Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Acucobol-GT runtime reports "Inadequate memory available" when attempting to execute a program. Resolution: Cobol object file is corrupt.  Most common cause of the corruption is that the file was transferred via FTP using ASCII mode.  Cobol object files must be transferred via FTP in BINARY mode. Old KB# 2688

Problem: In Version 8.0 when a check of the compiler version is done, ccbl -v, the following message is returned: "./acusql: No such file or directory". What does this mean? Resolution: (Note that on some operating systems only "./acusql: No such file or directory" will be displayed and on others "./acusql: not found".) The version check mechanism is outputting this message which simply means acusql is not present. The message is harmless and will not affect the ability to use the compiler normally. If the intent is to use the AcuSQL precompiler and acusql is missing, reinstall and follow the instructions in the AcuSQL manual. Old KB# 2698

Problem: how many Vision files are opened by runtime? Resolution: There's no acu function that can say how many vision files the runtime has opened in a certain moment. This is possible only using AcuServer -info. Old KB# 2720

Problem: Is there a way for one program to open and close files and from other programs in the same run perform all the updates (read, write, re-write, delete) to the file?   Resolution: Yes this is possible  if the file FD is declared as external in both programs, ex: FD custom-file external. 01 custom-record ....etc This way it is possible to open and close the file in one program  and read, write, etc. from another program. Old KB# 2726

Problem: If an invalid character is inadvertantly placed in column 7 and the workspace is built, the project will continue to be built even if "stop build" has been issued.  Each error encountered will continue to generate many lines of output in the build window until every program in the workspace has been processed.  For large projects this may take several minutes.  This problem was encountered with AcuBench versions 6.2 and 7.0. Resolution: Install AcuBench and development system version 7.2.0 or newer.   Due to the amount of time the build process could consume, for versions prior to 7.2.0, it may be desirable to force the process to be interrupted instead of waiting for the cycle to complete. This may be done by using the Windows Task Manager to end the process for ccbl32.exe. Old KB# 2657

Problem: Property for "Target Browser" offers "Internet Explorer" and "Standard HTM".  What does this do? Resolution: A Target Browser property "Specify Internet Explorer" selection causes the report writer to add Internet Explorer (IE) specific HTML tags to the output file (STYLE TYPE="TEXT/CSS").  If a web browser other than IE is used and the "Target Browser" property is set to IE, the results will be less than optimal.  For such cases, the "Standard HTML" setting is recommended.  (The results can be seen by generating Standard HTML then using Firefox or Opera (Apple) browsers to view the HTML.) Old KB# 2658

Problem: Is there a way to get the same functionality on Windows that can be had using the -o option on UNIX? The documentation specifically states it has no effect on Windows, but output redirection on Windows is necessary to have the programs continue to work when migrating off UNIX to Windows. [Documentation excerpt] -o  This option must be followed by the name of a file that will take the display output from the program. This is similar to output redirection on UNIX systems. If " o" is used instead, then the output is appended to the named file. Remote name notation is not allowed for this option. This option has no effect on Windows platforms. [End Documentation excerpt] Resolution: As noted this is a documented restriction on Windows; however there is a way to get this type of functionality working on Windows. Compile the program(s) with the -Ca compiler option, after that it is possible to use the -o option with

Problem: Is there any sample code that demonstrate how to center the application window on the user's screen? Resolution: * Use the "acucobol.def" copy file, which is included * with the ACUCOBOL-GT product distribution. Working-Storage Section. 01  window-height           pic 9(9) value zero. 01  window-width            pic 9(9) value zero. 01  screen-size-remaining   pic 9(9) value zero. 01  screen-lines-remaining pic 9(9) value zero. 01  computed-col-position   pic 9(9) value zero. 01  computed-line-position pic 9(9) value zero. 01  menu-screen-size        pic 9(2) value 74. 01  menu-screen-lines       pic 9(2) value 24. 01  my-var

Problem: It is not possible with Version 8 just to copy the RT, it must be installed. Resolution: There is a workaround: The Manifest file has to be copied as well. Installation should really not be required. But some manifest files are also necessary. If you rename the attached file (it is a zip file, just alter the extension) and unzip it into the target directory, it should be okay. Attachments: vc80.zip.removethis Old KB# 2733

Problem: When executing STOP RUN statement, the application error occurs.  Our investigation shows the causes appears to be a combination of the length of the filename as well as double byte characters in the filename. Resolution: This problem is resolved in version 8.1.0 by Engineering Change Notice (ECN) 3775: SUBJECT: Too long filename with DBC causes MAV at exit Change Number:  ECN-3775 Status:         Complete Type of Change: Correction Priority:       Medium Incidents:      2178343 RPI Number: 1061056 Date:        2008-02-05 Product:     ACUCOBOL-GT Module:      runtime New Version: 8.1.0 Machines Affected: All Known Versions Affected: At least 4.3.1 and later DESCRIPTION of problem or enhancement: When us

