Rocket® COBOL

Problem: When reading a sequential file that contains tab characters( x'09' ASCII), Micro Focus COBOL  is inserting multiple spaces and pushes the remaining characters out and they spill over and are read as a subsequent record. Is there a way to easily remove the tabs? Resolution: One way to get around this is to set the external file handler configuration option: EXPANDTAB=OFF in the extfh.cfg file.  For how to set up the extfh.cfg file see the Server Express documentation for File Handling and look for Configuration File in the Table of Contents. Alternatively, if the tab characters are not needed for further processing of the file they can be removed permanently using the UNIX translate command. The tr command will translate strings of characters throughout a file. (See the UNIX "man" pages for tr) Here is an example: tr '\\011' '\\040\\' <filea >fileb The numbers are the O

Problem: Is there a way to force entry fields in upper case in the Screen Section ? Something like the UPPER clause of the ACCEPT statement. Resolution: There is a call to ADIS (x'AF') that can be used to force lower case characters to be converted to upper case.        Program-ID. upcase.        Data Division.        Working-Storage Section.        01  Ws-Title                        pic x(50).        01  Ws-Field-1                      pic x(10).        01 set-bit-pairs  &n

Problem: A demonstration of using the Consolidated Trace Facility (CTF) on UNIX The Consolidated Trace Facility (CTF) is described in the Server Express documentation, in the "Reference" section, in a book named "Consolidated Tracing Facility". To augment the explanation, this is a demonstration, including working code, a configuration file, and a driving shell script. Resolution: Attached to this article is a file named "ctf-demo.tar".  Download this to a UNIX machine, un-tar into a working directory, then run the driving shell script "do.sh".   All the code in this example works, so you can use it as a model to customize your own debugging approach.  The demonstration program "pi.cbl" from $COBDIR/demo/debug is used as an example program.  The shell script named "do.sh" shows how to set the required environment variable MFTRACE_CONFIG. Event codes in the trace output can be cry

Problem: I downloaded a fixpack from the Micro Focus web site, and it turned out to be a file with the extension ".encr".  What is this .encr extension?  How should this file be treated? Resolution: Fixpacks for Server Express, downloaded from the Micro Focus web site, have the extension ".encr".  This means "encrypted".  They are actually executable files, and are self-extracting archives.  It is a proprietary format. Use the UNIX "chmod" command to give them execute permissions, then execute them.  They will self-extract.  After that you will have a ".tar" archive file. But they will self-extract only in the presence of the correct version of Server Express.  This prevents people from trying to install a fixpack onto the wrong version of the Server Express product.  So, before executing them, set the COBDIR environment

Problem: When executing or debugging an OpenESQL application, the following error is returned: OpenESQL Error: You must execute your application using the threaded COBOL run-time. Resolution: The ODBC driver manager is typically linked with the threaded C run-time. On some flavors of UNIX, such as HP/UX PA-RISC and HP/UX Itanium, if you attempt to execute an application with the non-threaded run-time, which attempts to load a module requiring the threaded run-time, you will receive an Operating System loader error. OpenESQL applications on UNIX should be built and executed for use with the threaded COBOL run-time, for example : cob -t myapp.cbl cobrun_t myapp or, to debug the application : anim_t myapp Old KB# 2191

Problem: How to suppress all Error messages of the compiler Resolution: The compiler directive WARNING specifies the lowest severity level of errors : NOWARNIG  : Unrecoverable and Severe messages are reported   WARNING=1  : ( Default) Unrecoverable, Severe and Error  messages are reported   ( Error : error that the compiler has tried to correct) WARNING=2  :  Unrecoverable, Severe, Error and Warning messages are reported WARNING=3  :  Unrecoverable, Severe, Error , Warning and  Informational messages  are reported     Old KB# 2225

