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Cobol/Questions Answered by Expert David Nelson
| Subject | Date Asked |
| Cobol Alphanumeric Incrementation | 3/19/2012 |
| Q: Sir i just want to ask if how can i increment alphanumeric, this question is perfectly alike on what ... A: You must allow for a zero remainder which will give you zero as a digit value. Also the original was ... | |
| COBOL FD max size | 10/12/2011 |
| Q: What is the largest record length that can be coded under an FD? Or are there run, compile options ... A: I don't have a 4.1 manual, however Appendix B in the Language reference manual gives the limits. My ... | |
| Return code 46 | 10/8/2011 |
| Q: I'm getting a return code 46 on a sequential read. I have a perform statement of "Perform read-write ... A: Please check you end of file logic. The File status 10 is EOF, are you sure your test for EOF and ... | |
| Return code 46 | 10/7/2011 |
| Q: I'm getting a return code 46 on a sequential read. I have a perform statement of "Perform read-write ... A: Gail; The following is from IBM Z/OS Enterprise COBOL Language Reference (V4.2): 10 At end ... | |
| READ and WRITE statement | 9/27/2011 |
| Q: what is the possible cause of this error : 0002:/F/Inconsistent READ usage. 0002:/F/Inconsistent ... A: You need to identify the reason for the error. Do you have the file defined correctly? If you are ... | |
| Convert binary to numeric in Microfocus Cobol | 7/7/2011 |
| Q: I have a .txt file which contains binary data (not readable). I work in Microfocus Cobol and i have ... A: What you have outlined should work. However, you need to make sure the data in binary is in the ... | |
| Special Character Translation | 4/21/2011 |
| Q: We have an input file that has a check amount and the last character of the amount is a special ... A: The reason you have a special character or letter for the last digit is the source for the number is ... | |
| initialization and move | 2/14/2011 |
| Q: Performance wise initailzation is better or moving spaces/zeros is better? how much both cost? A: Which is better depend on the specific data structure. If you have filler that will not be ... | |
| XMl Generate | 1/31/2011 |
| Q: I used an answer you provided to another user on this site to set up a repeating node for an XML ... A: Glad you got it to work. I am NOT an XML expert. If you did an XML GENERATE and got the XML ... | |
| How to release i/o PCB | 11/22/2010 |
| Q: when i read an i/o file in lock mode for more than 1661 times,i got an error at 1662 nd read.The ... A: I have already answered this exact question for someone else. It is VERY BAD programming practice ... | |
| Nulls vs Spaces | 11/19/2010 |
| Q: It has been 12 years since I have worked on COBOL programs and am researching the following: In ... A: As in IBM COBOL, Nulls in a field is stored as LOW-VALUE. This will not be the same as SPACES. In ... | |
| COBOL and DB2 UDTF's | 11/15/2010 |
| Q: How do you code the underlying table function in COBOL for a DB2 z/OS User Defined Table Function, ... A: I am not a DB2 expert. I suggest you consult the Application Programming and SQL guide for your ... | |
| Limit of open a file in lock mode | 9/13/2010 |
| Q: iam performing read lock operation on a file in a loop.actually loop has to be run for 2000 times ... A: I am not a Tandem expert. However, what appears to be the problem based on what I can read and what ... | |
| Limit of open a file in lock mode | 9/8/2010 |
| Q: iam performing read lock operation on a file in a loop.actually loop has to be run for 2000 times ... A: Please provide a sample of code that you have in your program. I don't follow your question. ... | |
| Intricate problem | 8/15/2010 |
| Q: I have a program specification wherein i am suppose to fetch data by reading a particular file. the ... A: I am not clear on what data you have and what data you are reading. Please put data you have in a ... | |
| Need to Learn MF cobol | 8/5/2010 |
| Q: I have expertise in Mainframe Cobol. Now, I have to work with MF Cobol. Could you please let me know ... A: MF COBOL is ISO-2002 compliant. Also, they emulate just about everything, so IBM Enterprise COBOL ... | |
| COBOL to XML | 7/22/2010 |
| Q: We are in need of output data flat files from mainframe zOS COBOL to XML format. At issue is our ... A: You have a perplexing problem. From the IBM Ent COBOL z/OS Ver 4.2 manual about XML Generate: ... | |
| Code Explanation | 7/19/2010 |
| Q: I have been asked to modify a cobol routine written by another programmer... Could someone please ... A: Based on all the COBOLs I have ever worked with, the syntax you show is NOT valid COBOL. It ... | |
| calling Crystal Reports from Cobol | 7/8/2010 |
| Q: I am trying to call Crystal from a Cobol program to print an Invoice. I have set up working ... A: If you can call it from the 'CMD' prompt in a Shell window, then code the same thing here. Add ... | |
| cobol | 7/4/2010 |
| Q: how to know the output file is empty or it has data A: If you don't write anything it will be empty. On UNIX or Windows, if you don't OPEN OUTPUT the ... | |
| Increment the Alphanumeric value. | 6/21/2010 |
| Q: How to increment the value by using COBOL program. Example: i have a value like 'A0001' with PIC ... A: You need to break your A/N value into two parts. When the N part get to what ever max (9999) you ... | |
| lock record in COBOL 3.1 for AIX | 6/18/2010 |
| Q: Is it possible to lock a record in a file opened in I-O mode ? I use COBOL 3.1 for AIX 6.1 A: Gerard; Sorry to say, I have not worked with IBM COBOL 3.1 on AIX. Most UNIX/LINUX (AIX is UNIX) ... | |
| problem regarding compute on s99 | 6/10/2010 |
| Q: i hav three variable a (pic 99) b (pic 99) and c (pic s99) when i am subtrating b from a i m ... A: Not sure I understand your question. But it seems you are passing the exact same value from a COBOL ... | |
| Mainframe Migration - COBOL Programs | 6/6/2010 |
| Q: Nelson I am Ram Chandrasekaran working on a initiation of POC for our client that is wanting to move ... A: Ram; Interesting project. The number of programs and the size of the programs are good starting ... | |
| counter/array | 5/19/2010 |
| Q: I have 1 flat file having records in one column,i want to write all this records in one row without ... A: You need to define what the output file is supposed to look like. As I said before, if you write the ... | |
| counter/array | 5/18/2010 |
| Q: I have 1 flat file having records in one column,i want to write all this records in one row without ... A: Not sure what you mean by 'in one row without any space'. COBOL does not add any space so it is up ... | |
| Cobol Data Coversion | 5/7/2010 |
| Q: A friend has asked me to help him with converting his Cobol data into a format that can be used in a ... A: Are you moving to a RDBMS based system? If so, informatica is a product we use for ETL process from ... | |
| REPLACING statement | 4/22/2010 |
| Q: I am trying to declare 2 copybooks on my cobol program. One is COPYONE as: 01 COPYONE. 03 ... A: Your syntax is not correct, which the compiler is telling you. No compiler supports the exact syntax ... | |
| Mainframe Cobol questions | 4/12/2010 |
| Q: 1 .Could you please write the cobol program to copy the data of two tables into another new ... A: If the problem is data you need to fix the data. If the problem is a program that is not correctly ... | |
| Mainframe Cobol questions | 4/11/2010 |
| Q: 1 .Could you please write the cobol program to copy the data of two tables into another new ... A: Since this is the follow up to the previous question, I expect your 'files' are DB2 tables. The way ... | |
| Regarding COBOL-JCL | 4/11/2010 |
| Q: 1.If I mentioned a file name in a COBOL program as INFILE and in the corresponding JCL I have ... A: 1) If your COBOL External file name and the JCL file name do not match, the program can not execute ... | |
| Mainframe Cobol questions | 4/10/2010 |
| Q: 1 .Could you please write the cobol program to copy the data of two tables into another new ... A: First. Can not write code for tables without a table definition. Also you need to merge the two ... | |
| math | 4/8/2010 |
| Q: do you have like a simple formula for solving a eqution like: how do you convert a decimal number ... A: When you say 'binary' are you referring to the internal format or an external format such as '4' ... | |
| Dataset name in cobol/jcl | 4/6/2010 |
| Q: Is there a way to place a date or time-stamp in dataset name? for example: //outfile dd ... A: Within a COBOL application you can allocate a dataset via the Dynamic Allocation facility. Check ... | |
| Difference between DISPLAY statements | 3/17/2010 |
| Q: Is there a difference between the two display statements below, interms of output or performance or ... A: as far as content of the output, no. The FORMAT of the output will not be the same. Each display ... | |
| MF COBOL and Server Express and Server | 3/16/2010 |
| Q: I need about 1 day of help from somebody who knows how to set up an environment with the 3 subject ... A: Sorry to say, I have not worked with the combination you have defined. When I do contract I get ... | |
| extracting from a text field | 3/10/2010 |
| Q: I am writing a COBOL program that must find the text FORMS=xxxxxx somewhere in a 100 byte character ... A: I recommend either of two options. 1) Use the INSPECT TALLYING to locate the position of the ... | |
| defining Number range in WS | 2/24/2010 |
| Q: I want to define in work storage an 88 level for a number VALUE range that I can move in a field ... A: This changes what you are asking. Since the field can validly have both numeric and non-numeric ... | |
| defining Number range in WS | 2/22/2010 |
| Q: I want to define in work storage an 88 level for a number VALUE range that I can move in a field ... A: If you check your langauge reference manual for the THRU option of the VALUE clause for an 88 level ... | |
| Remove traling Spaces | 2/18/2010 |
| Q: Can you please solve it. I have one variable as MY-DATA PIC X(6000) now I want to move a ... A: There is no 'key word' solution. Two things to try: 1) define my-data as 'null delimited' ... | |
| Columns - get a total on each Page and on last page also a cumulative total in one column | 2/12/2010 |
| Q: Can you help please? The task is to: 1. generate a 4 page report with Title and Headings on each ... A: I see the problem. But since you need to see it and correct it, let me suggest you step through the ... | |
| Columns - get a total on each Page and on last page also a cumulative total in one column | 2/11/2010 |
| Q: Can you help please? The task is to: 1. generate a 4 page report with Title and Headings on each ... A: This is obviously a class assignment. As a rule I don't work on these unless my name goes on the ... | |
| Compiler Interpretation of Pic X(1) | 2/3/2010 |
| Q: The statements: PIC X(1) Value ''''. PIC X(1) Value """". do not create a compiler error for length ... A: If you consult your language reference manual you will find: 1) Either ['] apostrophe or ["] ... | |
| USAGE POINTER | 2/3/2010 |
| Q: I have a cobol copybook structure that I don't understand why is it written this way , and how the ... A: Usage POINTER is used to pass either the address of a ROUTINE you want to CALL or the address of a ... | |
| CAPS to Mixed Case | 2/3/2010 |
| Q: Dave, We're using IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 3.4.1. I'm looking for ideas about converting ... A: First I don't follow what you are asking about %26. Please clarify. Second you can convert the ... | |
| XML Generation in COBOL with nested tables of varying sizes | 1/25/2010 |
| Q: How can you create an XML document with nested elements where the number of children can vary ... A: From the 4.1 programming guide this is how to code your program: Working-storage section. 01 ... | |
| XML Generation in COBOL with nested tables of varying sizes | 1/20/2010 |
| Q: How can you create an XML document with nested elements where the number of children can vary ... A: The rules of COBOL prohibit an occurs depending on count value being in a 'depending on' area. I am ... | |
| VSAM File Access | 1/12/2010 |
| Q: Can you define the same file twice in a COBOL program. Let's say you need to read the VSAM file ... A: You can multiple define a VSAM file. What you want to do, I have done. You can not have both files ... | |
| performance of statement initialize | 1/10/2010 |
| Q: what statement needs more CPU: to do an initialize a structure or to move structure a to structure ... A: While you may find some COBOL implementation that due to hardware design this does not hold true, ... | |
| Compilation | 1/2/2010 |
| Q: I have just install MF-Cobol under Redhat Linux 4.4 without any error now i need to know how to ... A: I have not used REDHAT Linux. Under SUN Solaris which SHOULD work the same way how you compile is ... | |
| MF Cobol print spooling with AIX | 12/19/2009 |
| Q: We're having a problem finding the specific syntax for a dd printer environment variable that will ... A: According to the documentation, the environment name is always 'dd_' prefix in lower case. Looks ... | |
| MF Cobol print spooling with AIX | 12/17/2009 |
| Q: We're having a problem finding the specific syntax for a dd printer environment variable that will ... A: I have used two different methods for handling printer spool. One of them spools to a file and then ... | |
| Exeception Procedure | 12/4/2009 |
| Q: Can you please explain to me what is exception procedure? how is it syntax and how it will be use? ... A: An exception procedure is a routine to handle an error condition. What conditions your compiler will ... | |
