Rocket® COBOL

Problem: I am trying to animate a process on another machine, using dynamic attachment, but it says I don't have permission to access the application.  I am using the same user ID on both machines - why is it not working? Resolution: The user ID was the same on both machines, but the group ID was different.  Changing the group ID solved the problem. Old KB# 3677

Problem: A customer has migrated to Server Express SuSE SLES 9 X86_64 from OCDS and is re-linking their application.  They receive the following error regarding a file BS.o cob32: error reading: BS.o Resolution: This is a portability issue and actually related to more than just the one object file.  The first file to be processed threw the error.   On examination, the object origin was from a different chipset; MIPS ELF not INTEL ELF. # cob -xve "" -o myrts BS.o cob32 -C nolist -xve  -o myrts BS.o cob32: error reading: BS.o # file BS.o BS.o: ELF 32-bit MSB MIPS-I relocatable, MIPS, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped Using the locking demo: # file stockioa.o stockioa.o: ELF 32-bit LSB relocatable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), not stripped # cob -xve "" -o myrts stockioa.o cob32 -C nolist -xve  -o myrts stockioa.o Entry points defined in module: stockioa.o  &

Problem: How can you run animserv and animserv_t on a specific port, rather than using the default? Resolution: Use the syntax animservXX port=xxxxx or animservXX_t port=xxxxx(where XX is either 64 or 32) N.B. do not use ports from 0-1023. This are privileged ports only accessible by root.Old KB# 3704

Problem: Is it possible to have text appear horizontally on the left or right sided tabs? Resolution: Unfortunately it is not possible to have a 'literal text' horizontally in the tabs, not only in Dialog System but also in Panels2 API. In the past one could do this with OS/2 but then the tabs appeared to be rather big. The only way to do this is to create a bitmap with a horizontal text and place this on the tab, instead of a 'literal text'. Old KB# 3766

Problem: Receive the following error message An error was detected while installing c:\\windows\\MFUnweb.exe The installer will attempt to undo any changes it has made to your system. Resolution: When looking at the log produced by the websync install in the temp directory it was discovered that the customer was attempting to run the the wrappack from a network drive when the directory containing the wrappack started with a $. The WebSync technology doesn't allow $ in network locations.  Placing the WrapPack in a standard location on their network and not a hidden one or copying it locally will resolve the problem. Old KB# 3521

Problem: "You are trying to use a data-name which you have not declared, or which you have misspelled." This error occurs at compile time.  The unknown operand is listed in the message.   Resolution: First insure that the operand is spelled correctly. Check the compiler directives used to compile the program. These may be listed in the compile command or be included from a directives file such as COBOPT.  There is a directive "REMOVE", that tells the compiler that the specified word is no longer to be considered as a COBOL Reserved Word.      If there is a   corresponding statement "REMOVE(XXXXXX)" take out this directive and try the compile again. Check with you Systems Administrator to find out why the command was removed in the first place. Old KB# 3700

Problem: How do I find files larger than a specified number of blocks? Resolution: The following script shows how one might use -size to return a full listing of files in a recursive find. We display the owner, size and location. support 1884712 ./products/SX50EAP/lib/libcobcheck.so support 1884712 ./products/SX50EAP/lib/libcobcheck.so.2 #! /bin/sh # largerthan # find a standard file from current directory, larger than n-bytes if [ $# -lt 1 ] ; then     echo "usage:  largerthan  nunmber-of-bytes   [user] "     exit 1 fi if test $2 then     USR=" -user $2 " fi find . -size $1c -type f  $USR -print | xargs ls -l | awk '{ print $3 "\\t" $5 "\\t" $9 }' Old KB# 3712

Problem: The demonstration shows the four methods of specifying directives to the Cobol compiler("cob" ccommand) Resolution: BUILD W/RELEASE:     Any version of Server Express or Object Cobol Developer Suite INTRODUCTION ========== The demonstration shows the four methods of specifying directives to the Cobol compiler ("cob" command) SOURCE FILES: ========== Note: All required files are in copydemo.tar Program Files       Description ----------------       -----------------------------------------------------------=    picpy*.cbl            Slightly modified versions of $COBDIR/demo/debug/pi.cbl Copy Files: ----------------       ----------------------------------------------------------- COPYFILE.CPY    

Problem: ========================================================== Multi-Threaded COBOL socket's server & MonoThreaded COBOL client. ========================================================== Related KB: Mono-Threaded COBOL Socket client & server. http://supportline.microfocus.com/mf_kb_display.asp?kbnumber=23142 Resolution: ========================================================== Multi-Threaded COBOL socket's server & MonoThreaded COBOL client. ========================================================== The program server.cbl  is the socket's server ( written in COBOL ) The program client.cbl  is the socket's client ( written in COBOL ). This sample was mainly tested on AIX 5.2.0.0 with Server Express 4.0 SP2 32bits. To Compile and link the sample ============================== To compile and link  server.cbl & client.cbl, launch cl.sh cl.sh:   cob -xagt &

Problem: Is there an option that allows you to type in data in the first line of a drop down list box? It seems it always protects it. Resolution: A Dialog System list object that has an entry field at its top part is a Selection Box, not a List box. With Selection Box, you can make it Simple, Drop Down, or Drop Down List. If you make it as Drop Down List, the first line or the entry field will be in read-only. You will need to change the option to Drop Down to allow you to type in data from the entry field. Old KB# 3763

Problem: I would like to sort with mfsort in a script file called by command at . Resolution: The file status 9/037 can be displayed during a sort , if the size of the repertory defined in the environment variable $TMPDIR is not right. When the command at is used , it is necessary to verify the values of all environment variables recovered by the script file called by command at. Old KB# 3727

Problem: Why is the C Compiler and C Compiler needed for Server Express? Resolution: The C language development system and tools are required on all UNIX systems, in order to create linked executables using Micro Focus COBOL Developers Suite products.  The COBOL product utilizes the C language development tools, such as the link editor and the system assembler, when building these executables.  The C development tools used by Micro Focus for adapting and testing the COBOL Developers Suite product are the tools supplied by the Operating System vendor.  This defines the 'Reference Environment' used by Micro Focus in reproducing and correcting defects reported by users. Some vendors supply the C development system as a part of the Operating System, and others sell the development tools as a separate piece of software.  If the user does not intend to create linked executables of any kind, then there is no requiremen

Problem: Is it possible to immediately begin animating a Dialog screenset while animating the COBOL program, to view how the screenset deals with the data passed to it from the program. How is the environment established? Opening up a screenset from within the project and setting a breakpoint on the first line, is an option. However, a separate screenset is started with DSGRUN from within the COBOL program. Resolution: To break immediately into the Dialog System code by changing the call to Dialog System from DSGRUN to DS. For example: 78  dialog-system               VALUE "DS". *78  dialog-system               VALUE "DSGRUN". - i.e. comment out this line and replace               &nbs

Problem: The ab command can correct your common typos in vi automatically. Resolution: Vi  can be initialized by a list of initializations in a file called .exrc  located in your home directory.   .exrc holds map, set and ab commands The file is read by vi and ex on startup.  The ab command takes the form of ab [abbreviation] [expansion] This can be used to correct typos on the fly by using ab  [typo]  [correction] For example: ab teh the ab preform perform .exrc can be created by vi.  Add your mappings and abbreviations to this file as you find you need them. Old KB# 3708

Created On:  02 March 2008 Problem: How do you setup rsh on SuSE SLES? Resolution: First it is recomended that you install the rsh package from yast. The r-tools are not a default package in the SuSE Standard installation. After installing the rsh package you need to edit /etc/xinet.d/rsh. Set the Option Disable from yes to no and modify the default Server args from -aL to -L. Then restart the xinetd with rcxinetd processes. Check with netstat -an |grep '514' to find out if rsh is listen on the port. Remote Publish only needs rsh, not rlogin. Incident #23364 Old KB# 3703

Problem: On the same computer , I would like to work in different modes . Resolution: To manage working mode , it is necessary to use either command cobmode or environment variable COBMODE . The Working Mode can be global    ( defined in $COBDIR directory ) : cobmode -s The Working Mode can be user      ( defined in $HOME directory )     : cobmode -u The Working Mode can be local     ( defined in the local working directory )  : cobmode -d The Working Mode can be in local environment   environment variable COBMODE cobmode -s     :  modifies  $COBDIR/etc/cobmoderc cobmode -u    : modifies  $HOME/.cobmoderc cobmode -d    : modifies  ./ cobmode $COBMODE overrides all others working modes The local Working Mode overrides t

Problem: Does ELink work with MDAC 2.5 on Windows 2000? Resolution: EnterpriseLink 3.1.2, 4.0.3 and 5.0.1 (the currently supported versions of each release) are supported on the current versions of each Microsoft operating system.  This means Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Service Pack 6a (which comes with MDAC 2.1, Service Pack 2), Microsoft 2000 Server, Service Pack 3 (which comes with MDAC 2.5, Service Pack 2) and Microsoft XP Professional (which comes with MDAC 2.7).  Any OS version may be upgraded to the latest MDAC, which is MDAC 2.7 SP2 Refresh. We do not specifically test Microsoft software when testing EnterpriseLink.  If an incompatibility is found, we will note it in the Micro Focus Support information systems.  We have not discovered any incompatiblity since Micrsoft Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3. For a complete manifest of Microsoft MDAC versions, links to download areas and on what systems they ship, look at:

