Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Are ISO2002 User Defined Funtions supported in Net Express V3.1? Resolution: ISO2002 User Defined Funtions are NOT supported in V3.1 of Net Express. To use this functionality you need to use V4.0 or above. Old KB# 4046

Problem: While debuging, if I want to have a look at the contents of a field, I press "q" then followed by "c". However, if I want to have a look at the contents of an array, I am having problems finding the keys that allow me to "scroll" up/down the array contents. Resolution: To view the contents of an array, place your cursor over the group item of the array, by going to the working storage of the array and then press "q" followed by "c". Next press "F5" / "F6" to step down / up through an 'OCCURS' field of a group item. "F8" will take you to the child of that group item, that is, the data element of that level. "F9" will take you to next data element of the same level. "F7" will take you back to the group item of the child. Old KB# 4117

Problem: You may find that this information may be missing in your version of the documentation. The  "What is new" section says that the search order has changed since Server Express 2.2, but the search order that is actually taking place hasn't been detailed within the chapters that talk about the file handler configuration. Resolution: Currently (Server Express 4.0 and 5.0) the file handler searches for the configuration file in this order: 1. It checks for an environment variable named EXTFH.  If the environment variable value is not equal to a space, it attempts to open that file. 2. Otherwise, it tries to open using "$COBDIR/etc/extfh.cfg". 3. If that fails, it tries to open "extfh.cfg" in the current working directory. 4. Finally, if that fails, it assumes that there is no configuration file and it takes all the default values for each one of the options. Old KB# 4107#netexpress#ServerExpress#COBOL#RMCOBOL#AcuCobo

Problem: In a .NET Cobol program which creates and prints a Word document, how do I set the ActivePrinter property from within the Cobol program to select the printer I require? Resolution: You can use the OLE Object, e.g. a Word document, to set the printer settings. Have a look at the attached demo for how to get the name of the default printer using the ActivePrinter property.  The commented out lines in the code will change the printer name. Attachments: test1_1403.zip Old KB# 4056

Problem: Error occurs when creating an executable linked with Oracle 9.x compile using Server Express 4.0 on HP/UX 11.11 platform Precompiling xxx005u.pco         cob -C IBMCOMP -C NESTCALL  -t -x -o xxx005u xxx005u.cob -L/oracle/product/920/lib/ /oracle/product/920/precomp/lib/cobsqlintf.o -lclntsh 'cat /oracle/product/920/lib/ldflags'   'cat/oracle/product/920/lib/sysliblist'  -lm  -lpthread -lpthread* Ignored  - NESTCALL cob64: invalid symbol __iob in sidefile /opt/microfocus/cobol/lib/cobisym *** Error exit code 1 Stop. RXCPR/AAD:9i.T4.40.04 PTI=SP2 Resolution: The  error is the result of mismatched definition of environment variables for Server Express 4.0 COBDIR=/opt/microfocus/cobol  - the default for Server Express 4.0 PATH set to include the bin directory of an earlier version of Server Express d

Problem: Opening a line sequential file in EXTEND mode will put an exclusive lock on that file by default. In this case, you can't open that file with a Windows utility such as Notepad to view it until the file has been closed. Resolution: To get around this, you can code the "sharing with all other" phrase in the select statement: select logfile assign to "logfile.txt"     organization is line sequential     sharing with all other. Old KB# 4047#ServerExpress#AcuCobol#RMCOBOL#netexpress#COBOL

Problem: This program demonstrates the use of the Net Express library routine PC_PRINTER_INFO to get the current configuration information for a specified open printer. It will return a native device context handle, and other information that can be used to enhance the printing of a document by calling native WINAPI graphics functions directly. Resolution: INTRODUCTION ========== This program demonstrates the use of the Net Express library routine PC_PRINTER_INFO to get the current configuration information for a specified open printer. It will return a native device context handle, and other information that can be used to enhance the printing of a document by calling native WINAPI graphics functions directly. SOURCE FILES: ========= Program Files         Description -------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------- PRNTINFO.CBL    

Problem: The following error message is returned when compiling: /opt/lib/cobol/bin/rts64_t: /sbin/loader: Fatal Error: Cannot map library libcobrts64_t.so.2 Resolution: Make sure the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH (or LIBPATH on AIX & SHLIB_PATH on HP-UX) is set correctly by pointing to the correct product and location.  It should be set to the $COBDIR/lib directory. To check what the environment variables are set to, run the 'env' command or the 'mfsupport' command, which will generate a 'mfpoll' file in the same directory you run the command.   Old KB# 4086

Problem: A customer's application deletes a record from an index file via COBOL. The record is ".. Not Found" when reading the file. When dumped using 'od' the record data can be seen to still exist in the file. So how can one delete a record physically from an index file using a COBOL program? Resolution: When you delete a record the file handler marks in the data file and index that the record is deleted - it doesn't physically write over the record. You would have to rewrite the key with spaces in the record area and then delete it to remove the data but of course the key is still there. So the only permanent way of doing this is to run rebuild which will remove all the deleted and free space records. The reason we don't permanently delete the record is entirely for performance.   Old KB# 4074#ServerExpress#RMCOBOL#COBOL#netexpress#AcuCobol