| File Spanned. Unix vs MVS. | 12/4/2009 |
| Q: I work in an environment unix with a cobol microfocus. I have a file spanned in unix. Looking at ... A: I think you will have problems when you FTP the file back to z/OS. The rule for regular VBS record ... | |
| READ...NEXT statement | 12/3/2009 |
| Q: I am fresh to COBOL, i having problem on understand how READ...NEXT works.Can you please give ... A: The READ NEXT applies to both sequential and INDEXED files. It simply means to retrieve (READ) the ... | |
| File Spanned. Unix vs MVS. | 12/3/2009 |
| Q: I work in an environment unix with a cobol microfocus. I have a file spanned in unix. Looking at ... A: This is a complex problem. I remember that MF puts the file header on files that are not simple ... | |
| cobol | 12/3/2009 |
| Q: What is the difference between Tandem Cobol and MF-cobol? A: I do not work with Tandem COBOL. However, there are items that are implementer dependant and items ... | |
| difference between netExpress3.1 to 5.0 | 12/3/2009 |
| Q: We upgraded our cobol environment from Microfocus NetExpress 3.1 to 5.0 But, there is a strange ... A: I have not seen this difference. If it is a 'bug' I expect it is a V5 bug. The 3.1 behavior seems ... | |
| COBOL370 - Any functions or syntax to find the first alphabet | 11/25/2009 |
| Q: Can we find the displacement of a first alphabet using INSPECT or any function? When I say alphabet, ... A: COBOL370 is a very old, obsolete version. It has NO FUNCTIONS. You can redefine a 9999 COMP data ... | |
| Is-Numeric validation problem with MF COBOL server express 5.1 | 11/16/2009 |
| Q: We are working on a conversion %26 migration project from MF COBOL-C-ISAM to MF COBOL-Oracle on HP ... A: The definition of S9 C-3 means it will have 'C' or 'D' as sign nibble. The definition of 9 C-3 means ... | |
| cobol | 11/16/2009 |
| Q: How different is VAX COBOL from IBM z/OS COBOL? A: VAX COBOL was COBOL-85 based. Current z/OS COBOL is COBOL-85 with 1994 extensions and 2002 Standard ... | |
| To remove spaces from a field of 9(07)V9(02) | 11/13/2009 |
| Q: There is a field of pic clause 9(07)V9(02) which can have either leading or trailing spaces and I ... A: A field with a V does not have a decimal point in the data. This will be very difficult to figure ... | |
| Date Compare | 11/12/2009 |
| Q: How do you compare date in COBOL? One date value is received from DB2 and the other date value from ... A: Several ways to handle. If you just want to determine = condition, just have both in identical ... | |
| z/OS Convert EST to GMT | 11/11/2009 |
| Q: thanks A: No callable routine that I know of. However, you can create one. THe FUNCTION(Current-DATE) ... | |
| Sequential File access - COBOL | 11/10/2009 |
| Q: Utilizing a sequential file in a COBOL program to save data throughout the processing for a batch ... A: Each read on a sequential file read the NEXT record. If you only have 1 record, on the second read ... | |
| Cobol display calender | 11/8/2009 |
| Q: how do i display/generate the calender i cobol? (please give the function to do so) A: There is no built in calendar function in COBOL. If you want to create one, that is an interesting ... | |
| cobol | 11/6/2009 |
| Q: Is there any, pointer concept in cobol if yes please tell me it in detail with an example ? A: COBOL does support POINTERs. They can be associated with Data in either FILE, LINKAGE or a STORAGE ... | |
| UPPER case on text in BULGARIAN | 11/5/2009 |
| Q: I'm working on files that include strings in Bulgarian . Command UPPER used on the string does not ... A: The UPPER and LOWER functions require the CODEPAGE to be set correctly. Since you did not specify ... | |
| COBOL READ statement | 10/27/2009 |
| Q: What are the advantages/disadvantages of coding READ INTO working-storage? Are there any ... A: The advantage is your data is in the same storage area as the rest of your data. Otherwise you data ... | |
| COBOLon Sun Server (Sun Fire V890) | 9/7/2009 |
| Q: We are currently running COBOL on DRS 3000. Recently we have purchased Sun Server ( Sunfire V440 and ... A: I am not sure what a DRS 3000 is, but COBOL is portable as long as it does not make extensive use of ... | |
| COBOL - REDEFINES | 8/26/2009 |
| Q: I am trying to use following REDEFINES in my prog, but its giving an error, saying REDEFINES on ... A: The rules for redefines have been relaxed some what in recent versions of COBOL. However, if you ... | |
| COBOL | 8/24/2009 |
| Q: I want to know the latest COBOL version and some sample programs on it. Thanks A: The latest COBOL 'Version' is 2002. Only vendor I know that supports is Microfocus and possibly ... | |
| Cobol and XML docs > 32K | 8/19/2009 |
| Q: I'm am trying to find out if COBOL 3.4 compiler has any limits to processing documents >32K. I can ... A: I have never used the XML functions in COBOL. However, in reviewing the 3.4 LRM, it contains: If ... | |
| Alphanumberic conversion to numeric when alpha character is embedded in the field. | 8/19/2009 |
| Q: Example: File is read. An '01' level move is performed, moving data to another 01 level working ... A: Are you doing a simple Move 01-level to ws-01-level? Or a MOVE CORRESPONDING? What you are ... | |
| Sequence of linking load modules | 8/17/2009 |
| Q: I was asked if it matters during a link of a batch program the sequence of linked modules. I was ... A: If the module that is at the beginning of a batch load module is not the first to receive control, ... | |
| COBOL group initialize | 8/7/2009 |
| Q: 01 DATE 05 CC PIC 99 05 YY PIC 99 05 MM PIC 99 05 DD PIC 99 MOVE SPACES TO ... A: It will do EXACTLY what it is coded to do. Not a good practice for a field that is all numeric ... | |
| Cobol FD statement | 8/3/2009 |
| Q: Can you not declare the record length in FD satement (ex..RECORD CONTAINS 3000 CHARACTERS ) for an ... A: COBOL does not allow a fixed length record to NOT have either an implicit or explicit RECORD ... | |
| Multiple When in Cobol | 7/30/2009 |
| Q: I want to know how will multiple when work in cobol. For ex: SEARCH TABLE: WHEN COND-1 STATEMENT 1 ... A: The logic on a 'WHEN' clause in a SEARCH statement, is always that the statement after the WHEN is ... | |
| regarding cobol type | 7/22/2009 |
| Q: .. this is asghar my question is what are the difference between RM Cobol,Vax Cobol, MF Cobol ... A: VAX COBOL only runs on DEC VAX equipment. RM COBOL runs on platforms that is has been ported to. ... | |
| cobol table handling | 7/22/2009 |
| Q: i have a table declared for 1000 times. i have populated the table with 100 items in it. now if i ... A: You need to carefully read your language reference manual relating to the requirements for both ... | |
| Number of record for sequential file | 7/21/2009 |
| Q: As to get the amount of registers of a sequential archive without needing to read the archive all. ... A: I am not sure I understand what you are asking. How many records are in a sequential file can be ... | |
| Reading a file from last record to first record | 7/21/2009 |
| Q: i want to read a file from end of file to beginning of file. That is i want to read record in ... A: Reading a file from the last record to the first can only be done if your environment and version of ... | |
| cobol | 7/17/2009 |
| Q: i have trouble with this code W1PAYRATEx is a s9(5)v999. it does not select records based on the ... A: If you are coding like you have it most definitely will not find the data your are looking for. ... | |
| Max size of Cobol table | 7/14/2009 |
| Q: We need to work on a file containing 250.000 transactions, each long about 1000 byte, so a table of ... A: The language environment that executes the Enterprise COBOL provides a facility to dynamicly ... | |
| to find length of a string in COBOL | 7/13/2009 |
| Q: what if i have junk values after my data in a string?? Eg: my ws-data is pic x(20) am moving a ... A: If you have junk data in the DB2 table already, that is a different problem. How to fix requires a ... | |
| Cobol | 7/13/2009 |
| Q: I have a file with 10 records,i got a requirement from customer.he want to arrange records from 10 ... A: Is it just 10 records always? Or do you need to be able to handle any number of records? If always, ... | |
| CICS paging logic | 7/13/2009 |
| Q: i have to browse the screens in CICS from on screen to next screen. Each screen displays 8 rows from ... A: How you approach the problem depends on how the data is ordered in the file and / or on the screen. ... | |
| to find length of a string in COBOL | 7/8/2009 |
| Q: what if i have junk values after my data in a string?? Eg: my ws-data is pic x(20) am moving a ... A: if a data element in a table is really variable, it needs to be defined as VAR. And the length ... | |
| to find length of a string in COBOL | 7/8/2009 |
| Q: what if i have junk values after my data in a string?? Eg: my ws-data is pic x(20) am moving a ... A: The length of a 'string' is COBOL is the length of the data element it is stored in. If you move ... | |
| Record Lock error on the file | 6/21/2009 |
| Q: In multi-user enviormnet, I am getting record lock error on a file. I am creating one record and ... A: I expect you are getting a 9/068 error. It is important to make sure all application program are ... | |
| Rounding in Cobol | 6/8/2009 |
| Q: I am trying perform following computaion in code: COMPUTE A ROUNDED = ... A: Can not tell you the exact because I don't know what compiler you are using. However, if your ... | |
| Fujitsu Cobol V4 | 6/3/2009 |
| Q: I want to write to a customer display unit through a coms port. I think I need to write direct to ... A: The only way that I know of is to use a 'DISPLAY ' verb with the 'UPON' clause and see if you can ... | |
| Fujitsu Cobol V4 | 6/3/2009 |
| Q: I want to write to a customer display unit through a coms port. I think I need to write direct to ... A: Not sure what you mean by Customer Display Unit. Via a COMM port you can write just about anything. ... | |
| size of a file in cobol | 5/14/2009 |
| Q: Can you please tell me how to find the siz of a sequential file or any file cobol A: What do you mean by size? The number of bytes in a record? The number of records in a file? Or the ... | |
| Cobol code | 3/23/2009 |
| Q: My code won't run after I compile and I was hoping you could help me with it I am using the ... A: First; what part works and what does not work? Second; expecting a user to enter data exactly like ... | |
| cobol | 3/4/2009 |
| Q: V1 PIC 9(2) VALUE 10. V2 REDEFINES V1 PIC X(3). V3 REDEFINES V1 PIC 9(1). MOVE 12 TO V1. MOVE XYZ TO ... A: That is a good home work assignment. Since it is YOUR homework and NOT MINE, work it out and let me ... | |
| Difference between Cobol & Micro Focus Cobol | 3/2/2009 |
| Q: I red one of your answer about the difference between COBOL & Microfocus COBOL where the question ... A: The differences depend on the specific level of MF cobol and the specific level of COBOL you are ... | |
| Cobol rounding up | 2/27/2009 |
| Q: I have a field defined as pic S9(03)V99. I need to force it to always round up the decimal point to ... A: The simple answer is NO. The COMPUTE x ROUNDED option will round up when fraction is .50 or ... | |
| Cobol add statement | 2/10/2009 |
| Q: I am not a cobol programmer and I don't have a cobol manual. Please expolain what this statement ... A: I am going to assume you are A programmer. Otherwise, you won't understand what I am writing. The ... | |
| Sqlcode in Cobol Fujitsu using SQL Server | 2/5/2009 |
| Q: Can you send me a link to know sqlcode in Cobol Fujitsu using SQL Server? Thanks. Vincenzo A: Sorry, but I don't do SQL Server or Fujitsu. However, the format of the SQL Server commands ... | |
| COBOL vs MicroFocus COBOL | 1/29/2009 |
| Q: David, I have been working with COBOL all my life it feels like. I do have some experience using ... A: It is not difficult. You don't say what your background is, so if you are just IBM mainframe like ... | |
| COMP-4 and COMP-5 | 1/23/2009 |
| Q: In what form does COMP-4 and COMP-5 store values? How does it affect the programming practice? How ... A: Comp and COMP-4 are the same. From the IBM Programming Guide for Enterprise COBOL 3.4 (current): ... | |
| coverting alphanumeric to signed packed decimal | 1/22/2009 |
| Q: I am trying to find a Cobol fucntion that will convert an alphanumeric field such as x(13) but ... A: The NUMVAL function is designed to take you edited numeric and convert back to a numeric format. ... | |
| index names mismatched with their data element | 1/6/2009 |
| Q: I have to try to resolve an issue where a table containing the OCCURS clause is using the INDEXED BY ... A: There is a warning in the enterprise COBOL LRM stating that if the actual tables descriptions do not ... | |
| Data type equivalent of S9(13) COMP-5 in C. | 12/29/2008 |
| Q: I have a data item with picture clause S9(13) COMP-5, and I use a pro C program to read values from ... A: The COBOL rules for COMP-5 are that it is SYSTEM INDEPENDENT BINARY. This means that the data is ... | |
| PIC 9(8) comp-3 | 12/17/2008 |
| Q: We added a new field to our database that was initialized to zeros but when we display it in hex it ... A: First if it is comp-3 and in COBOL with a x'c' sign, it should be defined as S9(8) COMP-3. COBOL is ... | |
| MFC code related to ISAM Files | 12/11/2008 |
| Q: I am looking sample Micro Focus code that will read /write of ISAM Files. Any help will appreciate. A: Since this sounds like homework assignment, I don't provide such code. There is no difference in ... | |
| Using index variable with qualifier | 12/6/2008 |
| Q: How to use the index variable which is same for two group items in Cobol390. i am getting ... A: INDEX names must be UNIQUE within a compilation unit. Also, it you reference multiple tables with ... | |
