New board topics in Visual COBOL

Visual COBOL 3.0 with open jdk?

rune — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:59:33 GMT

I am developing in Visual COBOL 3.0 for Eclipse. I create simple Cobol programs that I compile to Java (jar-file) and use as a library in my application. I have no problem running with Oracle's JRE, but the program seem to freeze when I run it with Open JDK 8 (JRE downloaded from https://adoptopenjdk.net/).

I run my application with this command line:
java -Djava.library.path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Micro Focus\Visual COBOL\bin64" -jar <my jar>

Should I be able to run under OpenJDK? Do I need to compile the library differently?

Visual COBOL 3.0 under COBOL Server 5.0?

rune — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:43:37 GMT

Are there any issues with running binaries compiled in Visual Studio for Visual Cobol 3.0.* under COBOL Server 5.0.* ?

New development in .net

Ferraz — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 06:42:41 GMT

Hello,

I am starting development on .Net and would like some initial help to understand the concepts of this kind of development.

If someone cloud get me a small demo prohect with a basic menu (two or three options). One of the options being a table maintenance function (number and name).

The databse could be in MySQL or SQL. I would like some information on how to create/use this database and where it could be hosted.

Thank you in advance for your help at the beginning of a new programming phase.

Best regards,

Alberto Ferraz

How to convert this C# snippet to COBOL?

Austin1 — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 21:37:41 GMT

In C#, if you have a string (say, TestString) and you want to test it to see if it contains only numeric digits 0-9, you can do this:

I basically just need to know how to code what's on the if statement in Visual COBOL.

Thanks

Removing Carriage Return from Rich TextBox In WinForm

Alex_Castro — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 16:33:13 GMT

I have a rich multi-line text box with the string “Testing field. ENTER”. If I press the enter key (carriage return) before the word “ENTER”, it adds a “/n”, which I believe stands for new line or end of line, to the text property of the rich text box which then looks like follows: "Testing Field. \nENTER."

When I move the text string from my rich text box into a string variable, it moves the “\n” which give me problems when I attempt to do data manipulation with the string variable. I cannot remove the “\n” programmatically in the code because it is invisible to the code. I can only see it when a view the text property of my rich text box during runtime.

I should also mention that after pressing the enter key before the word “ENTER”, it configures the ‘Lines’ property of the rich text box as follows:

Lines

[0] “Testing Field.”

[1] “ENTER”

I want to be able to move both lines [0] and [1] as a single string into a string variable and without the “\n”.

How to retrieve a cell value from a dataset

Stan222 — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 19:19:34 GMT

I am trying to use Visual COBOL for Visual Studio to call a SOAP webservices method to return multiple attribution of an item. The webservices method takes in a string value (item number), and returns a dataset (dsItemDetails). It is a very simple dataset, only one table in the dataset, and only one row in the return table, two columns in the return row, they are (item number), and (item description).

My questions is: how can I move the item description value in the return row to a string variable (strLableName) in Visual COBOL?

I knew the webservices call worked, I checked the row count in the returned dataset - datatable. It had a value of 1.

The other problem I had was I could not get the DataSet Visualizer to work in debug. Was it suppose to work in Visual COBOL for Visual Studio? It always work when I coded in Visual Basic with my Visual Studio settings.

Below are the codes from my test program:

01 wsinquiry type WSName.RXORDWS004 value new type WSName.RXORDWS004.
01 inItemNbr pic x(11).
01 any-key pic x.
01 intRowCount pic 999.
01 dsItemDetails type System.Data.DataSet.
01 strLableName type String.

procedure division.

set inItemNbr to "00002062402"

* returns a dataset
set dsItemDetails to wsinquiry::GetNDCAttributes(inItemNbr) as type System.Data.DataSet

* check for row count in the returned dataset - datatable
set intRowCount to dsItemDetails::Tables::Count

* This is how I coded in Visual Basic to get the ITEM_DESC value to a string variable

* strLableName = CStr(dsItemDetails.Tables(0).Rows(0).Item(1))

* OR strLableName = CStr(dsItemDetails.Tables(0).Rows(0).Item("ITEM_DESC"))

* How to code in Visual COBOL to perform the same function?

display " "
goback.

end program TestWSLink.

Many thanks from Stan

Hot to set FolderBrowserDialog RootFolder in Visual COBOL

Phil_L — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 00:22:45 GMT

I'm trying to convert this C# code to Visual COBOL:

folderBrowserDialog1.RootFolder = Environment.SpecialFolder.MyComputer

When I try to do this in Visual COBOL, the SpecialFolder enumeration is not found.

I'm using Visual COBOL verion 2.3.

Toggle between tabs in Visual Studio?

carrfamily — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 14:38:46 GMT

I'm trying to compare two nearly-identical COBOL programs in Visual Studio. In one tab is ST-PEERJOB-TABLE.cbl, and in the other tab is MC-PEERJOB-TABLE.cbl.

To switch back and forth between the two, I have to mouse-click the tab I want, which is clumsy and time-consuming.

In Excel there are keyboard-shortcuts for toggling between two tabs: ctrl-PgUp and ctrl-PgDown

Are there any analogous keyboard-shortcuts for toggling between two tabs in Visual Studio?

Stacksize in Native Cobol Application

Sebastian Mayer — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 07:04:42 GMT

Hello,

we have had the Problem already in NetExpress and now we changed die VisualCobol in VisualStudio. To run our native cobol program wie must link it with the /stack option. Is there any possibility to set this option for cbllink within Visualstudio?

Thanx in advance
Sebastian

From IBM native COBOL to Visual COBOL for Visual Studio

Stan222 — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:09:43 GMT

I am doing evaluation to see if Micro Focus Visual COBOL for Visual Studio can be used to replace the native COBOL development using IBM TSO environment within my company.

I had download a trial version of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio (2019 version), and watched the six Webinar videos on OOP in the Micro Focus resource link. I managed to use the same test data on my desktop with no issues.

I am sure the questions that I have in mind had been asked by someone else before, it will be much appreciated if someone out there can direct me to some previous Q&A links related to my questions.

Most of the COBOL programs my company use are for BATCH process: These programs are developed using IBM TSO environment, and some had been in use for decades; they are run on predefined schedules on IBM Mainframe computers; they use lots of INPUT and OUTPUT files; they access to IBM DB2 relational database for all sort of data manipulations.

My questions are:

Can Visual COBOL for Visual Studio create executables that can be run on an IBM mainframe computer? And can the converted program be mixed in predefined batch schedules with other COBOL executables developed in native COBOL using IBM TSO environment. (that could happen if conversion is planned for multiple phases).

How executables 'Published' by Visual COBOL for Visual Studio handle INPUT and OUTPUT files?

How Visual COBOL for Visual Studio reference COPYBOOKs?

Can Visual COBOL for Visual Studio access IBM DB2 relational database?

Can I just copy and paste an existing native COBOL program into Visual COBOL for Visual Studio and compile it, or the program has to go thru a conversion process before it can be compiled?

Thank you in advance for anyone who can help. This is my first post, and hope that I post it in the right place.

Best Regards from Stan222

VS 2013/VC 2.2 vs. VS 2017/VC 5.0 - WinForms Control.Tag property issue

Austin1 — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 21:37:33 GMT

A simple Visual COBOL 5.0 (VS 2017) Windows Forms program ... which has a datetimepicker control ... (which has a tag property) ... if you try to reference and test the tag value with something like this:

if dateTimePicker1::Tag = "1"
invoke type MessageBox::Show("dateTimePicker1::Tag = 1")
else
invoke type MessageBox::Show("dateTimePicker1::Tag NOT = 1")
end-if.

