News from Micro Focus SupportLine
October 2003
What's new at Micro Focus?
Quick Links
Press Releases
In The News
Company News
Product News
Upcoming Events
Other News
Product Updates
Technical Articles
Planned Product Withdrawals
Resources
Press Releases
MICRO FOCUS OPENS NEW WAYNE, PA OFFICES
WAYNE, PA. Sept. 29, 2003 - Micro Focus International Ltd. (Micro Focus®), today unveils its new Wayne office at 480 East Swedesford Road. The enhanced presence in Wayne represents Micro Focus's continued commitment to the Mid-Atlantic and Philadelphia regions, the community and its employees. Richard Lloyd, Chief Financial Officer for Micro Focus, will lead the opening dedication of the new North American office today at 1:00 p.m. ET.
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In The News
CEO on the state of Micro Focus
ADT Magazine
September 4 2003
By: Michael W. Bucken
Two years after the undoing of its merger with Merant Inc., Micro Focus has returned to its roots just in time to take advantage of rampant IT cost cutting, said CEO Tony Hill.
http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=8183
Network World
Resurrecting the distributed app model
By John Fontana
September 29, 2003
XML and Web services are emitting a singsong chime these days, humming the letters S-O-A. Service-oriented architecture is in the air. SOA is the latest name for an application's architecture for sharing and reusing code.
http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2003/1020edit.html
Company News
Micro Focus Launches NEW Partner Website
Micro Focus launched the first phase of a new website dedicated to partners. The goal of the site is to provide information on the Micro Focus Business Partner Program, highlight our partners, and provide a central location where partners can find all necessary Micro Focus information. Take a look at the new site today! www.microfocus.com/partners. Additional information will be added shortly, so make sure to check on the site regularly. We would love to get your comments and suggestions on the new site - send an email to channel.news@microfocus.com with any recommendations.
Product News
Have you upgraded to Net Express 4.0 yet?
With the availability of version 4.0 of the Net Express product, further WebSync updates for Net Express v3.1 are scheduled to be discontinued with the last planned update release due in December 2003. If you haven't done so already, you can order an update of your current copy of Net Express v3.1 to Net Express v4.0 by visiting http://www.microfocus.com/agility and selecting the "Update Your Net Express" link in the menu to the left side of the page. Those of you with older versions of Net Express who wish to update to v4.0 should contact your Micro Focus sales person.
Upcoming Events
| North American Events Micro Focus Technology Events Discover how you can be more agile with your COBOL! Micro Focus is beginning a series of Tech Events in September and October where we'll be bringing together senior Micro Focus executives, key partners and customers to exchange ideas, participate in an interactive workshop, and explore new possibilities. Please join us at one of the venues listed below: October October 2 - St. Paul, MNNovember November 6 - Jacksonville, FL To register, please visit www.microfocus.com/events and click on the North America events section. Upcoming Trade ShowsTransforming Multichannel Finance October 15-16 2003 The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre Broad Sanctuary, Westminster London SW1P 3EE Click here for more details Gartner Symposium ITxpo October 21-23, 2003 Walt Disney World Dolphin Lake Buena Vista, FL Click here for more details New York Technology Forum October 23-24, 2003 New York Marriott Brooklyn, NY Click her for more details Gartner IT XPO & Symposium Palais Des Festivals Cannes - France November 4-7 2003 Click here for more details | European Events October 16, 2003 Customer Round Table Business Agility : Architect for Change Register Now! October 2003 Legacy Live Transform your Legacy to the Rhythm of your Business Cologne 21 October Brussels 22 October Amsterdam 23 October Milan 28 October London 29 October October/November 2003 COBOL@Work Net Express/Enterprise Server - Creating and deploying web services BeLux Germany Netherlands United Kingdom |
Other News
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Join the monthly Micro Focus Webcasts
Micro Focus conducts two Webcasts each month. These Webcasts are delivered in a one hour format, with the hour made up of about 45 minutes of presentation or instruction, followed by a 15 minute question and answer session.
