It’s very important to keep in mind that the isCOBOL configuration is built up by merging multiple files and settings. The runtime framework searches for configuration properties in the following list of places:
The configuration file specified on the command line using the property -Discobol.conf.only=
or, if the above option is not used,
1. the system environment variables
2. the "iscobol.properties" file in the /etc directory
3. the "iscobol.propertie"s file in the user home directory
4. the "iscobol.properties" files found in the directory and jar libraries listed in the Classpath
5. the configuration file specified on the command line by -Discobol.conf=
6. the "iscobol.properties" file in the folder specified by the ISCOBOL environment variable
7. the single properties specified on the command line by -Dpropertyname=
If a property appears in more than one of the above places, the last occurrence is used.
When a “missing license” error occurs, you need to search for "iscobol.license.YYYY" in all of the above places and ensure that the value is a valid license code. The easiest way to do this is to open a "cobcmd.bat" command prompt and type "iscrun -license". This will search in each of the paths above and return all the paths, names of files, and license information it finds.
Article ID: 234
Created: October 21, 2014
Last Updated: December 18, 2025
Author: Support KB Author
Online URL: https://support.veryant.com/phpkb/article.php?id=234