Rocket® COBOL

Problem: Have a machine that still uses Microsoft DOS V 6.2 and using IBM's bi-synchroneous communications app that is on the old machine. How to get this running? Resolution: This is not possible because Net Express character-based applications are not DOS programs. They are actually 32-bit Windows console programs that require Windows 98 or higher to run. Only our very old 16-bit Workbench products would create applications that could run under DOS. Old KB# 1329

Problem: Net Express 4.0 Recompilation/rebuild of an existing project fails with error: Rebuilding    F:\\.......\\FILENAME.CBL Error during generation of INT-code Rebuild complete with errors. A new .int file is not created. COBOL programs that are modified may recompile cleanly. Resolution: Close the project and the Net Express IDE. Delete the debug directory for the project. Restart Net Express, open the project and rebuild. Old KB# 1265

Problem: Using an XP machine with the Regional Language settings set to Japanese. receiving the following syntax error .... * 230-S************************************************ **    PICTURE string has illegal precedence or illegal character 1875             15  WPRTL-PRINT-AMOUNT2        PIC $$$$9.99. * 230-S************************************************ This line of code, compiles fine on an XP machine with the regional language settings set to English.     Resolution: Setting the compiler directive to CURRENCY-SIGN"36" corrects the problem. Old KB# 1370

Problem: How can I check to see if the Escape key was pressed in my graphical application ? Resolution: In Dialog System the escape key can be trapped with "ESC" Event. If you are using the GUI Class library for controls or windows then you can trap the ESCAPE key with the p2ce-functionkey event. Attach is some example code to illustrate how you can acheive this. Attachments: escape.zip Old KB# 1361

Problem: When a deadlock between 2 processes occured it was found that a SQLCODE was being returned with 100 (row not found) rather than a -1205 SQLCODE. Resolution: This issue has been fixed. Please download and apply the latest Net Express 4 patch to resolve the problem. Old KB# 1358

Problem: Die Umlaute werden nicht korrekt in der Eingabeaufforderung angezeigt. Resolution: Die Einstellungen fuer die Eingabeaufforderung ("DOS-Prompt") muessen geaendert werden: Unter Eigenschaften, Schriftart muss TT Lucida Console oder andere True Type Schriftart ausgewaehlt werden. Darueber hinaus muss die aktive Codepage fuer die Konsole gewechselt werden. Dazu wird folgendes in der Eingabeaufforderung eingegeben: chcp 1250. Anschliessend werden die Umlaute korrekt angezeigt. Old KB# 1364

Problem: Is there a possibilty to develop an application on a 64bit Windows (x64 Edition) machine and then deploy that to an Itanium based machine? Resolution: It is not possible doing cross-develop for different 64-bit platforms. So, for example, building an application on an Itanium machine, it will not run on an X64 machine. It is the need to build it on an X64 machine for it to run there. Old KB# 1293

Problem: The following CALL crashes with a runtime error 114. "GetParameter" is a C-function in a DLL created by Visual C . 01 buffer pic x(32000). 01 len binary-long value 32000. CALL WinApi "GetParameter"     using by reference buffer              by value len Resolution: For modifying a buffer with this kind of DLL, it requires a pointer to a buffer. 01 buffer pic x(32000). 01 len usage binary-long value 32000. 01 ptr usage pointer. SET ptr TO ADDRESS buffer. CALL WinApi "GetParameter"     using by reference ptr              by value len In a C program buffer might be specified as char **buffer; Old KB# 1281

Problem: Is it possible to use the CALL-BY-NAME and CALL-BY-NUMBER routines within a multi-threaded application? Resolution: Yes, these routines are all thread safe and can be used within your code. Old KB# 1397

Problem: Release 5.0: A new compile directive was introduced with Net Express v5.0, SHARE-OUTDD Resolution: When set, multiple threads can write to the same SYSOUT or OUTDD file. When not set, a file locking error occurs in this situation. Syntax: >>-.---.-.----.--SHARE-OUTDD-------------------><        -/- -NO- Parameters: None Properties: Default: NOSHARE-OUTDD Phase: Syntax check $SET: Initial Old KB# 1314#AcuCobol#COBOL#ServerExpress#netexpress#RMCOBOL

Problem: How to see all variables on current line while debugging in Visual Studio ? Is it possible to do this without explicitly adding them to a watch window ? Resolution: The "autos" window while debugging performs this functionality. If the window is not visible by default in Visual Studio it should be added  to the system using the "Debug \\ Windows \\ Autos" menu option or by using Control-Alt-V A shortcut. Old KB# 1286

Problem: Catalog shows the VSAM Attribute as Non-Unique even if it is unique Resolution: This is a bug in the base release of NetExpress v5.0/Server Express v5.0, this is fixed in v5.0 WrapPack 4 Old KB# 1372