... you get a compilation error "COBCH0888: Illegal comparison for this type".

This compiles cleanly with Visual COBOL 2.2 (VS 2013).

Please advise.

Thanks.

Error after Visual Studio Community 2019 updated to version 16.3

DK68 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 15:44:51 GMT

Has anyone experienced this error and know how to correct the problem? It was working fine yesterday before the update occured. I uninstalled/reinstalled Visual COBOL Personal Edition to no avail.

The "MicroFocus.Cobol.BuildTasks.Cobol" task could not be loaded from the assembly C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Micro Focus\Visual COBOL\v1.0\MicroFocus.COBOL.BuildTasks.dll. Method 'get_SourceFileExtension' in type 'MicroFocus.COBOL.BuildTasks.CreateCobolManifestResourceName' from assembly 'MicroFocus.COBOL.BuildTasks, Version=16.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=0412c5e0b2aaa8f0' does not have an implementation. Confirm that the <UsingTask> declaration is correct, that the assembly and all its dependencies are available, and that the task contains a public class that implements Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask.

Need help for using extfh, Micro Focus callable file handler in C/C++

actian123 — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 15:32:45 GMT

Our application uses pure C/C++ with EXTFH Callable File Handler such as in ftp://ftp.suportesg.com/pub/download/COBOL/DEMO/EXTFHRD.C. We will work for FCD3 structure defined in fcd3.h file. It is really helpful if you have such C/C++ samples and documentations. Thanks!

Triggering Keyboard Events Programmatically in WinForm

Alex_Castro — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 16:14:05 GMT

I currently have a rich textbox control on my Windows Form which allows the user to overwrite text when the Insert Key is pressed. Is there a way to trigger the insert key control so that the user does not have to manually hit the insert key in order to overwrite text? I looked at the following link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/winforms/how-to-simulate-mouse-and-keyboard-events-in-code

The C# code to accomplish this is :

private void Form1_DoubleClick(object sender, EventArgs e)

{

SendKeys.Send("{INSERT}");

}

In Managed COBOL I tried the following when the form loads:

set self::System.Windows.Forms.SendKey("INSERT")

I also tried the same code for the control as follows:

set rchTextBox1::KeyUp to type System.Windows.Forms.SendKey("INSERT")

Neither code compiles as they give me errors.

Excel - Adding another csv file as a new worksheet in an already open or existing workbook

BeckyG — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 14:15:02 GMT

I already found the example here on how to open a csv file into a new excel workbook. I did all the formatting I needed and now I need to add(import) another csv file into the same excel workbook, but on a different (new) sheet. I can't figure out how to do it.

Here is the code I found here for the first worksheet. It works.

set ExcelObject to new type Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application
set ExcelObject::Visible to true
set WorkBooksCollection to ExcelObject::Workbooks

*> Open File
set Workbook to WorkBooksCollection::Open(
WS-CSVFILE,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
2,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
",",
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing,
type Type::Missing)
set Worksheets to Workbook::Worksheets
set Worksheet to Worksheets[ws-wkst-name] as type _Worksheet.

*> (did all my formatting here)

*> save
invoke WorkSheet::SaveAs(WS-XLSFILE, type XlFileFormat::xlExcel7 , type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing
type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing, type Type::Missing)

Thank You!

Error loading cblxecwm.exe

sebastian_braun — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:38:26 GMT

Hi together,

we migrated our project from NetExpress to Visual Studio. While debugging our solution, we're now getting this error message:

An unhandled exception ('COBOL runtime error code: 173') occured in cblxecwm.exe [13572].

Can anyone help us, to find a solution for this problem?

Reporting Bugs

cobol_ahmed — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 04:29:55 GMT

Where do I report bugs and such? I am using Visual COBOL for Eclipse and I think I found a bug related to files formatting when the "format on save" option is enabled. If you save and there is nothing to format, i.e. the file is conforming to the format settings then it will report a NullPointerException

Mainframe Access

cobol_ahmed — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 04:53:51 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to get back into COBOL and Mainframes -- for those who knows me, I am alive, and I am back! -- , it's been a while since I used Visual COBOL, I remember a few years back there was an Enterprise Edition/Suite that came with a lot of tools that would run CICS, connect to mainframe, a 3270 emulator, etc.

What's the lay of the land today? and has there been any significant updates to the OO side of COBOL? Does MF COBOL support the most recent updates in the COBOL compiler, and new Syntax for JSON, Message Queues etc.

Thanks

Multiple Versions of COBOL Developer on same laptop?

ChrisM2 — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 20:37:21 GMT

We have several clients that we support and they are all currently running COBOL Server 2.2.

One of them is upgrading their server to Windows Server 2019 and I need to upgrade them to COBOL Server 5.0.

I can't install Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2017 (5.0) on my development laptop unless I uninstall 2.2 first. BUT.... I still need to support my clients that will remain on 2.2.

We will eventually be upgrading all clients to 5.0, but I need to support both versions for the time being... how do I accomplish this?

We only run native code compiled to INTs. We do not run any managed code.

Setting Cursor Position in Masked Field WinForm

Alex_Castro — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 15:34:45 GMT

I have a masked amount field in Windows Form as follows:

“9999999.99” (_______.__) which would look like:

1234567.89

When I launch the form, the cursor starts on the first position on the left which would be the number 1. I would like the cursor’s position to start on the first position on the right where the 9 is. It would be easier for the user to start typing from right to left as the amount field is more likely to be in 100’s position (e.g. $567.89). If the cursor’s position starts on the left, the user is forced to use the arrow key to get to the 100’s position (where the number 5 begins). I have tried the following:

set maskedTextBox1::SelectionStart to 8.

But this does not work as the “SelectionStart” keeps defaulting to 0. Manipulating the cursor position in C# is as follows:

Cursor.Position = new Point(Cursor.Position.X - 50, Cursor.Position.Y - 50);

I tried a similar command as follows:

set maskedTextBox1::Cursor to new System.Drawing.Point(50, 50).

This command however does not compile.

COBOLClass sample project not working

truepete — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 20:22:39 GMT

I just installed Visual Cobol for Visual Studio Personal Edition and am using it with MS Visual Studio Community 2019 (v16.2.3). The first thing I did was download and start going through the COBOLClass_Studio.pdf from the MF website to learn how to use this version of COBOL. On page 22, it instructs me to "Open the solution 02_01_Division_Example.sln from the folder:
C:\COBOLClass\Projects\02_01_Division_Example". However, when I do this, the Solution Explorer window shows "02_01_Division_Example (incompatible)" and below that it says "The application is not installed". I'm unable to continue with the instructions in the pdf. I also tried one of the other example projects provided with the same results. Is there an installation problem? How do I resolve this?

Align Text in WinForm

Alex_Castro — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 14:12:27 GMT

I am trying to align the text in a text box to the right. I realize I can just set the text align property to the right on the form but I want to be able to do this in my code. The C# command is

textBox1.TextAlign = HorizontalAlignment.Right;

I have tried the following:

set txt-TOTAL-BALANCE::TextAlign to new type System.Windows.Forms.HorizontalAlignment

But this does not specify left, center or right. I have also tried

set txt-TOTAL-BALANCE::TextAlign to new type System.Windows.Forms.TextBox, TextAlign(Right)

But this code is incorrect and will not compile.

Formatting Numeric Data from Text Boxes WinForm

Alex_Castro — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 19:54:10 GMT

I spend three days trying to solve this last week and was unsuccessful. I currently have a Windows Form text box in which the user types the numbers 123456789. I want to move that data into a numeric field with the value of: 1234567.89 where the last two numbers are to be placed to the right of the decimal point. What I have is the following:

working-storage section.

