Rocket® COBOL

Problem: If you are processing a Timer event and it takes a while processing then when the event is finished the next timer event is immediately fired. How can you stop event while processing another? Resolution: In the event you can switch off a time and then start it at the end of the  event. Some example code for this is:-        method-id.  "timer1_Tick" final private.        linkage section.        01 sender System-Object.        01 e System-EventArgs.        procedure division using by value  sender e.                       invoke timer1::"Stop"()              &n

Problem: CALL "CBL_READ_FILE" using .... returns a RETURN-CODE = 12592 What does it mean? Resolution: It is a 2 bytes file status code in decimal representation. 12592 decimal = x"3130" in hex. x"3130" are the ASCII-Codes of "1" and "0". 12592 means FS: 1/0 = no next logical record exists. ------------------------------------------- Also extended file status codes might be returned from CBL_-routines. If you recieve e.g. 14657 = x"3941",  it means ASCII "9" followed by a binary "41" = decimal 65. 14657 means FS: 9/65 = file locked Old KB# 3956#ServerExpress#COBOL#AcuCobol#netexpress#RMCOBOL

Problem: When I exit Net Express I get a prompt asking if I want to stop the XDB local server. It seems that this server automatically starts up, but I don't need to use it - is it possible to stop this happening? Resolution: You need to stop the XDB service from starting up when you boot up.  If you go to Windows Control Panel, and select Administrative Tools, you will see an option entitled Services.  Open this and scroll down the list of services - you will see "Micro Focus XDB Server for NX n.n" and/or "Micro Focus XDB Server for MFE n.n" if you have MFE installed.  If you right click on that name, and select Stop, the service will be stopped - however, this will only apply to your current session.   If you do not want this service to run every time you start up up the system, right click on the XBD entry again, and select Properties.  In the window that appears, you will see a pull

Problem: In a DataGridView object from the .Net Framework V2 and above. How can you change the background colour of "row" programatically? Resolution: You can use the "DefaultCellStyle" on the row to acheive this:- set datagridview1::"Rows"::"Item"(ls-count)::"DefaultCellStyle"::"BackColor" to cColor::"LimeGreen" This sets the background colour to Lime Green. Old KB# 3922

Problem: In COBOL, how can I monitor a directory for the existance of a file. Resolution: There are a number of ways you could do this:- - "X"91" function 69" - .Net directory class if your using the .Net COBOL Compiler - FileSystemWatcher control if your using Studio which has WinForms Support. X"91" demo is at http://downloads.microfocus.com/examplesandutilities/general/dirlist.zip Old KB# 3926

Problem: The following error message occurs in Net Express 4.0 when the Internet Application Wizard attempts to generate a CGI program: ---------------- Object Code error : file 'splithtm' error code :153, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 153  Subscript out of range (in E:\\BUILD\\EHTM\\splithtm.cbl, line 225) ---------------- This problem occurs when All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.006 (all06n40.exe) was applied. The previous version did not have this problem. Resolution: This has been fixed since All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.007 (all07n40.exe). Old KB# 3970

Problem: When starting Net Express for the first time you are prompted by a welcome box.  In this case the customer's welcome box did not have a check box that will allow you to discontinue showing the welcome box at the next startup. Resolution: Open the registry editor.  Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER      Software           Micro Focus                Net Express                     4.0                          IDE                            &

Problem: Customer had spent a long time developing a screenset, and one day received an error which indicated that the screenset was corrupt in some way. Resolution: If a screenset gets unexpected corruption of any sort, then it is always worth trying to salvage it by exporting the entire screenset as a .imp file (which is really just a text file). Check the file for any obvious funnies (half-lines, mistyping, or if you know that a particular object is the one causing the trouble, delete all references to it). Then create a new screenset, and delete the only window (select it and press <Delete>). Import the .imp file into the screenset, and say 'OK' when informed that some duplicate global dialog will be renamed. You should then have a more or less working screenset. If you have removed any objects from the .imp file, try adding them to the screenset again. Old KB# 3928

Problem: File routines, such as CBL_DELETE_FILE, CBL_RENAME_FILE, and CBL_COPY_FILE,  in Net Express 4.0 fails to find filenames that are prefixed with a dash "-", e.g. -TEST.TXT These CBL_ routines fail with a non-zero return code, which can be interpreted as the routines were unable to find -TEST.TXT. Resolution: This problem has been fixed since All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.007 (all07n40.exe). Old KB# 3969