Problem: When opening a seq. file with open output the records are gone. How to add records? Resolution: Open the file with OPEN EXTEND After a successful OPEN statement, the file is positioned at its first logical record. (The only exception to this rule is that a sequential access file opened with the EXTEND phrase is positioned after its last record. Records written to such a file are appended to the file.) Old KB# 2652

Problem: On one Windows XP PC, AcuBench version 7.2.2 gets an error when using Microsoft Mask Edit Control version 6.0. It shows up in ActiveX control Components fine and can be chosen.  However when the control is placed on the screen the following error is received: Design-time license for OCX.MaskEdBox control missing. Loading control with place hold only. In an effort to load the Design Time license the ActiveX controls were loaded from the VB5 CD, with no luck.  On other PC's the control is does not encounter the design time license issue and is working fine. Resolution: Resolved by registering the MaskEdBox ActiveX control for development by running the VBCTRLS.REG from the Visual Studio CD. Old KB# 2653

Problem: What are the differences between event procedures and exception procedures? When is it best to use event procedure and when to use exception procedure?   Resolution: The key differences between Event Procedures and Exception Procedures are: Event Procedure does not terminate the Accept; Exception Procedure does.   Event Procedure does not automatically update working-storage; Exception Procedure does. There are mechanisms which allow you to terminate an ACCEPT from within an Event Procedure -( Set Event-Action-Terminate to true )- and mechanisms that allow you to update working storage from within an Event Procedure -( Inquire [control] [property] in [working-storage-variable])-. These must be done programmatically, in an Event Procedure, where they are handled automatically in an Exception Procedure. Use an exception procedure when you want to break out of an ACCEPT, use an event procedure when you don't.

Problem: If acushare is shutdown ungracefully either by issuing a "kill -9" or other catastrophic event that causes the system to shutdown unexpectedly, acushare may be left in a state in which it cannot be restarted without intervention. Users may experience the following message: "Shared memory and license manager (acushare) is not running"  or "Acushare: Time out waiting for reply" However, attempts to restart acushare fail despite the following message: "acushare: already running" or "Acushare: Time out waiting for reply" may be repeated Resolution: Version 7.x and higher Should acushare terminate unexpectedly, its master shared memory segment may be left behind. Before restarting acushare, execute the "acushare -clean" command to remove the stranded memory segment. Version 6.x and earlier Before restarting acushare, it will be necessary to manually clean up shared

Problem: Executing LIBUTIL with no arguments on the HP 3000 results in the following error: **** EXEC FUNCTION FAILED; subsys =517; info = 48 ABORT: /OBJ800/bin/libutil NM SYS   a.01003770 dbg_abort_trace $28 NM UNKN  2bb.00ad28e8 NM UNKN  f3.0004dfb4 [1] Done(134) /OBJ800/bin/libutil   43450599 Abort /OBJ800/bin/libutil Resolution: Verify that the binary mode of FTP was used instead of ASCII. Modify the capabilities of the account and/or user to include BA, IA, and PH. If this does not fix it, then try adding the PM capability or try running libutil from an account that has BA, IA, PH, and PM capabilities. The output of executing LIBUTIL with no arguments should resemble the following example. shell/iX> /OBJ800/bin/libutil Usage:   MPE:   libutil "-x [copylib [group]]"   POSIX: libutil  -x [copylib [group]]    &nbs

Problem: Programs that have been running under AIX and handle all the printer settings including forms feed using escape sequences, have been moved to a Windows platform. Is there anything special that needs to be done to enable form feeds with Windows printers? Resolution: To control the format of the printout using embedded control codes, simply assign the print file to "-P SPOOLER-DIRECT" or to "-Q <printername>" using the "DIRECT=ON" option. For example, to assign the print job "PRINTER1" to the spooler and retain direct control over formatting, enter the following line in the COBOL configuration file ("CBLCONFI"): PRINTER1  -P  SPOOLER-DIRECT Or, use the following command to assign PRINTER1 to the spooler for printing to a specific printer while retaining direct formatting control: PRINTER1 -Q printername;DIRECT=ON Both of these methods cause the print job

Problem: According to the documentation ACCEPT OMITTED should cause the program to pause at the displayed screen and the user is required to enter a termination key. Resolution: RM COBOL does not have the concept of OMITTED in the ACCEPT statement. Due to this, when in RM compatability mode OMITTED has no affect and the program does not stop. The resolution for this problem is to not use -Cr compiler option, or, if that is not possible, change the ACCEPT OMITTED to an ACCEPT of a dummy variable defined in working-storage. Old KB# 2678

