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The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Can you please provide a link to the Dialog System Character Mode Guide that you are referencing? This does not appear to be part of the Visual COBOL product. Perhaps you are looking at Net Express or Server Express documentation?

The character based Dialog System support is included in Visual COBOL for compatibility for systems that were written using this technology in earlier products to allow them to be moved forward. It should not really be used for any new development.

What is it that you are trying to achieve? Perhaps we can make other recommendations for you.
Thanks

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Chris

You are correct, I'm looking at the Net Express documentation supportline.microfocus.com/.../dcpubb.htm

I have an interest in these legacy dialog systems and am wanting to do some personal development. I am aware of the more 'modern' approaches, in COBOL and C#, but I merely want to try out the Dialog System and have never had access to it before now. So, simply interest.

Thanks

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Looking at that link, at least the first "Sample Session in Character Mode" does not require any additional files - it gives instructions for creating all the files you need for the basic demo. (Oddly the UNIX version says to copy test1.cbl from the samples directory, but then tells you to create the file using an editor and shows what the file should contain).

I notice the way to run Dialog System in character mode has changed a little since that document:
In Visual COBOL for UNIX, run "ds" from the command line rather than using tbox.
In Visual COBOL for Windows, run "dscharenv" to set up the necessary environment and then "dschar".

Hopefully that will be enough to get the demo working.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

Thanks. I'll try working through the examples and see how far I get. I don't have the UNIX version of DS - I'm certainly missing a samples directory.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

I have worked through the demo and created test1.cbl. As I don't have Net Express I used the 32-bit Professional COBOL compiler. The program checks and compiles correctly. But when I try to run the program I get "Load error: 'file DSRUN'".

Is there a solution to this problem?
Thanks

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

That is an error I would expect to see if the environment was not set up correctly - did you run "dscharenv" before trying to run your compiled program?

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

I opened a windows command window and ran 'dschrenv' to set up a DOS-like environment. This allowed me to run the DS and create the various copy files. What I'm not sure of is how to compile the program in Visual COBOL. Even if I create a Console application and use VC to run it how do I get to run 'dscharenv'?

What I did was copy the various DS .dlls into the exedll folder under Professional COBOL, checked, compiled and ran the resulting program. Now the program runs but does not display the screenset. I don't get the "Load error: 'file DSRUN'" this time. The program just doesn't display the required input screen.

Thanks

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

Ok I've been able to set up the DS environment using the Visual COBOL Command Prompt. From c:\\users\\paul\\documents I enter:

cd "c:\\program files (x86)\\micro focus\\visual cobol\\"

CreateEnv.bat

cd "c:\\program files (x86)\\micro focus\\visual cobol\\bin\\"

DSCharenv.bat

cd "c:\\program files (x86)\\microsoft visual studio\\2017\\community\\common7\\ide"

devenv c:\\workarea\\dsvcproj\\dsproject\\dsproject.sln

This launches Visual COBOL with my project. When I run the project I stiil have the same problem - the screen set does not show.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Can anyone explain why I'm having this problem?

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

I think the issue is that the default environment (which is set up to enable the GUI version of Dialog System) is also applied when you run from the IDE, even if you ran the IDE from a character mode environment.

It should be possible to update the environment explicitly in the project settings - I'll have a try and get back to you.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

Thanks. I look forward to seeing your solution.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

Any news on this?

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

JonS

Have you managed to develop a solution to this issue or should I give up on DS?

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Sorry to be slow updating - my first attempt failed and then I got busy with other things. I will try to have another go today and let you know if I can get it to work.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

I'm afraid I have not managed to get it working through the IDE. If you insert a call to "CBL_DEBUGBREAK" in the program, build and run from the command line you should be able to debug the program but obviously this is not as convenient as we would like!

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

I'm not really looking to debug the program - merely run it using the DS system. It's a simple screen exactly as the demo program illustrates.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Paul,

I was able to debug the Customer sample from the character version of Dialog System by doing the following

Open a Visual Cobol command prompt
Run DSCharenv.bat
Add the location of devenv.exe to the start of the PATH
Execute devenv.exe
Create a native console COBOL application
On the debug page select Start External program and specify the name of your demo program (in my case customer.int)
Set the folder containing the screensets as the working directory
Start debugging.

That was all I needed to do to get it working.

I suspect that the problem you were having was because by default the output folder for the executables in a Visual Studio project is .\\bin\\x86\\Debug and that will be the working directory when you run the project. However, the Dialog System screensets will still be in the source directory so they won't be found. Explicitly setting the working directory is one solution, another is to set the Build Action for the screensets in the File properties window to Content and Copy To Output Directory to Copy If Newer or Copy Always.
 