01 TOTAL-BALANCE 9(7)V99.

method-id txt-TOTAL-BALANCE_Text_Changed final private.
procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.EventArgs.

set TOTAL-BALANCE to binary-double unsigned::Parse(txt-TOTAL-BALANCE::Text)

end method.

The above command, however, gives me a TOTAL-BALANCE with a value of 123456789.00. I have tried a couple of ways of getting the last two digits in the decimal places but I cannot seem to be successful. I was reading a similar thread located at :https://community.microfocus.com/t5/Visual-COBOL-Forum/Formatting-numeric-data-items/m-p/1731883.

I tried some of the suggestion in this thread but could not get my code to compile. What I basically want to do is to convert a string to a numeric decimal. Is there an easier way to do this?

Timing Out a Windows Form in Managed COBOL

Alex_Castro — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 19:17:52 GMT

I posed a similar question a few months back but I did not get the responds that I was looking. Is there a way to implement a timeout feature in WinForm? What I am trying to accomplish is to display a form for about 5 seconds and then have the form close by itself without user intervention so that it may continue running the program. I read an articles at the following address: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/719cb7c9-afad-4d88-968d-2be7b4da0e39/how-to-implement-a-timeout-feature-in-windows-forms?forum=winforms

But it pertains to C#. Any ideas on how to achieve this in managed COBOL? I tried doing the following in the ‘Activate’ event of my form:

method-id TPS0021J_Activated final private.

procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.EventArgs.

invoke type System.Threading.Thread::Sleep(3000)

invoke self::Close()

This block of code gets executed whenever the form is activated. This works if I ‘Step Into’ the program but it doesn’t work if I run it without any break points. If I can get this block of code to work when I run the program without breakpoints then it will solve my problem.

Can I put a variable value in a dialogue system list box?

frand1 — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 17:12:55 GMT

We are still using dialogue system screens for the most part.

I have a screen with a list of reasons users can select, but they want to be able to insert variables into some of the reasons: For example, on reason three, user would want to fill in the nnnnn to indicate the cost of painting the house. Can this be done with a list box?

------------------------------------------------------------------

The house was green

The house was red

The house was yellow and cost nnnnn to paint.

The house was white

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Lost rows with large(ish) TEXT item

allanm1 — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 10:46:29 GMT

I'm using COBOL via Visual COBOL 2013 4.0 to access a MySQL Community 8.0 database. MySQL for Visual Studio 1.2.8, using OpenESQL to connect, Managed COBOL.

The core of my database is a 3-record hierarchy, joined by indexes, the bottom table of which holds variable-length line data, defined as TEXT. My maximum text line is 7060 bytes. I have an application that processes lines of any length perfectly happily through this structure, generating a converted output that clearly 'sees' and processes every byte in every row. However, a parallel process that dumps out the raw data for comparison is losing rows from the cursor where the TEXT length in the row is greater than 1024 bytes.

select (...)
,left(prop_line,1024) **********
from program_node pnode
inner join element ele on ele.ele_id = pnode.ele_id
inner join property prop on prop.ele_id = ele.ele_id
inner join property_line pline on pline.ele_id = prop.ele_id and pline.prop_id = prop.prop_id
where program_name = :ws-program-name
order by hierarchy_id,prop.prop_id,prop_line_seq

***** without this 'left', or when changing the 'left' count to 1025 or greater, rows of length > 1024 are completely omitted, with no sqlcode or other indication of an issue.

All the joins and sequences are indexed.

The only solution I have been able to find is to split the query into parts which I knew worked elsewhere, ie get the first 2/3 tables in an outer cursor, and have a simple cursor on the lowest level(s) for each row from the first.

The behaviour suggests there might be a size limit on an intermediate record, such as sortwork, although I tried removing the 'Order By', which removed a filesort according to 'explain', and this made no difference.

C/S Binding aplication migration

petr — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 13:03:25 GMT

Hello, can you help me with the following problem? We have an old client / server application using C / S Binding technology (client=Windows, server=linux or windows). We use Net Express and Server Express for development. Now we want to migrate to the Visual Cobol 5.0.
What tools do you recommend? Is Visual Cobol Development Hub 5.0 a standalone product or I need to have a Visual Cobol 5.0 for Visual Studio 2017 or for Eclips? Is C/S Binding technology a part of mentioned products? If not, is it available for free download or is it necessary to buy it?

Thank you for your answers, Petr

How to migrate client/server binding application to the visual cobol 5

petr — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 12:59:49 GMT

Thank you for your answers, Petr

Exit WinForm Without Closing Form

Alex_Castro — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 21:45:39 GMT

Is there a way to exit a form and continue with the program without closing the form? It seems that the only way to continue with my program is to close the form. My program calls the form as follows:

INVOKE TestForm::ShowDialog.

Continue Program

In my form, I have the following code in order to exit the form and continue with the program:

if e::KeyCode = type Keys::End

invoke self::Close

end-if.

But I wish for the form to remain visible(not closed) and continue with my program. I tried :

if e::KeyCode = type Keys::End

invoke self::goback

end-if.

But this command just goes back to the form and not the program.

Visual COBOL 5.0 Release Notes - FYI, certain links not currently working

Austin1 — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 20:57:14 GMT

This is obviously not a significant issue, but simply to advise you that certain links in the Visual COBOL 5.0 Release Notes are not currently working. In the passage(s) (may be more than one passage):

"See this information on the Product Documentation pages on Micro Focus SupportLine, in the product help for Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2017 (click here) or Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2019 (click here)."

... the "click here" links are not currently working.

This is not to say that I have tested all the links and all the others are working, but simply to let you know about these two.

Thanks,

Austin

When 64-bit COBOL dll called from Smalltalk application, getting "Cannot access in DLL" Er

Rahul KK — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:39:15 GMT

Installed Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2019 on Windows Server 2012. I have created a project and loaded my COBOL program which has PROCEDURE DIVISION USING parameters. These parameters were declared in Linkage Section. I have set the Configuration as "Release" and Platform as "x64". I want to generate a 64-bit dll which will be accessed by Smalltalk application in 64-bit environment. We had a 32-bit dll from same COBOL program which is working fine with 32-bit Smalltalk application. Could someone help?

Regards,

Rahul KK

Visual COBOL PE/Visual Studio CE freezing

PaoloR — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 02:30:53 GMT

Using the 2019 versions of the above, I have a problem. I have a project (MAIN program calling several SUB progs (.dlls)). Last week it was working as designed.

Today 2 things are happening. If I Start without Debugging the program completely ignores MAIN prog and the required SUB.dll and runs another .dll (which is just a stub since not yet completely programmed.)

If I set a breakpoint in MAIN prog at the initial PERFORM (i.e. to select which function is required) the program stops correctly. When I hit F11 to step through the program freezes and I have to use Task Manager to exit VC/VS.

I have made no changes to the application so I cannot understand why this is happening. Expert help required 🤔

Thanks.

Detecting Numeric keys in WinForms

Alex_Castro — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 20:48:22 GMT

What is the command to detect if the key that was pressed was numeric (e.g. 0 – 9) on a Windows Form? Or conversely, if the key that was pressed was NOT numeric? In C# the command is something like:

if (!char.IsControl(e.KeyChar) && !char.IsDigit(e.KeyChar)

gnt build on win 2012 and deployed on win 2016

mf_galberico1 — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 11:45:57 GMT

If I compile cobol programs in gnt format on windows server 2012 can I deploy this gnt in Cobol Server on Windows 2016?

thanks

bye

Is there a trial version of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2017?