| increment alphanumeric value | 11/25/2008 |
| Q: I need to increment a PIC X (1 Byte alphanumeric) field from A to Z (A->B->C->D...->Z) Do you have ... A: Since this looks like a homework assignment from a class I won't tell you exactly how to do this. ... | |
| Cobol | 11/13/2008 |
| Q: Novice at programming in cobol. I want the spaces to remain at the end of a 200-byte record. ... A: See below: David I usually use the iSeries Access wizards to download data from iSeries to PC. I ... | |
| How to single cobol program in Peoplesoft on UNIX box | 11/13/2008 |
| Q: How to compile a single cobol program instead of running all the cobols in peoplesoft. we usually ... A: If you look in the mak module you will see the actual cobol compile step executed. I can not say ... | |
| XML PARSE in COBOL-CICS | 11/9/2008 |
| Q: I am using Enterprise COBOL V3.4. I am trying to parse a XML document using Enterprise COBOL version ... A: I don't have access to a compiler environment today. I'll check it out on Monday and add a followup ... | |
| XML PARSE in COBOL-CICS | 11/8/2008 |
| Q: I am using Enterprise COBOL V3.4. I am trying to parse a XML document using Enterprise COBOL version ... A: Is the abend occurring prior to the application program being started? Or on a statement within the ... | |
| XML PARSE in COBOL-CICS | 11/8/2008 |
| Q: I am using Enterprise COBOL V3.4. I am trying to parse a XML document using Enterprise COBOL version ... A: First, I am NOT an XML expert. From the COBOL 3.4 PGMR GUIDE: "Before you can parse an XML document ... | |
| Copy Utility | 11/5/2008 |
| Q: I am running a COBOL pgm and building JCL as output. I then run another job to trigger that JCL ... A: If the files have a variable format: RECFM=VB, then you can use a standard utility. If you have ... | |
| Copy Utility | 11/4/2008 |
| Q: I am running a COBOL pgm and building JCL as output. I then run another job to trigger that JCL ... A: Do you want each file backup to retain file characteristics? You can use one of the IBM utilities ... | |
| Cobol Compiler Definition | 11/4/2008 |
| Q: I need a brief explanation/definition of what a Cobol Compiler is and does. The reader is a non ... A: I suggest you read a basic intro to data processing text. To involved for this forum. But, COBOL ... | |
| COBOL Ver 3.4 with DB2 ver. 9 | 10/29/2008 |
| Q: the company i work for is going to implement ver.9 DB2 by end of 2009. i have been told that COBOL ... A: Yes. Part of the identification data stored in the load module contains the version information. ... | |
| Copybook Variable Change | 10/20/2008 |
| Q: I have a copybook which is being used in several programe. It is declared as comp-3 and now in one ... A: Two questions: 1) Is it valid to have letters? 2) Is the COMP-3 PACKED value not valid anymore? ... | |
| How to call one program in another program in Fijutsu Cobol | 10/19/2008 |
| Q: I am new in COBOL programming and want to call one program in another program. My main program is ... A: I am NOT familiar with Fujitsu COBOL. However your syntax is correct. You need to check the ... | |
| Alphanumeric to binary conversion in cobol | 10/18/2008 |
| Q: Plz tell me if there is any command or code that can convert alphanumeric caharacter to binary in ... A: You have not provided sufficient information to suggest anything. Design what you expect the ... | |
| IO performance for COBOL / Natural | 10/16/2008 |
| Q: I have a routine in COBOL which is called by many natural programs, for consultation towards an ... A: I have not worked with natural. However, what you described is exactly what the programmers guide ... | |
| File Handling Issue | 10/7/2008 |
| Q: I have 2 seq. files (PS) file 1 and file 2. File 1 is not in sorted order(as per requirements). File ... A: The easyest is to read the sort file and store in a KSDS (VSAM INDEXED) file. Then read randomly. ... | |
| Arrays in cobol | 10/3/2008 |
| Q: Can anyone explain me about 3 dimensional arryas in COBOL with an example? Thanks in advance for ... A: A simple 3 dimensional array would be days of the month within month with year. In COBOL the lowest ... | |
| VS Cobol to enterprise cobol conversion | 9/17/2008 |
| Q: Hai David, After converting a cobol 2. + cics program in to enterprise cobol 3.1, while executing ... A: This error is raised for a number of commands in error conditions. It should not be related to the ... | |
| MVS COBOL: DISPLAY STATEMENT PERFORMANCE | 9/16/2008 |
| Q: I'm analyzing an MVS JCL running some Cobol programs. This JCL has avarage an elapsed time of ... A: Yes BLOCKSIZE on sysout (normally COBOL will open with BLKSIZE=0 so the system will assign). Moving ... | |
| MVS COBOL: DISPLAY STATEMENT PERFORMANCE | 9/15/2008 |
| Q: I'm analyzing an MVS JCL running some Cobol programs. This JCL has avarage an elapsed time of ... A: If I understand you are saying 35 min 23 sec CPU in 2 hr, 44 min, 38 Secs elapsed! While this may ... | |
| import email | 8/31/2008 |
| Q: Do you know of any way to get email information into a cobol program, either directly or via a file? ... A: First you need to convert the email into a text file. However, COBOL expects records to be of some ... | |
| COBOL - Initialize | 8/27/2008 |
| Q: I have one COBOL370 program in production which was compiled in Feb-2006. The output of this program ... A: Do you have the language reference for the old compiler? Compare what it says about behavior with ... | |
| COBOL - Initialize | 8/26/2008 |
| Q: I have one COBOL370 program in production which was compiled in Feb-2006. The output of this program ... A: To my knowledge the INITIALIZE verb has not changed. Fields without explicit definition (FILLER) ... | |
| how to search the load module for some particular content by using jcl | 8/12/2008 |
| Q: i want to search a consistency token from the load module in hexadecimal format. i have the ... A: As I mentioned in the previous reply, the use of the ISPF TSO SuperC Search facility is the easiest ... | |
| Print not comes in Host printer. | 8/6/2008 |
| Q: Respected sir, I have make program in cobal.It's successful run.I also seen page in print spool.But ... A: Since you have identified the problem, I can not offer more. Without having a WINDOWS based PC ... | |
| Accessing a serial port | 7/24/2008 |
| Q: We are using R/M COBOL - version 11.01 on a Red Hat Linux server - we are setting up a new conveyor ... A: Since COBOL is not designed to issue continue reads to a port, programming it in COBOL will most ... | |
| Performance oriented | 7/23/2008 |
| Q: i have to check a number is present in an array or not... if present i need to set an indicator and ... A: Depends on the structure of the array. If in sequence with a non-clustered frequency of numbers ... | |
| converting from display hexadecimal to binary | 7/18/2008 |
| Q: I'm trying to take a field that is defined as display hexadecimal (which has been defined as pic ... A: Create a table with both the hex and the decimal values of the hex digits and look each hex digit up ... | |
| cobol-assembler sample code | 7/14/2008 |
| Q: can u give me one sample code for cobol assembler connectivity A: Dummy ASM: DUMMYASM START 0 SR 15,15 Set return code = 0 BR 14 ... | |
| Finding the length of a integer parameter | 7/9/2008 |
| Q: I want to find the length of a variable which is declared as numeric. For example, 01 ws-id-number ... A: The number of digits in a 9(10) number is ALWAYS 10. If you want to get the number of digit entered ... | |
| Accessing Loaded Table in MEMORY | 7/4/2008 |
| Q: I have a table loaded in memory. And I have the following coded in the LINKAGE SECTION: 01 Table. ... A: Short answer is NO. Memory for LINKAGE does not exist until it is allocated. Base COBOL does not ... | |
| Date Caculation in COBOL | 7/2/2008 |
| Q: I need to caculate a date range that is 2 months prior to the run date (execution date) of the ... A: Several ways. 1. Write your own calendar function with the days of the year. Allow for leap year. ... | |
| line feed and carriage returns | 7/2/2008 |
| Q: I had a question about line feeds and carriage returns. I am trying to code a fixed length output ... A: You need to define the file large enough to hold all the data you need to write. If you need to ... | |
| line feed and carriage returns | 7/2/2008 |
| Q: I had a question about line feeds and carriage returns. I am trying to code a fixed length output ... A: COBOL is defined as automaticly being implementation compatible. This creates the problem you ... | |
| COBOL | 6/16/2008 |
| Q: I have a particular date and day of week of that date. For example, I have 16-06-2008 in a dataname ... A: This is a very common request. There are several FUNCTIONs that can give you the answer. First you ... | |
| Date fields in Cobol | 6/11/2008 |
| Q: How to find the number of years between two date fields? A: Depending on your compiler, there are several ways. If you are using an IBM compiler with the Y2K ... | |
| S0CB / U0000 error | 6/6/2008 |
| Q: My program abended with error S0CB/U0000 error. What steps do I take to resolve this problem. I ... A: This abend is 'Decimal Divide Exception'. From the IBM z/series Principle of Operation: 3) The ... | |
| problems in compiling osvs wit e cobol. | 6/5/2008 |
| Q: i want to know what are the keywords that cause the compellation error when compiling the os/vs ... A: Check the Language Reference Manual for both compilers. The list of reserved words in Enterprise ... | |
| Can we Move Data from X(30) to COMP fields? | 5/23/2008 |
| Q: i am strucked with a problem. Please see below. We are retrieving the Number(N_KEY_TXT CHAR(30) NOT ... A: This simple answer is yes and no. You can extract a number from the X(30) and move it. If you try ... | |
| search all command fails | 5/19/2008 |
| Q: the following search all command fails search all ws_srv_claim_tbl at end ... A: The values you give are not all of the same type. You need to only search on data that matches what ... | |
| Transporting software | 5/15/2008 |
| Q: How do I copy Wordperfect Productivty Pack software from a computer I purchased to another computer ... A: Unless you REMOVE (Delete) the software from the first computer and re-install it on the second, ... | |
| can i move a S9(4) COMP variable to a S9(2) variable | 5/15/2008 |
| Q: I currently have a requirement where i have to copy a variable to a another variable. The source ... A: if you have valid data in the source you can. What gets placed in the result will be the truncated ... | |
| memory allocation of COMP on OpenVMS Alpha systems (Dec COBOL) | 5/14/2008 |
| Q: I want to understand below two things for a variable of "PIC s9(7)V99 COMP" :- 1. how is the memory ... A: The default format for COMP is full word integer. The max value on a standard 32 bit integer is ... | |
| Local Storage section | 5/13/2008 |
| Q: For a program which involves complex recursion,Local Storage section is needed. I think Local ... A: The only way to do that is to have a compiler than generates code that supports it. If it supports ... | |
| cobol compile | 5/9/2008 |
| Q: How to compile a cobol program? ANSWER: Depends on your environment. What is it? David ... A: Since each evironment is different, you need to speak with the tech people at your installation for ... | |
| COBOL CALL STATEMENTS | 5/8/2008 |
| Q: What is meant by COBOL call statement? for eg. in the case COBOL-DB2 program, at the time of ... A: A 'CALL' is a request to the compiler to create external program linkage instructions. Hence: CALL ... | |
| How to print text in new line | 5/5/2008 |
| Q: suppose my output file structure needs to be print in 5 lines from a given input, I have move all ... A: The solution depends on how you have your print data defined and where. I suggest creating the 5 ... | |
| About Link between CICS to COBOL pgm | 5/5/2008 |
| Q: Actual I'm doing EBCDIC to ASCII conversion. But as HEX values are not acceptable in CICS pgm, I'm ... A: Hex values can be used in a CICS program. COBOL (all current) supports x'01020304' format. Have you ... | |
| Aplhanumeric value error | 5/2/2008 |
| Q: I have a variable which is defined as PIC X(5). my input to this field contains incorrect non ... A: There are several ways to achieve this. The one useful on most COBOL environments is to range check ... | |
| ++INCLUDE | 4/28/2008 |
| Q: I was wondering, if I could use following example with the COPY statement on INCLUDE element: 01 ... A: The ++INCLUDE statement is from a source management system. I don' know how you have your ... | |
| I'm having trouble programming this can you help? | 4/28/2008 |
| Q: Cobol Language, I have been using NetExpress 1. Banking System – a. Customer Interface: you are ... A: You have to be able to verify the PIN. That type function is either ATM or phone/intranet with ... | |
| redefines | 4/22/2008 |
| Q: tell me ..is it possible to use redefines in occurs clause... for ex.. 01 emp-rec pic 9(15). 02 ... A: From the IBM Enterprise COBOL Language Reference Manual V3.4: The OCCURS clause cannot be ... | |
| COBOL XREF cross-reference listing for MF Net COBOL. | 4/17/2008 |
| Q: David, do you know of an xref program for COBOL? I can't seem to find it on MF Net Express. It could ... A: From the 4.0 NetExpress HELP file: XREF Makes the Compiler produce a cross-reference listing. ... | |
| Dynamic Linking COBOL with DB2 - OOP | 4/8/2008 |
| Q: Is it possible to do dynamic linking with DB2? and if it is possible can you explain it? Another ... A: First you did not state your environment. Are you looking for DB2 on MVS/z/OS? There are some ... | |
