Compiler Errors

The isCOBOL Compiler produces a wide range of informative messages, including different kind of Errors and Warnings.

Each message is preceded by its type.

S	Severe Error
E	Error
I	Informational
W	Warning

Severe Errors inhibit the production of the final object. Errors, Informationals and Warnings, instead, let the compilation complete.

Each message is followed by information about file name, row and column where the error has been found.

The following list contains the most common messages produced by the Compiler during the parsing of the cobol code.

Message	Meaning
'void' type not allowed here	A method that does not return any result has been used inside a cobol statement (Object Oriented Programming).
a USE phrase cannot be here	A USE phrase has been found outside of DECLARATIVES.
Ambiguous identifier	A data-item found in the statement is defined more than once in DATA DIVISION or a paragraph name is duplicated in the same SECTION.
Behavior differs from ACU's	Although the Acucobol feature is supported by isCOBOL, its behavior is different. A typical example is the SET THREAD PRIORITY statement.
Cannot invoke an instance method from a factory method SELF	The SELF keyword can be used only in OBJECTs Procedure Division. If you need to invoke a self method in a FACTORY Procedure Division use the logical name of the class, instead.
Cannot open file	The required copybook cannot be open. Copybooks are searched in the current directory and in all of the paths listed in -sp compiler option. If -ce compiler option is used, the desired extension is appended to the copybook name before opening it. When working on platforms different than Windows, the case of the copybook name in the cobol source code must match the case of the disk file name and the Compiler must have read permission on that file.   This error is returned also when the Compiler is not able to write the intermediate java file due to permission issues or wrong output directory during the compilation process.
Class not found	One of the classes defined in the REPOSITORY paragraph cannot be found. Please check the CLASSPATH.
Clause clash	There is a conflict between two clauses. Consider having ORGANIZATION SEQUENTIAL and ACCESS DYNAMIC in the same file definition, for example.
Constant already defined	The same constant has been defined more than once in the program. Maybe the same constant appears in more copybooks or a copybooks has been included more times in the same program. Duplicated constants are allowed if -cm compiler option is used.
Directive ignored	This warning is returned for statements that are recognized by the Compiler but are treated as commentary and will not have effect, for example: COPY RESOURCE
Directive not closed	A compiler directive has not been closed properly with the corresponding END-Directive
Duplicate key definition: <keyname>	A key has the same definition (same segments in the same order) as another key. For example: ALTERNATE KEY KEY1 = ARC-D1, ARC-K1 ALTERNATE KEY KEY2 = ARC-D1, ARC-K1 It is allowed by some file handlers (e.g. c-tree) but not by others (e.g. JIsam).
Duplicate primary key	The record key clause of an indexed file has been specified more than once.
Dynamic-capacity tables and standards tables cannot be mixed	This error is returned when OCCURS DYNAMIC item is found in the same group variable of OCCURS n TIMES item.
End statement required	A cobol statement has not been properly closed by dot or END-statement.
ESQL cursor already declared	A cursor has been declared more than once in a ESQL program. Cursors cannot be declared more than once in the same program, not even they are bind to different queries.
Exception already caught	The same exception has been caught two times, for example: try object:>method() catch IOException |handle error here catch SecurityException |handle error here catch IOException |handle error here end-try. (Object Oriented Programming)
Exception block required	A method has been invoked without catching its exceptions. If INVOKE statement has been used, add ON EXCEPTION clause to it. If the direct syntax has been used, instead, place your statement into a TRY/CATCH block, for example: try object:>method() catch exception |handle the error here end-try. (Object Oriented Programming)
Exception not raised	The specific exception is not raised by the method, check method documentation for details and correct the CATCH clause of the TRY/CATCH block. (Object Oriented Programming)
EXIT PERFORM outside of PERFORM	An EXIT PERFORM statement has been found outside of a PERFORM block.
Expected/found token mismatch	An unrecognized token has been found inside a statement in place of the expected keyword.
EFC field occurs greater then 2000 are not supported	You can’t link a c-tree file that includes a OCCURS field with more than 2000 occurrences in the c-tree SQL Engine.
EFD directive in wrong format	The value of an EFD directive is missing or incorrect. Consult Using EFD directives chapter for details.
$EFD directive required	This warning is returned when the physical name of a file is a variable and -efd or -efc options are used. In this case the Compiler doesn’t know how to name the efd file and uses the name of the variable. In order to tell the Compiler how to name the efd file, $EFD directive must be used. See Using EFD directives for more information about this.   This warning is printed at the end of the Compiler output and is not included in the count of warnings. This is because the generation of EFD and ISS dictionaries is a separate task performed by the Compiler after the whole program has been compiled.
