README.DOC File
Release Notes for the Microsoft(R) COBOL
Professional Development System
Version 4.5
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1991
This document contains essential information for version 4.5 of the
Microsoft COBOL Professional Development System for MS-DOS(R) and the
Microsoft Operating System/2 (MS(R) OS/2(R)). The information in this
document is more up to date than that in the manuals.
Microsoft improves its languages documentation at the time of reprinting,
so some of the information in this file may already be included in your
manuals.
NEW FEATURES
o Support for Windows 3.0
The following types of programs are supported under Windows 3.0 :
- Existing DOS applications can be linked with a new runtime library
(COBAPIDW) to produce an application that runs under Windows.
- Programs that call the Windows API can now be written in
COBOL. Note that if you do not have the Windows Software
Development Kit (SDK) and plan to create true COBOL Windows
applications by calling the Windows API directly, you may be
interested in using the Dialog Editor from the SDK. The Dialog
Editor is available through PSS by calling 637-7096.
- Dynamic-link libraries that can be called from programs written
in other programming languages can be written in COBOL.
o Intrinsic Functions
The 1989 Addendum to the ANSI 85 COBOL Standard introduced a set of
intrinsic functions. These functions are fully supported in
Microsoft COBOL 4.5. Functions are provided for Trigonometric,
Financial, Statistical and String handling.
o Floating Point
COMP-1 (32 bit Real) and COMP-2 (64 bit Real) data types have been
added to this release of COBOL. The syntax support is the same as
defined for IBM OSVS COBOL and IBM VS COBOL II, and an Intel Floating
Point Co-Processor will be used if available.
o Table Sort
The SORT verb can now apply to a Data Division table, which will be
sorted in place.
o EXIT PERFORM
Control of program flow is enhanced with a new EXIT PERFORM statement.
o 'IF 78-level DEFINED' syntax for conditional compilation
o Support for X/Open XPG3 COBOL definition
o Compilation up to 10% faster
o General performance improvements in generated code
o Save and Restore Environment enables you to save the break-points and
monitors from one Animator session and reload them next time.
o Breakpoint when data value changes.
o Monitoring a subscripted item will follow a changing subscript.
o Data compression
You can supply your own data compression routines, which can be
tuned to the data that will be in the file.
o OS/2 Database Manager (SQL) enhancements
Support for: qualified host variables; more than 100 host variables in
one SQL statement; EXEC SQL WHENEVER SQLWARNING.
o Screens index program
The Screens program will generate an index program which can be used
for simple data entry applications.
NEW DIRECTIVES
These are the new compiler directives introduced in this product:
ALIAS Subscripts
BROWSE Create .SBR file
CHECKDIV Allow divide by zero
DEFAULTCALLS CALL convention
DETECTLOCK Detect record locks
DLL DLL or EXE
FLAGAS Show flags as errors etc.
HIDEMESSAGE Set message to hide
INFORETURN Info msg return value
INTLEVEL Portability level
LOCKTYPE Read locked records
MF(7) Micro Focus COBOL syntax
SQLDB2 Mainframe compatibility
SQLFORMAT Define date format
SQLPROT Protect database
WRITETHROUGH Unbuffered writes
XOPEN X/Open
THE COBOL SOFTWARE
Compatibility with Previous Releases
====================================
This product is generally compatible with previous releases, However,
there are some differences. These are described in the ASCII text file,
CBL-CMPT.DOC, supplied with this product. Before you use this product with
programs created with earlier versions, we recommend that you read
CBL-CMPT.DOC.
