  COBOL and ACCEPT/DISPLAY statements? 
 The Question is:
 
I have read the two questions posed to the wizard regarding the difference
between the DEC and VAX COBOL ACCEPT/DISPLAY statements. Maybe the questions
asked before were not clear. I am still unfulfilled! So here goes...
 
Compaq (formerly DEC) Cobol v2.6 on an Alpha ES40?, O/S=7.2.1
VAX Cobol v 5.4? on a Vax 4700?, O/S=6.?.?
 
1) Can you make the DEC ACCEPT/DISPLAY work exactly like the VAX version?
Yes, I still need to use the extensions. No I don't have manuals yet, see
question 4.
 
2) Will it ever be fixed to allow full VAX compatibility? Soon? I've looked
at various compile and link options. Even /Standard=V3 doesn't work. I would
think it should. But then I think it shouldn't have changed to begin with.
 
3) Why did the functionality change? It seems unreasonable to require
everyone to modify all of their code because of this. It worked fine for 15
years, why the change? I know I alone have 150 + programs to change. At
about half a day each, that's 75 days
 work, or should I say MAKE-WORK.
 
4) I would like to get a copy of the manuals but my Compaq rep sent me to
www.openvms.digital.com to get the product number of the Cobol manuals. I
could not find them anywhere on this site, but then I only spent two hours
looking. You know, for keywords
like COBOL, manuals, product id. What is the product ID of the manuals? Can
they be purchased separately? Are they available in HTML format like
OpenVMS? Why doesn't the Compaq rep know this info? Sounds like a real
commitment by Compaq to me. Let's just
let the greatest O/S and computers drop off the face of the Earth by
providing useless reps to service our clientele. (Unix people don't know
what a good O/S is - yes I work in both, and NT, a VAX wannabe).
 
...john
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  If you are finding some difficulties in understanding the answers you
  are receiving, that is not particularly surprising -- the OpenVMS Wizard
  is certainly not an expert on COBOL, and may not be answering the question
  that you intended to ask, or may not understand the particular question
  you are asking.  If you are encountering trouble with COBOL, please
  directly contact the Compaq Customer Support Center for assistance.
 
  That said, without knowing the symptoms of your problem(s), it is very
  difficult to give specific answers.  But here is an attempt:
 
  Q: Why did the functionality change?
 
  Previous versions of COBOL implemented the screen/terminal based
  extensions for ACCEPT/DISPLAY directly. The latest version uses the
  OpenVMS SMG RTL, which means the COBOL RTL no longer needs to "know"
  anything about terminal devices, which means it is easy to support
  new terminal devices without having to modify the compiler or RTL.
 
  Q: Can you make the DEC ACCEPT/DISPLAY work exactly like the VAX version?
 
  The difference is that with the new RTL, the screen will be cleared
  prior to the first accept or display statement being executed. For most
  programs this is not an issue, however, for those programs which depend
  on output from previous images remaining on the screen, there is a
  problem. One possible approach would be to create a terminal device
  definition which exactly matches the actual device type you are using,
  except that the "screen clear" function is NOOPed. This assumes you
  don't need to clear the screen! See the "OpenVMS Screen Management
  (SMG$) Manual" for details.
 
  Q: I would like to get a copy of the manuals but my Compaq rep sent
  me to www.openvms.digital.com to get the product number of the Cobol
  manuals.
 
  Unfortunately, your Compaq representative apparently sent you in a
  direction that is, um, somewhat less than optimal.  You will want to
  contact the regional support line or your local reseller, or you will
  want to check the Software Product Description (SPD) for the particular
  software product in question.  That said, most (all?) OpenVMS software
  documentation is available on CD-ROM, and in hardcopy.
 
  Here is the ordering information for Compaq COBOL from the Software
  Product Description (SPD):
 
    Compaq COBOL for OpenVMS Alpha Systems
 
      Software Licenses:
 
         Personal Use: QL-099AA-2B
         Concurrent Use: QL-099A*-3*
         Unlimited System Use: QL-0JUA*-**
 
      Software Media/Documentation (CD-ROM):
         QA-0JUAA-H8
 
      Software Documentation (Hard Copy): QA-0JUA*-GZ
 
  To acquire information from the Software Product Descriptions (SPDs),
  please visit the following URL:
 
    http://www.digital.com/info/SPHOME/
 
