Weird COBOL error

Question

First of all, here's the full source code: http://pastebin.com/5teGNrPC

*>
 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
 PROGRAM-ID.   CAddress.
 ENVIRONMENT    DIVISION.
 CONFIGURATION  SECTION.
 INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
 FILE-CONTROL.
           SELECT TelephoneBookFile
                   ASSIGN TO "phonebook.db"
                   ORGANIZATION IS INDEXED
                   RECORD KEY IS user-record-key
                   ACCESS MODE IS DYNAMIC.
 DATA DIVISION.
 FILE SECTION.
        FD TelephoneBookFile
                LABEL RECORDS ARE STANDARD.
        01 User-Record-File.
                05  user-record-key        PIC X(35).
                05  user-record-first-name PIC X(24).
        05  user-record-last-name  PIC X(50).
        05  user-record-address    PIC X(50).
        05  user-record-city       PIC X(16).
        05  user-record-zip        PIC X(8) .
        05  user-record-country    PIC X(20).
        05  user-record-telephone  PIC X(16).


 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
  77  menu-hoofd-invoer  PICTURE 9(1) VALUE 9.
        88  menu-invoer-correct  VALUE 0 THRU 5.
        88  menu-invoer-incorrect VALUE 6 THRU 9.
        88  menu-invoer-afsluiten VALUE 0.
        88  menu-invoer-record-toevoegen VALUE 1.
        88  menu-invoer-nieuw-bestand VALUE 5.
  77  Error-Msg  PICTURE X(30) VALUE "                              ".
  77  Green-Msg  PICTURE X(30) VALUE "                              ".
  77  file-status PICTURE X(3) VALUE " ".
        88  file-status-eof VALUE "EOF".
  01  User-Record.
        05  user-first-name PIC X(24).
        05  user-last-name  PIC X(50).
        05  user-address    PIC X(50).
        05  user-city       PIC X(16).
        05  user-zip        PIC X(8) .
        05  user-country    PIC X(20).
        05  user-telephone  PIC X(16).
  77  Yes-No-Correct-Field PICTURE X(1) VALUE " ".
        88  yes-no-field-yes   VALUE "Y" "y".
        88  yes-no-field-no    VALUE "N" "n".
        88  yes-no-field-correct VALUE "C" "c".
  77  Record-Count   PIC 9(5) VALUE 0.
  77  Error-Screen-Msg PIC X(45) VALUE SPACES.
  77  Navigate-Field PICTURE X(1) VALUE " ".
        88 Navigate-Next           VALUE "N" "n".
        88 Navigate-Prev           VALUE "P" "p".
        88 Navigate-Exit           VALUE "X" "x".
  77  Error-Continue-Flag PIC X(1) VALUE " ".
        88 Error-Continue-OK   VALUE "C" "c".
 SCREEN SECTION.
        01      MainMenu.
                05 BLANK SCREEN.
                05 LINE 1  COLUMN 1  VALUE " CAddress - A COBOL Address Book".
                05 LINE 2  COLUMN 1  VALUE " -------------------------------".
                05 LINE 4  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Make your choice: ".
                05 LINE 5  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ".
                05 LINE 7  COLUMN 1  VALUE "       1) Add record".
                05 LINE 8  COLUMN 1  VALUE "       2) Delete record".
                05 LINE 9  COLUMN 1  VALUE "       3) Look up record".
                05 LINE 10 COLUMN 1  VALUE "       4) Show records".
                05 LINE 11 COLUMN 1  VALUE "       5) Create new file".
                05 LINE 13 COLUMN 1  VALUE "       0) Exit".
                05 LINE 15 COLUMN 1  VALUE "             Choice? ".
                05 LINE 15 COLUMN 25 PICTURE X(30) FROM Error-Msg FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
                05 LINE 24 COLUMN 1  VALUE " (c) YvanSoftware ".
        01  InvoerMenu.
                05 BLANK SCREEN.
                05 LINE 1  COLUMN 1  VALUE " CAddress - A COBOL Address Book".
                05 LINE 2  COLUMN 1  VALUE " -------------------------------".
                05 LINE 4  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Input Data".
                05 LINE 5  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   ~~~~~~~~~~".
                05 LINE 7  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   First name   :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 8  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Last name    :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 9  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Address      :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 10 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   City         :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 11 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   ZIP          :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 12 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Country      :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 13 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Telephone    :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 15 COLUMN 1  VALUE "       Save? y(es)/n(o)/c(orrect) " FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
                05 LINE 24 COLUMN 1  VALUE " (c) YvanSoftware ".
        01  UitvoerScherm.
                05 BLANK SCREEN.
                05 LINE 1  COLUMN 1  VALUE " CAddress - A COBOL Address Book".
                05 LINE 2  COLUMN 1  VALUE " -------------------------------".
                05 LINE 4  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Find Data".
                05 LINE 5  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   ~~~~~~~~~~".
                05 LINE 7  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   First name   :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 8  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Last name    :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 9  COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Address      :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 10 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   City         :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 11 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   ZIP          :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 12 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Country      :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
                05 LINE 13 COLUMN 1  VALUE "   Telephone    :" FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.
* Col 45 Input
                05 LINE 15 COLUMN 1  VALUE "         Navigate? n(ext)/p(revious)/x(exit) " FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
                05 LINE 24 COLUMN 1  VALUE " (c) YvanSoftware ".
        01  FoutScherm.
                05 BLANK SCREEN.
                05 LINE 4  COLUMN 15 VALUE "====================(ERROR)======================" BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 5  COLUMN 15 VALUE "                                                 " BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 6  COLUMN 15 VALUE "                                                 " BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 7  COLUMN 15 VALUE "                                                 " BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 8  COLUMN 15 VALUE "                                                 " BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 10 COLUMN 15 VALUE "                INPUT C TO CONTINUE              " BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7.
                05 LINE 6  COLUMN 18 PICTURE X(45) FROM Error-screen-msg BACKGROUND-COLOR 4 FOREGROUND-COLOR 7 BLINK.
 PROCEDURE DIVISION.      
  main.
        PERFORM Show-MainMenu UNTIL menu-invoer-afsluiten.
        STOP RUN.
     .
  Show-MainMenu.
        DISPLAY MainMenu
        ACCEPT menu-hoofd-invoer LINE 15 COLUMN 22.
        IF menu-invoer-incorrect
        THEN
                MOVE " Incorrect input" TO Error-Msg
                MOVE " " TO Green-Msg
        END-IF.
        IF menu-invoer-record-toevoegen
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-InvoerMenu
        END-IF
        IF menu-invoer-nieuw-bestand
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-NewFile
        END-IF.
     .
  Show-InvoerMenu.
        DISPLAY InvoerMenu.
        ACCEPT user-first-name      LINE 7  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-last-name       LINE 8  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-address         LINE 9  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-city            LINE 10 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-zip             LINE 11 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-country         LINE 12 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-telephone       LINE 13 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.

