it can also be a bug in the Basic interpreter or compiler.

You may find your best business solution is to dump everything
including the cash register and start over with something whose code
can be maintained.

IBM may not support the application any more as a corporation but some of
the developers who wrote and maintained it are probably still around. Even
if they are retired - I'm not sure how long this system goes back - they may
try to 'keep their hand in' and may very well be willing to lend a hand with
some tips and suggestions. I know for a fact that some IBM staff (present
and retired) are very active in newsgroups so the trick is to get their
attention.

IBM has at least one public news server with a variety of newsgroups; I know
that some at least are monitored by the IBM lab responsible for that
product. For instance, I know that comp.databases.ibm-db2 is monitored by
the DB2 development team at the Toronto lab. I would suggest that you look
at the newsgroups available on that newserver - news.software.ibm.com - and
see if any of them address your problem directly. They still have at least
one OS/2 newsgroup on that server and OS/2 is effectively dead so they might
have a newsgroup for your problem. If you can't find a newsgroup for your
particular problem, try something "close" - same operating system, same
business area - and maybe your problem will be seen by someone who knows
something about it. Or maybe someone will see it and remember a colleague
that used to work on that application and pass it on to him/her.

It's a bit of a long shot but it may just pay off bigtime.

Good luck!

Rhino