| MF Cobol | 4/8/2008 |
| Q: I am a IBM cobol programmer. I am planning to move to Unix MFcobol. How difficulty it is and any ... A: You need to locate a programmers guide for the specific COBOL version for the platform your are ... | |
| MF Cobol | 4/7/2008 |
| Q: I am a IBM cobol programmer. I am planning to move to Unix MFcobol. How difficulty it is and any ... A: Depending on which specific Unix MF COBOL you are going to be using (there are more than 1) the ... | |
| Cobol | 4/3/2008 |
| Q: I need complete details on REDEFINES CLAUSE and OCCURS CLAUSE.On what level numbers REDEFINES can be ... A: Sorry that the link did not work for you. If you just go to www.IBM.COM and search on 'Enterprise ... | |
| Cobol | 4/2/2008 |
| Q: I need complete details on REDEFINES CLAUSE and OCCURS CLAUSE.On what level numbers REDEFINES can be ... A: This is the link to the IBM COBOL Library web-site. THe language reference manual in Chpater 19 on ... | |
| CICS and screen cobol | 3/25/2008 |
| Q: I would like to know the differences between using CICS and Screen COBOL for online transaction ... A: Too my knowledge, the two don't do that same thing. Screen COBOL just provides an interactive ... | |
| CICS and screen cobol | 3/22/2008 |
| Q: I would like to know the differences between using CICS and Screen COBOL for online transaction ... A: I am not familiar with the Compaq (Tandem) Non-Stop (now HP) system. However, to interface with a ... | |
| Microfocus Compiler | 3/20/2008 |
| Q: i did download as you told but during the installation the programm ask me if i have visual studio ... A: I don't have the current version. I don't remember what the VS code is used for, but does it work? ... | |
| Reversing the records in the output | 3/19/2008 |
| Q: The question is "i have input record with ,say 5 names and their corresponding qualifications in ... A: A large number of options: Sort the file via SORT Sort the file via internal table (limited by ... | |
| Cobol | 3/18/2008 |
| Q: Hey David. I'm new about to learn programming in cobol.I found in this site an expert who was advise ... A: I don't know anything about the product. As to changing the 'autoexec.bat' file, you need to have ... | |
| COBOL Initialize | 3/14/2008 |
| Q: I am splitting a file into two smaller files and was instructed to INITIALIZE the two output files ... A: If you check the manual, INITIALIZE will MOVE SPACE to all PIC X and MOVE ZERO to all PIC 9 data ... | |
| rexx linkpgm | 3/13/2008 |
| Q: I have a little question for you because I must execute a cobol program into a rexx script. I say ... A: I am not very familiar with REXX, my expertise is COBOL. However, you need to make sure you meet ... | |
| XML PARSE | 3/13/2008 |
| Q: I am reading an MQ message which is in XML format, I then want to parse it with the 'XML PARSE' ... A: Sounds like your version of Intertest does not know what to do with the XML PARSE statment. Need to ... | |
| How to find the Cobol Version Information | 3/12/2008 |
| Q: How can we identify the COBOL version from the load libraries without knowing which job compiles the ... A: Are you refering to an IBM Mainframe COBOL load library? If so, the version of the compiler is ... | |
| Read and Read next | 3/10/2008 |
| Q: actually i m confuse in read and read next, take a scenerio when file is indexed start fl-nme key ... A: The example you give won't work at all. Read must alway have the same file name as START. If you ... | |
| Need to write two values in one defined string | 3/6/2008 |
| Q: I have WS-NAME-ADDR-LINE PIC X(35) and now i need to store two value in it i.e, city and country. ... A: If the source fields are small and you don't have to leave only one space, you can just move them in ... | |
| Microfocus COBOL | 3/5/2008 |
| Q: I might be interested in Microfocus COBOL, since I am an "old" IBM mainframe Structured COBOL ... A: While MF COBOL offers some screen handling extensions, it does not do the same type of GUI interface ... | |
| mainframe doubt | 3/3/2008 |
| Q: In cobol when we use OF with MOVE. can anyone pls help me in this topic thanx A: From IBM Enterprise COBOL Language Reference ,page 57: Qualification: A name that exists within a ... | |
| cobol | 2/28/2008 |
| Q: what is the command ''move corresponding'' do? or simply what is the ''corresponding'' command? A: If you look this up in your reference manual, it will give you a very specific definition of what ... | |
| COBOL | 2/27/2008 |
| Q: I wnat to know the differences between COBOL II, COBOL III, COBOL 74, COBOL 85, VS COBOL, MS COBOL. ... A: If you did not get the first answer, which it appears got lost in Allexperts.com, I suggest you go ... | |
| can we do this in COBOL-85(Mainframes) | 2/25/2008 |
| Q: I have defined as below 02 VAL1 PIC X(100). Can i redifine it as 02 VAL2 ... A: What software level are you speaking about and on what mainframe. COBOL-85 (COBOL-II) is ten years ... | |
| cobol problem | 2/21/2008 |
| Q: here is my cod: PROCEDURE DIVISION. DISPLAY " HOW MANY NAME?" ACCEPT ... A: That is what an 'array' (COBOL "Occurs" feature) is for: WS: 01 ENTRY. 02 filler occurs 20. ... | |
| Arrays in Cobol | 2/5/2008 |
| Q: Am helping my sister with Cobol...I have no experience...we have to load a Product Code into a ... A: Just go this in email: We're happy to announce the release of our "MASTER MAINFRAMES" Site CD Ver ... | |
| Arrays in Cobol | 2/4/2008 |
| Q: Am helping my sister with Cobol...I have no experience...we have to load a Product Code into a ... A: Before I can address your question I need some additional information. Where are the product code ... | |
| XML code generator in COBOL | 1/30/2008 |
| Q: David, I was wondering if there is any function or an inbuilt subroutine in Enterprise cobol that ... A: Enterprise COBOL will generate full XML: [ XML GENERATE identifier-1 FROM identifier-2 -- COUNT ... | |
| How can I search for a string in a COBOL variable? | 1/27/2008 |
| Q: I want to search for a string in a variable. for example, I want to search for a state code in a 40 ... A: This is a common parse. Start at the right end and work back (perform varying from x by -1 until). ... | |
| size of s(9)v999 COMP | 1/23/2008 |
| Q: what is the exact size of s(9)v999 COMP ? Pls. help me ASAP ANSWER: That question can not be ... A: I can not give a more exact definition than what I have. You still did NOT specify the environment. ... | |
| Cobol Search | 1/21/2008 |
| Q: If user would input "JA" it will display out all the name starting with "JA", currently I am only ... A: The sample code you gave is SQL logic. Not COBOL. To do this you would need to write your own logic ... | |
| print cobol printer files using regualr printers | 1/13/2008 |
| Q: I am doing some reports now on Unix solaries using microfocus cobol , but i found that it is ... A: I am not an expert on Unix Printing. I suggest you try to find one. There are some Unix print ... | |
| VSAM data file: end of line byte count. | 1/8/2008 |
| Q: I am facing the problem with COBOL data file: Can you please tell me that in a cobol data file what ... A: In COBOL as such there is NO END OF FILE character. End of file is determined by the ... | |
| Conversion | 1/4/2008 |
| Q: Can we convert a Standard ANSI cobol program into a MS-COBOL program and HOW?? ANSWER: I am not ... A: There are services available to convert Assembler to COBOL, but I have never seen a tool. But ... | |
| On cobol copybook | 12/31/2007 |
| Q: Currently we have vision plus program as our backbend which use COBOL copybook message format for ... A: I am not sure I understand what you are asking. Also, I don't know what VISION is. However, a ... | |
| validate given date | 12/17/2007 |
| Q: how can we check whether the given date is in dd/mm/yy format or not is there any easy way to find ... A: YES. It is called write your own validation logic based on the given parameters, Day [01:31], Month ... | |
| Online file update using cobol | 12/6/2007 |
| Q: i am having an IMS transaction that uses a cobol module. currently the cobol module calling an ... A: I do not do IMS enough to be able to answer your question completely. I would expect that the ... | |
| link from cobol to assembler program | 12/4/2007 |
| Q: RO EQU 0 R1 EQU 1 R2 EQU 2 R3 EQU 3 R4 EQU 4 R5 ... A: It will NOT work because you are doing a GETMAIN for the COMMAREA. The COMMAREA is PASSED to your ... | |
| VSAM | 12/4/2007 |
| Q: how to define a key for a ksds file in vsam and a sample programe by using ksds file. ANSWER: How ... A: I can not tell you exactly how to do it because you do not specify the environment. In COBOL: ... | |
| cobol | 12/3/2007 |
| Q: How can I convert alphanumeric value to numeric value in cobol? A: Do you mean convert letter to numbers? Or just move a PIC X value to a PIC 9 value? There is no ... | |
| VSAM | 11/30/2007 |
| Q: how to define a key for a ksds file in vsam and a sample programe by using ksds file. A: How you define a VSAM file is dependant on the OS you are running with (VSE or MVS z/OS). Also that ... | |
| cobol data | 11/26/2007 |
| Q: I have some cobol data files, and I want to export the data to any other format so as to import the ... A: To be able to interpret what you have you need the COBOL record description. Unlike some other ... | |
| File Layout - PIC S9(8)V999 | 11/21/2007 |
| Q: Can someone tell me how to interpret this format. I have to import some data in this format and I ... A: If there are no other clauses with this picture, from left to right: The 'S' means the value is ... | |
| MF-COBOL | 11/19/2007 |
| Q: Main difference between MF- COBOL and Mainframes COBOL . A: Depending on the platform, the differences are too much to go into. Simple COBOL, such as IBM ... | |
| cobol arrays | 11/18/2007 |
| Q: Can anyone help me out with an example on arrays(dynamic)? You answers are greatly appreciated. ... A: The following is from the IBM Z/OS Enterprise COBOL LRM, V3.4, page 190-191: It is for a two ... | |
| cobol arrays | 11/16/2007 |
| Q: Can anyone help me out with an example on arrays(dynamic)? You answers are greatly appreciated. ... A: Sorry to say, but there is no such thing as dynamic arrays in COBOL, yet. If you have a full COBOL ... | |
| COBOL version | 10/18/2007 |
| Q: How can I determine if I am running COBOL II or Enterprise COBOL? ANSWER: Look at the top of the ... A: That version is NOT COBOL II. Nor is it enterprise COBOL. It is the version just prior to ... | |
| cobol :dfsort | 10/18/2007 |
| Q: is there a way to add the columns of all the records of a PS field by field ...and suppose we get a ... A: What do you mean by 'add the columns'? Do you mean to SUM A column? That's what programming is all ... | |
| Microfocus COBOL call to a "C" program | 10/17/2007 |
| Q: we are using MF COBOL and have modified a program that is performing calculations, after the change ... A: The C program will be included in the LINKEDIT step, not the compile. How you do that depends on ... | |
| ebcdic cobol extension | 10/7/2007 |
| Q: How can i convert EBCDIC file into other formats since i can not read these files A: That depends on the format of the file itself. If it contains only character text values, you can ... | |
| cobol | 10/5/2007 |
| Q: I wants to search a word in a vsam file or a flat file by using cobol programming language. What i ... A: This has the sound of being a homework assignment. Do your own research and devise a method, write ... | |
| cobol | 9/21/2007 |
| Q: While using cobol codings in sequential prog. how can we check whether the particular file is ... A: Please re-read my previous reply. Your code DOES NOT do what I wrote. You need to OPEN INPUT first ... | |
| cobol | 9/21/2007 |
| Q: While using cobol codings in sequential prog. how can we check whether the particular file is ... A: Once you have the file, just re-open in I-O mode. When you read a record, determine if you need to ... | |
| Date-Time difference | 9/20/2007 |
| Q: Is there any function or program that I can use which will find the difference between the two ... A: The DATE FUNCTIONS will give you the number of DAYS between two dates. The current IBM compilers ... | |
| cobol | 9/18/2007 |
| Q: While using cobol codings in sequential prog. how can we check whether the particular file is ... A: To get the 'File Status' you need to 1) Define the data element in W-S. 2) You need to add the 'file ... | |
| cobol | 9/17/2007 |
| Q: Is Cobol still used or gone with the wind I was using vax cobol I miss it so much A: Vax COBOL was a very good product. Especially the COBOL 85 version. That's how I came to like COBOL ... | |
| cobol | 9/17/2007 |
| Q: While using cobol codings in sequential prog. how can we check whether the particular file is ... A: First you must OPEN your file before you can do anything. If you want to see if it exists, open ... | |
| Cobol convert decimal to binary | 9/13/2007 |
| Q: I am working in Cobol (VSE/ESA) on an IBM mainframe. I have to convert a decimal # to a binary and ... A: First, are you wanting to display the Binary equivalent of the value 12345 or just the Binary value ... | |
| Storing to String : Consective Displays | 9/9/2007 |
| Q: Here is a working program of mine, which converts numbers to words. How could I display the output ... A: Is this homework? I just answered this same question with different code for someone else. You ... | |
| VBS file in Cobol. | 8/30/2007 |
| Q: I have a VBS file with LRECL - 32670 and block-size of 27998. I am trying to open this file in cobol ... A: The answer is YES at <www.IBM.com> search on 'Enterprise COBOL' then click the V3.4 entry then ... | |
| VBS file in Cobol. | 8/30/2007 |
