Rocket® COBOL

Problem: For line sequential file processing, how can spaces be alternately permitted or suppressed? Resolution: set "STRIPSPACE" variable to either "ON" or "OFF" in extfh.cfg file. Example of extfh.cfg file as follows: [XFH-DEFAULT]        STRIPSPACE=OFF  (for all files) BASENAME=ON     (enables file handler -                                  anything following                                  pertains to particular files                       &nbsp

Problem: Release: Net Express 5.0 .NET & Visual Studio 2005 Coming up with sources from SP2, using a comp-5 redefinition and compiling this under Net Express 5.0.NET:                10  SP2-CD-MENU-ID      PIC S9(4) COMP-5.                10  SP2-CD-CTRL-FIELD-KEY REDEFINES SP2-CD-MENU-ID                                        PIC S9(4) COMP-5.                10  SP2-CD-BUTTON-ID REDEFINES SP2-CD-MENU-ID              

Problem: We have been made aware of an issue whereby when running using an early release of the Bank Demo CICS application that has been web enabled, that when the client has been generated and deployed and you choose the 'Run Winform Client' option and press the 'submit' button you get an Error Code 2000 reported. Resolution: If you look at the console.log in Enterprise Server, you will probably notice an entry similar to the following: 070608 15240655        956 BANKDEMO CASMG9999E KC0027,Error executing service 'http://tempuri.org/BankServ#BankServ' Execution error : file 'C:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Studio 5.0\\Base\\BIN\\MER0ADSX.gnt' error code: 114, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 114     Attempt to access item beyond bounds of mem This is caused by older versions of the bank demo had a PPT entry for MBANK10, where MBANK10 was not defined as a progra

Problem: With the TESTCOVER directive set and the TESTCOVER environment variable set to the location of the test coverage config file no tcz file was produced. Resolution: This was caused by the TESTCOVER directivebeing set in user environment variables. The program was running in the context of a Windows Service. The environment variable therefore needs to be set as a system environment variable. Old KB# 1430

Problem: To differentiate faultfinder ouputs from one another, previously, in the faultfinder configuration details ($COBCONFIG file) you could specify :-      set faultfind_outfile="fault%p.log" where 'fault' would be a name of your choice, %p would be replaced with the process id of the faulting process, and '.log' would be another name of your choice When using faultfinder within Enterprise Server in a busy system, it can happen that the process-id is not sufficient to keep the Faultfinder dumps unique, especially in IMS and CICS where many transactions can be executed in a single SEP (therefore all of them under the same PID). Resolution: From Nexpress 5.0 Websync WS4 and Server Express 5.0 Websync WS4, the options %d and %t have been added. %d will be replaced with the date of the fault in the format <yyyymmdd> And %t will be replaced with the time of the fault in the format <hh

Problem: The following error is occurring in Net Express 5.0, Wrappack 4(WS4 :) ----- Form Designer requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or greater to be installed on this system. See Installation Notes for more details. Form Designer cannot continue. ----- Resolution: WrapPack 3 (WS3) of Net Express 5.0 contains the fix for the issue with Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). However, the same fix is NOT unfortunately included in WrapPack 4 (WS4). WrapPack 3 (WS3) --> NX3250030082.MSP WrapPack 4 (WS4) --> NX3250040064.MSP It is likely that those who have applied WS4 on Net Express 5.0 that did not previously have WS3 will not be able to start Form Designer and will see the error message above. If WS3 was applied before WS4, then this problem will not occur. Please follow the steps below to resolve this problem: 1. Uninstall WS4 (see below the uninstall steps)    a. go to Start | Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs   &nbs

Problem: Net Express 3.1 does not support Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), so installing Net Expres 3.1 on a machine that already has IE7 installed will result to an error about the IE version. How to ignore or skip the IE version check? Resolution: NOTE: It is not recommended to ignore or skip the IE version check if you will be developing web applications with Net Express 3.1. Net Express 3.1's Form Designer supports IE5 and IE6 only. If you will be developing web applications, you can either remove IE7 and install IE6 instead or upgrade Net Express to the latest version, which is now v5.0. Having read the above, here are the steps allowing you to install Net Express 3.1 without having the setup to check for the IE version: 1. copy wrapper.ini from the Net Express CD to your local drive, e.g. C:\\ 2. edit C:\\wrapper.ini with a text editor 3. search for "checkie"  --> this should find CheckIE5OrAbove 4. delete the whole line 5. save w

