Instead of the COBOL file handler picking up its configuration from a fixed location for all regions on any given machine,
               
               		
Micro Focus Enterprise Server for .NET allows COBOL file handler configuration to be defined on a per-region basis via the region start-up file. The benefits for
               doing this are: 
               	 
               
 
                  		
                  -  If 
                     		  Micro Focus Enterprise Server for .NET is scaled out across multiple machines, it eliminates the possibility of the COBOL file handler being configured differently
                     on each machine if the same 
                     		  extfh.cfg file is not used. This ensures consistent application behavior from machine to machine. 
                     		
                  
-  It is very likely that different 
                     		  Micro Focus Enterprise Server for .NET regions will require different COBOL file handler configuration according to the applications that are being run.