Problem: The demo attached contains 3 programs One Java program which does SQL I-Os thru JDBC One OO COBOL program which invokes the Java program above               ( this OO COBOL program is a 'stub' between procedural COBOL and JAVA ) One procedural COBOL program which invokes the OO COBOL program above. Resolution: ======================= INTRODUCTION_1: since the JAVA program does SQL I-Os using JDBC using an ODBC layer, you need a DSN (Data Source Name ) called 'NetExpress Sample2' pointing to an ACCESS DataBase named SAMPLE.MDB ( delivered with .ZIP attached with this demo ) --> Config Panel->Administration tools->ODBC data sources IF the DSN 'NetExpress Sample2' does'nt exist, create it using an ACCESS Driver pointing to ACCESS DataBase named SAMPLE.MDB ======================= INTRODUCTION_2: As described above, the

Problem: In a PictureBix object in WinForms how can you set up the image at runtime from COBOL Code ? Resolution: You can do this by passing in a Bitmap object to the Picture Box. Some example code that does this is:-       $set sourceformat(variable)       $set preservecase        class-id. frmPBox as "MDICOBOL.frmPBox" is partial                  inherits class-form.        environment division.        configuration section.        repository.            class interface-icontainer as "System.ComponentModel.IContainer"            class class-f

Problem: Error creating a new COBOL project "The application for project 'C:\\Documents and Settings\\default\\local settings\\temp\\5dgjbw2p.cpx\\temp\\classlibrary2.cblproj' is not installed.' Make sure the application for the project type (.cblproj) is installed. Resolution: Open a Visual Studio 2005 command prompt.  Go to the Mico Focus\\Studio 5.0\\Packages directory and enter the following: regsvr32 cblprj.dll then press enter then enter the following and press enter: devenv /setup Old KB# 3938

Problem: When running a Dialog System application that has a dialog box with a push button, you are unable to see the underlining on push-buttons. However you are able to see the underlining in the screen designer/painter mode. Resolution: This is an OS issue that usually is apparant in XP\\Windows 2000. To see the underlining you need to go to the Windows Control Panel and then click on the Display icon. From here click on the appearance tab, and then on the effects button. Remove the tick from the "Hide underlined letter for keyboard navigation until I press the ALT key" and then save the new settings. If you then close down Net Express and then open it to re-run the application you'll now see the underlining in the dialog box when running the application. Old KB# 3974

Problem: Customer is running a Net Express 4.0 application that uses the OpenESQL embedded SQL support to access a DB2 database on the mainframe. The ODBC driver that they are using is the NEON (now DataDirect) Shadow Direct ODBC driver for DB2. The application was running fine until they had to change some column descriptions in their tables from DECIMAL 2,2 to DECIMAL 3,3 which creates a host variable of PIC SV999 COMP-3. After recompiling their applications with the new description any SELECT statement that accessed one of these modifed columns would cause an abend in the OpenESQL run-time of either a stack overflow or a memory write protection error. Resolution: After quite a bit of testing we found that their were two completely different issues that when used together would cause the run-time error to occur. First, we tested this against other ODBC drivers including DB2 Connect from IBM and the error did not occur so we isolated the error to the

Problem: How can I pass a null terminates string to .Net  so that the null is retained in the string being passed? The calling program is Unmanaged COBOL and it will be using COM Interop to call the .Net assembly. Resolution: You need to use a chararray to pass this data across as you can specify the size of the  chararray when you create it. Some example code that does this is:-       *> This is required for OLE applications       $set ooctrl( P)        program-id. testnet.        special-names.            call-convention 66 is winapi.  *> Non Litlinked apis        class-control.        *> OLE automation classes        &n

Problem: If you have a PictureBox control on a Form with an Image displayed how can you set the picturebox so that it does not display an image? Resolution: This can be achieved by setting the "Image"  property in the PictureBox control to null. Code such as:-        set PictureBox1::"Image" to null should achieve this. Old KB# 3963

Problem: Net Express 4.0 Client  found that when compiling a COBOL program in Vistual Studio they got the  the following error(s): Failed to find the system program EXTSM Failed to find the system program EXTFH Resolution: Net Express was installed first.  Then the latest wrappack for Net Express was installed.  Then Net Express with .NET was installed from the installation CD.   Applying the latest wrappack for Net Express with .NET fixed the problem. Old KB# 3924