First Friday Webcast
The First Fridays Webcast focus is on topics of critical concern to enterprise IT directors and developers. IT professionals in organizations whose legacy systems depend on the stability of COBOL should not miss these important events. Information about the First Friday Webcasts is available at
http://www.microfocus.com/promotion/firstfriday/schedule.asp.
E-Learning Webcasts
Join us every 3rd Thursday of the month for a one hour e-learning session on special interest topics related to Micro Focus products. The sessions are FREE and fully web-based. Registration is available online for the upcoming sessions.
The next Webcast is October 16th and covers Using Java with COBOL.
http://www.microfocus.com/promotion/e-learning/
Micro Focus Training
Micro Focus Training & Education is committed to providing training that accelerates our customer's implementation and return on investment of Micro Focus tools. If you are interested in registering for a course, please contact us through the web at: www.microfocus.com/training. To view the courses and contact numbers for the individual countries, please select the proper link in the following list:
Currently, there are 20 public courses planned for the remainder of the year, with opening available in many of them.
Product Updates
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The following product updates have been made available this month:
Net Express 3.1 SP1
- aps19a31 - Application Server Service Pack
- cmp15n31 - Compiler FixPack
- doc11n31 - Documentation FixPack
- dsy10n31 - Dialog System FixPack
- ide15n31 - IDE FixPack
- ogc06n31 - OO GUI Class Library FixPack
- xfh14n31 - File Handler FixPack
Net Express 4.0
- dem01n40.exe - DEMO FixPac
- doc01n40.exe - Documentation FixPack
- eps01n40.exe - Enterprise Server FixPack
- itl01n40.exe - Internet Tools FixPack
- rts01n40.exe - Run-time System FixPack
- xfh01n40.exe - File Handler FixPack
- xml01n40.exe - XML Support FixPack
Server Express 2.2 SP1
AIX 4.3.3 (32-bit product)
- Fixpack22.02_11_cob.tar.encr - Development System
- Fixpack22.02_11_apps.tar.encr - Application Server
HP-UX PA-RISC 11.x (32/64bit)
- FixPack 22.02_11_cob.tar.encr - Development System
- FixPack 22.02_11_apps.tar.encr - Application Server
SunSparc 8 (32/64bit)
- FixPack 22.02_11_cob.tar.encr - Development System
- FixPack 22.02_11_apps.tar.encr - Application Server
For full details, please view the readme files that accompany the WebSync FixPacks.
Requesting Product Update
As a SupportLine customer, you can receive your FREE update by sending an email to Update@microfocus.com. You will need to provide your Name, Company, Phone, and Fax numbers, email address, shipping address, number of users, your current product serial number(s), and to which product or release you wish to Update.
License Key Requests
Along with the other recent changes, the address to use to request new license keys has changed. License Keys for AAI, EnterpriseLink, Mainframe Express, Mainframe Manager, Net Express, Revolve, and Transformation Product Suite products should now be requested in one of two ways. They should either be requested through the Request/Obtain License link, located on the SupportLine web page Self Service menu, or they should be sent to the new e-mail address of urk@microfocus.com All of the previous e-mail addresses used for obtaining new license keys are now invalid.
Technical Articles
Articles and demos to inform you about functions and features of your Micro Focus products
All Compiler Products
RTS:161 Illegal Intermediate Code - What does this mean and how can you find the cause?
Have you encountered this error? This article discusses the potential causes and corrections for RTS:161 errors.
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Net Express
Unable to change the value of a data item during Animation using Net Express.
When using the Examine feature of the Net Express Animator, if you click on the "Change" button a grayed out window will appear that will not permit you to change the value of the data item. This article describes the cause and correction for this issue.