        PERFORM AskForSave.
  .
  Show-NewFile.
        DISPLAY InvoerMenu.
        ACCEPT user-first-name      LINE 7  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-last-name       LINE 8  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-address         LINE 9  COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-city            LINE 10 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-zip             LINE 11 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-country         LINE 12 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.
        ACCEPT user-telephone       LINE 13 COLUMN 18
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 4.

        PERFORM AskForSaveNew.

  AskForSave.  
        ACCEPT Yes-No-Correct-Field LINE 15 COLUMN 35
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.

        IF Yes-No-Field-Correct
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-InvoerMenu
        END-IF.

        IF Yes-No-Field-No
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-MainMenu
        END-IF.

        IF Yes-No-Field-Yes
        THEN
                PERFORM Save-Record
        END-IF.

        IF NOT Yes-No-Field-No AND NOT Yes-No-Field-Yes AND NOT Yes-No-Field-Correct
        THEN
                PERFORM AskForSave
        END-IF.
        .
  Save-Record.
        OPEN I-O TelephoneBookFile.
        PERFORM AddRecordKey.
        MOVE user-first-name TO user-record-first-name.
        MOVE user-last-name  TO user-record-last-name .
        MOVE user-address    TO user-record-address   .
        MOVE user-city       TO user-record-city      .
        MOVE user-zip        TO user-record-zip       .
        MOVE user-country    TO user-record-country   .
        MOVE user-telephone  TO user-record-telephone .
        WRITE User-Record-File INVALID KEY PERFORM ExistsAlready.
        CLOSE TelephoneBookFile
        .
  AskForSaveNew.       
        ACCEPT Yes-No-Correct-Field LINE 15 COLUMN 35
                WITH FOREGROUND-COLOR 2.

