Rocket® COBOL

Welcome to Rocket® ACUCOBOL® Fuel, your monthly source for all things COBOL. In this issue, you’ll learn about the main ACUCOBOL release of 2025 and the first challenge of modernization.  Release of the year: Rocket ACUCOBOL extend 11As 2025 comes to a close, we’re proud to look back on one of our biggest milestones: the launch of Rocket® ACUCOBOL extend 11, the most significant update in seven years.Thanks to our incredible beta testers and this community, we delivered a thoroughly tested and refined release that empowers you to modernize mission-critical ACUCOBOL applications, enhance user interfaces, and unlock new business value faster than ever.This update brings major improvements across Rocket® AcuToWeb™, Rocket® AcuSQL™, Rocket® Acu4GL®, and Rocket® AcuXDBC™, giving you more flexibility and power to meet today’s business demands.Highlights of Rocket ACUCOBOL extend 11:Visual Studio Code Extension Developers can now work with ACUCOBOL in one of the most popular development tools

Visual COBOL 11, COBOL .NET, .NET Core -  using methods.When using namespaces why use:       $set ilusing "System.Collections.Generic"Over right clicking on the project, properties ~Namespaces or visa versa?The $set places it in the code vs properties~Namespaces setting it in the project.I think the $set is more visible personally at a developer level, But properies~Namespaces might be better for Pipelines. (Easier to pick up dependencies)What is the benefit of either method?Neil

I have MF Netexpress 5.1 installed on my laptop runing Win7 Ultimate. I want to move To Win11 with fresh installation not upgrade installation.before doing this I want to keep my Netexpress license,, this requires me to Revoke it, is it possible to get a response key after revoke?the name of the installer executable I have:  nxp3251060079 Bel ShattyIT managerManara Inforamtions Tecgnology

I am trying to call the direct ODBC API from a Visual COBOL program using Visual Studio 2022. I want to know if there are any specific configuration changes required in Visual studio 2022 to make ODBC calls work correctly, especially when linking DLLs that are not part of the same solution. Also, if anyone has a small sample COBOL program that demonstrates how to call ODBC APIs directly (for example: SQLConnect, SQLExecDirect, SQLDisconnect), it would be very helpful. Could you please guide me on the correct setup and share any sample code?

Visual Studio 2022, Visual COBOL 11 Update 1. When migrating old native COBOL code to COBOL .NET which has lots of reference modification code you have to sometimes work out something simple as the length of a string.In OO COBOL you had character arrays and you could get “size” or “sizeinbytes”. Due to my very poor understanding of what a character array was many years ago I got unstuck when using simplified Chinese to do reference modification as getting the “size” means how many simplified Chinese characters are in the array and doing reference modification would truncate the data because I didn’t use “sizeinbytes”.So now moving to COBOL .NET I’d better check the behaviour of this and see how it works.I have a simple C# winform Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("zh-CN");Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("zh-CN");  This is passed into a C# class and and the RunUnit started.The data is then passed from the class into 2 working storage fields, 1

Hi,I have found that the EXIT PARAGRAPH doesn’t work in .NET COBOL. Is this an error or is it deliberate, and if it is deliberate then is there an alternative?Thanks in advance

Does anyone know if there is documentation on the “*** System error value = # *** errors? I see them pop up in my logs from time to time, but I’m not able to find what they mean in the AcuCOBOL documentation. I’m using 10.5.1 on RHEL if that matters.Thanks for your help!

Hi,Is there any documentation around that cross references the OO COBOL objects to help me identify what I need to use in .NET COBOL as replacements? For example: characterarray = stringAt this point I have no specifics but any help would be gratefully received.Thanks in advance 

Hi, I'm running a program with an old version of the RM/COBOL runtime. After the recent Windows 11 update (08-2025), the runtime no longer works with the following error: "Cannot load RMGUIFE.DLL..." (see attached file). Has anyone encountered this problem? Is there a new compatible runtime? Where can I get information on purchasing one? I tried submitting a contact request on the website form, but received no response.Thanks------------------------------Simone TrezziRocket Software Forum Member------------------------------