Problem: I have problem generating the .gnt files.  When I do a "cob -u progname.int" I am getting this: * Rejected - TARGET"386-16" cob32: error(s) in code generation: CSBM0201.int What does this mean? Resolution: The compiler directive TARGET"386-16" is not a default setting; this directive specification is apparently a customization made by early developers of the application and carried forward with the application ever since. TARGET"386-16" tells the Native Code Generator to produce machine code for a 16-bit Intel 386 chip (probably an early PC).  It has been several years since 16-bit 386 chips were state-of-the-art.  Remove the specification of this directive and proceed. Old KB# 2140

Problem: Is the HTTPS protocol supported from a Web Service Client?    Resolution: There is an Security Addpack available for Server Express 5.0 WrapPack 3 which adds SSL support to the product.  Currently (May 2007) this is only available for AIX pSeries. Both WrapPack 3 and the Security Addpack are available for download from the Supportline website: http://supportline.microfocus.com/websync/sx50wp3unx.asp There's comprehensive documentation and tutorials on setting-up security included in the addpack, however due to the complexity of SSL itself it's not a trivial task to get it configured and working. You have to edit mf-client.dat (in $COBDIR/etc on Unix, in Base/Bin on Windows) to tell MFCC where to find the CA certificate(s) needed to validate the server's certificate. If the server's certificate was signed using one of the commercial CA certificates we include in the AddPack, you can use the CARootCerts.pem f

Problem: SDE will either return a blank screen and you will get a call stack when he selects F4=Animate from the main menu and enters the program name Resolution: This is a known problem is Server Express v5.0 with a PRN ending in "9j.j3.50.02".  This has been fixed in the latest fixpack. Solution is to download and install the latest fixpack. Old KB# 2219

Problem: This error occurs during compile after upgrading to new release. Previous release truncated to 30 characters. Resolution: To be compatible with the earlier versions of COBOL, code the compiler directive MF.  If MF"10" or lower is specified, data names are truncated to 30 characters. -C MF=10 Old KB# 2106

Problem: Compile program with 149,000 byte if statement with else clauses  inside one section receive cob32: erros in compilation Resolution: Program has a large number of ELSE statements. Reference File Handler Manual: System limits: Numbers of ELSE Clauses If a program contains IF statements with very many ELSE clauses, the program might fail to compile.Problem can be resolved by increasing the size of the mian stack using the COBMAINSTACK environment variable; for more information see the entry for COBMAINSTACK in the appendix Environment Variables in your User's Guide EXPORT COBMAINSTACK=XXXXXX Old KB# 2105

Problem: This error occurred after upgrading from Oracle 9 to 10 and from Server Express 4.0 SP2 to Server Express 5.0. Everything worked fine under Server Express 4.0 and Oracle 9. Everything compiles fine with Server Express 5.0 and the connection to Oracle is working as well. Yet when running the application ORA-01017 error occurs. Resolution: Check that the fix Patch level is the same for the Server Express and the Application Server for Server Express (Runtime). Once this was brought to the same level the error disappeared. Old KB# 2246

Problem: Some projects may tend to crash when working with the IDE, e.g. when deleting some files on the right site of the project. Resolution: A first crash of the IDE may corrupt the project file *.APP, e.g. when debugging. The Net Express project files are Micro Focus ISAM IDXFORMAT"8" files. The rebuild.exe tool can be used to test or repair corrupted *.APP files. For testing, please try from a Net Express Command Prompt: REBUILD.exe MyProject.APP /f:c10d5 For repairing: REBUILD.exe MyOldProject.APP,MyNewProject.APP When the reason for the crash is a corrupted *.APP file, this repair will help and improve the stability of the IDE. Old KB# 1552

Problem: Displaying Compiler Directives to the Screen Resolution: When compiling a COBOL program, compiler directives will be displayed on the screen when specifying the CONFIRM  compiler directive.  The syntax is as follows:     cob -C CONFIRM . . . .  program-name.cbl Old KB# 2002

Problem: When opening an APP file in Net Express by double clicking on it in Windows Explorer it caused Net Express to crash with a runtime error 114. Resolution: This was caused by a Drive Encryption utility that had been installed by the laptop manufacturer. Removing this utility resolved the problem. Old KB# 1612