Chris Mohrbacher — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 20:53:12 GMT

The links eventually guide me to download vcvs2019_50.exe but it demains VS 2019 which I do not have.

Side-by-side versions possible on same development and production machine?

Austin1 — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:41:26 GMT

I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but for the record ...

My understanding is that Microsoft allows different versions of Visual Studio (for example VS 2013 and VS 2019) to coexist "side-by-side" on the same development PC. And even different versions of .Net to coexist on the same server.

My question(s):

1) Does Micro Focus allow different versions of Visual COBOL to coexist on the same development PC?

2) And different versions of COBOL Server to coexist on the same hardware server or same virtual server?

Thanks

Detecting Caps Lock and other Function Keys in WinForm

Alex_Castro — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 13:27:57 GMT

Is there a command to detect whether the Caps lock, Num lock, or the Insert key are on in managed COBOL? The command in C# is something like:

if (Control.IsKeyLocked(Keys.CapsLock))

do something

end if.

The following command in managed COBOL only detect whether the keys were pressed but does not detect whether the caps lock is on:

if e::KeyCode = type Keys::CapsLock

do something

end-if.

Installing COBOL Server CS_23 on Windows Server 2019

ChrisM2 — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 15:38:44 GMT

We will be upgrading to a new server running Windows Server 2019, will there be any issue installing CS_23 on the new server?

Thanks!

Can't install PE 5.0

wcmundy — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 19:52:14 GMT

I uninstalled my PE 4.0 via the Control panel.

When I execute VCE_50.exe it immediately gives me an error:0x81f40001 Visual Cobol 2.3 must be uninstalled before V5 can be installed.

I haven't had 2.3 in years.

Please provide assistance.

Thank you,

Warren Mundy

How to inherits from an existing windows form in Visual Cobol

chihangwong — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 15:37:18 GMT

I would like to create a base windows form with functionalities that all application forms needed and then inherits from it. This is available from VB or C# (in design mode) but I am not able to figure out how to do it in Visual Cobol so I can use the inherited form in design mode. Can someone help? Thanks!

How to change DateTime time format to military time format (Visual Cobol)?

frand1 — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 15:17:00 GMT

In a managed COBOL program, I am using DateTime to insert time stamps, but I don't want the time format of HH:MM:SS AM; I want it in military time format with no AM or PM. I have not been able to find out how to do this on the site.

Older attachments from the forum and/or other locations will not download

Austin1 — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 19:26:15 GMT

The following article:

https://community.microfocus.com/t5/Visual-COBOL-Knowledge-Base/Visual-COBOL-for-Visual-Studio-Getting-Started-with-Solutions/ta-p/1755670

has an attachment which will not download. When I click on the download link, I get the following message:

Masking Controls in Windows Form

Alex_Castro — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 15:09:15 GMT

I am trying to display a label control with the date field 07/23/19 but I instead get 72319 (I do not want the use to pick a date just simply to display a date to the user). I believe there is a way to mask controls in windows form in order to get date fields and phone numbers but I am unsure as to the specific syntax for achieving this. I have attempted the following:

set lbl-DATE::Text type MaskedTextBox::

This line of code, however, is either incorrect or incomplete.

CALLing sub-program error

PaoloR — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 01:42:21 GMT

I'm trying to develop a project where a main program (say MAINCBL) accepts options and then CALLs sub programs. I created a MAINCBL solution and then added SUBPROG to the solution.

MAINCBL works fine but when I call SUBPROG I get an error message: 'Called program file not found in drive/directory: SUBPROG'. Both MAINCBL.EXE and SUBPROG.EXE are in my \bin\x86\Debug directory so I'm at a loss to know what's wrong.

I changed the Application properties to Output to: Multiple Executables (not sure if this correct so please correct me if not.)

Thanks

Getting an exception when adding an icon to form

chihangwong — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 14:21:45 GMT

When I add an icon to a form in managed cobol. I'm getting a MissingManifestResourceException exception. It said 'Could not find any resources appropriate for the specified culture or the neutral culture. Make sure "AppForm.resources" was correctly embedded or linked into assemblies required are loadable and fully signed.'. Not sure how to embed or link the icon resource into the assemblies and make it loadable. Can someone help? Thanks!

Sammy

String to binary-doubled

Alex_Castro — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 22:15:44 GMT

I have declared in the working storage of my Windows form a numeric variable as follows:

01 tmp-Num pic 9(10)

I am trying to move the text from a text control to a numeric field variable a follows:

Set tmp-Num to txt_CLNT-NAME-SELECT::Text.

But I received a “cannot implicitly convert string to binary-doubled unsigned”. I type a 10 numeric digit in the txt_CLNT-NAME-SELECT but my form, it seems, is defining it as alphabetic characters. I only want numeric fields to be typed into the txt_CLNT-NAME-SELECT::Text because I need to do calculation with it.

RunUnit recommended approach with wrapper

DCM — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 08:32:09 GMT

Hi,

I have completed a proof of concept task involving building Procedural COBOL as managed code and creating a COBOLjvm wrapper that binds/unbinds the DB connection and calls the now managed procedural COBOL.

Having completed a Java test harness to call the wrapper successfully I now want to integrate the wrapper into our Java application and use the RunUnit class as it's a multi-user application deployed on a application server.

Looking at the documentation and forum postings it seems you use either add/getInstance or call methods of RunUnit. The docs mainly refer to using SmartLinkage so any tips to the recommended approach when using a wrapper class would be much appreciated. I had thought of adding the wrapper to the RunUnit.

Index and Arrays

Alex_Castro — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 19:50:40 GMT

I currently have the following array declared in my Windows Form

class-id TPS000.TPS0010DForm is partial

inherits type System.Windows.Forms.Form.

working-storage section.

01 multi-line string property occurs 12.

The index for this array starts as (0) as follows:

(0) = 1st Element

(1) = 2nd Element

(2) = 3rd Element

Etc………

Is there any way of forcing the index to start at 1 so that the elements are stored as follows:

(1) = 1st Element

(2) = 2nd Element

(3)= 3rd Element

Etc…

Initializing the first index to 1 will make my program easier to code and to debug later on.

using OpenESQL with an Oracle ODBC 32-bit DSN

frand1 — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:41:47 GMT

Hi,

We are trying to use OpenESQL with an Oracle ODBC 32-bit DSN in our managed code.

Connecting to the ODBC DSN is working fine in both Visual Studio Server Explorer and ODBC Data Source Administrator (32-bit). However, I am not able to get it working with my managed Cobol program.

What are the steps that need to be done in order to use OpenESQL for an Oracle ODBC DSN connection?

We have been using ProCobol in native code and just started to explore managed code using Winforms. Thanks!

Rebuild.exe

Shirley2 — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 08:04:43 GMT

I am getting a file error status 39 when opening an indexed file.

I need to rebuild the file. Where do I get Rebuild.exe?

Many thanks

Shirley

Function Keys not recognised

PaoloR — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 06:11:41 GMT

I'm not sure whether this should be posted here as it's hardware related. Anyway, I've been experimenting with the use of function keys in native COBOL using examples in MF documentation. However the keys are not recognised by the program. When I input one of the defined keys I get the message: "That keystroke has no meaning here".

I'm using a Dell XPS 15 which has dual-function F keys, and choosing whether to use F Keys as function keys (F1 ... F12) or for their alternative use is decided by holding down a special key on the keyboard. Now this has not worked - I've been into the BIOS and tried the alternatives to try and get it working but to no avail. As I say, it's probably a hardware problem but I wondered if MF had come across this problem and, if so, whether a solution was found.

For info the example I have used is shown in https://supportline.microfocus.com/documentation/books/nx30books/ciadis.htm and section 2.6.5.1.