        IF Yes-No-Field-Correct
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-NewFile
        END-IF.

        IF Yes-No-Field-No
        THEN
                PERFORM Show-MainMenu
        END-IF.

        IF Yes-No-Field-Yes
        THEN
                PERFORM Save-Record-NewFile
        END-IF.

        IF NOT Yes-No-Field-No AND NOT Yes-No-Field-Yes AND NOT Yes-No-Field-Correct
        THEN
                PERFORM AskForSave
        END-IF.
        .
  Save-Record-NewFile.
                OPEN OUTPUT TelephoneBookFile.
                PERFORM AddRecordKey.

        MOVE user-first-name TO user-record-first-name.
        MOVE user-last-name  TO user-record-last-name .
        MOVE user-address    TO user-record-address   .
        MOVE user-city       TO user-record-city      .
        MOVE user-zip        TO user-record-zip       .
        MOVE user-country    TO user-record-country   .
        MOVE user-telephone  TO user-record-telephone .
        WRITE User-Record-File.
        CLOSE TelephoneBookFile.
        .
  AddRecordKey.
        STRING user-first-name(1:5) user-last-name(1:5)
                   user-address(1:5) user-city(1:5)
                   user-zip(1:5) user-country(1:5)
                   user-telephone(1:5)
                DELIMITED BY SIZE
                INTO user-record-key
        .
  ExistsAlready.
        MOVE "Record already exists" TO Error-Screen-Msg
        PERFORM ErrorScreen
      .
  ErrorScreen.
        DISPLAY FoutScherm
        ACCEPT  Error-Continue-Flag LINE 24 COLUMN 80
        IF NOT Error-Continue-OK
        THEN
                Perform ErrorScreen
        END-IF.
        .  
 END PROGRAM CAddress.

I'm getting a weird COBOL Error, and I couldn't find what it means. It says Open Error (see the following screenshot).

It doesn't occur if I first use "new file", and add a record after that.

Here's the application binary and some log files it produced.

Many thanks,

Yvan

PS: It's Fujitsu NetCobol dialect.

Answer 1

I would like to have a bit more information on the file I/O problem you are having. If I understand correctly, you can do the following without problem:

• Create new file
• Add record
• Exit

Then if you start the program again and immediately

• Add record

the program bombs with a "weird error".

Is it possible for you to read and display the record you wrote in the initial run? I am wondering if the prior write was successful, which in turn brings into question the integrity of the file.

I would suggest exploring the OPTIONAL keyword for SELECT and adding a FILE STATUS clause too. The file status should be checked after each I/O operation (OPEN, CLOSE, WRITE, READ etc.). The value contained in the variable associated with FILE STATUS will take you a long way toward sorting out the problem. The following table describes FILE STATUS values.

You might also want to review this tutorial on processing indexed files in COBOL.

I may not have figured out what your file I/O problem is but I do see something else that is bound to cause trouble later on!

You have used the following construct:

PERFORM Some-Paragraph
...
Some-Paragraph.
...
IF Some-Condition
   PERFORM Some-Paragraph
END-IF
.

The last PERFORM Some-Paragraph is within the scope of the paragraph itself. COBOL compilers may not flag this as an error but the behaviour is undefined. COBOL PERFORM does not conform to the CALL/RETURN semantics that you may be familiar with from other languages. What you have coded here is commonly known as as 'Logic Bomb'. A detailed description of what I am referring to can be found here.

Answer 2

The first error is probably a file status error 35, opening a file that does not exist. You should restructure your code. In a data entry program you only need the OPEN and CLOSE statements to be executed once each time. In this program the OPEN statement should be placed as near as possible to the beginning of the source code (to execute once at the beginning, as well as for readability) and the CLOSE should be just before the STOP RUN.

Answer 3

Perhaps the the program tries to access the file before it is created. The 'new file' option probably creates the data file with the OPEN OUTPUT statement and adding a record will succeed.