Relink Applications

Note: The following applies on Windows and for native COBOL only.

Micro Focus supports the compatibility of callable objects (such as .int, .gnt which are loaded or called by a standalone executable) built with one version of Enterprise Developer but deployed and executed on a newer version of Enterprise Developer on the same platform, unless explicitly specified in the release notes.

However, when the callable objects are built into a standalone executable, the compatibility of the executable or of a .dll file with newer releases of Enterprise Developer depends on the associated Microsoft C runtime.

If the two releases of Enterprise Developer share a common C runtime, the standalone executable or the .dll is compatible with the newer release. However, if the two releases use different C runtime, then the executable or the .dll is not fully compatible when executed with the newer release.

In such situations, you should produce a new executable or a .dll that supports the newer release of the product. To do this you typically need to recompile the application from the sources.

Starting with release 4.0, you can configure Enterprise Developer to check whether applications created with older releases must be relinked. If the application uses an older version of the C runtime, Enterprise Developer can automatically relink the existing executable or .dll to the new version of the C runtime without the need to recompile the application first. You need the original object code (.obj) for this.

Enable the automatic relink functionality

By default , the relink functionality is disabled in Enterprise Developer. In order to enable it:

  1. In Visual Studio, click Tools > Options > Micro Focus > Projects.
  2. Enable the checkbox for Check whether projects need to be relinked.
  3. Click OK.

Relink projects inside Visual Studio

In order to relink any projects created with an earlier release of Enterprise Developer:

  1. Ensure you have the Visual Studio solution and the object code (.obj) for your application.
  2. Open the solution in the latest release of Enterprise Developer.

    If the project contains older C libraries, Visual Studio displays a Relink projects dialog box suggesting that you can relink the projects.

  3. Click Yes.

    Visual Studio automatically links the objects to the newer C runtime libraries.

Relink projects at the command line

You can use the command line to relink a project (but not a solution) created with an earlier release of Enterprise Developer. This will relink the executable or the .dll with the latest C runtime libraries.

  1. Start an Enterprise Developer command prompt.
  2. Navigate to the folder that contains your project.
  3. Execute the following command: 
    msbuild /Property:Relink=true [<project name>]
Parent topic: Projects Created with Earlier Enterprise Developer Releases