Update README, POM files and examples after the release.

Author: yruslan

README.md

@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ You can link against this library in your program at the following coordinates:
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
-<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.11<br>version: 2.9.6</pre>
+<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.11<br>version: 2.9.7</pre>
 </td>
 <td>
-<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.12<br>version: 2.9.6</pre>
+<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.12<br>version: 2.9.7</pre>
 </td>
 <td>
-<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.13<br>version: 2.9.6</pre>
+<pre>groupId: za.co.absa.cobrix<br>artifactId: spark-cobol_2.13<br>version: 2.9.7</pre>
 </td>
 </tr>
 </table>
@@ -92,17 +92,17 @@ This package can be added to Spark using the `--packages` command line option. F
 
 ### Spark compiled with Scala 2.11
 ```
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.11:2.9.6
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.11:2.9.7
 ```
 
 ### Spark compiled with Scala 2.12
 ```
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.12:2.9.6
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.12:2.9.7
 ```
 
 ### Spark compiled with Scala 2.13
 ```
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.13:2.9.6
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.13:2.9.7
 ```
 
 ## Usage
@@ -240,18 +240,18 @@ Cobrix's `spark-cobol` data source depends on the COBOL parser that is a part of
 
 The jars that you need to get are:
 
-* spark-cobol_2.12-2.9.6.jar
-* cobol-parser_2.12-2.9.6.jar
+* spark-cobol_2.12-2.9.7.jar
+* cobol-parser_2.12-2.9.7.jar
 
 > Versions older than 2.8.0 also need `scodec-core_2.12-1.10.3.jar` and `scodec-bits_2.12-1.1.4.jar`.
 
 > Versions older than 2.7.1 also need `antlr4-runtime-4.8.jar`.
 
 After that you can specify these jars in `spark-shell` command line. Here is an example:
 ```
-$ spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.12:2.9.6
+$ spark-shell --packages za.co.absa.cobrix:spark-cobol_2.12:2.9.7
 or 
-$ spark-shell --master yarn --deploy-mode client --driver-cores 4 --driver-memory 4G --jars spark-cobol_2.12-2.9.6.jar,cobol-parser_2.12-2.9.6.jar
+$ spark-shell --master yarn --deploy-mode client --driver-cores 4 --driver-memory 4G --jars spark-cobol_2.12-2.9.7.jar,cobol-parser_2.12-2.9.7.jar
 
 Setting default log level to "WARN".
 To adjust logging level use sc.setLogLevel(newLevel). For SparkR, use setLogLevel(newLevel).
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ The fat jar will have '-bundle' suffix. You can also download pre-built bundles
 
 Then, run `spark-shell` or `spark-submit` adding the fat jar as the option.
 ```sh
-$ spark-shell --jars spark-cobol_2.12_3.3-2.9.7-SNAPSHOT-bundle.jar
+$ spark-shell --jars spark-cobol_2.12_3.3-2.9.8-SNAPSHOT-bundle.jar
 ```
 
 > <b>A note for building and running tests on Windows</b>
@@ -1945,6 +1945,9 @@ at org.apache.hadoop.io.nativeio.NativeIO$POSIX.getStat(NativeIO.java:608)
 A: Update hadoop dll to version 3.2.2 or newer.
 
 ## Changelog
+- #### 2.9.7 released 29 January 2026.
+    - [#816](https://github.com/AbsaOSS/cobrix/pull/816) Fixed the reliance on log4j libraries in the classpath. Cobrix can now be run on clusters that do not use Log4j for logging.
+
 - #### 2.9.6 released 7 January 2026.
     - [#813](https://github.com/AbsaOSS/cobrix/pull/813) Fixed compatibility of the relaxed sign overpunching. Allow numbers
       with overpunched sign in unsigned numbers and allow multiple digits when overpunched sign when `strict_sign_overpunching = true`.

cobol-converters/pom.xml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>za.co.absa.cobrix</groupId>
         <artifactId>cobrix_2.12</artifactId>
-        <version>2.9.7-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>2.9.8-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 

cobol-parser/pom.xml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>za.co.absa.cobrix</groupId>
         <artifactId>cobrix_2.12</artifactId>
-        <version>2.9.7-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>2.9.8-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 

examples/examples-collection/pom.xml

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 		<scala.compat.version>2.12</scala.compat.version>
 		<spark.version>3.5.7</spark.version>
 		<specs.version>2.4.16</specs.version>
-		<spark.cobol.version>2.9.6</spark.cobol.version>
+		<spark.cobol.version>2.9.7</spark.cobol.version>
         <scodec_core.version>1.11.10</scodec_core.version>
 	</properties>
 

examples/spark-cobol-app/build.sbt

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ ThisBuild / version      := "0.1.0-SNAPSHOT"
 ThisBuild / scalaVersion := "2.12.20"
 
 val sparkVersion = "3.5.7"
-val sparkCobolVersion = "2.9.6"
+val sparkCobolVersion = "2.9.7"
 val scalatestVersion = "3.2.19"
 
 ThisBuild / libraryDependencies ++= Seq(

examples/spark-cobol-app/pom.xml

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 		<scala.compat.version>2.12</scala.compat.version>
 		<scalatest.version>3.2.19</scalatest.version>
 		<spark.version>3.5.7</spark.version>
-		<spark.cobol.version>2.9.6</spark.cobol.version>
+		<spark.cobol.version>2.9.7</spark.cobol.version>
 	</properties>
 
 	<dependencies>

pom.xml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     <groupId>za.co.absa.cobrix</groupId>
     <artifactId>cobrix_2.12</artifactId>
 
-    <version>2.9.7-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>2.9.8-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 

spark-cobol/pom.xml

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 	<parent>
 		<groupId>za.co.absa.cobrix</groupId>
 		<artifactId>cobrix_2.12</artifactId>
-		<version>2.9.7-SNAPSHOT</version>
+		<version>2.9.8-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		<relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
 	</parent>