Restrictions in the COBOL Software
==================================
o Cooperative Animation only allows 4 breakpoints to be set.
o In general, the components in this product support the High
Performance File System complex filenames. However, the directory
facility in some components will not work correctly when complex names
are present. Also, names are restricted to a maximum of 65 characters.
o NODYNAM currently impacts both CALL literal and CALL identifier. To
get mainframe-type link-edit, use NOLITLINK with DYNAM and LITLINK
with NODYNAM when compiling to OBJ.
o The ANIMATOR Do command will not work with:
- the CHAIN verb when parameters are supplied
- CALL procedure-pointer
- CALL .... BY VALUE
- CANCEL of nested program
- EXIT PERFORM/PARAGRAPH/SECTION
- intrinsic functions.
o The program-id of a called subprogram must be the same as the name
used for the .OBJ file created by the compiler. Otherwise, a new copy
will be loaded whenever the program is called.
o Under OS/2 you cannot redirect input to the compiler or Animator.
o On OS/2, any DLL that is to be loaded by the shared run-time that is
not specified with a path must exist on a path given in the COBDIR
environment variable, as well as on the OS/2 LIBPATH.
o EXTERNAL data items are limited to a maximum of 64K bytes each.
o The DISPLAY UPON PRINTER syntax does not work on OS/2.
o Any computation which has an intermediate result greater than 18
digits may give an incorrect final result. This will affect arithmetic
expressions such as those used in COMPUTE statements.
o Floating-point data is currently not supported in QuickWin applications.
o When interfacing with Microsoft C programs, the following C graphics
library routines should not be called as this will corrupt the COBOL
environment:
- _outtext
- _outmem
- _floodfill
- any routine that uses floodfill where you specify the
_GFILLINTERIOR option (namely _ellipse and _pie)
o You should not use cross-session animation on a network server since
this can prevent cross-session animation operating on other machines
on the network.
o You cannot have more than ten files in the USING or GIVING phrase of a
MERGE statement.
o In VS COBOL II Releases 1 and 2, and OS/VS COBOL, the "PERFORM stack"
is preserved between calls to a program. Thus, on re-entry to the
program, the PERFORM state will be as it was when the program was last
exited. This means that the code to return to the PERFORM statement
which exists at the end of any piece of code that had been performed
but had not exited when the program itself was exited will remain
active, and may cause unexpected program flow when the program is
re-entered.
This COBOL behaves the same way as VS COBOL II Release 3 and
initializes the PERFORM stack each time a program is called
irrespective of the existence of the VSC2(1), VSC2(2) or OSVS
directives.
o When interfacing with a C program, floating point items may only be
passed as BY REFERENCE parameters, not as BY VALUE or BY CONTENT
parameters.
Restrictions in Related Software
================================
Novell(R) network
-----------------
o When sharing files across a Novell network, it is essential that all
the workstations using the network are configured so that they do not
use local buffering (CACHE DATA BUFFERING). Failure to do this may
result in loss of data.
Novell version 2.0A, and prior to 2.15 are all configured with local
buffering on by default. To disable this buffering, in version 2.0A
you require a patch from Novell. In other versions, insert the line:
CACHE BUFFERS = 0
into the file SHELL.CFG on each workstation.
o Use of the NETBIOS option on a Novell network can cause loss of data
on files shared across the network. (NETBIOS is activated by entering
the NETBIOS command after connecting to the network. To avoid loss of
data, do not use this command.)
o When creating multi-user programs to run on a Novell network, it is
necessary to ensure that all disk mapping assignments are beyond E:.
i.e. do not use assignments A: thru E:.
DOCUMENTATION
On-disk Documentation
=====================
The disks supplied with this product contain additional documentation.
The following on-disk documents should be regarded as additional chapters,
or additions to chapters, in your Operating Guide:
MFCOMPAT.DOC - Compatibility with Micro Focus COBOL
OPTIMIZE.DOC - Creating Optimized Programs
TIMEOUT.DOC - Timeout Support in ACCEPT
Omissions and Errors
====================
This section contains information that is either incorrect or missing from
your Microsoft COBOL manuals. This information is organized according
to the manual in which it appears. You may want to mark the changes in
your manuals.
Language Reference
------------------
Page 5-24. There is an optional phrase within the WITH DUPLICATES phrase
of the ALTERNATE RECORD KEY clause of the SELECT statement for an indexed
file. Its syntax is:
SUPPRESS [WHEN] { ZEROS }
{ SPACES }
{ [ALL] literal }
SUPPRESS, ZEROS, SPACES, and ALL are all keywords.