| Q: I have a VBS file with LRECL - 32670 and block-size of 27998. I am trying to open this file in cobol ... A: If you check carefully in your Language reference manual and / or programming guide for variable ... | |
| pass .net serialized object to cobol pgm thru MQ | 8/24/2007 |
| Q: Our shop is currently using Enterprise COBOL for Z/OS on the mainframe. Our distributed developers ... A: There are several issues that need to be addressed. 1) COBOL does not know what a PDF is. 2) The ... | |
| usage of Arrays in COBOL | 8/24/2007 |
| Q: Is there any possibility how I can use dynamic arrays in COBOL? can you please help me with an ... A: Technically there are no such thing as dynamic areas in COBOL. You must ALWAYS define the maximum ... | |
| sort replacing fields with spaces | 8/24/2007 |
| Q: how do i use sort facility to replace some fields with spaces? ex. replace fields 5-10 with spaces ... A: You can use the SORT COPY function. Only copy the data you need to the output file, and put SPACE ... | |
| Initialize alphanumeric tables w/indexes | 8/22/2007 |
| Q: I have ran into an existing problem at my shop. We are using IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 3.4.1 ... A: A couple of things to check. First, have you caused a DUMP and checked the table data in the dump? ... | |
| to set TERM variable using MF cobol | 8/17/2007 |
| Q: David, Need your help... we are using MFcobol on unix with which am having an issue.. if the TERM ... A: This is a UNIX implementation issue. The 'termcap' file needs to have a definition for your ... | |
| ABOUT SORT | 8/13/2007 |
| Q: Can you explain about SORT FIELDS=COPY OUTFIL ... A: For the syntax of the Outfil command please refer to the SORT manual for what ever sort you have. ... | |
| INTIALIZE STATEMENT IN COBOL | 8/13/2007 |
| Q: I am optimizing some IBM Enterprise COBOL programs that initialize large data areas consisting of ... A: That is not a function the application can directly use. It only move pages and is intended for the ... | |
| INTIALIZE STATEMENT IN COBOL | 8/12/2007 |
| Q: I am optimizing some IBM Enterprise COBOL programs that initialize large data areas consisting of ... A: Actually, MVCL for the entire length is as good as it gets unless you are doing system level page ... | |
| ABOUT SORT | 8/10/2007 |
| Q: Can you explain about SORT FIELDS=COPY OUTFIL ... A: What do you want to know? The SORT statement tell only a COPY is to be done. The OUTFIL statements, ... | |
| SYSPRINT | 8/6/2007 |
| Q: An existing program is writing an audit report to the sysprint file whose DD is sysout=*. To keep ... A: You need to change the JCL from SYSOUT=? to a dataset and then process and if you need it spooled to ... | |
| Efficiency | 7/31/2007 |
| Q: When processing a large number of lengthy ( 5000 to 6000 character strings), to replace a group of ... A: Hard to make a absolute statement about that. INSPECT will always work and it is very easy to code ... | |
| COBOL for PC | 7/18/2007 |
| Q: Our application is written in Microfocus COBOL 3.1, but now Microfocus want to charge per end user, ... A: I have not worked with Fujitsu COBOL. They have some good features. I have not done a comparison. ... | |
| cobol - hw to append | 7/10/2007 |
| Q: i want ur help regarding the appending of files. once a (input)file is run in cobol the values(user ... A: The feature you are asking for is called 'OPEN EXTEND'. If your version of COBOL supports this, you ... | |
| COBOL random number generator code | 7/5/2007 |
| Q: Could you take a look at this (old) code for generating a random number. I'm having a problem with ... A: No problem. If you compiler is 1993 or later ISO standard, it should have the RANDOM function. I ... | |
| Read/update tables in cobol | 7/4/2007 |
| Q: How can i read / update/ create tables in cobol? can u provide the syntax and method for this? A: What do you mean by 'TABLES'? Are you referring to SQL Database Tables? Such as DB2, Oracle, SQL ... | |
| COBOL random number generator code | 7/3/2007 |
| Q: Could you take a look at this (old) code for generating a random number. I'm having a problem with ... A: I am not expert on Random number generation. Have you displayed the output to make sure it is in ... | |
| Screen Cobol to Cobol 85 | 6/27/2007 |
| Q: Difference between Screen Cobol and Cobol 85 Give me some specific area where as Screen section etc ... A: I am not familiar with the HP Screen COBOL implementation. All screen handling is some extension to ... | |
| Parsed string | 6/26/2007 |
| Q: I am using COBOL II in a SHARED ENVIRONMENT. I have a program that creates a file that gets ... A: You do not need to load into a table. However, I still don't understand what you mean by 'load into ... | |
| Screen Cobol to Cobol 85 | 6/26/2007 |
| Q: Difference between Screen Cobol and Cobol 85 Give me some specific area where as Screen section etc A: I am not familiar with 'Screen COBOL'. Who is the vendor? COBOL 85 and its successors have very ... | |
| Parsed string | 6/26/2007 |
| Q: I am using COBOL II in a SHARED ENVIRONMENT. I have a program that creates a file that gets ... A: If you have the source, and the output is put together with the STRING Verb, just change the STRING ... | |
| old cobol program on windows 2000 | 6/20/2007 |
| Q: I work for a Hospital and we have an old cobol program that we would like to be able to run on some ... A: Sorry, I am not familiar with the RM COBOL environment. You may wish to check with the MS Software ... | |
| eliminating field padding and fields with no values | 6/20/2007 |
| Q: I am managing certification of files generated by COBOL, and I notice that the files I review which ... A: The simplest way to accomplish this is with the 'STRING' verb. You can set it up to process the ... | |
| Cobol ques. | 6/11/2007 |
| Q: Is there any verb in COBOL to exit out of a particular CODE-BLOCK? Like 'break' in C Language. Is ... A: The best way is to code a GO TO code-block-exit. No such thing like break. Ex: Evaluate TRUE ... | |
| JCL-SORT | 6/11/2007 |
| Q: I wanted to skip the records that have in its 1st to 1000 positions spaces and copy the rest ... A: Yes, you are correct. You would need to check all of the input for spaces, unless there is a short ... | |
| JCL-SORT | 6/8/2007 |
| Q: I wanted to skip the records that have in its 1st to 1000 positions spaces and copy the rest ... A: The IBM Mainframe sort, both IBM's version and SYNC-SORT provide the OMIT statement. Please consult ... | |
| Conversion from Binary to Alphanumeric | 6/7/2007 |
| Q: I have a binary field in a file which I will be using in a COBOL pgm to compare and validate against ... A: I can not answer this question because I don't know what the data values are. You can NOT compare a ... | |
| Migration from VSAM to DB2 | 6/4/2007 |
| Q: I need information on how to migrate the VSAM data to DB2 V8. I would like to know the steps, ... A: See updated CPU estimates. DB2 uses a good bit more than plain VSAM (it uses VSAM itself.) There ... | |
| wrong value populated in move statement | 5/15/2007 |
| Q: I am getting a problem in a move statement in SCOBOL MOVE TOTALS OF PDA (TOTALS-IDX) TO ... A: If you do not have a compiler error, then what you have here should work correctly as long as you ... | |
| Cobol- Alphanumeric Checks | 5/14/2007 |
| Q: How to check for Alphanumeric fields in COBOL .. ANSWER: What do you want to check them for? David ... A: Data in a PIC X(n) field will never give an error. All possible bit configurations are valid. [x'00' ... | |
| COBOL SEARCH ALL | 5/4/2007 |
| Q: I have a table sorted in Ascending order of a Key and also uses an INDEXED BY variable. However, ... A: What compiler are you using? There is a KNOWN BUG in IBM SEARCH ALL implementation prior to ... | |
| I am unable to understand the code. | 5/2/2007 |
| Q: PROCEDURE DIVISION. %DBGINIT ... A: The %DBGINIT statement is not part of MF COBOL. It appears to be some type of pre-processor ... | |
| Cobol Binary Substrings | 4/26/2007 |
| Q: Using COBOL for z/OS 3.4.0, I have a data record with hundreds of alphanumeric and binary fields and ... A: If the format of the record is fixed, that is each field is always present and in the same place, ... | |
| Micro Focus vs. .NET | 4/26/2007 |
| Q: We are looking at Micro Focus Cobol but want to know the difference between it and COBOL.NET. We ... A: Based on the information I have from MF, MS COBOL.NET is MF COBOL. When compiled for .NET, it is ... | |
| conversion to cobol | 4/25/2007 |
| Q: My ASM code consist of bit manipulation like if 1st bit of local variable = '1' perform something ... A: There are standard routines in most COBOL instruction manuals on how to convert the individual bits ... | |
| SEARCH ALL in COBOL | 4/18/2007 |
| Q: I have a table with ODD number of elements. I search for a particular element which is present in ... A: Please note the requirements for a successful SEARCH ALL in your reference manual: You must have ... | |
| Loading Table in Memory in COBOL | 4/12/2007 |
| Q: I have a COBOL pgm that calls Assembler to obtain storage with the following : LINKAGE SECTION 01 ... A: What you have coded should work correctly. There is no restriction on the code logic you have that ... | |
| Loading Table in Memory in COBOL | 4/12/2007 |
| Q: I have a COBOL pgm that calls Assembler to obtain storage with the following : LINKAGE SECTION 01 ... A: Check the memory location in the dump of the pointer variable and the register address when you get ... | |
| Loading Table in Memory in COBOL | 4/12/2007 |
| Q: I have a COBOL pgm that calls Assembler to obtain storage with the following : LINKAGE SECTION 01 ... A: Don't move zero to storage pointer. COBOL will init storage pointer to null. (zero). What does the ... | |
| Actual length of parameters received in linkage | 4/4/2007 |
| Q: I'd need to extend the structure of parameters received in linkage section (via cobol call) without ... A: In regular COBOL there is no requirement for the Length to be declared. This type of call is called ... | |
| cobol compiler options | 3/29/2007 |
| Q: During the compilation of a COBOL77 program if we will get more number of errors they automatically ... A: I don't understand what you mean by COBOL 77. That is not a valid COBOL level. As to your compiler ... | |
| Calculation of space parameters | 3/15/2007 |
| Q: I know the record length of the output file.But i don't know how many records going to be written in ... A: If you don't know how many records are realistic, you need to come up with an educated guess and ... | |
| Doubt in Space parameter | 3/14/2007 |
| Q: First i wanted to say thanks in advance for your help. My doubt is in allocating primary and ... A: The values for the primary and secondary allocation are for the number of records. Changing the ... | |
| COBOL | 2/26/2007 |
| Q: How to place a period at the end of a nonnumeric value where the field is pic x(33), and the ... A: Your sample code contains the correct syntax: Move '.' to field-name(offset:1). The problem is ... | |
| XML and COBOL | 1/23/2007 |
| Q: David, have you worked with XML and COBOL on the mainframe (MVS)? We do not have enterprise COBOL ... A: I have not worked on XML on COBOL with MVS. You have several choices. Use a web-server or other ... | |
| page counter | 12/28/2006 |
| Q: How to make the page and total pages specific to a given customer. e.g., if a customer's statement ... A: This is real 'do your home work' problem. Obviously, until you know how much data is to be output ... | |
| How to invoke cobol daemons in unix | 12/14/2006 |
| Q: can u explain the concept of daemons in mf cobol A: No. I don't know of any COBOL daemons for Unix. COBOL does not create daemons. They are usually ... | |
| Regarding Cobol Files | 12/10/2006 |
| Q: Hope you are doing great at your end. I have 2 questions in Cobol Files Can you please explain. ... A: The is no other way to test completion file activity other than AT END and ON INVALID KEY. Ih you ... | |
| Need to identify null in input data | 12/8/2006 |
| Q: I am developing an application using VSCOBOL II as a programming language in MVS environment. I ... A: The concept of NULL does not exist in COBOL except for POINTER variables. If you are refering to ... | |
| Cobol vs. Microfocus Cobol | 12/7/2006 |
| Q: So, If my client is asking for someone that knows MF Cobol- and I give them a consultant that hasnt ... A: As long as it is NOT NetExpress experience they need. Unless your COBOL person has a working ... | |
| Cobol vs. Microfocus Cobol | 12/7/2006 |
| Q: What is the difference between Cobol and Microfocus Cobol? I have a client that needs a consultant ... A: MF COBOL is COBOL. It does everything anyone elses COBOL does (all the majors, at least). You can ... | |
| Continue vs Next Sentence | 12/7/2006 |
| Q: What exactly is the difference between CONTINUE and NEXT SENTENCE? Is there a best time to use one ... A: If you put a period at the end of every logical IF statement in place of an END-IF, they work almost ... | |
| cobol | 11/25/2006 |
| Q: The same question was asked to you previously. I read the answer.the question is -- I am trying to ... A: I am not familiar with the Siber tool. Doing a COBOL to something else conversion is NOT easy. It ... | |
| cobol daemons/mulletos | 11/23/2006 |
| Q: can u provide sample cobol mulltos.my requirement is like this,my mf cobol daemon program should ... A: You need to check carefully the documentation provided with your specific version of MF Cobol for ... | |
| Checking whether a COBOL variable is NULL | 11/17/2006 |
| Q: How do I check whether a variable has a NULL value in COBOL? or how do i check whether variable has ... A: The concept of a NULL variable does not exist in COBOL. The logical value is LOW-VALUES, but this is ... | |