File not found	The source file cannot be found by the Compiler. If you're compiling on platforms different than Windows, be aware that the case of the source name passed to the Compiler must match the case of the disk file.
Function not found	The specific function is not available. See Intrinsic Functions for the list of all supported internal functions.
Identifier expected, found	An unexpected token has been found in place of an expected identifier.
Illegal condition	The specific condition cannot be resolved. A typical situation in which this error appears is when the program contains the following statement: IF numeric-item = NULL and -ca compiler option is not used.
Illegal picture	The picture of an elementary data item is invalid.
Illegal receiver from source type	A MOVE statement is invalid for the Compiler because the source-item and the dest-item are incompatible.
Incompatible options	Two or more of the specified Compiler options cannot be used together, for example: -dci -dcm.
Incompatible options: -pt0/-pt2 used for OO programs	The options -pt0 and -pt2 cannot be used to compile object oriented programs.
Incomplete copy statement	This error is returned when the COPY statement and the name of the copybook are not in the same row.
Incomplete replace statement	This error is returned when the REPLACE statement and its parameters are not in the same row.
Incorrect string literal	A text string has not been correctly enclosed between quotes.
Internal error EIS: Missing License	A valid isCOBOL EIS license is required in order to compile • a program that uses the HTTPHandler class, • a program that uses the HTTPClient class, • a program that includes CGI syntax (e.g. EXEC HTML), • a program compiled with -wd2 option
Invalid ALL phrase, ALL removed	This error is returned when the Compiler finds the ALL keyword followed by a numeric literal. In this case the ALL keyword is ignored. For example, IF item-1 = ALL 1 is considered as IF item-1 = 1.
Invalid arguments	This error is returned when a method is invoked with the wrong number or the wrong type of parameters. (Object Oriented Programming)
Invalid file name	The name of the source file does not follow Java rules. For example, this error is returned when the source file name begins with a number or if it contains spaces.
Invalid level number	The level number of a group item is not valid. A potential situation in which this error appears is the following SCREEN SECTION entry: 01 screen1. 03 entry-field, line 2, col 2. 05 push-button, line 5, col 3. A control cannot be child of another control.
Invalid open mode	The open mode has not been specified or is not supported by the specific file type.
Invalid Program/Class Id	The PROGRAM-ID or CLASS-ID paragraphs are missing or contain typos.
Invalid value	The VALUE clause of a data-item contains a value that is incompatible with the item picture.
Maybe a directive	The word includes syntax usually adopted for compiler directives, but it doesn’t match with any known compiler directive.
Method not found	The specific method is not found in the invoked class. Consider that the method name is case sensitive (Object Oriented Programming).
Missing dot	A paragraph is not correctly closed. This error may be caused by other errors encountered inside the paragraph code.
Missing EFD/EFC key name	A field of a key referenced in FILE-CONTROL is hidden in the FD due to the EFD directive that were used. The most common case is using EFD USE GROUP on the parent item of the key segment.
Missing FD for file	A file has been defined in FILE-CONTROL but its description is not available in FILE SECTION.
Missing license: The license key is missing, invalid or has expired!Check your properties files or contact Veryant or your distributor for technical support.	The license for the Compiler is either expired or missing.
Missing picture clause	The picture of an elementary data item is missing.
Missing primary key	The RECORD KEY clause is missing in the Indexed file definition in FILE-CONTROL.
Missing Procedure Division	The program lacks of the PROCEDURE DIVISION.
Missing receiver	This error is caused by an incomplete MOVE statement.,
Missing record for file	FILE SECTION contains an FD entry without any record definition.
Missing relative key	The RELATIVE KEY clause is missing in the Relative file definition in FILE-CONTROL.
Missing SELECT for file	The FD of a file has been defined in FILE SECTION but the file description is not available in FILE-CONTROL.
Duplicated $EFD directives not allowed, only the last is considered.	The same EFD directive have been used more than one time on the same data item.   Example:          $EFD NAME=datep        $EFD NAME=datePurchased           05 DATE-PURCHASED PIC 9(8).   The above field will be named ‘datePurchased’.
Must be one-dimensional table	When the FROM, USING or VALUE phrases of a Screen Section item are associated to an Occurs data-item, the Occurs data-item must be one-dimensional.
National with -b option may not work!	Programs containing national items ( items defined as PIC N(n) ) should not be compiled with -b option.
Not a sort file	A SORT statement has been issued on a file that is not a sort file.
OCCURS DEPENDING must be last in group	If placed inside a group item, an OCCURS DEPENDING item must be the last in the group.
Only a host variable or a literal is allowed here	Returned for a query like this:   exec sql update tbl1 set c1 = c1 + 1 where current of cur2 end-exec.   When you have CURRENT OF in the WHERE clause, then you can only use host variables or literals in the UPDATE statement. The following UPDATE would compile with no errors:   exec sql update tbl1 set c1 = 3 where current of cur2 end-exec.
Only one-dimensional table allowed here	Only one dimensional OCCURS items can be used in GUI controls properties with the clauses TABLE and MULTIPLE. Only one dimensional dynamic length OCCURS (OCCURS DYNAMIC) can be sorted by the SORT verb.
