Rocket® COBOL

Problem: How do we access an Informix database on Windows using Acu4GL? Resolution: On our line of products Acu4GL we have a version for Informix. This version is available on most of our Unix/Linux platforms. However when we are on Windows we have to use Acu4GL for ODBC and a ODBC driver for Informix to access the database. Old KB# 2830

Problem: Using Acu8.0 on Windows, attempting to use C$XML to access XML data over the internet for the first time (previously processed XML files locally). In a program that tries to open the results of an XML query - the return-code is always returned as 0, and the error indicates "Invalid XML file or other parsing error".  Yet, when that exact text (in the XML filename) is entered into Internet Explorer, the expected response is returned. Resolution: This problem will be resolved in version 9.0 by Engineering Change Notice (ECN) 3824. When parsing an XML file using C$XML with a file from a URL, the runtime could fail to read the file from the remote server, thus causing the parse to fail.  This was due to the remote web server not specifying a text length, which was due to C$XML specifying HTTP 1.1. The work-around for the issue is to download the file and parse it locally instead of accessing it remotely.

Problem: Which version and which Acucorp products are for Windows 64-bit platforms? Resolution: Windows 64-bit Products are supported in 8.x as of 08/29/2007 Acucorp offers 64-bit versions of many (see list below) of its products, which run on the Windows x64 platform. These 64-bit product versions install from a CD that is separate and unique from the standard 32-bit Windows version of Acucorp software.   Note that the 64-bit CD also installs 32-bit versions of those products that do not have 64-bit equivalents. This includes certain program executables such as AcuBench as well as non-executables such as sample programs and tools. When selecting products to install on Windows x64 platforms the 32-bit products will be installed into a special Windows folder reserved for 32-bit programs called "Program Files (x86)". The Windows Start menu items will use these 32-bit versions. Some of the 32-bit products have 64-bit equivalents

Problem: When using AcuConnect ThinClient version 7.0.1, and Web Thin Client, a problem occurs when AcuConnect Server(acurcl) and Web Thin Client(acuthinax.ocx) run on the same PC: The dialog states there is a sharing violation of zlib.dll. The problem seems to be just a warning, since after clicking the "OK" button, the application runs without any problem. Resolution: When embedding the runtime DLLs as resources in the web runtime and the web thin client in version 8.0, Acuconnect now performs a version control check of the dlls (if already present) to ensure version compatibility. This was however not correctly done for external lib zlib.dll.  The work around for previous versions is to use a resource tool, like the one available in Microsoft Visual Studion, to set the zlib.dll version to match the actual ACU version. Old KB# 2801

Problem: Executing a GUI application using a manifest file causes the windows and controls to display with the Windows XP style but the tab controls look bad.  Specifically, the background of labels, radio-buttons and check-boxes doesn't match the tab color. Resolution: The problem is that with XP style the tab is not the same as the window's background color, is not a solid color but graduated (lighter at the top, darker at the bottom) and labels, radio-buttons and check-boxes take their background color from the main window.  The result is an unattractive tab presentation. Setting the transparent property fixes the problem for labels but radio-buttons and check-boxes don't have a transparent property. If one can't avoid placing radio-buttons and check-boxes on tabs a workaround is to place a frame on each tab page and set the frame color and fill to be the same as the main window. The attached program, tabm

Problem: The actual names of most of COPY library-names (file-names) are lower-case.  The files reside on AIX (IBM Unix) which is a case-sensitive OS.  The programs are compiled via AcuBench and a compiler on a Windows PC.  The COPYPATH includes a reference to the production COPY directory on AIX via a mapped drive using Samba. According to all of the documentation found for Versions 7.0 and above (User Guide 2.5/2,6 and Reference Manual 2.4.1), lower-case library names need to be placed in quotes: Note: User-defined words are always treated as uppercase on machines where file names are case-sensitive [UG 2.5]. However in Version 7.0.1, it appears making the library-names uppercase in the Cobol source code is acceptable.  No compile errors are generated using upper-case or lower-case names with or without quotes.  However, uppercase in the "OF" clause does NOT work whether or not it's in

Problem: The AcuXDBC DSN was set up with no password so users are prompted for the password when accessing the data. Vision files were added via that DSN to an Access database as linked tables.  That database was then queried using MS Excel but no password prompt was seen and the query failed with the 'connection failed' message. There is no mechanism in AcuXDBC to manage the password prompt through multiple levels as seen in this example. Resolution: There are two solutions: 1. Add the password in the AcuXDBC DSN. 2. Query the AcuXDBC DSN directly from Excel rather than through the MS Access database links. Old KB# 2841

Problem: Connecting to AcuXDBC server resulted in one of the following errors: SQLState: 28000 EXECFAIL: Exec 'acuxdbc04' failed on host 'my_server' (errno: 2) Connection failed: SQL State: 28000 [TOD] [ODBC Driver] EXECFAIL: Exec 'acuxdbc04' failed on host '192.100.1.1' (errno: 0) Resolution: The typical reasons for this problem are related to permissions, e.g. which user started AcuXDBC Server and/or what the permissions are for the files AcuXDBC Server needs. This may be resolved by adding "export PATH=$PATH:/opt/acucorp/nnn/bin" (where 'nnn' is replaced by the correct directory, e.g.: 740 or 800) at the beginning of the acuxdbcs.sh script, that way regardless of which user starts AcuXDBC Server the correct environment settings will be in place. Old KB# 2833

Problem: Program makes calls to C$XML to read an XML file, it comes out mostly ok but the attribute data is missing.  Is there a sample program demonstrating how to do this? Resolution: The attached sample program, readxml.cbl, reads any XML file using C$XML. It displays the contents in a two-column list-box.  Column one contains the name of the tag or attribute and column two contains the corresponding data. Use this sample program as a model for parsing most XML files. Attachments: readxml.cbl Old KB# 2773

Problem: In what version did Acucorp begin to support Windows Vista?? Resolution: Microsoft Vista support begins with Version 7.2.2 and includes all extend® products that run on Windows clients.  Since Vista is a desktop operating system, server-oriented products such as AcuConnect, AcuServer, and AcuXDBC Server are not supported. Vista has introduced new features and mechanisms that can impact programs in various ways. For instance, the User Account Control (UAC), a new security method, can send an error message to the user when attempting to open a program for the first time. Many of these features replace methodologies used in other versions of Windows and therefore may require application changes or configuration changes to adapt to Vista's methodologies. Consult Microsoft® product information source for more on developing and deploying applications in the Vista environment. Old KB# 2791

Problem: Using AcuSQL on a Linux machine to access a Postgres database there appears to be a data alignment problem as a query on some fields will return data from a previous field. The data items are defined as follows: 01 data-vars.       05 my-var-1.             07 my-var-1-1                          pic S9(4) COMP-5.             07 my-var-1-2                          pic X(20).       05 my-var-2.             07 my-var-2-1       &nbsp

Problem: Trying to import a VISION file through a DTS package and error is being encountered: ------------------------ Actual error from DTS package -------------- Step Error Source: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers Step Error Description:[AcuCorp, Inc.][AcuODBC Driver]Assignment error Step Error code: 80074005 Step Error Help File: Step Error Help Context ID:0 Resolution: This error, "Assignment error", is caused by non-numeric data in a numeric field.  Their are two solutions: 1) fix the data in the file correcting or removing the invalid data 2) On the Advanced tab of the DSN change the specification of  the Invalid Numeric Data option from Error to Zero or Null. Old KB# 2813

Problem: When the ampersand ( & ) is displayed using the graphical label control, it is rendered as underscore ( _ ) which is not expected. This behavior occurred when converting a character-based screen to a simple graphical user interface (GUI) that utilizes labels and entry-fields. Resolution: ACUCOBOL-GT User Interface Programming Version 8.0 Chapter 5: Control Types Reference > 5.12 Label > 5.12.1 Label: Common Properties NO-KEY-LETTER This style suppresses the interpretation of "&" as a key prefix. This is useful in cases where you are assigning user-entered data to a label and want to allow values that include the ampersand ("&") character (such as "AT&T"). Alternatively, and a bit more complicated, the data string can be parsed programmatically and when an ampersand is encountered the string can be modified to add a second ampersand, e.g.: AT&T to: AT&&a

Problem: He used the variable renew_timeout and found that it does not work. Resolution: RENEW_TIMEOUT only works for non-graphical screens. In a GUI-Environment it does not work Old KB# 2748

Problem: If you have a directory shared between two Win Vista, it's possible to have locked records and clients that hangs up waiting for the records to be released. This is the scenario: - The server is locking a file, while it's reading it. - the client tries to read the same file, with LOCK function, and it hungs, waiting for an answer from the server. Resolution: It seems there's a bug in Win Vista itself (strange thing, isn't it?) http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1259708&SiteID=1 (in google "disable smb2 vista" ) The bug is in protocol SMB2, that is automatically turned on when there's only Vistas in the network. In the URL you will find how to disable SMB2. Run REGEDIT on the server. - Navigate to find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\LanmanServer\\Parameters. create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value called SMB2 with value = 0. Exit REGEDIT and rebo

Problem: After installing the product and activating the product codes and keys provided with the distribution, there are file names that end in an exclamation point (!). Resolution: License files with an extension ending in an exclamation point (!), are back-up copies of old license files. During installation, if the Activator utility detects the presence of an existing license file, the extension of the existing file is changed before a new license file is created. For example, "runcbl.alc" is renamed "runcbl.al!".   Old KB# 2751