Problem: What does the EL00020 error code mean? Resolution: This error indicates that EnterpriseLink Server received an incorrect 3270 command from the host. This means that the mainframe host sent an incorrect command (write, write-erase, read, read-buffer, query-reply being the acceptable codes). Old KB# 3767#EnterpriseLink#Rumba

Problem: When trying to use XML it produces the following error: Load error : file 'MFCHK_XMLGENERATE' error code: 173, pc=1F9, call=1, seg=0 173     Called program file not found in drive/directory Resolution: The problem is that the product used is not the supporting xml generate. You can easily check this out if the following xml modules exist or not: XMLCHK XMLCHKE XMLCHKP XMLCHKEP If not then an upgrade is necessary. It is supported as of Server Express 4.0 SP3. Old KB# 3696

Problem: Server Express includes example COBOL programs in the XML tutorial, as described in the documentation.  When a person follows the directions in the tutorial, program "customerdbxml.cbl" may not compile.  A long list of compiler errors may appear, where the first error is actually the cause of the rest.  The first error message might be either: 17 working-storage section. * 803-S*******************                                                   ** **    Integrated preprocessor message **    Bad format of COPY statement - COPY ignored Or:     13 fd customer-file. *  12-S**************** 

Problem: Installing ServerExpress on SuSE SLES Resolution: If you are want to install ServerExpress on a SuSE SLES you need to install the gcc package before ServerExpress. gcc is not a package in the SuSE Standard installation and must be choosen separately. Old KB# 3705

Problem: When a Dialog System program is busy, it does not accept input from the keyboard or mouse clicks.  This can be shown very easily by changing the default arrow-like shape of the mouse pointer to an hourglass shape, which users are generally familiar with, and changing it back when the control flow returns to the Dialog System. Resolution: The Dialog System function to accomplish this is the SET-MOUSE-SHAPE function.  It does this when the following lines are included in your dialog:      SET-MOUSE-SHAPE $WINDOW "SYS-Wait"      RETC      SET-MOUSE-SHAPE $WINDOW "SYS-ARROW" or      SET-MOUSE-SHAPE $WINDOW "SYS-Wait"      CALLOUT "MyProgram" 3 MyParameter      SET-MOUSE-SHAPE $WINDOW "SYS-ARROW" The attached demo shows the use of

Problem: The Sample demonstrates how to call _CODESET to translate character data between ASCII and EBCDIC. Resolution: BUILD W/RELEASE:     Any version of Server Express or Net Express                                     or Object Cobol Developer Suite SOURCE FILES: ========== Program Files      Description ----------------     ----------------------------------------------------------- atoe.cbl              Sample of ASCII to EBCDIC to ASCII conversion Note: Source is in Unix format.  It will not display correctly in Windows Notepad, but will display corectly in Wordpad. It will display, compile, and animate correctly

Problem: Application developers may need a special file handler which works with a particular type of file or device, but must keep all normal COBOL file handling functionality for other file types. Resolution: Attached is an example of a file handler written in COBOL which deals with Comma Separated Value (CSV) files.  CSV is a common data export format for Windows programs.  File organization is line sequential, (records delimited by platform-dependent newline character, X'0D0A' on Windows, X'0A' on Unix.) The file handler in this example expects the file name to end with ".csv" to distinguish it from other line sequential files.  The CSV handler monitors all COBOL file activity while it passes to and from the normal file handler, but does nothing unless all of the following conditions are met: Organization is line sequential Current operation on the file is "read". File name ends with ".csv" The requested read operation is

Problem: If you have migrated an application from Windows to UNIX/Linux, which uses line drawing (to draw boxes etc), you may find that it doesn't work as expected. Under Windows, you may have inserted the specific characters used to draw (corners, vertical and horizontal lines etc) into working storage fields, or your screen section, and displayed these directly onto the screen.   If you port these to a UNIX or Linux environment, the characters used for drawing may not be correctly represented, the possible exception being if you use ansi emulation. Resolution: The best way to solve this, is to use the CBL_GET_SCR_LINE_DRAW library routine.  This will load the characters required for line/box drawing into working-storage screen section fields, for manual drawing.  This allows you to load the required characters without needing to be concerned with the terminal emulation being used, and provides a platform independent way (