Thanks for any feedback.

Specifying the X and Y coordinates in Windows Form

Alex_Castro — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 17:35:30 GMT

I am trying to specify the X and Y coordinates on my form and though I realize I can do this on the form’s property’s window, I would like to be able to do this in the program. I have the following code when the form loads:

method-id Form1_Load final private.

procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.EventArgs.

set self::Location::X to '690'.

set self::Location::Y to '255'.

end method.

This does not appear to work and I do not know why. The X and Y coordinates get reverted to some kind of default value. And this happens even if I specify the coordinates in the property’s window.

Creating a 'Sleep' function in Windows Form

Alex_Castro — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 17:49:52 GMT

Is there a way to display a form for about 5 seconds and then return to the program? What I am basically trying to do is to display a background form and then display another form on top of it (I do not wish to hide the background form until the user triggers an event on the second form). I therefore want to invoke the second from within my background form without closing or hiding the background form.

I did this once with a Visual Basic form as follows:

System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.Sleep(5000)

But I do not know if there is anything remotely similar in Managed COBOL.

Full stops not appearing

PaoloR — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 01:45:58 GMT

Some weird behaviour which I cannot fathom.

Given a simple program:

identification division. program-id. environment division. configuration section. data division. working-storage section. 01 function-key-pressed pic 9(4). procedure division. stop run. end program.

As typed in Notepad, all full stops appear. When I input to VC2019, by cut/paste from Notepad, the full stops are not reflected and I get errors - COBCH0143 Unknown IDENTIFICATION DIVISION paragraph .

Strangely if I then cut/paste the code from VC to Notepad the full stops are there. Very strange 🤔

Creating Control Arrays in Windows Form (Managed COBOL)

Alex_Castro — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:09:24 GMT

I have a Windows form with 12 label controls which I want to populate with information I have stored in an Array. What I have currently is the following:

method-id TPS0010DForm_Load final private.

procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.EventArgs.

set lbl1::Text to LineArray(1)

set lbl2::Text to LineArray(2)

set lbl3::Text to LineArray(3)

goback.

end method.

I suspect that a better way to do this would be roughly as follows:

method-id TPS0010DForm_Load final private.

procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.EventArgs.

perform varying the-index from 1 by 1

until the-index > 12

set lbl(array-item)::Text to LineArray(the-index)

compute the-index = the-index + 1

end-perform

goback.

end method.

But I do not know how to make my labels into an array (set lbl(array-item)::Text). I have another screen that has about 100 labels and so I would not want to write 100 lines just to move information from an array into each label. I want to do it in a loop.

Less than comparison operator Issue in Visual COBOL

Senthil4 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 11:07:22 GMT

In Visual COBOL for eclipse we are facing the below issue

IF (Variable-1 < 0) OR
(Variable-2 < 0) OR
(Variable-3 < 0)
GO TO 500-FINALIZE.

The PIC clause and value for the 3 variables are as below.

Variable-1 (S9(005)V99)- 0000000+
Variable-2 (S9(005)V99)- 0000000+
Variable-3 (S9(005)V9(6)) - 00000000000+

The above condition is set to true but actually, it is not.

When we try SIGN-FIXUP compiler option it is working fine. Whether any other alternate solution is there for this issue?

Add watch point - VC 2019

PaoloR — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 04:08:22 GMT

Silly question really but I can't find a way to add a watch point i.e. see contents of a variable in VC PE. I used to be able to do this in VC PE 2017 but, unless I'm missing something obvious, I'm at a a loss with VC 2019.

Thanks

invoking multiple winforms from visual cobol programs (unmanaged and managed)

frand1 — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:26:48 GMT

I have Program A that calls Form1 (which will only display one table entry). User puts in a search key, presses Search key, and the data is passed to Program B, which looks up the entry and returns that to Form 1.

User may then press List button. Control goes to Program B, which will then call Program C. Program C reads through the database and fills an array with appropriate records, then attempts to invoke Form2 (list screen using data grid view). However, it stops at 'invoke Form2 "NEW" returning anotherInstance' (I have to stop debug to end program). Form1 remains where it is, and Form 2 never displays. Not sure how to fix this...

Program A -> Form1

Form1 -> user presses Search button -> ProgramB

ProgramB gets data, returns it to Form1

Form1 -> User presses History buttonto get list of all records with the record key -> ProgramB

ProgramB -> ProgramC builds array with data and invokes Form2

ProgramC remains on line that attempts to instantiate the object, Form1 remains and Form2 does not appear (not surprising, as object is never instantiated).

Passing Parameters in Visual COBOL (Managed COBOL)

Alex_Castro — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 19:50:11 GMT

I am trying to pass a parameters from a Windows Form program to a regular program. For example. I have a TestForm.cbl which pertains to a form and looks roughly as follows in the solution explorer:

TestForm.cb

TestForm.resx

TestForm.Designer.cbl

This form is invoked by a regular program (program named is tps000.cbl) as follows:

set TestForm to new TPSSTART.TestForm()

invoke type System.Windows.Forms.Application::EnableVisualStyles()

invoke Testform::ShowDialog.

After the form is displayed, I want to be able to return a parameter or parameters back to tps000.cbl after the user has clicked on event/object on the form. For example, in the TestForm.cbl I have the following code:

method-id TestForm_FormClosing final private.

procedure division using by value sender as object e as type System.Windows.Forms.FormClosingEventArgs.

IF ENTER-FLAG = 0

goback returning ENTER-FLAG

END-IF.

end method.

The above code of returning an enter flag obviously does not work because that is not the way to pass parameters. I want to know how to pass parameters between form programs and non-form programs.

visual cobol for eclipse build without directory name

rva99 — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 12:30:53 GMT

I am running visual cobol for eclipse 4.7 . When compiling programs with directories for example P1L/S25/A950/EXTRACT.cbl --> the build is successfully done but the building object does not keep the same directory name as the source and is put in the the build library with the name EXTRACT in stead of the whole directory name P1L/S25/A950/EXTRACT . Does anybody knows how to solve this issue?

Cannot uninstall visual cobol 2017

weaverdj — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 12:00:02 GMT

Please see logfile

Visual COBOL numeric variables issue

Senthil4 — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 12:46:56 GMT

We recently moved from MF COBOL to Visual COBOL(Eclipse). When we were doing testing between MF COBOL and Visual COBOL we identified few differences in the extracts which are generated. In numeric variables the trailing zeros are missing in visual cobol

eg:

MF COBOL: 9848300

Visual COBOL: 98483

Whether i need to change any compiler option, so that this issue will be solved?

PDFCreator in Visual Cobol

jfdubirl — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 17:47:38 GMT

Hi all,

Hope you are having a good summer.

I'm still a newbie when it comes to COM objects in Visual Cobol but I was hoping someone might be able to help me with calling PDFCreator. I am unsure if I am adding it correctly as a Reference but the program code isn't giving any error. Various .Net messages are popping up when I run the code, which hint at being unable to find PDFCreator or, more specifically, its various .dlls.

I have the ComWrapper in the class-id section plus some entries in $set -- maybe they aren't right though. I'm honestly all at sea as to how to get it to work.

I can't seem to log in to the forum via any browser at work (but can view posts) so am using my home PC to post this message. I'll try write more specific details tomorrow evening but if anyone has used PDFCreator from Visual Cobol before I'd appreciate if you could help. Thank you!

John

Printing jpg from unmanaged/native code

ChrisM2 — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 15:16:28 GMT

I have an old unmanaged/native application where I need to print a jpg image of a signature. Is there a way to print the image in native code?