Problem: When you run CBLCORED from the Net Express Command Prompt, it pops up a window to allow you to select the following options:     Disabled (default)     Enabled with prompt     Enabled with no prompt How to enable this feature without having to select manually from a popup window? Resolution: The runtime tunable core_on_error was introduced in the All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.005 (ALL05N40.EXE) of Net Express v4.0. There is a demo available on the sample site, which shows how to use (http://downloads.microfocus.com/examplesandutilities/utilities/CoreDump.zip) The description below for core_on_error is in the documentation. core_on_error Specifies in what circumstances a core file is produced. Syntax: >>-----set core_on_error=---.-0-.-----------><                      &nbsp

Problem: The following line fails with "912-S Internal error - Dictionary invalid r/w 00000000" in Net Express 4.0 with All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.005 (all05n40.exe): DISPLAY FUNCTION WHEN-COMPILED(7:2) AT LINE 25 COL 09. The above however does not fail in any of the previous version of WrapPacks, even with previous versions of Net Express. Resolution: This has been fixed since All WebSync WrapPack v4.0.006 (all06n40.exe). Old KB# 3971

Problem: After updating Net Express 4.0 with the WrapPack all07n40, an RTS 115 is encountered when attempting to open a Service Interface or when attempting to create a new one. Resolution: This is a known problem e.g. for the Service Interface tool as well as for Form Designer. Workaround: The problem is caused by the "Text Find and Replace" dockable window, which you get from the IDE by "Search", "Find in text...". Just "right-click on this window and HIDE it" will enable the IDE to work correctly. This will be fixed in the next web sync for Net Express 4. Old KB# 3952

Problem: You may have set environment variables external to the Net Express IDE.  However, you can't see them from within the IDE. How can you see environment variables that have been set externally from within the IDE? Resolution: Go to Project | Properties Click on the IDE button Then click on the 'Import' button and import the current environment by selecting  the environment variables you want to view or edit. Old KB# 3931

Problem: If you have a checked listbox how can you add items into the listbox and control their state? Resolution: You can add items to a CheckedListBox using code such as:-             invoke checkedListBox1::"Items"::"Add"("Item 2",cCheckState::"Checked")             invoke checkedListBox1::"Items"::"Add"("Item 3",cCheckState::"Unchecked")             invoke checkedListBox1::"Items"::"Add"("Item 4",cCheckState::"Checked")             invoke checkedListBox1::"Items"::"Add"("Item 5",cCheckState::"Unchecked") cCheckState is the System.Windows.Forms.CheckStat

Problem: How to trap exception in COBOL .NET? Resolution: You can find documentation on how to handle exceptions using the TRY statement from the Net Express with .NET Help. Just follow the steps below: 1. Click on Help > Index 2. Make sure "Micro Focus Net Express with .NET" is selected from the "Filtered by" drop-down list 3. Type in "exception" from the "Look for field" 4. Double-click on "structured", which is right below "exception handling" in the list of topics That will lead you to the page where it addresses about structured exception handling and the usage of the TRY/CATCH/FINALLY/END-TRY control structure. It also refers to an existing sample, which is in Net Express with .NET\\Examples\\LRM Samples\\Exceptions folder. Old KB# 3944

Problem: Hitting backspace in a Screen Section restores a value instead of replacing with a space. Resolution: 1. Open the Net Express Command Prompt 2. Change directory at the location of the application's ADISCTRL file 3. Execute ADISCF 4. Press F2=Alter 5. Press F3=Accept/Display Options 6. Press F3=Individual Options 7. Press Down Arrow key to go to 12 (Auto-restore during backspace in replacement editing mode) 8. Press Enter to edit the option #12 9. Change the value from 1, which is the default, to 2 Here are the options for Auto-Restore: 1: Auto-Restore. The characters overtyped are automatically restored as characters are deleted. 2: Auto-Restore disabled. Deleted characters are replaced by the filler characters. Old KB# 3959

Problem: Which database products are certified for use with Server Express ? Which database products are certified for use with Net Express ? Which database products are certified for use with OCDS ? Which database products are certified for use with Workbench ? Is OpenESQL available on my platform? Is ODBC support available on my platform? Is DB2 support available on my platform? Is Cobsql available on my platform? Why do I get an 18-U Preprocessor error on initialization error using Cobsql? Resolution: 1. If you are using the COBOL precompiler as provided by a database vendor, e.g. Oracle Pro*COBOL, Informix ESQL/COBOL, Sybase cobpre (or are using Cobsql), or IBM's precompiler (or are compiling with the DB2 compiler directive), the responsibility of certifying the precompiler against Micro Focus COBOL products lies with the database vendor themselves : Oracle users with a valid MetaLink account, can access Oracle's document detailing certifi