Problem: A customer was required to change a single line in over 1000 programs to add text to the end of the PROGRAM-ID statement.   The format of the PROGRAM-ID is : PROGRAM-ID.   MYPROGNAME. The change required the format: PROGRAM-ID  PROGRAMNAME IS INITIAL. They did not wish to edit each file individually. Resolution: sed is made for this sort of job.  The answer is simple and very fast.   #! /bin/sh for FILE in *.cbl do echo $FILE sed '/PROGRAM-ID/s/[.]$/ IS INITIAL./' $FILE > ./tmp/tmp.$FILE diff $FILE ./tmp/tmp.$FILE >>./tmp/diff.txt done The script is placed in the directory containing the .cbl files.  I also create a tmp directory in the same directory. When run, the script performs a loop reading every .cbl file. It prints the filename to the screen. Edits the line containing PROGRAM-ID to remove the trailing period from the prog

Problem: Getting a 9/037 error using CBL_READ_DIR and CBL_GET_CURRENT_DIRECTORY Resolution: As the error code suggests, this is a permissions problem. The directory in question can be found using a system trace utility such as truss.  In the truss trace on AIX will be something like: statx("./../../../../", 0x2FF216D8, 76, 0)      Err#13 EACCES Err#13 EACCES means that search permission is denied for one component of the path prefix.  The path prefix in this example is "./../../../../", i.e. 4 levels up from the directory where the program is running. Full information on statx can be found at the IBM site (http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/pseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.aix.doc/libs/basetrf2/statx.htm). truss is available on AIX, SCO UnixWare and Solaris.  On HP systems there's tusc and Tru64 uses trace, neither of which are included in the main distribu

Problem: How to find out which version of Enterprise Link is installed? Resolution: To check which version of ELink you have installed, go to the Web Authors site and look towards the bottom of the screen.  You should see something like: Micro Focus EnterpriseLink 5.0.6 Build Number 6481 on 04/06/06 19:23:36 for Microsoft Windows Old KB# 4133#EnterpriseLink#Rumba

Problem: While loading screen using either EL Loader or loader lite ther is noway to specify which protocol to use TN3270 or TN3270E  but there is a option after the project is created. Resolution: At the start of loader in the information page under the category "Display Attributes" there is a checkbox  "Extended mode".    TN3270E is extended mode.    And is this also true for LoaderLite, the "Extended Attributes" check box turns on TN3270E? Old KB# 4134#Rumba#EnterpriseLink

Problem: Does EnterpriseLink support Sun Solaris 10.0? Resolution: Yes.  Solaris 10 is supported. Old KB# 4132#Rumba#EnterpriseLink

Problem: Release 4.0 With SP2 for Server Express the treatment of VALUE clauses in the FILE SECTION has changed. Before it was used during program start up to initialize the data items with the desired values (line in WORKING-STORAGE), now it is ignored. Because this behaviour is documented, it cannot considered to be a bug. Questions: Is it possible to get the old behaviour back (maybe by a compiler option)? Or what else solution can you provide to make our old programs run as before? Example: 000100 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. 000200 PROGRAM-ID.    A. 000300 ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. 000400 INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION. 000500 FILE-CONTROL. 000600     SELECT FQS001 ASSIGN TO XX 000700            ORGANIZATION IS LINE SEQUENTIAL. 000800 DATA DIVISION. 000900 FILE SECTION. 001000 FD  FQS001. 001100 01  RQS001    PIC X(80)&nb

Problem: CBL_YIELD_RUN_UNIT was present in Object COBOL Developer Suite, but did not appear to work. Has the situation changed in Server Express? Resolution: CBL_YIELD_RUN_UNIT is now functional in Server Express. It yields the remainder of a run-unit's time-slice to unspecified run-units. On some environments this can result in a one-second pause. Old KB# 4078

Problem: This is an extraction from an EL5.05 log file: 2005/05/16 09:19:06 [0x04cc] Process Session(3579): Session Qj0ZUdbFAzpuCpAF processing request http://localhost:80/stscripts/run.stn/onlineIMSA/ 2005/05/16 09:19:06 [0x04cc] SSSession::reload(6996): Reload current URL 2005/05/16 09:19:14 [0x04cc] Process Session(3579): Session w8I21E67VKFieeiq processing request http://localhost:80/stscripts/run.stn/onlineIMSA/ 2005/05/16 09:19:14 [0x04cc] SSSession::reload(6996): Reload current URL What does the message ""SSSession::reload(6996): Reload current URL" mean? Resolution: The "SSSession::reload(6996): Reload current URL" message is indicating that the URL has been reloaded by clicking on the refresh button or pressing F5, etc. Old KB# 4131#Rumba#EnterpriseLink