OPEN INPUT with LOCK may not work!	On some platforms, the lock is not acquired on files open for input.
Option has no effect	This message is returned when the change of a reserved word issued through -rc and -rm options cannot be made on the source code.
Program id differs from source name	The name specified in PROGRAM-ID paragraph does not match with the name of the disk source file.
RECORD KEY not in FD	The field associated to a indexed file record key is not found the record definition, it’s found somewhere else in DATA DIVISION instead. This invalidates the file record key.
RECORD KEY outside smallest record	The offset of one or more of the record key segments is greater than the minimum record size of the file.
Record len is not equal than declared size	The record length specified in RECORD clause of a file FD does not match with the length of the level 01 item in that FD.
REDEFINES too long	The redefining item is larger in size than the redefined item.
Reference modifier out of range	This error is returned when a data-item is referenced over its size by constant offset and length. For example consider having 77 WRK-ITEM1 PIC X(10) in DATA DIVISION and performing the following check in PROCEDURE DIVISION: IF WRK-ITEM1(12:1) = SPACES...
Screen name not allowed in this context	Screen names can be used only in DISPLAY, ACCEPT, MODIFY and INQUIRE statements. They cannot be tested using IF or EVALUATE and they cannot be copied using MOVE.
Subscript required	A data item that is part of an OCCURS has been referenced without specifying the index between parenthesis or, vice versa, a data item that is not part of an OCCURS has been referenced using an index.
Symbol not in linkage	One of the items listed in the USING clause of PROCEDURE DIVISION is not defined in LINKAGE SECTION.
Syntax error	This error is returned whenever an unrecognized token is found and there isn't a specific error message for it.
The method signature might be ambiguous	This warning is returned when you invoke a method by passing parameters that are compatible with more than one of the method signatures. It’s also returned if you invoke a method of a generic class.
Unbalanced parenthesis	The number of "(" into a statement does not match the number of ")".
Undeclared cursor	An ESQL statement is trying to operate on a cursor that has not been defined. Involved ESQL statements are: OPEN, FETCH and CLOSE.
Undefined constant	The program tests a Compiler constant that has not been defined. See Compiler Directives for details about Compiler constants definition and testing.
Undefined data item	The specific data-item is not defined in DATA DIVISION.
Undefined data item SQLCA	The PROCEDURE DIVISION contains ESQL statements, but the copybook SQLCA is missing in the WORKING-STORAGE. This copybook is mandatory for programs that take advantage of ESQL statements.
Unexpected end of program	The last statement in PROCEDURE DIVISION has not been properly closed by dot or END-statement .
Unexpected token	The specific token was not expected by the Compiler in that part of the source.
Unknown token	The specific token is not recognized by the Compiler.
Unmatched END-statement	An END-statement has been found, but there is no matching statement above of it.
Unsupported compiler directive	The specific Compiler directive is not supported by isCOBOL. See Compiler Directives for the list of all supported Compiler directives.
Unsupported feature	The specific syntax is recognized as unsupported feature. A typical example is the STATIC-LIST style for COMBO-BOX control.
Unsupported option	The specific option is not recognized by the Compiler. Use -help option to make the Compiler print a list of all supported options.
Usage must be DISPLAY	A data-item that is not USAGE DISPLAY has been used in a statement that requires only USAGE DISPLAY parameters. For example, you cannot use a USAGE HANDLE item in STRING and UNSTRING statements.
User defined error	Error traced due to >>ERROR directive. See Compiler Directives for details about the >>ERROR directive.
VALUE size error	The length of the value specified in the VALUE clause of a data-item is greater than the size of the picture.
Variable has zero length	This error is usually returned for variables without pictures that are parent of 88 level items, for example: 01 flag. 88 flag-true value "T" false "F".
Variable not used	This warning message is returned for each useless data-item found in the source if -wu compiler option is used.
WHEN EFD/EFC name not found #	An invalid field name has been used in a WHEN condition. The compiler is not able to find the named field among the fields of the FD where the condition was used.
WHEN OTHER not last	The WHEN OTHER condition should be the last one into an EVALUATE statement.
With decimal point comma, comma can not be separator between two digits: #,	This warning is returned when a comma is used as separator of multiple values and the DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA clause is specified in the Special Names paragraph. For example the following item would produce the warning: 88 CONDITION-1 VALUE IS 1,2 .
Wrong compiler directive	A Compiler directive has not been used with the proper syntax. See Compiler Directives for details about Compiler directives.
Wrong copy statement	A COPY statement is either incomplete or not correctly terminated by dot.
Wrong replace statement	A REPLACE statement is either incomplete or not correctly terminated by dot.
Malformed option: compiler.regexp=#	The regular expression specified by iscobol.compiler.regexp property is not valid. The number of strings in the value can’t be odd.