| cobol | 11/10/2006 |
| Q: Why can't v use occurs clause in 01 level. A: From the IBM Language Reference manual for Enterprise COBOL Version 3.4: The OCCURS clause cannot ... | |
| Cobol tcpip socket setmode | 11/9/2006 |
| Q: 2 Alpha Server. Do you have any examples of how to use the IO$SETMODE function code to change some ... A: If you have support for this in COBOL it will be via some system call. There is no direct facility ... | |
| cobol | 10/31/2006 |
| Q: sir, one doubt about sequential files. my program is as follows.. ENVIRONMENT DIVISION. ... A: Several things. 1. your program does not have a 'P1' paragraph, so it can't not compile. 2. What is ... | |
| cobol question | 10/30/2006 |
| Q: can we use next sentence in evaluate A: You can, however, be very carefull of 'NEXT SENTENCE' because if means exactly what it says. If ... | |
| Different structures | 10/23/2006 |
| Q: This is not homework, I am a programmer (apparently, not a very good one), and I am looking for an ... A: What you want to do from strictly text point of view is simple. However, since the character text is ... | |
| COBOL READ, START Statements | 10/12/2006 |
| Q: I have a program where the file is getting read randomly. I need to read a file sequentially. I need ... A: First, your code does not contain a 'read loop'. You need to write it. Nothing in COBOL is ... | |
| COBOL on UNIX platform | 10/6/2006 |
| Q: I have used cobol on IBM MVS/XA operating system. I need to compile and run cobol programs in unix ... A: If you are moving from IBM to Unix with MFCOBOL, simple as can be. Everything you can write in IBM ... | |
| MF COBOL - using a parm in dynamic SQL | 9/25/2006 |
| Q: David, Quick question I was hoping you could help me out with. I'm using MF COBOL on Windows ... A: I can not find any syntax that relates to specifying an owner on a SELECT statement. There are ... | |
| SPACE stripping in COBOL | 9/24/2006 |
| Q: I would like to know how could i eliminate leading and trailing spaces in a field before writing it ... A: I don't understand what you mean by elimiate LEADING and TRAILING spaces. Please explain. An ... | |
| alphanumeric increment | 9/23/2006 |
| Q: How can i do it without using an array?How do you do alphanumeric increment in cobol? Given a ... A: You need to develope that yourself. Best way is to create the value you want to convert to base ... | |
| alphanumeric increment | 9/21/2006 |
| Q: How do you do alphanumeric increment in cobol? Given a problem... For each run, it will start from ... A: What you need to do is develop a base 36 counter, then you can put the values for a digit position ... | |
| processing data with created as PIC ZZZ.99 | 9/16/2006 |
| Q: I have a i/p file that contains the imbedded decimal poitt X'4B' How do I convert the data to ... A: You have several choices to remove the decimal point. If the decimal point is ALWAYS in the same ... | |
| dynamic mode reading a file | 9/12/2006 |
| Q: i am not able to read a indexed file whose organisation is dynamic mode. totally lost in the key ... A: You need to carefully read the Language Reference Manual for your compiler. READ has several ... | |
| to code the output format for an invoice | 9/3/2006 |
| Q: goodday can u pls help with a sample of the working storage section of a cobol, printing or ... A: An invoice program can be very large, so I can't give you a full sample. However, to make your ... | |
| Get the last name of 40 bytes name field | 9/2/2006 |
| Q: I am having 40 bytes name fields which has spaces and many words. I want to get the last name. ... A: The process is straight forward (or straight backwards) from the right to the left of MYNAME. You ... | |
| MOVE from PIC 9 COMP-3 to PIC X ? | 8/15/2006 |
| Q: I am programming COBOL ANSI 85 on an IBM Mainframe. I want to move field PIC 9.. COMP-3 to an ... A: Cobol will do the move. What are you expecting to have as a result in the PIC X field? Your best bet ... | |
| COBOL Equivalent of VB ASC Command | 8/13/2006 |
| Q: We're using an IBM mainframe, actually an AIX box running MicroFocus COBOL. Our client's servers ... A: When working for the State of NC DHHS, we ran into this type of problem. Code that checked every ... | |
| COBOL Equivalent of VB ASC Command | 8/11/2006 |
| Q: This is what the ASC function does in VB: Returns an Integer representing the character code ... A: The equivalant of ASC is FUNCTION CHAR(..). However, the easiest way to remove null characters is ... | |
| Changing field from Comp-3 to Comp | 8/8/2006 |
| Q: I have several copybooks with dollar amounts in fields S9(07)V99 COMP-3 (5 bytes in length). Have ... A: Binary in COBOL is an integer value. So if you don't play some game, it will truncate at 'V'. What ... | |
| Printer setup | 8/7/2006 |
| Q: I have a microfocus cobol program that prints a report directly to a printer - the OLD printer had a ... A: What the sequence is for your printer, I don't know. To issue a 'hex-control-sequence' to the ... | |
| Printer setup | 8/4/2006 |
| Q: I have a microfocus cobol program that prints a report directly to a printer - the OLD printer had a ... A: First, check with the printer vendor (HP) to see if there is a support module for your OS (Unix?) ... | |
| Generate Random no | 8/4/2006 |
| Q: A program which when called by any program will provide a random number as output. The number of ... A: There are no standard routines to that will generate random numbers up to 16 digits, that I am aware ... | |
| Versons of COBOL | 7/21/2006 |
| Q: How many versions of COBOL exist now? I left the field in 1998 and remember COBOL and COBOLII. A: On IBM MVS environment, only 'Enterprise' COBOL is supported by IBM. Current level is 3.4. It is an ... | |
| input file empty or not | 7/18/2006 |
| Q: How to know whether input file (coming from by running another mainframe job) is empty or not in ... A: Since you say 'mainframe' I assume you mean IBM MVS. There is no way to test a file for being ... | |
| Year conversion | 7/17/2006 |
| Q: How can we convert from YY(two digits year) to YYYY(four digits year)? A: You need to establish a 'pivot' or base year and then roll the correct century prefix to the two ... | |
| About COBOL file handling | 7/13/2006 |
| Q: We are using a Microfocus COBOL V4.1.10 on UNIX SunOS 5.8. The OS supports large file systems. ... A: You do not state what product you have at the 4.1.10 level. But I suppose it is OCDS. I have used ... | |
| Find a MicroFocus COBOL environment | 6/28/2006 |
| Q: I search a CD-ROM or a lot of disketts with MicroFocus COBOL environment, such as compiler, linker, ... A: I recommend against doing anything on W98SE. The platform is not stable. Most W98 hardware will ... | |
| LE370 cobol compiler options | 6/22/2006 |
| Q: I have a vendor application where I have to compile, link and bind. For their latest release, I ... A: Are really using LE370? That level is out of support by IBM. All current COBOL from IBM uses the ... | |
| cobol | 6/22/2006 |
| Q: i have learned COBOL 85. But i have also heard of COBOL MF. What is the difference in these two. And ... A: COBOL85 is the ANSI/ISO Standard level. It comes as base, with three extentions. COBOL MF is ... | |
| changing data from a sequential file | 6/11/2006 |
| Q: i finally have the program working. i had to rebuild the program in stages to isolate the cause of ... A: 1. You are correct. You can not change an input file. If the file is 'organization is sequential' ... | |
| Search | 6/10/2006 |
| Q: sorry i forget to mention what makes up usage-amt. 700-USAGE. IF ACC-TYPE = 'Hour' COMPUTE ... A: Are you refering to 'USAGE-AMT ... VALUE ZERO'? I don't have the logic to verify s3-usage. ... | |
| Search | 6/9/2006 |
| Q: i finally figured it out. took abit of thinking and hard work but i finally got it to search a ... A: You don't have Usage-Amt initialized. Do you move a known valid numeric to it before you try to move ... | |
| Search | 6/6/2006 |
| Q: i don't spose i could trouble you. i just wondering where i've gone wrong this time. i've been ... A: There are several possible reasons for a 'not found' on the search: 1) Cobol IS case sensative. 2) ... | |
| COBOL | 5/22/2006 |
| Q: How can we compare a packed decimal variable which is declared as comp-3 with NULL.Iam checking like ... A: The concept of NULL as in Java, C++, etc. does not exist in COBOL. You need to check the specific ... | |
| COBOL / LINKPGM / Parm Error | 5/19/2006 |
| Q: I am calling a COBOL program from a REXX, using : MYPARM = '/ADFPTVWUMAH5' ADDRESS LINKPGM ... A: I checked some more and found the following on IBMs website: (Language Environment Programming ... | |
| osvs to enterprise cobol conversion | 5/19/2006 |
| Q: I am satish and work for keane india. Here i have a compilation error. Can u please solve it for me ... A: The Ent Cob 3.4 LRM on "INSPECT .. CONVERTING": identifier-6 or literal-4 Specifies the character ... | |
| Hyperlinks in cobol | 5/4/2006 |
| Q: Using MVS Cobol, I am constructing an e-mail routine thru batch cobol. I can place a hyperlink in ... A: Short answer is YES. A hyper link is the result of the correct format and the 'Email' interpreter ... | |
| Enterprise Cobol | 4/28/2006 |
| Q: We are migrating from VSCobol to enterprise cobol. I have a program that is statically calling ... A: First you need to consult the 'Migration Guide'. It will outline all the rules for getting cross ... | |
| releasing the record lock | 4/26/2006 |
| Q: pls. tell me syntax/verb used in MF cobol for releasing the record lock manually within a program ... A: The UNLOCK Statement The UNLOCK statement releases all record locks held by the run unit on a ... | |
| Rouding | 4/24/2006 |
| Q: i have finally got the zero supression to work. My final question is about rounding my output data ... A: What you are asking is not really 'rounding'. Rounding per the text is to the nearest whole or ... | |
| move between differing field types | 4/19/2006 |
| Q: If I have a field defined as: WS-DATA-BINARY PIC S9(18) COMP. and move it to a field defined ... A: The definition of 'ws-data-binary' as COMP says make it BINARY. The 9(18) in 8 bit byte based ... | |
| Beginner | 4/8/2006 |
| Q: 05 W-FIELD1 PIC 9(05) VALUE 00050. What is the value in A-COUNT1 after the following statement is ... A: The code piece you provided won't compile. Also, IBM COBOL language reference manual states about ... | |
| Re: Calculation of Date in COBOL | 4/4/2006 |
| Q: I'm new to COBOL but had an assignment to create daily receipts folder in our system at the end of ... A: If you are using a recent COBOL version (one with DATE functions) you can find every thing you need ... | |
| JCL and IBM COBOL | 3/24/2006 |
| Q: My job allows me to work on IBM S/390 mainframe computer. I have seen options on our system that ... A: If it's an IBM Mainframe, it is IBM COBOL. No one else markets a COBOL for IBM Mainframe MVS ... | |
| Processing Spanned Files with IBM COBOL | 3/20/2006 |
| Q: How do I process a file that have the following dcb's: (spanned): --RECFM-LRECL-BLKSIZE-DSORG ... A: The file format is a standard access method created format. To process it you need to define in ... | |
| cobol compilation | 2/17/2006 |
| Q: i have read the readme text .. it says that you need to merge the contents of your autoexec.bat with ... A: normally link takes a list of parms such as: link name.exe -o name.obj name2.obj -l [libpath | ... | |
| cobol compilation | 2/16/2006 |
| Q: i have a cobol s/w cobol45(microsoft ver4.5).I have copied the whole dir to ... A: I am not familiar with that version of MS COBOL. You will need to consult you documentation to ... | |
| Data Formatting | 2/10/2006 |
| Q: I'm Damon Walsh, a senior at Ben Davis High School. We're learning COBOL in Computer Programming, ... A: Hope my afternoon response is Ok. I work 7:30-4:00. I looks like the data is simply split between ... | |
| question about the netexpress | 2/1/2006 |
| Q: MR.NELSON Then how can i do with a front-end? if i use the net express 3.0 to program ... A: I have no documentation for N.E. 3.0. In N.E. 4.0, the Window environment is controled by the ... | |
| Acucobol File Capacities | 12/22/2005 |
| Q: but I need to learn (definitively) about Cobol file capacities or limits. I'll continue to look, ... A: I think you have answered your own question. If SCO has 2GB limit, then your cobol will conform, ... | |
| COBOL - using editted picture numerical literals | 12/16/2005 |
| Q: I'm on an Alpha using DIGITAL COBOL V2.5-961. I am retreiving result values from an SQL table ex. ... A: Interesting problem. No way to change what the DB returns? If you have up to date manuals, check ... | |
| Cobol compilation error | 12/6/2005 |
| Q: I need some help with this cobol program.I am using microfocus express I am coding a customer sales ... A: Once I got the syntax errors out of the code, it compiled error free on MF NetExpress 4.0. You did ... | |
| How to find out length of a STRING | 11/29/2005 |
| Q: How to fined out the length of the STR, My STR contains pic x(40). I am passing value 'vijay'. How i ... A: First of all, in COBOL the length of a 'STRING' is ALWAYS the length of the data element that ... | |
| converting packed fields to unpacked fields | 11/11/2005 |
| Q: I am working on a telemanagement system conversion from a mainframe system to a .net system and they ... A: without a program you have just utilities. A very simple COBOL program will do it for just a few ... | |
| general way of finding string length and reverse of string in cobol | 10/21/2005 |
| Q: how to find string length in cobol in general way and also how 2 code reverse of string ... A: A STRING in COBOL is ALWAYS the length of the variable that contains it. To reverse the text of a ... | |