Problem: Was working fine in SQL Server 2000, but now, cannot see the locks. Resolution: Since the SET CONCURRENCY statement is not supported by all ODBC drivers try the (WITH UPDLOCK) hint as follows: SELECT  col1, col2  FROM MyTable WITH(UPDLOCK)WHERE (Col = 'Predicate1') This worked in SQL Server 2005. Old KB# 1303

Problem: Trying to compile a program and it will not accept the $set that is in the program Resolution: The compiler directive dialect "entcobol" was being used.  This is a mainframe dialect and does not accept $set within programs (this is for PC dialect) The workaround is to use the MF directive which will allow pc code in the mainframe program or set directives in a directives file. Old KB# 1327

Problem: Is it possible to access MicroFocus ISAM files on a Windows XP 64-bit platform from a NetExpress application running on a Windows 32-bit platform? Resolution: Yes, it is possible to access Micro Focus ISAM files on a 64-bit platform from a Net Express application on a 32-bit machine. Old KB# 1256#netexpress#COBOL#RMCOBOL#AcuCobol#ServerExpress

Problem: Can a computer be identified by a program? Resolution: The WinApi GetCurrentHwProfile retrieves information about the current hardware profile for the local computers producing a GUID. On every call, GetCurrentHwProfile computes the same GUID on the same hardware but a different GUID on a different hardware. This GUID should be unambiguous between different computers. Attachments: GUID.zip Old KB# 1294

Problem: When using the CallUnManagedDll Sample which can be found on the supportline website an COBOLRuntimeException Error appeared. 174 file not in directory. Resolution: As described in the readme in the demo itself (and also in the source code *text* part) you need to add the cobcdll.dll and the cobcalldll.dll in the references. Also the kernel32.dll in windows/System32 needs to be added. Old KB# 1254

Problem: A 'Read' on a Fujitsu data file will cause a 039 RTS error. Is it possible to access and read a Fujitsu data file with MF COBOL? Resolution: It is not possible to access a Fujitsu data file as the format will not be recognised. It is recommended to convert first to a Sequential file using Fujitsu tools. Old KB# 1348

Problem: By default the XML GENERATE statement converts data names to upper case to generate XML tags. The following: 01 myXML pic x(1000). 01 myItem1.      05 myItem2 pic x(10) value "my value". ... Xml generate myXML from myItem1 would generate "<MYITEM1><MYITEM2>my value</MYITEM2></MYITEM2>" in myXML Resolution: To preserve the case of data names when XML tags are generated with XML GENERATE it is necessary to use the PRESERVECASE compiler directive, i.e.       $SET PRESERVECASE This directive is not documented in Server Express 5.0 but should be documented in Server Express 5.1. After setting PRESERVECASE, the contents of myXML in the example above would be: "<myItem1><myItem2>my value</myItem1></myItem2> Old KB# 1395

Problem: After migrating some C code that calls COBOL from UNIX to Windows  get the following errors on linking:- myprog.OBJ : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _cobprintf myprog.OBJ : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _cobgetch myprog.OBJ : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _cobclear RELEASE\\myprog.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 3 unresolved externals Resolution: These routines provided by Micro Focus are only supported on UNIX and are not documented or provided on Windows. Solution is to replace these calls to standard C library callls such as printf , _getch and system("cls") Old KB# 1335

Problem: Using ODBC with DB2 and not being the owner of the table, how to specify a qualifer for the table? Resolution: This is specified by the configuration of the DB2 ODBC datasource through the ODBC Data Sources tool.  Select the datasource, click on Advanced Settings tab, hit the ADD button Select the CLI\\ODBC parameter of CurrentSchema (or CurrentSQLID) then specify the default qualifier. Old KB# 1252

Problem: If you want to read an XSD file programatically you may want a Schema for the Scheme so that you can generate the COBOL data structures using the cbl2xml wizard. Resolution: The schema for the XML Schemas is a available at:- Schema is http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema.xsd Full details on schemas and a DTD for a schema is available at:- http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema Old KB# 1356

Problem: Wie finde ich die Postion meines Cursors beim Animieren wieder nachdem ich im Quellcode geblaetter habe? Resolution: ueber View->Where im Menue oder die Tastenkombination strg w. Old KB# 1365

Problem: What steps needs to be taken to obtain a hard copy of the Net Express manuals Resolution: Manuals can be printed from the online help. For example, if you would like to get the File Handling manual printed you can do so within the online help by going to Contents\\Programming\\File Handling\\ and highlight the File Handling Manual.   Then from the menu bar at the top you can select Print or Options/Print and make sure that you select the radio button "Print selected heading and all subtopics".  That will print you the entire manual. Old KB# 1251

Problem: Does Oracle OCI Data access via the SQL(TARGETDB=ORACLEOCI) support the PREFETCH directive ? Resolution: This is not currently supported. Old KB# 1298