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The Codecomp Utility
Sometimes the need to customize the character set conversion from ASCII to EBCDIC or vice versa will come up. This can be accomplished by using the Codecomp utility. This utility enables you to create customized mapping tables for EBCDIC/ANSI character set translation. This article covers how to use this utility.
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Mainframe Express
SQL Option *.LOG files - What are they for and can they be deleted?
A*.LOG and ANCHOR.LOG files are created in the Location directory each time the Location is accessed during one session of the SQL Option Server. What are these and do you need to keep them. This article provides an answer to these questions.
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Enhancements to the External File Handler
The Mainframe Express FixPacks released in July 2003 introduced enhancements to the File Handler for mainframe compatibility. This enhancement process will be finalized in the FixPacks released in October 2003. This article describes those enhancements.
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Revolve
Duplication of Copybooks in Revolve
New functionality was introduced in the latest Revolve WebSync FixPack (release 6.2.42) that causes duplication of the copybooks in a project. This document will describe the enhancement, the effect of the enhancement, and also includes a link to a utility which will correct the copybook duplication that can result from the initial use of this enhancement.
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Server Express
The case for using CSO in place of .gnt modules
Before the introduction of Server Express, customers would typically develop and debug their code using .int (intermediate code) and then they would compile their applications to .gnt (generated native code) or executable format when their code was ready to deploy in production. There is now a much better way to do this using Callable Shared Object (CSO) format modules. This article will discuss why you should consider making use of this new module format.
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How long is a String?
Strictly within COBOL, the answer is easy. However, the answer gets more complicated as you start to interface with other languages, non-COBOL library routines, etc. This article discusses this issue and the various ways that string lengths are determined when passed to a called routine.
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Planned Product Withdrawals
Are you aware of the Product Withdrawal Schedule Information within the Micro Focus Product Advisory pages? This schedule shows the planned (or past) withdrawal dates of Micro Focus products and their successor products. It is advisable for you to check this schedule from time to time, so you can stay up to date on the plans near term plans for the Micro Focus products that you are using.
A reminder: Many of the Object COBOL Developer Suite v4.1 products on all UNIX platforms are being withdrawn as of December 31, 2003. All withdrawn releases are, or have been, replaced by either Object COBOL Developer Suite v4.2 or by a Server Express release. If you are still operating on v4.1 product versions, you should be planning on upgrading your release to correspond to this schedule.
The full Product Withdrawal Schedule can be found on the Micro Focus web site at:
withdrawal
Resources
Micro Focus Forum
If you haven't visited the new Micro Focus Forum, you should check out what other users of the products are doing there.
http://www.cobolportal.com/microfocusforum/
The COBOL Portal
Have you visited the new COBOL Portal lately?
Many changes and enhancements have been made to the COBOL Portal recently to make it 'the' web site for the COBOL developer..
http://www.cobolportal.com
Have you visited the Micro Focus SupportLine web page? Have you registered for access?
If you haven't you should!
By accessing the SupportLine web page, you can:
- Submit issues directly to our support operation just as you would over the telephone. Issues submitted through the website given the same priority as telephone inquiries.
- View the status of the cases you have submitted to Support, whether you opened them through the web or through a telephone call to us. You may also update the information on your open cases to provide additional information.
- You can view the status of any product defect reports you have submitted to us.
There are self-help services available on the SupportLine web page that will allow you to find answers to a variety of product questions, provide you with a concentrated sub-site for Net Express information and examples, and give you access to our AnswerLab user community messaging area.
If you haven't registered and visited our SupportLine web page, you owe it to yourself to see what you have been missing. Click on the following links to register (all you need is your personal information and your product serial numbers) to access the SupportLine web page and start benefiting from these services.
Register for an online SupportLine account
Access the SupportLine Web Page
Please Help Improve Communication Within The Micro Focus User Community
If you know of any users of Micro Focus products, development support team members, technical architects or any other parties who would be interested in receiving future issues of this communication each month, please direct them to the registration page where they can register online.
