Kishore Sampat "Kish ([log in to unmask]) wrote: : while running a COBOL program. ===== If the program is a COBOL program, then it calls a PASCAL procedure or function that aborts since the error is a "PASCERR". That procedure/function may be in some library (group SL, acct SL system SL). Another possibility is that the program actually is a PASCAL program... : **** DESIGNATED CHARACTER POSITION(S) OUTSIDE STRING (PASCERR 652) If the abort is intermittent, sounds like it is caused either by some uninitialized structure -or- it's handling some data that sometimes is larger "string" than the program expects and thus some pascal string operation goes outside the memory area allocated for the string in question. Unfortunately I haven't got an MPE/V machine to try and my V/E debug skills have gotten a bit rusty as it's been a while. On MPE/iX I'd use breakpoint at P__PASCERROR or trap_handler or hperrpush... to see where I fail... however, since you are on V/E... maybe someone else can help you further. Also, using a command :SETDUMP prior to running the program may get you a better stack trace when the problem occurs... :~) Eero Laurila - HP CSY Networking lab.