Writing to a serial port from Microfocus Cobol

[webrabbit]

I have an system written in Microfocus Cobol v 3.2.46. My second largest customer has pole displays attached to a serial port. I am writing the the displays using the following code:

SELECT POLE-DISPLAY ASSIGN TO "COM1:".
.
.
.
OPEN OUTPUT POLE-DISPLAY.
MOVE display-data TO POLE-RECORD.
WRITE POLE-RECORD.
CLOSE POLE-RECORD.

This originally worked fine. But now the customer has moved the system to a Windows 2000 system and it now gets the following error:

X#0C, SC=02EF IP=0000F7BB. THE NTVDM CPU HAS ENCOUNTERED AN UNHANDLED EXCEPTION

Does anyone have any idea what is happening or how I can get around it. Could I write a subroutine in QBASIC or some other language? If QBASIC, how do I pass parameters to it?

 

[CliveC]

Microfocus Cobol v 3.2.46 was a 16 bit version designed for win 3.1. Althougth most applications can still run on Win2000 there are some exceptions. Follow this link for an explanation.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/NTVDM.html

There is a 32 bit version of Micro Focus COBOL.

Hope that helps. Clive

http://tubularity.com

 

[webrabbit]

I have Net Express 3.1, but recompiling the entire system is not an option (unless the customer is willing to pay for it). Is there any way I can access the port in-directly?

 

[CliveC]

I don't know but mass re-compiling can be done in seconds and Net Express 3.1 allowed you to distribute a run time system without charge (I think). Clive

http://tubularity.com

 

[webrabbit]

It's not the recompiling, but the testing, as there are always subtle differences between releases.

 

[CliveC]

What is a pole display? Clive

http://tubularity.com

 

[webrabbit]

A pole display is a display unit for the customer to see the transactions while his/her purchases are being rung up.