Problem: If you receive the following error when trying to run an executable on a machine running Application Server for Net Express 4.0: Dynamically Bound RTS 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: One likely cause of this error is the version of Application Server you are running. This Knowledge Base article was raised from an Incident where the Websync WrapPack all07n40.exe had been applied to Net Express 4.0 on the development machine. The executable was rebuilt on that machine and ported to the machine running Application Server for Net Express. However, the equivalent Application Server Service Pack, aps09a40.exe, had not been applied to the Application Server environment. Also, we noted during testing that in one instanc

Problem: Is it possible to design Dialog System windows with different colors? Resolution: It is not possible to design or change Dialog System windows (border and title bar), as they are controlled by the operating system. Here is also the description of "Color" from the Net Express help: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Color Color changes the foreground or background colors of a selected object or objects. You cannot change the color of a title bar of a window object. When to use: Use Color to change the colors of selected object(s). You must select an object or group of objects first. Effect: Dialog System displays a dialog box for you to select foreground and background colors. Select Foreground, then click on a color to make it the foreground color. Then select Background and click on a color to make it the background color. Press Apply to color the selected objects. Press Close to

Problem: PuTTy is Freeware terminal emulation software for SSH and Telnet. Using it on Linux, with sde, lines are drawn with lqkxmj characters Resolution: Micro Focus do not recommend settings for third-party terminal emulators.   However, we (Support) will take a look at specific customer issues on an informal basis to see if we can help. PuTTy announces itself as an xterm emulator although it seems limited in it's configurables and doesn't draw as well as other emulators using this terminal type in the COBOL environment.  The FAQ on PuTTy's web site recommends trying vt220 to resolve some issues. export TERM=vt220 export TERMINFO$COBDIR/terminfo This works well although I haven't found how to return ansi colors.   If you're happy with monochrome, I would recommend you try this setting; if not, use PowerTerm which is part of the NetExpress UNIX add-on.  Use this in ansi emulatio

Problem: Error message:   Dependent module libcobrts64_t.2.so could not be loaded. Could not load module libcobrts64_t.2.so. System error: No such file or directory cob64: error(s) in compilation: sample1.cob A recently released AIX update appears to cause the symptom.  To diagnose,   cd to a directory in which you have write permission   cp $COBDIR/demo/debug/pi.cbl pi.cbl   cob pi.cbl   cobrun pi If this fails with a similar message, check the LIBPATH setting.  If it works, try the Oracle demo, sample1 or any other compilation run from the "make" command.  If that fails with the error message above, the problem is diagnosed. Resolution: The problem is caused by make being changed to a setgid program. setuid and setgid programs ignore the value of LIBPATH.   This is for security reasons. As a result, Cobol executables, such as rts64, cannot

Problem: It is sometimes desirable to have a program run at the privilege level of a user other than that of the user who starts the program.  A classic example is an operator who is responsible for running backups.  The operator should not be allowed root privileges, but the backup program itself must have global read access in order to do its job. There is a combination of flags for the chmod command which will cause an executable file to run as another user (see "man chmod").  However, doing this to a Cobol program causes a failure to load runtime system components (.so files) and the program terminates very shortly after the startup attempt. Resolution: Due to security concerns and operating system limitations, this is not recommended and is unsupported for Cobol programs. Old KB# 4110

Problem: Cob command - quotes and spaces Resolution: cob is a command run under Unix, just as grep and sed are. Unix command lines are processed by the shell. The shell expands all wildcards, environment variables, and does all word and field splitting before cob sees the command line. In addition, cob tries to follow general Unix convention on command lines where possible. Before proceeding further, we will define a cob flag such as -C and -N as an option flag, and the string that follows an option flag as an option parameter. As noted in the Server Express documentation an option parameter must either be a string containing no spaces, or an arbitrary string enclosed in quotes. Unless environment variable expansion is required, single quotes are preferred. These quotes are removed by the shell but the option parameter is passed to cob as a unit, so cob knows the entire string consists of checker/ncg options. Some examples may help.   &nb

Problem: This example demonstrates how an output file can be redirected to the Win32 Print Spooler using the printer_redirection tunable. Resolution: INTRODUCTION ========== This example demonstrates how an output file can be redirected to the Win32 Print Spooler using the printer_redirection tunable. SOURCE FILES: ========= Program Files             Description ----------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------- PRTTUNE.CBL Resource Files: ----------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------- COBCONFIG.CFG REQUIREMENTS: ========== A default printer must be defined and available OPERATION: ======== Simply rebuild and run the Project NOTE: ==== To see how the printer_redirection is set you can look at the file called cobconfig.cfg.  The cobconfig.cfg i

Problem: Example of how to use the PC_PRINT_FILE Net Express call-by-name routine Resolution: INTRODUCTION ========== This example program demonstrates the use of the Net Express call-by-name library routine PC_PRINT_FILE. This routine will print a file allowing the user to optionally select a printer and font that will be used for printing the document.     PC_PRINT_FILE uses the same parameters as PC_PRINTER_OPEN so we use the same copybook definitions. SOURCE FILES: ========= Program Files         Description -------------------     ----------------------------------------------------------- PRNTFILE.CBL       Source program that makes a call to PC_PRINT_FILE. It will display a printer                         &nbs