Page 5-32. Insert a new General Rule (13a) between rules 13 and 14:
"If a file is defined as EXTERNAL and the operating system file name is
assigned by means of a file name (for example, by use of either the
DYNAMIC directive or keyword, using data-name-1 in the SELECT/ASSIGN
statement, or using format 2 of the VALUE OF phrase of an FD), then the
following rules should be followed:
1) An identifier with the same name should be used to contain the
physical file name in all programs which reference the file.
2) Each definition of the identifier which contains the physical file
name should also contain the EXTERNAL attribute.
Any violation of these rules will not be detected at compile time.
However, if any program in the run-unit violates these rules, the results
at run time are unpredictable. That is, they may or may not execute as
expected."
Page 5-83. After General Rule 27, add:
"28. The I-O phrase permits the opening of a file for both input and
output operations (except for file with ORGANIZATION LINE SEQUENTIAL). If
the file does not exist it will be created and used as an empty file for
input unless NOT OPTIONAL was specified in the SELECT statement. An
attempt to WRITE it will cause an error."
Page 5-120. Add a new General Rule 13a:
"The phrases ADVANCING PAGE and END-OF-PAGE must not both be specified in
a single WRITE statement."
Page 10-11, replace the entire second boxed extension with the following:
"If a file is defined as EXTERNAL and the operating system file name is
assigned by means of a file name (for example, by use of either the
DYNAMIC directive or keyword, using data-name-1 in the SELECT/ASSIGN
statement, or using format 2 of the VALUE OF phrase of an FD), then the
following rules should be followed:
1) An identifier with the same name should be used to contain the
physical file name in all programs which reference the file.
2) Each definition of the identifier which contains the physical file
name should also contain the EXTERNAL attribute.
Any violation of these rules will not be detected at compile time.
However, if any program in the run-unit violates these rules, the results
at run time are unpredictable. That is, they may or may not execute as
expected."
Page 15-34, General Rule 4 of the FOREGROUND-COLOR clause. In the first
sentence, change "contains a BACKGROUND-COLOR clause" to "contains a
FOREGROUND-COLOR clause".
Page 16-43, before the description of the ORD-MAX function insert a
description of the ORD-MIN function. Its description is exactly the same
as that of ORD-MAX, but replacing "ORD-MAX" by "ORD-MIN", "maximum" by
"minimum" and "greatest" by "least" everywhere that they occur.
Operating Guide
---------------
General
A number of the executable files are supplied with .PIF files for use
with Microsoft Windows 3.0 or later. Using these .PIF files, the
components of this system can be run as Windows applications, and can
be added to a group for direct execution from Program Manager. From
the DOS command line, these applications can be invoked using the
command
WIN prog.PIF
where prog is the name of the relevant component.
Chapter 9 (Packaging and Shipping Applications):
There is a module RMSTAT.OBJ, which must be linked into your
application if you want to get RM file statuses.
Chapter 19 (SQL):
There is no support for using COMP-1 items with SQL.
Chapter 34 (Converting C Header Files with H2CPY)
There is a utility called SPLIT78. It splits the constants file
produced by H2CPY into several files.
It uses the first set of characters before the first hyphen to name
the files. For example, if OS2.78 contains:
