You can work offline in a z/OS® project
if your circumstances do not permit you to remain connected to the
remote system. When you move a z/OS project
to the offline state, you can select specific subprojects, data sets,
and partitioned data set members to be taken offline. When you are
ready to work online again, you can reconnect to the remote system
and upload the resources you changed.
Before you can move a z/OS project
to offline state, you need to have done the following tasks:
To work offline in a z/OS project,
follow these steps:
- In the z/OS Projects view, right-click
the project to be moved offline and click Work Offline. The Work Offline wizard opens. This
wizard steps you through the process of selecting resources to be
moved offline and checking dependencies to ensure that you have all
the resources you need to work while disconnected from the remote
system.
- On the Move Project Offline page,
select the subprojects, data sets, or members that should be moved
offline.
- To add the dependencies of any selected
COBOL or PL/I programs to the subproject, follow these steps:
- Click Next. The Show
Dependencies for Selected Resources page opens.
- Click Show Dependencies. Rational Developer
for System z uses the COBOL
and PL/I compiler options to determine program dependencies. See Setting compiler options for show dependencies and remote syntax check for information on setting
compiler options for COBOL and PL/I programs. The
dependencies are displayed in the Dependency Files list.
- Select the check box next to the copy members and include
files in the Dependency Files list to add these
files to the subproject before the project goes offline. The files checked in the dependencies list are also
taken offline. If any of your programs depends on a file that cannot
be found, an error message is issued and the file is skipped. To ensure
that files are not skipped, run a local syntax check on your program;
if the syntax check does not produce any errors, then all the dependencies
can be located and no files will be skipped.
- Click Finish. The
selected resources are taken offline and the project is labeled [Offline] in
the z/OS Projects view. Other project resources
that were not taken offline are disabled in the z/OS Projects view. The following example shows
an offline project in which USER33.RDZDB2.COBOL(RDZDB2) has
been taken offline. The remaining data sets in Subproj1 have
been disabled and are not accessible while the project is offline.
- You can now disconnect from the remote system and work
offline on downloaded resources.
When the project is taken offline, the library properties
used to build a file are transferred to the offline subproject. In
addition to the SYSLIB being transferred to reflect a local version,
the Additional JCL is processed into SET statements of the Environment
variables field. Translating these properties locally helps you continue
development activities like syntax check, open copy member, and content
assist.
The work offline feature is a convenience that lets you
edit your source code, check the syntax of the code, and save your
local changes when a remote system connection is not available. You
can perform
the following actions on an offline project:
- Rename data sets and partitioned data set members.
- Copy data sets and partitioned data set members.
- Delete a partitioned data set member.
- Edit data sets and partitioned data set members.
- Local syntax check.
- Nominate as entry point.
- Associate property groups with resources.
- Edit properties of subprojects, partitioned data sets, and partitioned
data set members.
You should be aware, however, that the following special
considerations and limitations are in effect when you work offline
in a z/OS project: