May 2005
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Keep up with the latest industry news on the COBOL Portal. more 
SupportLine Web Site Improvements:
Direct URLs to Knowledge Base articles and Support Incidents now available
We are now pleased to announce the availability of our enhanced SupportLine website, which has been implemented following feedback from our customers. This new site builds on the familiar format of the previous site but eliminates the dependency on Java applets and frames, improving usability. We can now provide direct URL links to most documents or queries on the site, aiding the communication of information between SupportLine, you and your colleagues. Additional improvements include:
- Right to left scrolling on Knowledge Base articles is now fixed
- Clearer instructions are now provided for submitting an attachment with a new incident
- Search results return all selections on a single virtual page, which can then be searched for text using the browser options
- A print option has been added to the Knowledge Base articles to properly print multi-page documents
Take a look (http://supportline.microfocus.com) and remember to let us know what other changes you would like to see. You can send your comments to SupportLine@microfocus.com.
Faculty Workshop
Micro Focus is sponsoring a 3-day workshop for IT/IS teaching faculty to help with the demand for COBOL skills. The workshop will show you how your students can use new tools to revitalize old applications. You'll gain an appreciation of legacy applications as a prized corporate asset, as well as an understanding of the competitive advantage they provide to companies.
Guest speakers from IBM and Microsoft will share insights and information about their complementary efforts to train a new generation of corporate professionals. Using case studies, Micro Focus speakers will present on trends in legacy programming. Learn how corporations are reducing their costs through efficient use of legacy skills and leveraging new technologies on Windows, UNIX, Linux and z/OS. You will also learn about modern, open and extensible ways to integrate and deploy COBOL applications with J2EE and .NET.
The workshop host is Wilson T. Price, Professor Emeritus and author on computer information systems, he currently serves as a consultant and conducts workshops for college faculty on new technology pertaining to COBOL.
Work Shop locations
- June 27-29, 2005
- Southern Methodist University• Dallas, TX
- August 8-10, 2005
- Loyola University Chicago• Chicago, IL
Register early to reserve your seat. www.microfocus.com/agp3day
Announcing direct sales, service and support for HP and Micro Focus customers Together, HP and Micro Focus agreed that better customer service could be offered by transitioning the sales and support of Micro Focus COBOL products back to Micro Focus. Micro Focus is delighted to welcome HP customers! We are committed to offering the highest quality products and services – as HP customers have come to expect. Micro Focus has been awarded the Omega NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for excellent customer service for the last four years. Now HP customers can also have direct access to our award winning technical expertise, which includes:
For more information visit: www.microfocus.com/hpconversion Or contact one of our dedicated HP conversion specialists who are ready and waiting to hear from you.
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New Early Adopter Program -- Net Express with .NET Winform/Webform Painting
An initial build of COBOL Winform/Webform painting is available for use by selected early adopters. This build requires Net Express with .NET including Microsoft Visual Studio 2003. Later builds of the Early Adopter Program (EAP) technology will add support for Visual Studio 2005 and Dialog System to .NET migration capabilities. If you are interested in participating in this program please send an email to netx-ea-program@microfocus.combriefly outlining the work you would plan to undertake with the EAP software.
First Friday Webcast
Date: Friday, May 6, 2005
Time: 8:00 AM (PDT)/11:00 AM (EDT)
Topic: A Comprehensive Solution for Paper Output and Electronic Output Printing in a Distributed Computing Environment
Since 1986, Flexus, a Micro Focus Alliance Partner, has provided advanced COBOL tools which complement Micro Focus interactive development environments. One of the Flexus solutions is a collection of tools designed to support paper output as well as electronic output print services for Windows, including the ability to print to Windows without changing your COBOL source code.
This Webcast will explore how COBOL FormPrint can enhance printing directly from a COBOL program with a target environment of the desktop, a distributed client/server environment, an Internet web browser environment or an environment in which the output must be in an electronic format such as Adobe Acrobat PDF file format, fax transmissions, e-mail attachments or a raster-based image format.
We ask that you fill out a short form to register for the Webcast
North American Events and Trade Shows
| May 8-11 Lawson CUE 2005, San Diego www.lawson.com/cue2005 |
| May 22-24 ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, Orlando,FL http://acordlomaforum.org/2005/index.aspx |
| May 25-26 Mainframe Migration Conference, Chicago www.mainframemigration.org |
European Events
France
BeLux
Germany Netherlands
Nordics
Join the monthly Micro Focus Webcasts First Fridays Webcasts First Fridays Webcasts are held the first Friday of each month and focus on topics of critical concern to enterprise IT directors and developers. Professionals in organizations that depend on legacy systems should not miss these important events. Each session consists of presentation, demonstration (when applicable), followed by a live Q&A. The 1-hour, “from your desk” sessions are free and convenient. For more information on upcoming topics, visit: www.microfocus.com/promotion/firstfriday Register for First Friday Webcasts at: First_Friday_WebCast Accelerate with Micro Focus Training! Take your COBOL skills to new levels with our hands-on training. And let Micro Focus expert instructors guide you on how to use the latest tools to take the legacy applications you work on, into the exciting worlds of .NET, XML and Web services. For more information and to register, visit us at any of the following regions:
Requesting Product Updates As a SupportLine customer, you can receive your FREE update to a complete version of the current release on CD 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, and Revolve 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. Articles and demos to inform you about functions and features of your Micro Focus products Net Express Migrating to ADO.NET within Net Express with .NET When moving to a .NET environment, users may want to migrate their COBOL applications to an ADO.NET environment. This article describes the steps required. more DB2/UDB Stored Procedure SQL0444N Errors Customers can encounter SQL0444N errors when using IBM DB2/UDB. This article provides the common reasons behind these errors and how to correct them. more Mainframe Express Defining PDS Types for use with Source Connect When using the Mainframe Express (MFE) Source Connect function, it is often necessary for the Type, or file extension, to be defined for each PDS. This article covers how this can be defined individually and globally. more Revolve Using (Unicenter CA-7 Job Management) CA-7 LJOB Revolve will support certain scheduler software. Revolve will support (Computer Associates Unicenter CA-7 Job Management) CA-7. This article covers what specific features are covered and how to set up Revolve to work with CA-7. more Scripts The Revolve Scripts tool, found under Tools on the tool bar, enables you to extend your project analysis with the use of provided scripts. There are 9 categories of scripts: Cross Reference Reports; Data Rationalization; Parsing Problems; Project Management; Record Analysis; Standards Checking; Unused Analysis; Utilities and HTML Reports. This article covers part 5 of a 9 part series, Record Analysis. more Server Express Deciphering the Hewlett-Packard COBOL Version Numbers As Hewlett-Packardcustomers begin their transition to the Micro Focus COBOL support and products many questions arise about the comparable product numbers and versions. Until the advent of the Server Express product, all HP products were known by their “B” numbers, or Build numbers. This document provides a cross reference of the Hewlett-Packard product version information to the corresponding Micro Focus product information. more Numeric Data Entry Made Simple Many developers find that older COBOL applications or those written for other COBOL compilers like WANG or DEC demonstrate numeric entry that seems simpler than what Micro Focus COBOL exhibits by default. This article will show how you can configure the characteristics affecting numeric data entry with no change to your application code. 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 near term plans for the Micro Focus products that you are using.
The full Product Withdrawal Schedule can be found on the Micro Focus web site at: 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. The COBOL Portal Have you visited the new COBOL Portal lately? 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: 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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 the Micro Focus Forum user community messaging area on the COBOL Portal. 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 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. |