Problem: What is Micro Focus' position vis-a-vis iSeries support? Resolution: Server Express 2.2 could be used on AS/400 via a PASE interface. Although IBM still support PASE, it incompatible with the Enterprise Server technology which was introduced in Server Express 4.0. Support for AS/400 (iSeries) therefore disappeared when Server Express 2.2 was sundowned in December 2005. Old KB# 2069

Problem: The user event triggered by      POST-USER-EVENT $NULL 32001 $NULL programmed in Dialog System seems to be suppressed to Windows Vista. Resolution: The number 32001 seems to be too small for a Vista operating system - and might also be too small for XP and Windows 2000. A larger event number should be used, e.g. greater 45000. Old KB# 1581

Problem: Release 5.0 WebSync 5: After installing Net Express 5.0 WebSync 5 and compiling / rebuilding a project there will be shown a linker warning LNK4044. What to do to prevent this? msvcrt.lib(crtmanifest.obj) : warning LNK4044: unrecognized option "manifestdependency:type='win32' name='Microsoft.VC80.CRT' version='8.0.50727.762' processorArchitecture='x86' publicKeyToken='1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b'"; ignored Starting rebuild Rebuilding         C:\\SOURCE\\P760CDIN\\p760cdin.cbl Rebuilding         C:\\SOURCE\\P760CDIN\\PAID10U.cbl Rebuilding         C:\\SOURCE\\P760CDIN\\PAID28U.cbl Rebuilding         C:\\SOURCE\\P760CDIN\\PAID40X.cbl Rebuilding         C:\\SOURCE\\P760CDIN\\PAID41U.cbl Rebuil

Problem: How are EBCDIC files read from the mainframe, using I/O stream? Resolution: When building .exe executibles in NetExpress that read mainframe EBCDIC files, make sure to include the following two Micro Focus system OBJ files in the project: 1.)  _codeset.obj  and  2.) CS0437.obj - and be sure to link them with the .exe being built. Old KB# 1557

Problem: Is FORMDEF supported in JCL in Net Express? Resolution: FORMDEF is supported in JCL as from Net Express 5.0 WrapPack4. Old KB# 1621

Problem: Do DECLARATIVES override the RETRYLOCK directive? Resolution: With the standard Micro Focus COBOL directives a DECLARATIVES section does not OVERRIDE the RETRYLOCK directive.  However, compiling with RM directive will cause control to passed to the DECLARATIVES section despite getting a 9/68 (locked record) error. Old KB# 1583

Problem: The following error might appear when running the cob command: cob32: Can't open message file '/opt/microfocus/cobol/lang/default/cob.msg' Even if your product is not installed in /opt/microfocus/cobol. Resolution: The problem is that the COBDIR environment variable is not set and the system cannot find the error message file to display a proper error message. Old KB# 2080

Problem: There is no property to invoke this piece of code in Visual Basic: Application.ErrorCheckingOptions.BackgroundChecking = False This is not documented in Visual Basic or in msexcel.cpy --> not defined. This attribute turns off the 'Green Triangle Indicator' that one would see in the cell when one put a text in the cell preceded with a single quote symbol as in:  '12/12/04 Manualy, one can click 'Tools....  Options...  Error Checking Tab.'  Then, uncheck 'Enable background error checking'. When recorded under a msexcel macro, one will see the visual basic code above. Resolution: Try the following:        01 errorcheckoptions    object reference.        01 backgroundchecking    object reference.        procedure division. &n

Problem: Is it possible to generate a pdb file for a COBOL DLL ? Resolution: The linker will generate a pdb for a COBOL DLL is the environment variable :- LINK=/debug before the linker is run. Old KB# 1619

Problem: There are times when you develope a COBOL program and a user defined data-name conflicts with a reserve word.   Resolution: To remove word(s) from the reserved word list you can specify the REMOVE directive. The syntax:   >>-.---.--REMOVE---"rsv-word"---------------><     -/- rsv-word = A reserved word. By default no reserved words are removed. Phase: Syntax check $SET: Initial Note: This directive does not appear in the list created with the SETTING directive. Old KB# 2075