Problem: Can a single Grig cell be changed in height etc? Resolution: A single cell cannot be changed only all cells Old KB# 2744

Problem: We usualy show a Message Box with the error message when our products finds a problem. This message box requires the user to click okay or use enter and many clients do not want this box to appear or to have a human interaction. Resolution: This can be very easily done if we use a runtime configuration variable called SHUTDOWN_MESSAGE_BOX. The default value of this variable is 1. If we don't want this message box to appear we just have to set it up at 0 (Zero) and everything will work as wanted. An remember, this variable is easily set up in the runtime configuration file. Old KB# 2746

Problem: When a bitmap is used on a push button, it does not care for the cells. The size of the PB seems to be fixed and cannot be changed via Acubench. It is not possible to get the "lines 20 CELLS" in the source. Resolution: From manual: ACUCOBOL-GT User Interface Programming  Version 7.2 Chapter 5: Control Types Reference > 5.15 Push Button > 5.15.1 Push Button: Common Properties ........... When the BITMAP style is used, the LINES and SIZE values have a different meaning. The values are the number of pixels in the height and width of the bitmap image (see section 3.7, "Bitmap Buttons," for details). If omitted, the default values depend on the host system. Under Windows, the default LINES value is "15" and the default SIZE value is "16". These correspond to the size of buttons typically found on a toolbar. Old KB# 2749

Problem: When a COBOL program calls a function in a DLL from two different locations in the COBOL program, the second call will fail with a MAV. Resolution: ECN-3752 corrects this runtime behavior that affects version 8.0.0 and later on the Windows platform. There is no known workaround. This ECN is scheduled for version 8.0.1. Old KB# 2752

Problem: Setting up 8.1 Beta environment on a new test machine.  When moving the runtime to a new box and performing a -vv an error is generated saying: The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Does Extend 8.1 require the install CD always to be used when setting up the runtime on a new server? Resolution: The issue is one that will be seen with 8.0.0 and later.  The reason for the error is that the required Microsoft Foundation Class DLL's that the runtime depends on are not found. The following link is to a Knowledgebase item that explains the situation and has an attachment that should resolve the problem: http://supportline.microfocus.com/mf_kb_display.asp?kbnumber=25406 Alternatively using the CD to install instead of copying the products to the other server will resolve the problem as well. Old KB# 2770

Problem: When executing code that utilizes format 2 of the STOP statement STOP "literal statement" The debugger is invoked at the STOP, but no source code is visible even though the program had been compiled for source level debugging using the "-Ga" or "-GD" switches. Resolution: ACUCOBOL-GT Reference Manual Version 8.0 Chapter 6: Procedure Division > 6.6 Procedure Division Statements > STOP statement A Format 2 STOP literal statement suspends execution of the program and passes control to the ACUCOBOL-GT debugger. The debugger prints the literal on the screen before accepting debugging commands. Note, however, that you cannot do source level debugging unless you compiled with the "-Zd" option and run with the "-d" option.   Old KB# 2743

Problem: When a program has code like this: move abc(x:y) to xxx and y's value is 0, it generates the following error: Reference modifier range error; start = 31, length = 0 Reference modifier range error; start = 31, length = 0 Reference modifier range error; start = 32, length = 0 Is there a way to turn off this error message? Resolution: The configuration variable WARNINGS can be used to supress these types of messages (see ACUCOBOL-GT Appendices > Appendix H: Configuration Variables > H.2 Configuration variables > WARNINGS. There are 3 possible settings.  An excerpt of the documentation is here: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- WARNINGS can take the following values: 0  (off, false, no) No warning is printed. 1  (on, true, yes) A warning is printed. This is the default. 2  A warning is prin

Problem: How to print a PDF directly, without open it? Resolution: http://support.adobe.com/devsup/devsup.nsf/docs/52080.htm The following command line prints test.pdf on a network printer AcroRd32.exe /t "C:\\test.pdf" "\\\\servername\\printername" "AdobePS Tektronix Phaser 840" "123.45.678.910" The following command line without drivername and portname works, too. AcroRd32.exe /t "C:\\test.pdf" \\\\servername\\printername This prompt command line can be used with C$SYSTEM to print PDF files without open them. Old KB# 2755

Problem: lk-i-row-address is defined as pic 9(02) and ws-pos-row is defined as unsigned-int.  lk-i-row-address has a value of 4 yet after the move ws-pos-row contains a value of 60. This only happens the second time into this subroutine. Resolution: This behavior was introduced in version 7.1.0 by ECN 3214 (text included below) and can be corrected by setting "ECN-3214   OFF" in a configuration file. SUBJECT: LINKAGE data binding optimization Change Number:  ECN-3214 Status:                 &nbsp ;   Complete Type of Change:    Enhancement Priority:                 &nb sp;  Medium Incidents:               &nbs