Update version in SupportLine database

DMonnot — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:14:22 GMT

Does anybody know how to update the versions of your licensed products in your Product Profile in SupportLine? We are running v4 but our Product Profile still says 2.3.

Get Windows Form location

Alex_Castro — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 20:10:29 GMT

I am trying obtain the location for the coordinates of my windows form in the program so that I may pass these coordinates to the next form. I want to be able to show a form in the same position as my previous form. Doing this in C# is something like public System.Drawing.Point Location { get; set; }. But I simply do not know that the commands are in Visual Cobol. Thanks in advance for your help.

Visual Studio 2019

PaoloR — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 02:36:15 GMT

I've just installed VS 2019 Community Edition and, of course, my current version of Visual COBOL PE will not work with this VS version. When will a VS 2019-capable version of VC PE be available?

Thanks

Visual COBOL Eclipse - COBOL JVM Project build

DCM — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 11:30:35 GMT

Hi,

I'm running VC 4.0 with the latest patch and Eclipse 4.8 and have issues compiling/building the COBOL JVM project relating to copybook includes within the managed COBOL& wrapper classes which was converted from Native.

If I create a new COBOL JVM project and select - import/import/File System and select the svn project to import into my workspace within Eclipse this physically copies all the relevant files and I can compile & build successfully.

However if I select Advanced/Create links in workspace from the import wizard I get compile errors and build issues.

I keep the create link locations to the default environment variable 'PROJECT_LOC' and all looks okay as the jvm packages/managed code is imported but I get 'COBCH0008S Unknown copybook' errors with the COPY statement even after I have assigned the copybook package within project properties.

If I re-import the copybooks it seems to fix the issue, however it reappears after closing & opening Eclipse.

This is not an issue if I don't select the create link option.

Also have issue when trying to clean/build project which seems to compile but get the message 'No COBOL JVM modules to build and the bin directory is empty.

Again this does not happen if I don't select the create link option.

Ideally I would prefer not to physically import the code into Eclipse so any suggestions as to what I need to check would be much appreciated.

Listing Cobol Records

Shirley2 — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 10:21:28 GMT

I need to list records from an isam file (not datasource) when 'LIST' is selected on the Navbar.

Once listed it needs to be responsive so that a record can be selected.

Do I use Datagrid, ListView or DataView?

Examples would be very helpful.

Many thanks

gui interface

Shirley2 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 07:08:03 GMT

Can anyone recommend which is the best framework to use for building a website with Visual Cobol.

So far I've looked at Bootstrap but would welcome any other suggestions.

Many thanks

Shirley

Available Pro*COBOL precompiler options

Jens Forsberg — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 05:28:39 GMT

I have an INT/GNT project in Visual COBOL / Visual Studio. If I choose the "Oracle Pro*COBOL" preprocessor in the SQL tab in Project Properties and then click on the Add button, I notice that the options available are not the same as the options presented in the "Pro*COBOL Programmer's Guide 11g Release 2" (https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/appdev.112/e10826/title.htm). The CONFIG and SQLCHECK options e.g. are not avaible in Visual Studio.

But if I enter these two options directly in the cblproj file they will be accepted by the compiler. And if I right-click on the project in Solution Explorer and choose "Determine directives", the SQLCHECK option will be added.

What is the logic behind this?

Upgrading from Oracle 11g to Oracle 12c

Jens Forsberg — Thu, 30 May 2019 15:38:37 GMT

I'm using mainly the INT/GNT project type in Visual COBOL and I'm planning to upgrade from Oracle 11g to Oracle 12c. But since INT/GNT requires the 32-bit Pro*COBOL compiler and the only 32-bit edition among the 12c editions is the Client Edition, I'm planning to install the 64-bit Standard Edition (including the database) and the 32-bit Client Edition (including Pro*COBOL).

What do you think of that?

Am I wrong in that INT/GNT requires 32-bit Pro*COBOL?

debug visual cobol copy statement with directory path not found

rva99 — Thu, 23 May 2019 09:23:53 GMT

I am using micro focus visual cobol 4.7 ; when using a program with a copy statement with a directory path (for example copy "P1K/ENDDATE/date.cpy" ) the debugger does not open this copy in de debugger mode when arriving at the copy statement . If I use a copy statement with no directory path (for example copy "convert.cpy") the debugger opens the copy perfectly. However the program is correctly compiled with no errors. What could cause this problem of not finding copy with directory path?,

external stored procedure in cobol for db2 luw

PeterI_vfb — Thu, 23 May 2019 09:16:12 GMT

Is it possible to create external stored procedures in DB2 LUW-environment using Visual COBOL?

We are running SQL Procedures in our current setup but there is a demand for creating External Stored Procdures using Cobol. Mostly because Cobol is common knowledge where I work.

I have done this before but that was in a zOS environment using a WorkLoadManager.

Now I need it for Linux and DB2 LUW.

From what I have read there are certain database auth you need and I have granted this.

As default the load modules should be placed in /sqllib/function-directory of the database server. I have some issues putting load modules in the right directory but before I solve that it would be nice to know if anyone have succeeded in writing stored procedures in Cobol for a DB2 Linux environment.

If there are documentation that I didn't manage to find, please point the direction, but info from someone who actually did it is even better.

regards

Peter

Execute Cobol Code in C# Applications

sebastian_braun — Wed, 22 May 2019 08:32:03 GMT

Hi together,

I'm trying to make a new C# Application and execute existing Cobol Code. My problem now is:

If i create a Cobol solution in Visual Studio and

set the Output type to "Link Library", i can compile it to a .dll file, but couldn't add this file as a reference in my C# solution.
- Error: Make sure that the file is accessible and is a valid Assembly or COM-Component
- set the Output type to "Class Library", i get lot of Errors. For example:
- Error: COBCH0860 Object references must be specified at 01 level ...
- Unknwown types; Redefines on incorrect field; Not a data name ...

Does anyone know how i can compile existing code files and import it to my new Application or fix my Problems above?

Project properties and directives

Jens Forsberg — Wed, 22 May 2019 06:02:35 GMT

I'm new to Visual COBOL and trying to figure out how to use (1) Project Properties, (2) Tools / Options / Micro Focus / Directives, (3) the $SET command and (4) the Application.Config file correctly.

The only project type I'm working with is INT/GNT. I use Visual Studio 2017 on Windows as IDE. I use Oracle's Pro*COBOL precompiler.

Here are some of my questions and thoughts.

1) By default VC seems to read the pcbcfg.cfg file in the [oracle]/precomp/admin. If I would like to have different cfg files for different situations, where do I put the directive to point to the cfg file I want to use?

2) In Project Properties - Application there is an Environment button. If you click on that you can enter differents settings. When do you want to do this and when will they be used?

3) In Project Properties - SQL there is an Add button for adding directives for the chosen preprocessor. But there is a textbox for "additional directives" as well. What is the difference?

4) In Project Properties - COBOL there is a textbox for "additional directives". When are you supposed to use this? In the same tab there is an "Advanced" button where you can enter copybook paths. What's the reason for this option when you already have the Copybooks tab?

5) When do you use the Application.Config file?

6) If you have multiple projects, is it then necessary to have one Application.Config file for each project or is it possible to have a common file? Or, in this case, should you put your common entries in Project Properties (if that is possible)?

7) When are you supposed to use Tools / Options / Micro Focus / Directives?

😎 There doesn't seem to be a way to add the P(CP) directive somewhere. Anyway, when I use the Determine Directives it gets added to the cblproj file. Is this the correct way to add the P(CP) directive?

9) Are you supposed to use the Windows environment variables as well? If so, when?

I have looked in Microsoft Help Viewer, but although there is a lot of information about this I can't find the answers to the questions above.

