News from Micro Focus SupportLine
December 2003
What's new at Micro Focus?
Quick Links In The NewsCompany News SupportLine News Product News Upcoming Events Other News Product Updates Technical Articles Planned Product Withdrawals Resources | All of us from Micro Focus wish you and your families a Happy and Healthy and Safe Holiday and New Year! NEW!Click here to find out the details of the new Net Express v4.0 with .NET. |
An invitation to Micro Focus Developer Forum 2004Your opportunity to maximize the value of your COBOL in an environment dedicated to provide the training, hands-on tools, skills and answers vital to your business and career success now and into the future.
3 days that will make a difference North America February 29 - March 3, 2004 Marriott Quorum, Dallas, Texas Europe March 9 - March 11, 2004 Wokefield Park Executive Centre Mortimer, Reading, Berkshire, UK Limited spaces available! Register today at: www.microfocus.com/devforum |
In The News
Micro Focus Moves Mainframe Apps to .Net
eWeek
By Darryl K. Taft
November 4, 2003
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1372573,00.asp
Micro Focus International Ltd. Tuesday announced its new technology for migrating mainframe COBOL applications to Windows and the .Net Framework.
Micro Focus teams with Microsoft on COBOL migration tools for .NET
The (451)
By John Abbott
November 4, 2003
Event summary
| * | Micro Focus is teaming up with Microsoft in a bid to get mainframe COBOL users to migrate their application code over to .NET. Micro Focus Net Express with .NET enables COBOL code to run on top of Microsoft's Common Language Runtime environment. |
| * | Once on top of CLR, the code can be managed and extended with other languages, or turned into a set of Web services. Initially, only fairly simple batch programs are supported. Support for more complex online transaction processing code will follow. |
| * | EDS and Computer Sciences Corp plan to offer services to mainframe users wanting to take advantage of the tools. The 3,500 or so remaining VSE mainframe users, who otherwise face an expensive upgrade to z/OS, are primary initial targets. |
Micro Focus takes COBOL deeper into .Net
Net Express Windows tool integrated with Visual Studio to migrate COBOL apps to .Net
Vnunet.com
By Peter Williams
November 7, 2003
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1147695
COBOL specialist Micro Focus International has enhanced its Windows COBOL development tool to achieve full integration with Microsoft's .Net Framework. Micro Focus Net Express with .Net is a new plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio .Net 2003, giving users access to all .Net Framework features.
Vendor brings COBOL apps to the Web
Network World
By John Fontana
November 10, 2003
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/1110microfocus.html
The theme for Web services is integration, and Micro Focus plans to bring COBOL into the picture by equipping companies with tools that convert the legacy code to align with the emerging technology.
Micro Focus Unveils Net Express With .Net
Database Trends and Applications
By Elliot King
November 10, 2003
Micro Focus has unveiled Micro Focus Net Express with .NET, a scalable development environment which integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio, to support organizations seeking to migrate from COBOL applications onto the Microsoft Windows platform and the Microsoft .NET Framework. The solution is designed to enable businesses to re-host applications from expensive, or 'burning,' end-of-life platforms to the .NET Framework, which can reduce hardware and software expenditure by up to 70 percent.
http://www.dbta.com/5_minute_briefing/archives/11-10-03.html#3
Vendor brings COBOL apps to the Web
Computerworld (Australia)
By John Fontana
November 13, 2003
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=545784449&fp=16&fpid=0
The theme for Web services is integration, and Micro Focus International Ltd. plans to bring COBOL into the picture by equipping companies with tools that convert the legacy code to align with the emerging technology.
Legacy Salvation
New integration technologies are providing gateways into the business logic of mission-critical, 'legacy' applications.
Information Age
November 2003
For years 'legacy' has been one of IT's favorite euphemisms - a word marketing executives latched onto in the late 1980s when they found references to 'old mainframe and minicomputer code' were proving too negative. While in its everyday meaning legacy has the positive connotation of a financial windfall, as it became parlance in an IT setting its association with ostensibly outmoded software - COBOL, CICS, IMS, VSE, VMS - quickly made it something of a dirty word.
http://www.infoconomy.com/pages/information-age/group86323.adp
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.
SupportLine News
SupportLine Web Page News
As mentioned last month, we have been rolling out some improvements to our SupportLine web page functionality. The following are the highlights of the changes this month.
Knowledge Base As mentioned last month, we have been rolling out some improvements to our SupportLine web page functionality. One of the areas of improvement relates to our Knowledge Base searching capabilities. We have now made the Knowledge Base function it's own section on the web page and have expanded the searches available with stock searches. The stock searches cover the commonly asked about issues, such as issues with Databases, File Handling, Printing and so forth. These return back all documents, including any new ones added, that are related to those subjects. You can then narrow the search further by specific product and/or time period of created article. |  |
Third Thursday Webcast training sessions now available on the SupportLine web site. Did you want to attend the Third Thursday Webcast training sessions over the past two months and it didn't work out? Are you interested in learning about these topics on your own time? Beginning with this past October's Webcast session, these training sessions will now be recorded and made available on the SupportLine web site to view when the time is right for You! The recordings are a one hour Micro Focus Webcast recorded file, including both audio and video. The files are WebEx recorded format (.wrf) and upon clicking on the file, the WebEx Player plug-in is downloaded if needed and installed into your browser, and will play the recording automatically. The file will be played using streaming from our server and does not need to downloaded to your local drive. The following two Webcasts are currently available: CreatingCOMObjects_11202003.wrf - Introduces the new features, using the Interface Mapping Toolkit, in Net Express 4.0, to create Component Object Model (COM) objects. To access the recorded Webcasts: Login into to the SupportLine Web page by selecting the Support link at the top of the Micro Focus web site (http://www.microfocus.com), or go to it directly by going to http://supportline.microfocus.com |
Check out the "Net Express Samples and Utilities" page on the SupportLine web page The following new samples have been added in November 2003. HTMLHelpDemo.zip - This example demonstrate how to invoke some of the basic functions of Microsoft HTML Help via API calls JavaSockets.zip - This demo shows how you can communicate to a Java Server program using TCPIP. To access these: |
Product News
Do you want to update to Net Express 4.0 with .NET?
