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HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
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The Question is: Hello! We supply updates in the form of object files to our customers. On the customer system then the complete COBOL application is relinked. Is it better to link with COBRTL*.EXE or COBRTL*.OLB ? May we deliver COBRTL freely ? What happens if compiler and COBRTL differ in version numbers ? Thanks. The Answer is : Permission (or lack thereof) to deliver shareable image versions of run-time libraries (RTLs) for various languages would be found in the Software Product Description (SPD) for those languages. Even in cases where a particular action is legal -- as described in the SPD(s), you will be best off to not deliver for a configuration that you have not tested. Thus even with just your own code involved, your Product Definition File used with PCSI should specify compatibility requirements for other products, limiting installation to only those combinations you have tested. Even if permission is granted, the possibility of a mismatch between the OpenVMS version your customer is running and the shareable image version you deliver must be considered. The Wizard generally prefers to distribute shareable images whenever possible -- the shareable images must generally be linked and tested against the oldest supported OpenVMS version for your product. (See the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for a pointer to a shareable image cookbook.) Somewhat more problematic is the distribution of objects or object libraries, and linking the application on the target system. While this initially might appear a good solution, it should be realized that this makes debugging the inevitable installation and run-time problems far more interesting, as the maps are not directly available. It also becomes far interesting because the site-specific system environment can dramatically effect how the linker operates and on the contents of the images generated. If you choose this approach, you will want to have a linking procedure separate from the installation procedure, and you will want to avoid tightly integrating the link into a VMSINSTAL KITINSTAL procedure -- PCSI generally discourages this sort of on-site file creation operation, as PCSI cannot easily track the resulting disk files for later removal.
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