I hope that helps.

Gael

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Gael

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply - I've been out of the country.

Anyway, I've tried all of the above, even deleting and recreating the project. I'm afraid I just cannot get the solution to display the screen set. I just get a blank command window.

Paul

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Paul,

The only suggestion I can make at this point is for you to step through the test program using the debugger and check the status returned from the calls to Dialog System.

Gael

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Gael

I've tried debugging many times. I just get a "DSRUN error 1,0,0 The function you requested requires a screen set to be loaded into Dialog System, but no screenset is loaded".

This is my program:

     $set ans85

      identification division.

      program-id. Program1.

      working-storage section.

      copy "ds-cntrl.mf".

      copy "test1.cpb".

      01 dummy    pic x.

      procedure division.

      main-process.

       perform program-initialize

       perform call-screen-manager

       accept dummy

       stop run.

      program-initialize.

       initialize test1-data-block

       initialize ds-input-fields

       move ds-new-set to ds-control

       move test1-data-block-version-no to

          ds-data-block-version-no

       move "test1" to ds-set-name.

       call-screen-manager.

       call "DSRUN" using ds-control-block,

                          test1-data-block.

      end program Program1.

I assume "test1.cpb" is the screenset. If not, am I missing some vital other file? "accept dummy" merely keeps the command window open so that I can read the error message.

The structure of the project is:

c:\\workarea

 → dsvcproject (folder)

  → dsproject (folder)

   → dschar (folder), ds-cntrl.mf, test1.cpb

    →dschar (folder), dschar.sln

     → bin, obj, properties (all folders), dschar.cblproj, dschar.cblproj.user, dschar.dep, program1.cbl

      → (in bin) x86 → debug → dschar.exe, program1.cbl, program1.idy

      → (in obj) x86 → debug → dschar.trackinglogs (folder), dschar.cblproj.filelistabsolute.txt, dschar,exe, program1.obj

This is the structure set up by Visual Studio. Should any of the files be placed in a different location?

Paul

 

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Paul,

I don't see the actual screenset file there - that would be test1.s.
Dialog System generates a header file (in this case test1.cpb) containing data definitions needed for the COBOL program to run the screenset, but you will need the screenset file itself as well - the error you are now getting looks correct.

-Jon.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Paul,

As I mentioned previously, in your project you need to either set the working directory to the folder containing the screenset file ie the test1.s that Jon mentioned, or you need to add that file to the project and set the properties as I previously described. Did you do either of those ?

Gael

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Jon

Thanks. I've found the test1.s file - it was in the folder I used for originally creating the screen set. I have put it in the same folder as test1.cpb.

Paul

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Gael

I put test1.s in the same folder as test1.cpb which is also set as the working directory - still get the DSRUN error 1,1,0. I'm not sure how to 'add' test1.s to the project. Itdoesn't show up in the Solution Explorer.

The character based Dialog System is available with the latest Visual COBOL PE. Looking at the  Dialog System Character Mode Guide the Tutorial Section makes reference to many example programs (*.s, *.err, *.sl, *.cbl, *.mf, *.cpb etc.)

Is there a website where I might download these programs as they are not included in the Visual COBOL release?

Thanks

Hi Paul,

I started again to make sure I had not missed any relevant information, and to closely follow what you attempted rather than using an existing sample which is what I had done before. This is what I did :

Opened a Visual COBOL command prompt

Executed dscharenv.bat

Executed dsch.exe and followed the Net Express documentation to create test1.cpb and test1.s.

set PATH=<path to devenv.exe>;%path%

Run devenv.exe

Created a console application named dschar

Copy and pasted the code you attached above into Program1.cbl

Copied test1.cpb and test1.s into the folder where Program1.cbl was created.

Debug.

The call to Dialog System returned an error status 18 ie screenset not found.

Stop debugging, set the working directory to the folder containing test1.s and debug again

The program worked correctly.

 

At no point was I able to get DSRUN error 1,0,0 unfortunately. According to the documentation error 1 is 'Screenset not initialized' so you are hitting some sort of initialisation problem that I did not see.

Can you set a breakpoint on your accept statement and run the program to that point? If you view the Modules window (from the menus go to Debug -> Windows -> Modules or via the Ctrl Alt U keyboard shortcut) does the modules list show Program1, DSRUN from the DSRUN.DLL in the DSChar\\bin folder, various modules from mFFH.dll, DSCRUN and DSFLD from the DSChar\\bin folder and a couple of other modules ? If not, what is listed ?

Gael

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