78 ABB-COLOR VALUE H"01".
78 ABB-BACK-COLOR VALUE H"02".
78 ABB-MIX-MODE VALUE H"04".
78 ABB-BACK-MIX-MODE VALUE H"08".
78 ABB-SET VALUE H"10".
78 ABB-SYMBOL VALUE H"20".
78 ABB-REF-POINT VALUE H"40".
78 AF-CHAR VALUE H"01".
78 AF-VIRTUALKEY VALUE H"02".
78 AF-SCANCODE VALUE H"04".
78 AF-SHIFT VALUE H"08".
78 AF-CONTROL VALUE H"10".
78 AF-ALT VALUE H"20".
78 AF-LONEKEY VALUE H"40".
78 AF-SYSCOMMAND VALUE H"0100".
78 AF-HELP VALUE H"0200".
78 HWND-DESKTOP VALUE 1.
78 HWND-OBJECT VALUE 2.
78 HWND-TOP VALUE 3.
78 HWND-BOTTOM VALUE 4.
78 HWND-THREADCAPTURE VALUE 5.
78 HWND-PARENT VALUE 0.
then typing the command, "SPLIT78 OS2.78" will create 3 files:
ABB.78
AF.78
and HWND.78
The contents of OS2.78 will be unaffected. If any of the output files
already exist they will be extended, so make sure your working
directory contains no ".78" files other than the source file before
you enter the command SPLIT78.
Appendix B (Compiler Directives):
The default for the directive CHECKDIV is NOCHECKDIV, not CHECKDIV as
stated in the manuals.
There is an additional directive FLAGCD. Its syntax is [NO] FLAGCD.
When it is set, selecting flagging for the dialect SAA, ANS85, OSVS or
VSC2 release 2 or 3 will not only flag syntax outside that dialect,
but will also flag any directive settings that cause behavior
incompatible with that dialect. The default is NOFLAGCD.
There are two additional directives, HOST-NUMCOMPARE and ZWB which
direct the results of comparing a numeric display field with SPACE,
" " and "0". The directives are provided to ensure compatibility with
mainframe COBOL operation. If NOHOST-NUMCOMPARE or ZWB are specified,
the results of comparing are as now. If HOST-NUMCOMPARE and NOZWB are
specified together, the results are the exact opposite. Hence, if
PIC-9 contains spaces, the results of the comparison with SPACES, " "
and "0" are:
PIC-9 = SPACE PIC-9 = " " PIC-9 = "0"
NOZWB and HOST-NUMCOMPARE TRUE TRUE FALSE
ZWB or NOHOST-NUMCOMPARE FALSE FALSE TRUE
These results are the same independent of the setting of the F
run-time switch.
There is an additional generator directive SIGNCOMPARE. Its syntax is
[NO] SIGNCOMPARE. When it is set in an EBCDIC program, it changes the
way some numeric comparisons are performed so that, for example, an
unsigned data item containing 1234 is equal to a signed data item
containing +1234. This does, however, cause these comparisons to be much
less efficient. The default is NOSIGNCOMPARE. If you are using an
add-on product, note that the behavior in intermediate code is the
same as you get in generated code with SIGNCOMPARE; thus with the
default setting of this directive, the behavior in intermediate code
and generated code is different.
There is an error in the example given for STICKY-LINKAGE. The name
of the data item referenced in the Procedure Division code should be
HOURLY-RATE, not RATE.
There is an additional directive ZEROLENGTHFALSE. Its syntax is
[NO] ZEROLENGTHFALSE. When it is set, all class tests of zero length
group items return false. Otherwise they all return true. The default
is NOZEROLENGTHFALSE. For conformance to ANSI and SAA you must set
ZEROLENGTHFALSE.
Appendices C and D (COBOL System Library Routines)
The following passage is relevant to both these appendices:
The COBOL system library routines generally supply features that
cannot be accessed using COBOL syntax, such as operating system
functions. Under OS/2, many of the features can be accessed directly
by calling the OS/2 API functions. However, this ties the program to
OS/2, with DOS capability available only for those API calls which are
part of the Family API, and only then when the program is bound.
Parameters to the call-by-name routines can be defined anywhere
provided they do not cross a segment boundary. (See the CHIP "16" and
FLAG-CHIP compiler directives.) Parameters to the call-by-number
routines must not be defined in the Linkage Section or Local-Storage
Section of your program, and must be in the first 64K of the Data
Division.
Error Messages
--------------
Page 2-2. The reference to the E switch is only appropriate if you have
the Toolset or Workbench add-on products. Consequently, the effect of the
E switch is not documented in the Operating Guide as stated.
Pocket Guide
------------
Reserved Words List
The words SECONDS is shown as a reserved word. This is incorrect.