Hello, we are migrating our Visual COBOL development for Eclipse from a AIX server to a Linux server. We have a utility to convert text from ASCII to UTF-8, but it has stopped working because the NATIONAL-OF function does not recognize UTF-8 characters in linux. the locale data are ----AIX LANG=CLC_COLLATE="C"LC_CTYPE="C"LC_MONETARY="C"LC_NUMERIC="C"LC_TIME="C"LC_MESSAGES="C"LC_ALL=-----LinuxLANG=CLC_CTYPE="C"LC_NUMERIC="C"LC_TIME="C"LC_COLLATE="C"LC_MONETARY="C"LC_MESSAGES="C"LC_PAPER="C"LC_NAME="C"LC_ADDRESS="C"LC_TELEPHONE="C"LC_MEASUREMENT="C"LC_IDENTIFICATION="C"LC_ALL=And the code of the utility is :       PROGRAM-ID. anook2       ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.       CONFIGURATION SECTION.       INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.       file-control.           select futf8 assign to f-utf8                  organization line sequential                  status is io-estado.           select fascii assign to f-ascii                  organization line sequential                  status is io-estado.       

Hi, we are working with MF visualcobol 8.0 and we want to read a big binary file. Asking for the use of the CBL_OPEN_FILE to the IA it say that we have to use this format, baut in te MF documentation don´t presents parameter Organization!--scriptorstartfragment-->CALL "CBL_OPEN_FILE"    USING BY VALUE 0              *> File handle (returned)          BY REFERENCE FILE-NAME  *> Nombre del fichero          BY VALUE 1              *> Mode: input          BY VALUE 4              *> Organization: binary          BY VALUE 0              *> Options    RETURNING STATUS-CODE. how must  we usei it!--scriptorendfragment-->

In native COBOL I make heavy use of the compile directive:CALLFH"ABCDEF"Where “ABCDEF” is  ABCDEF.GNT.Moving to COBOL .NET  and .NET Core, “ABCDEF” becomes a DLL but should it be a class or program?What is the benefit of either, if that’s an option?Neil

We love that you can use OCCURS in the screen section and we use it quite frequently.Now - for the first time - we need a radio-button that gets its options from a table and we don’t know how to get the value.This is what we would like to use:78 T01-MAX VALUE 10.78 T01-GROUP VALUE 03.01 T01-RESULT PIC 9(02).01 T01-TABLE. 02 T01-RECORD OCCURS T01-MAX INDEXED BY T01. 03 T01-VI PIC 9(01). 03 T01-ID PIC 9(05). 03 T01-TITLE PIC X(40). 03 T01-VALUE PIC 9(02).01 SCRPP10-BILD. 02 LABEL LINE 10 VISIBLE 0. 02 OCCURS T01-MAX. 03 RADIO-BUTTON LINE + 1 COL 50 VISIBLE T01-VI ID T01-ID TITLE T01-TITLE GROUP T01-GROUP GROUP-VALUE

Hi, we are working with MF visualcobol 8.0 for Eclipse in linux  and we want to read a big binary file (.pdf , .-jpg,...) from the linux server and insert it into a sqlserver bbdd in a windows server.The program is compilede whit openesqlAsking for the use of the CBL_OPEN_FILE to the IA it say that we have to use this sintaxis, but in te MF documentation don´t presents parameter Organization CALL "CBL_OPEN_FILE"    USING BY VALUE 0              *> File handle (returned)          BY REFERENCE FILE-NAME  *> Nombre del fichero          BY VALUE 1              *> Mode: input          BY VALUE 4              *> Organization: binary          BY VALUE 0              *> Options    RETURNING STATUS-CODE. how must  we usei it ? 

Hi everyone,A few weeks ago, Scot Nielsen, Vice President of Product Management, sat down with Channel Insider to discuss COBOL modernization, a topic that continues to shape enterprise technology strategies.The conversation explored some of the most pressing challenges organizations face when not modernizing COBOL systems, including:Preserving decades of proven business logic without disrupting operations   Making COBOL development attractive and streamlined for both seasoned engineers and new talent   Ensuring robust security for COBOL applications at the core of business, especially when integrated with numerous third-party services“We want to find ways to always help the organization leverage those [proven COBOL applications] rather than having to do something more profoundly risky like a rewrite. From a high-level perspective, it’s about leveraging what works — what you know works as an organization — rather than ripping it out and starting again.”Scot NielsenIf you hear question

