a programs linkage section or within a BMS screen or COMMAREA. These can be mapped to services such as Web Services, EJB's COM Serrvers or .NET WinForm/WebForm front end. Resolution: Please look at the attached table in a Word document format named "COBOL Data Item.DOC". This will show the best fit selection for a data type from the dropdown list of data types in the Interface Mapping Toolkit. Although you can choose a different data type then what is used in the sending program and receiving Web Service there is always a chance that if you specify the incorrect type then invalid data might occur or an invalid parameter might occur because of truncatio