Project-to-project in an INT/GNT project

Jens Forsberg — Wed, 22 May 2019 05:08:18 GMT

I've seen in this forum it should be possible to have multiple projects in one solution and to merge these projects into one single output INT or GNT file. I think I saw the term "project-to-project" somewhere.

Does anyone know how to achieve this? I have a solution with four INT/GNT projects which I would like to merge into one single output file.

PREXML and PROCOB in same project

Jens Forsberg — Tue, 21 May 2019 11:22:58 GMT

I have a project where there are embedded SQL and XML as well. When I add "$set preprocess(prexml) endp" at the top of the cbl file or add the Micro Focus XML Preprocessor in Project Properties - Preprocessors and make a rebuild, the build process seems to get hanged. The Output window keeps adding these lines until I cancel the build process:

------ Rebuild All started: Project: IntGntProject1, Configuration: Debug x86 ------

* Cobsql Integrated Preprocessor
* Compiling c:\jens\visualcobol\IntGntProject1\IntGntProject1\K2281.cbl
* CSQL-I-008: Invoking CP Preprocessor
Micro Focus Embedded XML/HTML Preprocessor
Version a.b.cc Copyright (C) Micro Focus 1984-2018. All rights reserved.
Micro Focus Embedded XML/HTML Preprocessor
Version a.b.cc Copyright (C) Micro Focus 1984-2018. All rights reserved. ...

Anyone has an idea what's wrong?

Where is the "wish list" for Visual COBOL?

hleerobinson — Tue, 07 May 2019 21:43:38 GMT

Where can I find the "wish list" or "feature request list" for Visual COBOL? You, the place where people can describe a feature they would like to see and then other Visual COBOL users vote on whether they would also like to see it?

One that I would like to see is the Application.config file working the way it does with Managed code and all of the other IDE's in Visual Studio, instead of whatever it is that is there now. It would be nice to have a config file that actually works as a config file, providing information to the program that is not available at compile time, "late binding" and can be transformed like the app.config in Managed code.

Remote Debug a Core Dump VC 4.0 Eclipse/Windows

StompinBob — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 19:09:23 GMT

Can I connect to a dump file on a remote server and use .IDY files on that server (or another server) to remotely debug a core dump file using VC 4.0 Eclipse running on Windows?

Native Mode Config file made easy

hleerobinson — Thu, 09 May 2019 00:14:17 GMT

I was hoping for a way to provide configuration information without having to write my own subroutine to read a CONFIG or INI file. I did find something close, the Run-time Launch Configuration File. (while searching, I did find something called "Run-time Configuration" but it could only be set at compile-time, go figure!).

The mfdefault.exe.mfcfg (thanks for the correction, Chris Glazier) file can contain commands to set environment variables during the time the programs run. These environment varables can be easily read in the program using a DISPLAY/ACCEPT pair of commands. Individual files, <program name>.exe.mfcfg files, can be created and customized for an individual program. The syntax for the command in to the mfconfig file is "SETENV <variable name>=<variable value>" The quotes and "<>" marks are not part of the command.

Visual COBOL 4.0 Eclipse Windows Incremental Build with ant

StompinBob — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:55:38 GMT

We're working with a large native procedural COBOL code base and have automated the build with Bamboo and ant. On our build server, we only want to compile programs that have been changed since the last buld (all source is pulled from Git for the build). Are incremental builds possible in this scenario? Can someone provide more detail be provided about how VC Eclipse tracks changes and copybook dependencies when building incrementally.

Name is not unique (RTS119) calling when calling webservice twice

Herbkoeg — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 07:10:13 GMT

I am using VC40 and try to call a cobol programm named PROGRAM1 within a Soap-Webservice using Wildfly 10:

@WebService
public class SoapDemo {

@WebMethod
public Integer doLvdcWith1(boolean print) {

PROGRAM1 program1 = new PROGRAM1();
Copy1 copy1 = new Copy1();

copy1.setEDatum("20190101");
program1.PROGRAM1(copy1);

System.err.println(copy1.getADatum());

return 1;
}
}

Calling the webservice the first time, everything is perfect.

But calling it another time, the call doesn't work:

com.microfocus.cobol.program.COBOLRuntimeException: 119 Name is not unique [de.herbert.PROGRAM1]

I think I found a reason for the crash, but unfortunately no solution:

https://community.microfocus.com/t5/Net-Express-Server-Express/RTS-119-Name-is-not-unique/ta-p/1751427

How to automatic create Unit Test case for all of procedures in Cobol program

hungncv — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 10:22:24 GMT

I using Visual Cobol IDE to generate Cobol Unit Test case for each cobol program in my project, base on guide : https://www.microfocus.com/documentation/visual-cobol/VC40/EclUNIX/GUID-D5F12D24-BB4D-4CC4-920B-0A4DE99E1F29.html

But, I see that it only generate one case for each program

Ex : with 'XXX.cbl' file which has 2 procedures are PROCEDURE1, PROCEDURE2,..., it only generate in XXXTest.cbl (test case file) such as :

call "XXX" using by reference LINK-AREA-IO-01,

Instead of,

call "PROCEDURE1" using by reference LINK-AREA-IO-01,

.....

call "PROCEDURE2" using by reference LINK-AREA-IO-02,

Visual Cobol IDE can support to generate same that or I have to self write by hand ?

WINDOWing syntax

PaoloR — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 02:54:04 GMT

Using Visual Studio 2017 and Visual COBOL 4.

I'm experimenting with the windowing syntax based on AcuCOBOL-GT which is supposedly supported in Visual COBOL. I placed the $SET preprocess"window1" directive as in the MF documentation and added a simple DISPLAY WINDOW statement to the Procedure Division..

Visual COBOL gives me an error 'COBCH0053 Directive PREPROCESS invalid or not allowed here'.

So how do I get to use windowing syntax?

Thanks.

Using Visual Cobol IDE to run Cobol program in Windows, same as in Mainframe

hungncv — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 04:11:12 GMT

When I using Visual Cobol IDE to run Cobol program in Windows, program 'll run same as in Mainframe or not ?
If not, please show me how to Cobol program run same as in Mainframe ?

passing data between web forms

Shirley2 — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 09:14:16 GMT

I get the following message when the second form is called

Session state can only be used when enableSessionState is set to true, either in a configuration file or in the Page directive. Please also make sure that System.Web.SessionStateModule or a custom session state module is included in the <configuration>\<system.web>\<httpModules> section in the application configuration.

enableSessionState is set to true in both form1 and form2

I have the following code in my Web.config

<system.webServer>
<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true" >
<remove name="Session" />
<add name="Session" type="System.Web.SessionState.SessionStateModule" />

And the following code in the second form

class-id SalarySurveyWebApplication.WebFormCSE110 is partial
inherits type System.Web.UI.Page public implements type
System.Web.SessionState.IRequiresSessionState.

* $ilusing "System.Web"
* $ilusing "System"
working-storage section.

method-id NEW.
procedure division.

if (Session["TESTVAR"] not = null)
set txtComp::Text to Session["TESTVAR"]
end-if

The error occurs on the red line

visual cobol db2 connect

cloud — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:53:26 GMT

I'm tyring to connect to AS/400 db2 and compile COBOL DB2 programs, but I cannot find any anwser by google or your community(the link in the related quesitons' anwser all displayed "The current document displayed does not exist in the table of contents" after clicking it), can you please help?

Send a tcp request to a identification document scanner

Ferraz — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 13:57:46 GMT

Hi,

I have to communicate with an ID document scanner to get the data that will be read by it. I have to send a request with certain parameters and receive the data through an xml file.

