GETTING STARTED WITH INTERACTIVE COBOL FOR WINDOWS -------------------------------------------------- This readme is designed to help the first time Interactive Cobol user/developer get up and running from a very basic local installation and configuration. It will describe: a) how to get the license server (ICPERMIT) started, b) how to get the executive service (ICEXEC) started, c) how to get a runtime (ICRUN) started, and d) how to do a simple compile (ICOBOL). We recommend that you familiarize yourself with our product in this way. Once you are comfortable with the basic operations, you can move to more involved setups, if desired. This information applies to ICOBOL on all Windows platforms. WHAT IS NEEDED TO START ----------------------- 1) An ICOBOL license file. The default name for this is "system.lic". This can be either a demonstration or an actual license. It should contain a runtime license, and, if you wish to use the compiler, a development license. If the license is a DEMO, then all you will need is the license file itself copied onto your machine. For an actual license, a matching parallel, USB protection device (or dongle), CPUID, or MAC address (NIC) must also be available. If using a parallel protection device, it should be attached to a parallel port on the machine. Be sure the arrows on the parallel protection device are pointing toward the computer. If using a USB protection device DO NOT ATTACH IT to the machine until AFTER the software has been installed. 2) A copy of the ICOBOL for Windows installation program, which can be obtained from by a download from our web site. (www.icobol.com or ftp.icobol.com) It will have the name winXXX.exe, where XXX is the revision number. The complete documentation package is also available as docXXX.exe. QUESTIONS TO ANSWER BEFORE INSTALLING ------------------------------------- 1) Where do I want to install ICOBOL? For a Windows 32-bit system the default location is "C:\Program Files", and for a 64-bit system the default location is "C:\Program Files (x86)". You can choose any directory you wish. 2) Where do I have my license file (system.lic) located? 3) Where do I want my working directory to be? The working directory is the directory that the ICRUN shortcut will start running in. While getting started, choose a directory on a local drive. Avoid using mapped drives at this point. This will also be the default working directory for any ThinClients. You should also avoid the root of a drive in general. 4) Where do I want my configuration and printer queue files to be? The ICOBOL configuration file, default name "system.cfi", is created by the installer. The ICOBOL print queue file, default name " system.pq", is created the first time the executive service (ICEXEC) is started. However, you will need to decide where to tell the installer to locate these. Again, have these should be local and avoid using mapped drives. The default settings in the configuration file will get you started. 5) Starting with ICOBOL 4.70, a separate directory is available for storing system files that have been customized by the user. The environment variable ICCONFIGDIR can be set to this directory. Any customized help, messages, print, or term file should be created in this directory. DOING THE INSTALLATION ---------------------- You are now ready to start the ICOBOL installation program. As mentioned, you can change the default names if you wish, but otherwise keep the default selections. Once you have finished the installation, reboot your machine. The ICOBOL services should start. The default location for the services log files is: "C:\windows". Look at the files called "icpermit.lg" or "icexec.lg". These files should give you an idea of what any problem is. For ICPERMIT, the most likely causes at this point are a typo in the license file, a problem with the parallel port on which the dongle is attached, or the dongle is not attached properly. STARTING THE ICOBOL RUNTIME (ICRUN) ----------------------------------- The major issue to remember here is that you cannot start ICRUN without having ICPERMIT running. Attempting to do so will result in this error: connection refused (oserr=10061) Connecting to localhost:7334. If you receive this error, you need to go back to the section above on ICPERMIT. If ICPERMIT is running, then you are ready to start an ICRUN. Until you are familiar with the basics, avoid using shortcut icons for this purpose. Instead, use one or both of these methods: 1) Go to Start, Programs, Interactive Cobol, Runtime. This will start our sample logon program. 2) Open a command prompt and either go to your ICOBOL installation directory or make that directory a part of your PATH. Then give this command: icrunw -ai If ICRUN fails to start, look for the file "icrun.lg" in the current directory. This file should indicate the source of the error. USING THE COMPILER (ICOBOL) --------------------------- Once you are familiar with Interactive Cobol, you will probably want to do your compiling from within our Integrated Development Environment (ICIDE). However, when starting out, you may wish to compile from a command line to learn about the various options. As with ICRUN, in order to use the compiler ICPERMIT must be running. The ICOBOL installation includes the source code for our logon program in the "Icobol\examples" directory. From a command prompt, if you give this command: icobol -a -e -l "c:\program files\icobol\examples\logon" it would create the following files: In the current directory: icobol.lg - This is the log file for the compiler. It will indicate any errors in actually starting the compiler. The most likely would be a 'file not found' type of error. In the "c:\program files\icobol\examples" directory (i.e., in the same directory as the source is located): logon.er - This file contains any actual compilation errors. logon.ls - This is the listing file. logon.cx - The executable file. You can experiment with the various options. To try compiling some of your own programs, you will most likely need to include the -C switch to tell the compiler where to find your copy files. For example, if they are located in "c:\mycpys", just add "-C c:\mycpys" to the command line. You can give up to 16 different directories to be searched. If your source is in card format, you will need to add the "-F c" switch. In order to see all the switches and their possible settings, from a command prompt give the command: icobol -h | more ICPERMIT - ICPERMIT runs as a service to provide licensing. To find the status of ICPERMIT, go to Control Panel, ICOBOL Services. In order to use the compiler or to start a runtime, ICPERMIT must show as started. If it shows as stopped, highlight ICPERMIT and click on start. If this fails, click on Auditing, then click on View current file. This will bring up the icpermit.lg file, which should indicate any errors. If there is no icpermit.lg file available, then you probably have an access problem. Make sure that System has permission for full control access to the SystemRoot directory "C:\WINNT" or "C:\Windows", or change the location for the file to another directory. ICEXEC - ICEXEC runs as a service and serves as a process manager and coordinator for ICOBOL. In order to start an ICRUN session, ICEXEC must already be running in addition to ICPERMIT. If you attempt to start ICRUN and get an error about 'shared memory area could not be accessed', then ICEXEC is not running. As with ICPERMIT, go to ICOBOL Services under Control Panel to see the status. If it will not start, look at the log file under Auditing. If there is no Icexec.lg available, then you probably have the access problem described above under ICPERMIT. ICEXEC does not have to be running in order to use the compiler. ICEXEC manages the configuration and the printer queue. It is important to remember that any time a change is made to the configuration file, that change will not take effect until ICEXEC has been stopped and restarted. ------------------ PROBLEM RESOLUTION ------------------ E-Mail support is available at: support@icobol.com with a valid support contract. Make sure to include the exact revision of the product being used, the exact text of any error messages (a copy of the log file is the best), and the output from the running of the ICINFO program. Icinfo -a can be used to create an audit log as icinfo.lg. End of readme