If the parsing of the cobol code completes correctly, the isCOBOL Compiler invokes the Java Compiler in order to generate the final class file.

During this second phase of the compilation process, the following error messages may show up.

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/sun/tools/javac/Main	This error means that the Java Compiler cannot be found in the CLASSPATH. Ensure that the library $JDK_HOME/lib/tools.jar appears in the CLASSPATH.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space	This error means that the JVM ran out of memory while compiling the source. To avoid it, you must increase the memory limit by adding -Xmx256m Java option. 256 means 256 MB and it specifies the maximum amount of RAM that the JVM can allocate. If it’s not enough, try with higher values.
code too large	This error means that, due to huge paragraphs in the source code, a java method over 64KB of bytecode has been generated and cannot be compiled. To avoid this error try using -sns=200 Compiler option. This setting will break huge paragraphs in smaller paragraphs of 200 lines in size. If the problem still exists, try with lower values. If -sns does not resolve the problem, a manual intervention on the source is necessary.
Error writing file: too many constants	This error means that too many Java constants were created and the program cannot be compiled. This error is usually returned when compiling very huge source files. To avoid it, add -big option to the Compiler options. Use -big only for programs that returns this error. Other programs may experience performance slowdown if compiled with -big option.
The system is out of resources. Consult the following stack trace for details. java.lang.StackOverflowError	This error means that the thread stack area in the Java compiler was overloaded. To avoid it, increase the thread stack size using the Xss Java option. e.g. iscc -J-Xss1m myProg.cbl