Whether you are sure of not, all you need to do is go to the Net Express with .NET page to find out all of the information on the new .NET release of Net Express v4.0. From this page, you can request an update to update your older (pre-v4.0) Net Express version, download the .NET support to add into your current Net Express v4.0 product, find out about .NET training, read several related White Papers, as well as just find out what the addition of .NET means to Net Express v4.0 and you. If you have Net Express v4.0 and a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, then you can download and add in the .NET support to your Net Express product today! Just go to the Product Updates link in the SupportLine Self-Service menu and select the entry for Net Express 4.0 / Net Express with .NET.
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: December December 9 - Pittsburgh, PA To register, please visit www.microfocus.com/events and click on the North America events section. Upcoming Trade ShowsFebruary 2004
February/March 2004
April 2004
| European Events November 2003 COBOL@Work Net Express/Enterprise Server - Creating and deploying web services BeLux Germany Netherlands
French Seminars Cycle : LES MATINALES March 2004
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other News
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 session is:
December 18, 2003 - Micro Focus and .NET
December's Third Thursday session will discuss and demonstrate how to migrate, develop, maintain and deploy COBOL applications within the Microsoft .NET Framework. The session will demonstrate how to take advantage of Microsoft's .NET architecture as a language independent environment and how to leverage the features of Visual Studio .NET to extend COBOL development and applications into the .NET framework. During the session the building and maintenance of composite applications consisting of COBOL/C#/VB.NET will be discussed. A Micro Focus expert will present this topic. A Question and Answer period will follow the presentation and demo. Don't miss this session if you want to gain an understanding of how to develop and deploy COBOL programs within a .NET framework. For more details>
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
|
The following product updates have been made available this month:
Mainframe Access 2.0
- Drag and Drop FixPack - mfd05f20.exe
Net Express 4.0
- Net Express with .NET - NXNET.exe
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
Net Express, Mainframe Express, Revolve, & Revolve Enterprise Edition
Planned License Server Changes
Over the past couple of years, the Micro Focus development products on the Windows platform have been available with an option of having a central License Server to serve the licenses for the use of the product, rather than have to install separate licenses on large numbers of individual PCs. This License Server mechanism made use of a hardware Security Key, or Dongle. A change to the License Server mechanism, planned for release in December, will do away with the Security Key and substitute an alternate mechanism. This article describes why this is occurring, what the change will be, and how to implement the change.
more>>
Net Express
How to resolve dynamic COBOL CALLs under Microsoft .NET.
Some early users of the Net Express 4.0 with .NET product have encountered 173 runtime errors when trying to execute dynamic calls to other program modules. This document will describe why this happens and provide you with three alternative methods of making dynamic calls work under .NET
more>>
How to use Test Coverage in Net Express v4.0
Test Coverage is a feature provided in Net Express v4.0 to record the statistics showing how much of a program's code has been covered by testing. This is a useful feature to make sure that your testing had hit all of the needed portions of your application. This article discusses how to set up this feature.
more>>
Error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _OUTDDFH
This problem is specific to Net Express 4.0 and only occurs if you are using the OUTDD compiler directive. This article provides a solution to this error.
more>>
Mainframe Express
Calling an assembler entry point of a different name to the program name
If you wish to call an assembler module where the CSECT name differs from the program name (*.MLC name), you will need to employ one of the methods in this article, depending on whether you are calling the module statically or dynamically.
more>>
SQL Mainframe compile produces error message, while Mainframe Express produces warnings
In some cases, Mainframe Express can generate different level messages than the mainframe for the same error. This article describes how to configure Mainframe Express to match up with your mainframe error level settings.
more>>
Revolve / Revolve Enterprise Edition
DOS Translations Tab
The DOS Translations tab is useful when the source code for a Revolve project has been moved. In Revolve, the project itself is portable, but Revolve will still expect the source to be at the original location from which it was loaded. The DOS Translations tab allows for the logical redirection of the source to an alternate location.
more>>
Server Express
What Micro Focus COBOL products are installed on this UNIX machine?
Frequently, we have customers who have multiple products and/or product versions installed on their UNIX systems and, after a while, lose track of exactly which product is installed where. This article will provide a simple solution to determine this information.
more>>
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.
A "withdrawn release" means that new corrective fixes will no longer be made available. Other SupportLine services continue to be available once a product is "withdrawn" until such time as that the release is "withdrawn from support".
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.