| Passing Parms thru JCL | 10/19/2005 |
| Q: Using Cobol VSE/ESA, trying to setup a simple program to accept the record and blocksize by passing ... A: I have not worked with VSE/ESA. However, I don't think what you want is available. With VSAM type ... | |
| Cobol Data File Export / Conversion | 10/15/2005 |
| Q: I am a computer consultant in Montana with absolutely no Cobol Experience. I have a client that is ... A: You have a task that presents a real challange. Since the data formats supported by COBOL are very ... | |
| COBOL Tables | 10/6/2005 |
| Q: I have been trying to update and addrees file with Country spefic information through a look-up ... A: This sounds like a home work assignment from a class. I don'[t do home work, but I will give you a ... | |
| Reading a VSAM/KSDS file backwards | 10/6/2005 |
| Q: I need to read a VSAM/KSDS file backwards. We do this all the time with Assembler I/O modules, but ... A: The READ file-name PREVIOUS is NOT in the current version of COBOL unless you are using a 2002 ... | |
| Null values in alphanumeric field | 9/14/2005 |
| Q: In AS400 COBOL, how do you check for null values in an alphanumeric field? Thanks. A: Are you asking about the field itself being null or about a field with 'Null' enabled being returned ... | |
| layered cobol calls | 9/12/2005 |
| Q: I did mean DATACOM DB. URT = (User requirements Table) has the DATACOM DB files that will be ... A: Within COBOL you can specify data and files as being GLOBAL. If you specify a thing as GLOBAL then ... | |
| layered cobol calls | 9/9/2005 |
| Q: A mainline cobol, reading datacom tables, modules has the URT defined, calls a subroutine that calls ... A: What do you mean by a datacom table? Are you refering to the DATACOM DB? Using Dynamic Calls with ... | |
| IBM Cobol Boolean OR, AND | 8/31/2005 |
| Q: I am looking for a way to use a boolean OR and AND. My book on COBOL said to use B-OR, B-AND but ... A: The BOOLEAN functions are not implemented in any IBM COBOL I have every worked with. Some others ... | |
| I/O Status code "46" | 8/29/2005 |
| Q: I got an abend of U1020 while I was runnning a COBOL job. What is status code "46"? Thanks for your ... A: My reference under FILE STATUS CODES: 46 A sequential READ statement has been attempted on a file ... | |
| Occurs clause in COBOL | 8/26/2005 |
| Q: Till now, I have come across only one index for one occurs clause. But now we have a case where we ... A: I don't normally assist with homework. But since this is a rather confusing item for many people: ... | |
| cobol link to db2 | 8/25/2005 |
| Q: i want to learn more about how to study cobol well.now i have a trouble about which level are db ... A: The best way to study COBOL is with a very good instruction manual for STRUCTURED COBOL. There are ... | |
| cobol resources | 8/15/2005 |
| Q: I hope it's ok to ask this kind of question here: I am a technical recruiter. I am currently ... A: <WWW.COBOL.COM> has a job posting site on one of it's links. Also, <www.computerjobs.com> has ... | |
| character length | 8/12/2005 |
| Q: th'x for answer my question. i'd tried to use UNSTRING, but it didn't solve my problem. my question ... A: My COBOL language reference says UNSTRING will return the number of characters moved by the function ... | |
| character length | 8/10/2005 |
| Q: i'm a new one in cobol. for this time i just want to ask u how can i know the of a string (ex, james ... A: Your question is not clear, but from the example you desire to know the length of the string? You ... | |
| redefines | 8/9/2005 |
| Q: About redefines, I had assumed this to mean that the data file can contain the redefined element OR ... A: As I stated in the prior request, what is present in ANY redefines is entirely up to you the ... | |
| Redefines & comp-3 | 8/8/2005 |
| Q: I had a couple of questions on standard cobol concepts: 1) Is there a difference between the ... A: You may redefine at any level from 01 thru 49. I am not sure I understand what you mean by 'take ... | |
| Multiple record formats in the same file | 7/28/2005 |
| Q: For a variable length file, there are multiple record formats to be defined. How do i handle that in ... A: You create the three record descriptions as 01 levels under the FD. When you read the record, you ... | |
| Value change in load module | 7/28/2005 |
| Q: I am having two cobol programs which are having some default values. I have to write a new program ... A: What you are asking to do will get you fired at most COBOL shops. Yes, it is possible, but it is an ... | |
| LEFT JUSTIFY PIC $$$,$$$,$$$.99 | 6/21/2005 |
| Q: Filler PIC X(9) VALUE 'AMOUNT IS' Total-amt PIC $$$,$$$,$$$.99. Is there a simple way to left ... A: The JUSTIFY statement can not be used with a NUMERIC EDITED picture. The easiest way is to write ... | |
| Time calculations | 6/8/2005 |
| Q: I am trying to do a calculation with time and can not find anything on the subject. Is there a ... A: Regular COBOL does not have a TIME function set. However, it is not difficult to create your own ... | |
| OS/390 Vs Enterprise COBOL | 5/26/2005 |
| Q: Please explain any coding differences between COBOL 390 and Enterprise COBOL. A: There are many differences between COBOL 390 and Enterprise COBOL. I suggest you look at the ... | |
| date in Cobol | 5/25/2005 |
| Q: Wanted to ask what is the easiest way to check if a date is valid in cobol? Is there a IS DATE? ie ... A: Unfortunately there is no date validation function. Several DATE manipulation functions but not ... | |
| what version of COBOL? | 5/23/2005 |
| Q: What version of COBOL would likely run on an IBM 390 mainframe system and be developed in the early ... A: In the early 70's, there were no IBM 390s (they come out in the 1990's). However, the IBM 370 had ... | |
| Cobol Compiler | 5/12/2005 |
| Q: I want to work on cobol. Where can I download these compilers? My OS is win 2000. Will my os ... A: You can run COBOL compilers under W2000. As far as were you can download, I don't know of any ... | |
| cobol-group variables | 5/2/2005 |
| Q: we r developing a dead code analysertool.for that v r to extract variables & list them in a separate ... A: Most vendors compilers do this already. Some flag the variable. IBM will go so far as to remove the ... | |
| Printing data set | 4/27/2005 |
| Q: We are using Micro Focus, Animator version 2, Version ANM2 8.2.75. I am having a problem printing a ... A: I use Net Express (Windows) and Server Express (Unix) so I am not real familiar with your version ... | |
| What has made COBOL so successful? | 4/2/2005 |
| Q: I'm working on my BSIT, I have just started my first programming class. I was wondering why most ... A: Normally I don't answer homework assignments. However, as a COBOL programmer for 30+ years, COBOL ... | |
| Working storage | 3/28/2005 |
| Q: We use IBM Cobol for MVS & VM V1R2M2 in an IMS environment. I want to maintain a program's ... A: Another thought. Since you have pre-loaded the program, I expect it would stay resident in the ... | |
| QUESTION ON USE OF CANCEL VERB IN COBOL | 3/23/2005 |
| Q: What does the cancel verb do A: The CANCEL verb is only used after you have finished using a dynamicly CALLed sub-program. The ... | |
| Understanding NOT usage in a COBOL program. | 3/8/2005 |
| Q: May I ask you the following question please? Hi, a static call would look like call 'a' using ... A: A Static call is resolved at compile and link time. 'A' become part of the calling module. A ... | |
| Understanding NOT usage in a COBOL program. | 3/7/2005 |
| Q: Also, can you please help me in understanding the code hich we can write in different ways. ... A: The code you requested: IF VAR-1 NOT = ('XXX' OR 'YYY' OR 'ZZZ' OR SPACE) will NOT work. While ... | |
| Understanding NOT usage in a COBOL program. | 3/5/2005 |
| Q: Sir, can you please explain me how the following code behaves and why? Please assume that the VAR-1 ... A: The first rule of good COBOL is READABLE (as in easily understood). Therefore what you have coded ... | |
| COBOL Microfocus Netexpress, Total? | 3/3/2005 |
| Q: I have a batch program written to output name, date of transaction, and amount of transaction. What ... A: The secret of getting a total is what is called the process LOOP. Example below is very simple ... | |
| how to compile and run cobol programs on unix | 2/20/2005 |
| Q: I have used cobol on IBM MVS/XA operating system. Could you tell me how I can compile and run cobol ... A: Are you asking about IBM Unix under MVS or some other Unix platform? On IBM OMVS (Unix Under MVS) ... | |
| COBOL CICS Compilation Issue on Mainframe | 2/11/2005 |
| Q: I am having a compile issue under Transaction Server 1.3, CICS LEVEL 5.3.0. Under CICS 4.1 the ... A: I rechecked the reference on this. The ENQ should accept the literal value. Or should should be ... | |
| Carriage control with text file | 2/10/2005 |
| Q: On a DEC OpenVMS Alpha version V7.3-1. I am producing a COBOL report defined as a .txt. The report ... A: Unfortunately, page feeds, line spacing, etc. from a print file does not do anything on a web-page. ... | |
| Newline character on last record | 2/6/2005 |
| Q: I am trying to write a file on an IBM mainframe using Cobol VS2.4 and 3390 storage devices. The ... A: IBM Mainframe environment does not use either x'0a' or any other combination to show end of file. ... | |
| basic question about file layouts | 1/24/2005 |
| Q: David- I have a data export from a database and the COBOL file layout for this fixed-length export. ... A: Almost correct, but not exactly. Unfortunately, COBOL must be exact. PIC 99 is 2 character, but not ... | |
| Redefines in COBOL | 1/23/2005 |
| Q: How should I define a PIC X(13) by redefining it to be a numeric so that I can compare it for zeros. ... A: The value -00000200.023 is correctly defined as - PIC -99999999.999 SIGN LEADING. This ... | |
| Redefines in COBOL | 1/21/2005 |
| Q: Can we redefine a PIC X (13) field to PIC S9(8)V999. Please let me know. A: You can, but the two definitions do NOT use the same amount of memory. The S9(8)V999 only uses 11 ... | |
| difficulties in compiling | 1/16/2005 |
| Q: im doing my project of compiling cobol language with the topic which is to solve a mathematic ... A: What do you mean by 'Difficulty COMPILING'? You don't have any statement to get the input from the ... | |
| about initializing | 1/10/2005 |
| Q: I have a question, it is the question of initializing of the circulation variable, I am defining a ... A: I am not sure I understand your question, so if I don't answer what you need, please re-ask your ... | |
| COBOL Call Statement | 12/3/2004 |
| Q: I'm reading code someone else wrote and encountered the following: IF FORMAT-NUMERIC MOVE ... A: Without the data referenced it is very difficult to say exactly. However, I would guess that the ... | |
| Oracle conversion from 8i to 9i causing data diffs | 11/16/2004 |
| Q: We are running Microfocus COBOL under Server Express 2.2 and are converting our Unix database from ... A: The Oracle 9i reference manuals suggest that if need a specific order on data retrieved, be sure to ... | |
| Date Difference in COBOL | 11/9/2004 |
| Q: Is it possible to find the number of days in between two given dates. Could you help me out with a ... A: If you have a Cobol 1989 based compiler it will do day differences using the FUNCTIONs that support ... | |
| Secreen Section in COBOL | 11/5/2004 |
| Q: I am using MS COBOL on PC. It is COBOL 85. I am finding it difficult to use the screen section in ... A: I have not worked with the MS COBOL product nor have I ever used the SCREEN SECTION. However, I was ... | |
| reengineering from C to COBOL | 10/25/2004 |
| Q: By your apprximation 1000 lines of C code will convert into howmany lines of COBOL code? A: That is very hard to estimate. Some things in C take a lot of code and only one or two statements ... | |
| Questions on compiling/programming | 10/24/2004 |
| Q: I am writing a program using cobol and net express as my compiler. I am a student in my first ... A: As a followup, I highly recommend Mike Murrach Structured COBOL books. Make sure you get a current ... | |
| table processing - search all(binary search) | 10/13/2004 |
| Q: i'm using a binary search... i defined my table in ws in ascending key sequence, built the table and ... A: The syntax of the statement is: SEARCH ALL table-name WHEN table-arg (table-index) = ... | |
| debugging project | 10/7/2004 |
| Q: David, First off let me say thanks for helping the desperate and not yet so understanding of ... A: As a norm, I don't do homework assignments. You have several obvious syntax errors. Data division ... | |
| I am having trouble compiling my cobol program | 10/7/2004 |
| Q: ------------------------- what does it mean that i have not yet declared my WS-GROSS-IN I HAVE IT IN ... A: The compiler is very stupid. It only sees what is really there and in the correct format. I can ... | |
| I am having trouble compiling my cobol program | 10/6/2004 |
| Q: Can you please look over my code and help me find the error in my programming code. I am using ... A: You have several errors that your compiler should diagnose with out any difficulty. 1. You have [o5] ... | |
| disk files vs database files | 10/1/2004 |
| Q: Mr. Nelson, I am new to the COBOL language and would like to know the difference between when to ... A: Sorry to say, I don't do AS/400. But since the AS/400 DB is an SQL based system, it gives you the ... | |
| Speed | 9/28/2004 |
| Q: well maybe you can stop reding here im using acu cobol and vision files, in unix, and got some ... A: If you are going to read the file and separate the data into multiple output files, you can read by ... | |