Problem: When working with ACUCOBOL-GT products and files we soon discover than a file status is defined as a pic x(2). In many cases we can receive extended file status going farther than those two characters. How can we recover those values and where do they come from? Resolution: If you want to recover extended file statuses, you have to use an ACUCOBOL-GT routine called "C$RERR". CALL "C$RERR"     USING EXTEND-STAT, TEXT-MESSAGE, STATUS-TYPE Parameters EXTEND-STAT (returned):  PIC X(5) or larger; PIC X(7) or larger under VMS TEXT-MESSAGE (returned):  PIC X(n) STATUS-TYPE (input):  Numeric parameter When do we need to use it and why? There are several cases, but the most often ones are: Error code 30, we need the extended file status because there we return the OS error-code. When we work with transactions. When we work with Acu4GL as we can have a 9D and then an extended file status with the

Problem: What is the best size of the block factor for VISION files? Resolution: The blocking factor specifies the size of the blocks to be used by the file. Blocks are sized in 512 byte increments. Vision 5 files support blocking factors from 1 to 16 (16 = 8192 bytes). Vision 2, 3, and 4 files support blocking factors from 1 to 2. When rebuilding a file, if the file is very large, or has a tree height of more than five, or key lengths in excess of 40 bytes, it is suggested to try larger blocking factors and perform some benchmarking to determine which larger block size improves performance. Old KB# 2703

Problem: At times it may be desirable to rename the Windows version of the ACUCOBOL-GT runtime to something other than wrun32. However, doing so caused the following error during runtime execution: The procedure entry point w_suppress_event could not be located in the dynamic link library atermmgr.dll Resolution: While it is permissible to rename the ACUCOBOL-GT runtime, care must be taken that only wrun32.exe is renamed.  Wrun32.dll cannot be renamed since it will cause this error. To correct this error, restore the file back to its original name wrun32.dll. Old KB# 2712

Problem: Doing a rebuild of the project workspace and AcuBench just hangs and has to be killed with Windows Task Manager.  Is there a way to debug this? Resolution: There is a Version 7 Compiler problem where a specific syntax error caused the Compiler to loop and repeatedly report the same error until it aborted.  Somehow the looping problem caused AcuBench to hang. That problem is fixed in version 8.0 and AcuBench will not hang because the compiler no longer spins out. Upgrading to version 8 will resolve the problem. To find out what caused AcuBench Version 7 to hang, repeat the build, then when it hangs examine the AcuBench Output window and note the last program it was compiling.  That program likely contains an error.  The last line in the Output window should be something like: --------- Compiling programname.cbl ---------- Then compile that program from a command prompt outside of AcuBench.  Somet

Problem: The program contains a screen with a grid inside a frame.  When tabbin to the grid the first time the screen comes up, the grid control doesn't get focus.  After clicking on the grid, then trying to tab to it again, it succeeds. Resolution: The CURSOR-X and CURSOR-Y properties were set to COBOL variables, whose initial values are both 0.  If X is set to 1 and Y to 2 (since there is a header row) when the program first starts, it works as desired (the grid receives focus). Since the COBOL program controls the values of CURSOR-X and CURSOR-Y, the runtime can't do anything reasonable with default values. Old KB# 2729

Problem: Windows has its own locking mechanism, called Opportunistic Locking, for files shared in a network environment.  This mechanism is enabled by default and can contribute to file errors and performance issues in such an environment. Resolution: Disable Windows Opportunistic Locking. There is a Microsoft KB article regarding Opportunistic Locking here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296264 Note that there are two separate registry keys; one controls the granting of locks and the other controls the requesting of locks.  On each machine both registry keys should be set to disabled.  Set OplocksDisabled to 1 and set EnableOplocks to 0. Attached is a zip file containing an AcuCOBOL-GT program that will make the registry entries to disable Windows Opportunistic Locking.  This program is provided without warranty.  Since the program modifies the Windows registry a backup of the registry

Problem: AcuBench v7.2.x: how to paint a variable grid? The number of grids are not known at design time. At runtime the grid must be painted according information e.g. from within a file. Resolution: The solution is: - With the Screen Designer to design a GRID with NUM ROWS = 0 and NUM COLUMNS = 0. - At runtime to define the columns in a loop with e.g. the following sample code:            modify sc-tab-zelle reset-grid = 1            move 1 to ind1            move 7 to ind2            modify sc-tab-zelle, data-columns = ind1                                 display-columns = ind2

Problem: Sometimes the runtime process is orphaned on the server and has to be removed manually. Is there any alternate way to clean or prevent this? Resolution: 6.3.1.16 TC_CHECK_ALIVE_INTERVAL Use the TC_CHECK_ALIVE_INTERVAL configuration variable to set a time interval in seconds (a value between 1 and 32767) during which the server runtime checks for client activity. This activity can be either regular client user interaction or, if the user interface is inactive, two "ping" messages sent by the client during the defined interval. If no client activity of any kind occurs during a particular interval, the server runtime process exits. Setting this variable to "0" disables the client activity check feature. The default value is "300" (5 minutes). 6.3.1.42 TC_SERVER_TIMEOUT This variable lets you determine how many seconds (from 0 to 32767) the client waits for a response from the server. If the client receives n