Problem: Program is executing a SORT statement using the following syntaz; SORT SortFile ASCENDING Data-Item          USING InputFile          GIVING OutputFile The sort statement when executed results in a runtime error 153 - Subscript out of range. Resolution: When encountering this type of problem the first thing that should be looked at is the record definition of the sort file, input file and output file. In this particular case the error was due to the fact the the SortFile record definition length is shorter than the Input File and Output File. Using this type of syntax you must ensure that the record length of all files are equal. Old KB# 1502#RMCOBOL#netexpress#ServerExpress#AcuCobol#COBOL

Problem: Is there a way in which data can be returned containing NULL values without specifying NULL indicators? The application returns a SQLCODE of -1405 on the fetch. Resolution: Use the Oracle precompiler directive unsafe_null=yes . Refer to the Oracle Pro*COBOL documentation for further details. Old KB# 1462

Problem: Open i/o on a file getting status 9/57, when animating or running under debug build type. When running under release build type, Do not get the 9/57 error. Resolution: Error was resovled by adding the following to the Select Statement on the file that recieved the 9/57 error.   LOCK MODE IS AUTOMATIC          SHARING WITH ALL Old KB# 1468#COBOL#ServerExpress#RMCOBOL#netexpress#AcuCobol

Problem: A Net Express project was set to to perform remote animation between Net Express and a COBOL  program running on AIX with Server Express 4 SP3. When selecting to Start/Animating in the Net Express IDE the follow error message appears:- Execution error: file 'opt/microfocus/cobol/dynload/animsrvr.libr/dispatch.gnt' error code: 115, pc=0, call=1, seg=0 115 Unexepected signal (Signal 4) Resolution: This error was resolved by installing IBM APAR Number IY80008 to the AIX installation. Old KB# 1479

Problem: How to uninstall XDB services and remove the XDB Server from the control panel. The resolution below is example of removing XDB Server for Net Express 4.0 Resolution: First, goto control panel -> Administrative Tools- Services Double-click on Services In this window click on Name at the top  to sort Look for Micro Focus XDB Server product & version double click on the Micro Focus XDB Server In this properties window for XDB Server, look for Path to executable for example, Path to executable D:\\Program Files\\Micro Focus\\Net Express 4.0\\mfsql\\bin\\xsrvnx.exe" Next, goto command prompt and goto this location where xsrvnx.exe is located To uninstall type the following: xsrvnx.exe -u This will uninstall the XDB server. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There will also be a  icon for Micro Focus XDB server product and version in the control panel. In ord

Problem: After calling CBL_DIR_SCAN_START with return code of zero, CBL_DIR_SCAN_READ fails with return code 127. Resolution: Make sure the path provided in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START does not contain any double quotes. If you called CBL_GET_CURRENT_DIR to get the current directory and the path contains spacey directory name, the returned path will be quoted (e.g. "C:\\Documents and Settings\\UserID\\My Documents\\My Current Directory"). If you use this quoted path in CBL_DIR_SCAN_START, it would return a zero return code, but CBL_DIR_SCAN_READ will fail with return code of 127. Old KB# 1444

Problem: How can VB or any other language read a Micro Focus flat file (line or record sequential) that has signed numeric fields with or without decimal positions? Resolution: Data is stored in numeric fields in a line or record sequential file as shown below: Value PIC In file 9 999 009 9 s999 009 -9 s999 00y 9 999v99 00900 9.9 999v99 00990 9 s999v99 00900 9.9 s999v99 00990 -9 s999v99 0090p As shown above, there is no way to tell or determine the decimal position in file. If it is known, then the value can be converted easily. For example, the number in file can be devided to 100 to obtain the actual value if the PIC comes with V99. As shown above, all negative figures end with a letter in file. See the list below to convert the letter to a number: p -> 0 q -> 1 r -> 2 s -> 3 t -> 4 u -> 5 v -> 6 w -> 7 x -> 8 y -> 9 If the last character is a letter (between &#

Problem: Compiling a DB2 application with Net Express WrapPack 4 returns an RTS173 error against "hcgetenv". Compiling a DB2 application with Net Express WrapPack 4 returns errors regarding missing entry points in DB2AGAPI.DLL If working with DB2 UDB Version 8, you may encounter issues compiling applications with the DB2 compiler directive. This issue does not occur when using DB2 UDB Version 8 FixPak 15, nor with DB2 v9 or later. Resolution: Due to changes implemented to the DB2 support within Net Express WrapPack 4, you may find that compiling applications using DB2 UDB Version 8 will fail. To resolve this, you will need to upgrade your DB2 installation to the latest IBM FixPak. You can access downloads from the IBM website (currently at http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=71&uid=swg21256059 ). Having applied this FixPak, compilation and execution will then work as expected. Old KB# 1512