| COBOL FD Issue | 9/27/2004 |
| Q: Output record in FD has a table in it that occurs 1000 times. It is initialized before being written ... A: If I understand what you have it is: 01 out-rec. 02 out-rec-array occurs 1000. Move space to ... | |
| Error Message | 9/21/2004 |
| Q: I receive an error message when compiling my program, which is a simple If statement demonstrator ... A: The only place a ":" (colon) is acceptable is in a [Reference modification] statement. The format ... | |
| calling cobol from assembler | 9/20/2004 |
| Q: David, I believe the following is my COBOL version: PP 5648-A25 IBM COBOL for OS/390 & VM 2.2.2 ... A: Update: This is from the LE Debug and Run-time messages manual: IGZ0044S There was an attempt to ... | |
| COBOL Decimal Data Types | 9/18/2004 |
| Q: What are the decimal data types supported by COBOL and can Java incorporate any of these data types? ... A: I do not know the format of the JAVA BigDecimal data type. However, JAVA 1.5 now supports some new ... | |
| calling cobol from assembler | 9/17/2004 |
| Q: We're trying to call a Cobol program from assembler (driver is an E-15 sort exit). Here's the ... A: First you need to know the version of COBOL. Then you need to make sure the invoking assembler ... | |
| Sort Records | 9/7/2004 |
| Q: I have a limited knowledge of Cobol but my company has a lot of programs coded with it. I am trying ... A: The most common method of getting the input to the WS area is either [Move Record-name to WS-record] ... | |
| Sort Records | 9/3/2004 |
| Q: I have a limited knowledge of Cobol but my company has a lot of programs coded with it. I am trying ... A: You first need to define the break priority. What do you do on value changes for those fields in ... | |
| COBOL | 8/27/2004 |
| Q: I am a longtime COBOL programmer who recently took a job at a new company. I need to debug a COBOL ... A: There are many reasons for an ASRA. Do you know what instruction is actually causing the error? ... | |
| Random Number in Cobol/VSE | 8/16/2004 |
| Q: I have tried to generate random numbers in Cobol/VSE but am receiving only 1. I have used the ... A: You need to make sure you have all the variables defined correctly. The value and definition of ... | |
| Cobol files | 8/16/2004 |
| Q: I read the following in the IBM z/os documentation on cobol line-sequential files: "because blanks ... A: The truncation of the record is from the right end. Nothing will be lost off the end of the record ... | |
| Program waiting for asynchronous execution | 8/11/2004 |
| Q: We are writing programs on a sun solaris UNIX box utilizing microfocus COBOL and an Oracle database. ... A: The feature you wish to use is available in MF Cobol on Solaris. If you check in one of the guides ... | |
| Programming Languages | 8/3/2004 |
| Q: If I wanted a programming language that best combines speed with ease in coding, what would I ... A: There is no pat answer to this question. First you need to define the environment you are going to ... | |
| Old cobol program on winxp? | 7/24/2004 |
| Q: Sorry David, but I am new to allexperts. You said that you allready answered this, but I didn't get ... A: Try again. RM COBOL is not my area of expertise. However: Check the run time properties for the ... | |
| I'm running Micro Focus Net... | 7/22/2004 |
| Q: I'm running Micro Focus Net Express 3.1 on window 98 & 2000 I need to interface with Active ... A: This is not my area of expertise. However, if you can all ADS from a C program, you can invoke it ... | |
| COBOL | 7/19/2004 |
| Q: I am a returning student. I have decided to return to school to learn computer programming. I ... A: COBOL is not dead. It is still the most used computer language on earth. Any major companies still ... | |
| Cobol Copybooks | 6/17/2004 |
| Q: I'm a java programmer and am working on converting COBOL Copybook to other formats. I am still ... A: ANSI standard COBOL has been superceded by ISO COBOL. The current Standard is ISO-2002. IBM does ... | |
| Cobol Installation | 6/14/2004 |
| Q: Installed Cobol97(V40L10) successfull in Win2000 Pro with service pack3 running. 1)When trying to ... A: 1) Sorry, I am not familiar with your version of COBOL. Who is the vendor? 2) What kind of file are ... | |
| MF cobol Declaratives | 6/4/2004 |
| Q: I'm working with mf cobol and windows plataform, i need to do a compiler automatic procedure with ... A: What version of MF Cobol for Windows are you using? Or is it the DOS version. What I have is the ... | |
| Converting IBM COBOL LE370 to MF COBOL | 6/4/2004 |
| Q: David Thanks for the quick response. So Microfocus NET Express can be used as a tool for conversion ... A: I can not answer the effort question for a Windows conversion. Mainframe express (I think it has a ... | |
| Comparing Timestamps | 6/3/2004 |
| Q: David ! I need a little more clarification. Both A and B are declared as X(16)(format ... A: If DB2 is giving you the timestamp value for A are you sure it is that format? I know the ... | |
| Converting IBM COBOL LE370 to MF COBOL | 6/3/2004 |
| Q: I need to migrate an application written in IBM COBOL LE370 to a Windows .NET platform. I would like ... A: MF COBOL (NetExpress) will directly compile IBM LE370 COBOL. If you want the resulting code to be ... | |
| A problem producing a COBOL program | 5/25/2004 |
| Q: I am using MS Dos editor to write simple COBOL programs and then using MS Dos to run them. I have ... A: This is a classic homework assignment. I don't do homework. However, since you did not ask for ... | |
| Cobol Program | 5/4/2004 |
| Q: I am still a little stumped on the logic of creating the first one from nothing. I just can't get ... A: The best way to process this is either in a work area in WORKING-STORAGE, or the in the RECORD of ... | |
| Cobol Program | 5/3/2004 |
| Q: My main question is: If the old master record starts off blank, what do I do to just create the new ... A: TO create the original file, I suggest you write another program that will create the header data ... | |
| Cobol Program | 5/3/2004 |
| Q: I am designing a program for cobol and I need some serious help. I am using microfocus coobl. I ... A: I see your problem. What is your question? This appears to a homework assignment. I do not do ... | |
| visual cobol | 4/26/2004 |
| Q: What is the major difference between .NET Cobol from Fujitsu and the Microfocus Cobol? ThanksI am a ... A: I don't know anything about the Fujitsu product. I know Microfocus provides the official .NET COBOL ... | |
| COBOL Interactive Project | 4/24/2004 |
| Q: I am a senior at Middle Tenn State University and I am doing an interactive COBOL project. I have ... A: I am a mainframe/Unix COBOL programmer. I have limited experience on the PC. However, in your ... | |
| visual cobol | 4/23/2004 |
| Q: I am a beginning cobol programmer, can you point me to a good visual cobol. A: I don't know what you mean by Visual COBOL. I don't know of anybody that offers such a product that ... | |
| need best example for COBOL Sub programs | 4/19/2004 |
| Q: Many thanks David, Your suggestion makes me success in my work, now my subroutine works fine, I can ... A: I don't know how your monitoring of the strSQL works. However all the data is contiguous in memory, ... | |
| need best example for COBOL Sub programs | 4/17/2004 |
| Q: I have used Windows 2000 OS Service Pack 4 CA-Realia COBOL Compiler Version 6.0.45 Microsoft (R) ... A: From your description you are doing Object Oriented COBOL. I don't do that. Nor do I work with ... | |
| please help me!!! | 4/11/2004 |
| Q: i m sorry to bother u again the thing is u don't accept any attachment in which i can send u what i ... A: As I stated before, I won't go through your code and debug it for you. That is not the purpose of ... | |
| please help me!!! | 4/10/2004 |
| Q: thanx for the email, here is the detail. weighin.dat file format is something like this. „Ï Person ... A: Your have presented what looks like a homework assignment for a beginning COBOL class. But I don't ... | |
| Code Coverage Tool for Cobol | 3/30/2004 |
| Q: When I am conducting testing, I want to know how much code is getting tested, the ones not getting ... A: I doubt you will find any freewares to do this type of analysis. You still did not say what ... | |
| Nested Copy | 3/16/2004 |
| Q: question regards nested copy statements: am trying to do a number of copy replace statements in the ... A: Nested copy is vendor specific support. You need to check the reference/programmers guide for the ... | |
| RFC support | 3/4/2004 |
| Q: Recently I am looking the best techniques to interface 2 different system. One is SAP R/3 and the ... A: Your question is really not a COBOL question. However, you can create a comm link to CICS from ... | |
| Search a String in Cobol | 3/2/2004 |
| Q: can you pls tell me how to search a String in records that is not having a table Structure. Say i ... A: the generic term is SUBSTRING. COBOL does not have a SUBSTRING function as such. So you have to ... | |
| Tokenize the Strings in Cobol | 3/2/2004 |
| Q: But how exactly, do you parse the data stream. I really cudnt get you. If it is Java or in some ... A: To parse the phone number data, you need to define both the input and the output 77 PHONE-INPUT PIC ... | |
| Tokenize the Strings in Cobol | 3/1/2004 |
| Q: I have the following doubts in Cobol: a) There is a variable string having variable spaces . Like ... A: Several options. You need to define all the values that can be used as 'Phrase' and their size and ... | |
| Passing parameters from command line. | 3/1/2004 |
| Q: I'm new programmer with COBOL and i need a help with a question what my be look very simple to you. ... A: How you do the command line invocation is platform dependant. MF Cobol does this. If you don't ... | |
| Handling Record Locks in MF Cobol on AIX O/S | 2/13/2004 |
| Q: In my application, I need some help in handling record locks on AIX operating system. Problem: One ... A: Record locking can be a real problem. What version of the MF Cobol are you using? The current ... | |
| Replacing Statement | 2/12/2004 |
| Q: I am using IBM COBOL. I would like to know if there is a way to replace part of a variable name ... A: At this time what you want is not implemented in any IBM Cobol that I am aware of. It is part of ... | |
| Referencing COBOL data fields | 2/9/2004 |
| Q: David, I have learned that COBOL can perform paragraphs contained in a variable; such as PERFORM X ... A: I don't know where you 'learned' that, but I have been writing COBOL for well over 30 years, and I ... | |
| Dynamic and static linking | 11/10/2003 |
| Q: What is the difference between Dynamic and static linking? What is the disadvandages of static ... A: Dynamic linking means the modules are linked at run time. Static linking is done by the linkage ... | |
| SQL functionality against Oracle database. | 10/17/2003 |
| Q: CobolII against an Oracle 9i database. I have a table with the following keys (company#, entry year ... A: This is not a COBOL question. However, before you change the data selection values, you need to ... | |
| Microfocus V3.4 and Win 2000 | 9/2/2003 |
| Q: I am writing you from Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, NY. We have Micro focus V3.4, ... A: There is a known problem with W2000 and Microfocus COBOL. I don't recognize the product from the ... | |
| Cobol Runtime | 8/12/2003 |
| Q: Microfocus is telling us we need to buy licences to their "cobol runtime". Can you give me a brief ... A: As with many COBOL compilers, the generated code does not include all of the system support routines ... | |
| Diffrence in Cobol | 8/4/2003 |
| Q: Could you please clarify me whether Cobol Os/390 with Language Envirionment and Enterprise Cobol are ... A: Cobol for OS/390 is not the same as Enterprise COBOL. Enterprise COBOL is IBM's latest release and ... | |
| COBOL access to job information | 7/30/2003 |
| Q: Is there a way to access the dsn name of a data set being created by a COBOL program? I am creating ... A: You can not do it directly from COBOL but it is a rather simple assembler language routine, about 30 ... | |
| jcl/sort | 7/24/2003 |
| Q: In sort step how do you decide how many work files are requiredfor our job on what basis this will ... A: You need to know the size of the file being sorted such as 500 records or 50,000,000 and allocate ... | |
| Enterprise Cobol for Z/os | 7/16/2003 |
| Q: I work for the DOT in Raleigh NC and we currently have IBM Cobol for OS/390. We are trying to find ... A: I just finished a contract with DHHS/DIRM/Dix Campus. I have not worked with Enterprise Cobol yet. ... | |
| MF COBOL file corruptions | 6/10/2003 |
| Q: We are running MF Object COBOL (V4.1.20) on SCO Unix Openserver Enterprise System (V5.0.4p) on a ... A: Quite a problem. Sounds like you could have more than one problem. First, have you looked on the ... | |
David Nelson
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
I specialize in IBM z/OS COBOL and MicroFocus OCDS and Server Express non-OOP. Design, coding and performance oriented questions. Also linking to IBM Assembler from COBOL. Because the rules change with version, please state language level, version and platform environment. See CICS for questions about CICS.
Experience
Over 35 years working with COBOL on multiple platforms and OS.
Education/Credentials
Graduate, New York School of Computer Technology.
Past/Present Clients
Major Financial Institutions, State of NC (DHHS), Manufacturing, Financial services, Warehousing, Software developer and others.
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