Problem:

A javascript error may occur opening a html web page in a Web-Browser control.

On the contrary, no error is shown navigating the same web page using a browser outside the ACUCOBOL-GT runtime.

Is there a way to bypass these errors, either programmatically or setting some value in the Registry of the client machine?

Resolution:

The WEB-BROWSER control used by ACUCOBOL-GT runtime is based on Microsoft Internet Explorer.
It provides the same functionalities as the browser itself, but executed with restricted permissions and backward Compatibility View.

This may cause situations where scripts present in the web page may be blocked or return script errors.

It is possible to avoid these errors by removing the backward Compatibility View for the WEB-BROWSER control.

This can be done setting the following key in the Registry of the Operating System.

If the browser is a 64-bit Software, search for this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION

If the browser in use is the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer, search for this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION

Then, set the value to the version of Internet Explorer installed on the client machine itself.

For example, if the WEB-BROWSER control is used by a standalone ACUCOBOL-GT runtime, add a DWORD item which name must be: wrun32.exe
The decimal value for it must match the version of Internet Explorer in use, for example: 11

If the WEB-BROWSER control is accessed via Thin Client, add a DWORD item which name is: acuthin.exe
The decimal value for it must match the version of Internet Explorer in use on the client machine, for example: 11
This operation should be accomplished on each client machine.

Further information about this Registry Key can be found here:

More IE8 Extensibility Improvements
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2009/03/10/more-ie8-extensibility-improvements.aspx

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Reference incident numbers: 2683139 and 2648173.