Problem: Can the selected tree view item be displayed in light blue? Can the tree view items be colorized individually? Resolution: To do this you have to derive your own tree view class from the standard tree view and use this class in the class control paragraph of your tree view control program. You find a sample "owndrawtreeview" as attachment. ------------------------------------ The "owndrawtreeview" defines a method "wmGadgetNotify" which handles a redraw of the tree view items in the desired style. "owndrawtreeview" sample shows any level (up to 6) of the tree view items in a different color and shows the selected item in light blue and underscored style. The background of the selected item is white or yellow depending on the line, which is commented in. ------------------------------------ To use the "owmdrawtreeview" in your application, he class declaration in the control program has t

Problem: Customer was creating the XML XD description using the following: XD  XML-SOURCE-IN                                         LABEL RECORDS ARE STANDARD                            RECORDING MODE IS F                                   BLOCK CONTAINS 0.                               and when compiled would

Problem: There are many differences between the Object-Oriented language extensions that are provided in the .NET checker and the unmanaged COBOL checker. Resolution: The unmanaged COBOL compiler actually supports two methods of writing Object-Oriented COBOL. The first method uses syntax that was developed by Micro Focus before the ISO2002 standard defined its own syntax. These extensions are known as the Micro Focus alternative syntax and makes heavy use of the Net Express class libraries. The later syntax is known as the ISO2002 syntax and it uses a repository section to hold all of the class and method information. Old KB# 1511

Problem: The following error occurs when starting Form Designer or opening a HTML form in Net Express: "Form Designer requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or greater..." This error may occur even if IE 4.01 or greater is installed. Resolution: This error occurs when Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) is not the default web browser. Form Designer in Net Express requires IE to be the default web browser, as it is using IE's controls. IE can be made the default by going to the IE's options (Tools | Internet Options), clicking on the Programs tab, and click on the "Make default" button. Old KB# 1515

Problem: The "Find in Files" option within the IDE does not always work when running Net Express 5.0 on Windows Vista. Resolution: This is a known issue related to changes that Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista.  Micro Focus is working on addressing the issue and it is hoped that this will be done in Net Express 5.1. In the mean time, we suggest you set the "Windows XP SP2" compatibility property against the MFNETX.EXE program in the Net Express\\Base\\BIN folder. Old KB# 1525

Problem: The following example is taken from the Net Express help and shows how to use user defined functions in COBOL.  This syntax is part of the ISO2002 standard but what additional compiler directives do I need to compile and run the program? FUNCTION-ID. factorial.                            DATA DIVISION.                                     LINKAGE SECTION.                                   01  parm1 BINARY-LONG.         

Problem: This demo requires SQL Server 2000 or 2005. It shows how COBOL can be used as a powerful Web autoring tool. The attached .zip file contains a readme document and the actual demo code. Follow the instructions in the readme for installation and setup information. Happy Shopping! Resolution: The attached .zip file contains a readme document and the actual demo code. Follow the instructions in the readme for installation and setup information. Happy Shopping! Attachments: MFShopCartASPDemo.zip Old KB# 1489

Problem: When running your application against Sybase or after Animation, a 252 memory corruption detected is returned. Resolution: This error can occur when there is a mis-match in the version of the Sybase Client and the Database Server version.  If you have recently upgraded the Database software, you must also upgrade the Client software. Old KB# 1427

Problem: Customer is using Net Express 3.1 and cannot find any documentation for the CBL_ library routines. Resolution: Go to the SupportLine web site, http://supportline.microfocus.com.  Then log on, under the Self-Service section go to the Patches & Fixes or Product Update section.  On that page find the Net Express v3.1 Service Pack 1 section.  The documentation update will be found on that page. Old KB# 1510

Problem: A dll was created  in Netexpress 4.0 for .Net to access our Isam files.   This dll is called from a Web based application.Experiencing performance issues when accessing the Isam files. There can be up to 100 users accessing the files at the same time.  Also are there tools to monitor file access performance? Resolution: A setting change in the System icon will help with file I/O perfromanance. Goto the Control Panel Open up System icon. Click on the Advance tab In the  Performance section, click on Settings In the Performance Options window, click on Advanced tab In the Memory Usage seciton, change setting from Programs to System cache This will help with file I/O performance. Tools for monitoring file access performance. There is a Microsoft website , SysInternals, that has utilities for file monitoring that could help with file I/O performance. Here is the url: http://www.microsoft.com/