Hi everyone,A few weeks ago, Scot Nielsen, Vice President of Product Management, sat down with Channel Insider to discuss COBOL modernization, a topic that continues to shape enterprise technology strategies.The conversation explored some of the most pressing challenges organizations face when not modernizing COBOL systems, including:Preserving decades of proven business logic without disrupting operations   Making COBOL development attractive and streamlined for both seasoned engineers and new talent   Ensuring robust security for COBOL applications at the core of business, especially when integrated with numerous third-party services“We want to find ways to always help the organization leverage those [proven COBOL applications] rather than having to do something more profoundly risky like a rewrite. From a high-level perspective, it’s about leveraging what works — what you know works as an organization — rather than ripping it out and starting again.”Scot NielsenIf you hear question

Hi.Following our migration from MF Enterprise Developer to Rocket Cobol for VSCode, we are experiencing some Language Server errors in VSCode that do not show up in MF, but we are unable to figure out how to fix them. We assume is probably related to missing or incorrect compiler directives, but we are not sure. This is the actual configuration of Cobol directives in MF: ​​​​​​And this is the configuration of Cobol Default Directives on Rocket Cobol (basically replicating the ones in MF, but including a few extra ones, like assign”external” to fix some COBCH0005 errors)  However, with this configuration, we are seeing some errors, such as COBCH0641 , COBCH0628 or COBCH0002, and  we have no clue how to fix them. Here are some of them: (at least we can see the OUTLINE section seems to be working fine and recognizing Cobol structures) Any idea how to ensure Language Server behaves in the same way as MF ? We are NOT using directives.mf files so far, but direct configuration on the Rocket C

I am converting code from native COBOL to .NET and am looking for suggestions whereby in native COBOL I am using a dictionary that is set as an external item so that it can be referenced by a number of programs (DLL’s) but as this is not supported in .NET so I am trying to figure out a viable alternative.Any thoughts or suggestions?

Acompáñanos para conocer las últimas novedades de Rocket® Visual COBOL® 11.0, diseñadas para ayudarte a modernizar las aplicaciones críticas que impulsan tu negocio.25 de noviembre16:00 Spain / 12:00 Buenos AiresRegistrate ahoraDurante el webinar aprenderás:Cómo la IA está transformando la modernización Descubre el papel real de la IA en las iniciativas de modernización y dónde aporta más valor al trabajar con aplicaciones COBOL . Nuevos insights impulsados por GenAI para cualquier desarrollador Aprende cómo las funciones potenciadas por GenAI ayudan a cualquier desarrollador a comprender rápidamente complejas bases de código COBOL, acelerando la incorporación de personal y haciendo el desarrollo más eficiente. Compatibilidad ampliada de plataformas, ahora incluyendo ARM Conoce las últimas plataformas y entornos soportados en Rocket Visual COBOL 11.0, incluyendo el nuevo soporte para ARM. Una mirada al futuro: hoja de ruta de Rocket COBOL Obtén un vistazo exclusivo de lo que sigue para

¡Reserva la fecha! Nos complace invitarte a nuestro próximo seminario web sobre la nueva versión de Rocket® ACUCOBOL extend® 11.13 de noviembre16:00 Spain / 12:00 Buenos AiresRegistrate ahoraAcompáñanos para conocer en profundidad las últimas novedades de extend 11 y disfrutar de demostraciones de sus nuevas funcionalidades.Durante el webinar aprenderás:Desarrolla más rápido con Visual Studio Code Permite a tus equipos desarrollar aplicaciones ACUCOBOL con una de las herramientas de desarrollo más populares y utilizadas del mundo.   Simplifica el despliegue en la nube con Rocket® AcuToWeb®   Despliega fácilmente tus aplicaciones ACUCOBOL en cualquier entorno que tu empresa necesite, incluidas las arquitecturas multinube.   Interfaces de usuario mejoradas con nuevas funciones gráficas   Crea interfaces más ricas y adaptables gracias a las numerosas funciones gráficas incorporadas en Rocket® ACUCOBOL-GT®.     Compatibilidad ampliada con nuevas plataformas Descubre la lista completa de pl