"Shmuel Metz , Seymour J." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > In <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, on 06/23/2005 > at 07:23 PM, Joe Zitzelberger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > <snip> > >In all contexts, this message means you have a screwed up DBCS > >literal in your source code. > > I don't understand CJK languages. Why would a reasonable author expect > me to know what DBCS is in the first place, much less what SI and SO > are. None of those are terms used by COBOL programmers not involved in > Asian languages. > > >and that is exactly what the self-describing message says. > > There was no self-describing message. There was an opaque message that > was meaningless to its target audience. Even had there been an > explanation it would have been appropriate to fix the message > contents. > <snip>
Until/unless IBM *does* provide additional information (via improved messages or with a Messages & Codes manual), *MY* recommendation is (to the application programmer - or any systems programmer who is faced with such questions): A) Make certain that you compile with FLAG(i,I) - this will insure that (almost all) messages appear right by the line with the problem. (Most/Many messages include a column indicator telling where the specific problem exists) B) Use an "online search" mechanism (I prefer BookManager - as it allows you to search the entire bookshelf of COBOL manuals). Use what appear to be "keywords" in the compiler message - especially any you don't understand (e.g. "SHIFT-IN"). C) If the above information is NOT enough to figure out the problem, then *DO* submit a PMR. For "faster" response, it might also be useful to post to both IBM-MAIN and comp.lang.cobol *** NOTE WELL: Although this topic comes up occasionally in IBM-MAIN, there really are VERY FEW "questions" in either comp.lang.cobol or TEK-TIPS about "what does the following IBM COBOL compiler message mean." This does (to me) confirm the IBM belief that MOST of the messages *are* self-documenting. Even for the message in question, it is my belief that MOST of the time that it is issued is because someone using DBCS within alphanumeric literals have mis-coded it. This along with the fact that the "currently supported" CICS translators with the recommended translator options do NOT cause the problem, makes it hard for me to "blame" the compiler message or documentation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