The parameters to send are the ones below

I have an example in C # and, according to the debug I did, it seems to me that the instructions for the request are these:

System.Threading.Thread workingThread = new Thread(ScanWork);
workingThread.Start(parameters);

I still can not figure out how I get the answer but I'll try to figure it out.

In the meantime I ask for your help once more.

Best regards,

Alberto Ferraz

How convert base64 to a jpg file

Ferraz — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 08:47:12 GMT

Hello,

I need to convert a base64 string to a jpg file.

I'm using wpf in Visual Cobol.

Thanks

Alberto Ferraz

How to compile copies not to default package

Herbkoeg — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 10:09:10 GMT

Hi,

we are using VC2.3 and have the problem, that the copies, which are in a Copybook-project are compiled in the default package.
The cobol programs within a Cobol-JVM-Project which are using the copies are compiled in the package which is defined as PROGRAM-ID.
The problem is, that classes of a java project can not use classes of default package, e.g. we can instanciate the programs but not the copies .
Is there a possibility to compile all copies a package mycopies, maybe with an directive ?

Thanks a lot !

I couldn't locate my input when I use select assign to '../../../' in a native cobol project

Melchor Diesta — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 01:32:05 GMT

Good day.

Here's the piece of code that has being going through my head.

*******************************************************************************

file-control.
*
select my-file
assign to '../../../files/myfile.dat'
organization is line sequential.

*******************************************************************************

I keep getting below error:
MicroFocus.COBOL.Program.COBOLFileHandlingException: ''../../../files/myfile.dat' : 9/009 (ANS74)
9 Directory not found'

I wanted to retain '../../../' as part of the directory. Can anyone help me please?

Thanks a million!

JNDI Datasource - Visual COBOL Eclipse 4.0

DCM — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 14:09:00 GMT

Hi,

I have created a JNDI Datasource within a Java Class and want to pass the object to Managed COBOL as my understanding is that you can connect using 'EXEC SQL CONNECT TO Datasource object' according to the documentation.

However when the EXEC SQL CONNECT statement is run I get 'Connection datasource not found' within MFSQLMESSAGETEXT.

If I get the connection object from the datasource within my Java class I can pass the connection object to my COBOL JVM wrapper and connect using 'EXEC SQL BIND'. I have been told that using BIND as in the example within the docs can be slow so wanted to try the JNDI option.

Has anyone used this approach? I have tried using the SQL(JNDI) setting but no joy.

Would be much appreciated if anyone could provide me with some pointers.

Upgrading to Visual COBOL

seggerman — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 14:50:36 GMT

I looked for Chris Glazer's post but couldn't match his location to what the page was showing. The powers that be here at my employer have decided to pony up the dollars for Micro Focus COBOL. I am charge of the upgrade. Our current application, with batch and online portions, is running under NetExpress. The application uses CICS and has a SQL Server backend. Will it still run under Net Express?

How do I find the actual Link error

J McBride — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:03:34 GMT

When Converting a application that generates a .DLL I am getting a very vauge error:

cobol.cfg.Generic_Debug_Build:

nature.specific.build.cfg.Generic_Debug_Build:

post.build.cfg.Generic_Debug_Build:

cobolbuild.cfg.Generic_Debug_Build:

BUILD FAILED
Build finished with 1 errors, 0 warnings, 0 notices and a maximum exit code of 0

Maximum exit code exceeded: 0

Total time: 4 seconds
-------------------------------BUILD FINISHED------------------------------

Is there any way to get an expanded detail on the issue with the link?

Compiler-Error when calling a cobol-program from java using a copy in linkage-section

Herbkoeg — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:49:27 GMT

We have following problem:

- we are using the testversion of VC4.0

- we try to call a cobol program from java

- so we created a JVM-Project with two cobol files

-> program1.cbl and copy1.cpy

- and a Java-Project with

-> CobolCallDemoDefaultPackage.java within a java-Project.

- now we tried to call Program1 with Copy1 as parameter, but we get the following compiler-error:
"The type com.microfocus.cobol.program.Reference cannot be resolved. It is indirectly referenced from required .class files"

public static void main(String[] args) {
PROGRAM1 program1 = new PROGRAM1();
Copy1 copy1 = new Copy1();
copy1.setEDatum("20180101");

program1.PROGRAM1(copy1); <- doesn't work: The type com.microfocus.cobol.program.Reference cannot be resolved. It is indirectly referenced from required .class files

System.out.println(copy1.getADatum());
}

Where is our mistake ?

Thanks for any hint !

login form to call cobol program to validate

Shirley2 — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 12:16:11 GMT

I am writing a web application.

I have a standard login form to enter user number and password. I then need to pass this to a cobol program to validate before returning and continuing.

The login form is called from the Site.Master

Reading settings from the app.config file

hleerobinson — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 00:07:01 GMT

Here is something that took me a while to figure out. I haven't seen any questions about it but I can't be the only one who wants to see the values of the Settings. I was trying to make sure my app.config transforms were working so I put a menu entry on my form under "Help" to show the values of the application settings. All of the posts I found kept telling me to use the DefaultValue setting. Finally, I wised up and first got the name of the setting, then used the name to get the value. "MNU002" is the name of the program. Using this, I could check that the transforms put the right values into the Debug, Test, and Release versions of my app.config, depending on the Solution Configuration in effect when I did my Rebuild.

Of course, just using a Setting is as easy as

declare Setting as type MNU002.Properties.Settings
set Setting to new type MNU002.Properties.Settings
move Setting::AOC_ApplicationsServer to ServerName

But I wanted to show a list to the user.

declare Setting as type MNU002.Properties.Settings
set Setting to new type MNU002.Properties.Settings

move "AppConfig Settings - " & x"0d" & x"0a" to strMsg

perform
varying SettingsProperty as type System.Configuration.SettingsProperty
through Setting::Properties

    move strMsg
        & x"0d" & x"0a"    *> CR LF
       & SettingsProperty::Name
           to strMsg
    move strMsg
        & " = "
        & Setting::Item(SettingsProperty::Name)
            to strMsg

end-perform

invoke type MessageBox::Show(strMsg,"MNU002: Show Config Values")

I thought that, at some point, I would like to change the values in app.config and see them immediately in my program, so I found the Reload method:

declare Setting as type MNU002.Properties.Settings
set Setting to new type MNU002.Properties.Settings
invoke Setting::Reload
invoke showConfigValues()

imtkmake - failed to locate the installed SCHEMA directory

zedd — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 09:43:59 GMT

Hi,

I'm now trying for a pretty while to generate a Web Service Proxy via the imtkmake comand line tool but keep failing. My requirement is to consume a Web Service in "classic" imperative Cobol on an AIX-Plattform.

I'd like to use the tool directly on AIX with Visual Cobol Dev Hub 3.0 installed, invoking it with the parameters -genclientwsdl clientwsdl=<mywsdlfile>. But all i get are two further xml files (*!!1 and *!!2) and following output:

Micro Focus Interface Mapping Toolkit v3.0.00
Copyright (C) 2017 Micro Focus. All rights reserved.
The runtime system failed to locate the installed SCHEMA directory.
The generation of the COBOL client from WSDL failed.

I've already validated my wsdl I'm using via SOAP UI as suggested by in this Post.

Searches for the stated error lead to no conclusive answers. What am I missing to sucessfully generate such a proxy? Or can't this be done with my configuration?

Thanks in advance!

Using Bootstrap with Visual Cobol 2017

Shirley2 — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 07:06:20 GMT

I am creating a Web application in Visual Cobol 2017. Is it possible to use Bootstrap for the .aspx pages?

Thank you

Shirley