Rational Developer for System z

Release 7.5 Features

The following new functions were added for Rational® Developer for System z® Release 7.5:

Application Deployment Manager

The Application Deployment Manager contains the following new features:
  • CICS® TS Explorer for viewing and managing CICS resources.
  • A completely new Resource Definition editor UI replaces the CICS Interactive UI (CRD editor). The new Resource Definition editor is used to define multiple CICS resource definitions in a single manifest. The resource definitions contained in the manifest may then be installed immediately, or exported for later processing by a system programmer.
  • A new system programmer administrative utility is used to define CICS resource definition default values and update permissions.

BMS Editor

The BMS Editor contains the following new feature:
  • The ability to associate comments to a BMS Field element and to auto-generate comments into the copybook has been added to the BMS Editor.

Debugger

The following feature is available with Debug Tool V8.1 after you apply the PTF for APAR PK53826:
  • You can now specify the IPv6 format for TCP/IP addresses.
The following features are available with Debug Tool V8.1:
  • Debug Tool now supports only single socket connection types with the compiled language debugger. The VADTCPIP& and TCPIP& suboptions of the TEST runtime option will both start single socket connections.
  • Debug Tool has added an option called CODEPAGE to the EQAOPTS options file for specifying a code page to use during a debugging session. This new option helps you to specify a code page for full screen mode and remote debug mode.
  • The default port has been changed to 8001.
  • You can now enter the SET DEFAULT LISTINGS command through the debug console of the compiled language debugger.
  • You can now use a preferences file, global preferences file, and commands file in remote debug mode.
  • The remote debugger's interface has been enhanced so that you can filter variables. See the remote debugger's online help for a description of this improvement.

Enterprise Service Tools EST-XSE

Enterprise Service Tools contain the following new features:
  • For single-service projects:

    • Support for generation of composite XSDs from multiple COBOL language structures.
    • Enable IMS™ multi-segment Message Passing Programs (MPPs) as Web services in the bottom-up "Create New Service Interface" development scenario.
    • Enable source annotations for service specification definitions to provide service interface information and customization.
    • Add Application Deployment Manager (ADM) integration to allow users to define/install/scan CICS resource(s) that the Enterprise Service Tools component generates.
    • Meet-in-Middle scenario for PL/I based IMS callout generation.
    • Update for compatibility with latest version of CICS Web Services Assistant: For COBOL, top-down and bottom-up Web Services for CICS scenarios that utilize the interpretive XML conversion, (Compiled conversion not available) the following new features of the CICS Web services assistant are available through Batch processor options and the single-service project tools GUI:
      Note: For PL/I, these new features are only supported for the bottom-up CICS Web Services scenarios that utilize the interpretive XML conversion.
      • At all mapping levels and the runtime levels, a new parameter, SYNCONRETURN is available for DFHLS2WS (for both interpretive and vendor/compiled conversion) and DFHWS2LS.
      • A new mapping level, 2.1, and runtime level, 2.1, is available. At these levels (or higher), the following new parameters are available:
        • INLINE-MAXOCCURS-LIMIT (available for DFHWS2LS)
        • XML-ONLY (available for DFHWS2LS)
        At mapping levels 1.2 and higher, the following is available:
        • A new default value for CHAR-VARYING parameter, CHAR-VARYING=COLLAPSE (available for DFHLS2WS)
        • A new value for CHAR-VARYING parameter, CHAR-VARYING=BINARY (available for DFHLS2WS)
    • Support for generating PL/I converters from data description containing multidimensional arrays.
    • Allow users to develop Meet-in-middle scenario (Map to an Existing Service Interface) in an Enterprise Service Tools project.
    • Allow Enterprise Service Tools users the ability to include and reference commonly used interface elements.
    • Support for WebSphere® Service Registry and Repository (WSRR) actions in an Enterprise Service Tools Project.
    • An addition of a Web service binding (WSBind) file editor.
    • Allow single service Enterprise Service Tools Projects the ability to generate Enterprise Service Tools artifacts to remote systems.
    • Generate XML Schemas and Language Structure to XML Converters that implement standards-compliant whitespace processing.
    • Support for z/OS® XML System Services Parser in COBOL XML to Language Structure Converters based on Enterprise COBOL Version 4 Release 1.
    • Optional Bidirectional processing enabled in PL/I converters.
    • Ability to process PL/I source containing CICS commands.
  • For service flow projects:
    • Improved mapping capability:
      • A new mapping editor provides dynamic validation of mapping routines and transformations.
      • The new mapping editor also has a common look and feel with the mapping editor used with single-service projects and other IBM® tooling.
    • Improved integration of ESQL for While nodes, Switch nodes, and mapping transforms and conditions:
      • ESQL editing supports dynamic ESQL validation and content assist.
      • ESQL expressions are stored in the flow file, removing the need for ESQL modules and .esql files
    • Improved message definition:
      • A Basic tab makes it easier to create a variable of type string, integer, or float in the flow message editor.
    • Improved flow recording:
      • The user can record and append new branches onto any existing invoke node.
      • The Start Recording Flow icon is always enabled and flow recording is not stopped automatically because of an unrecognized screen.
      • For Extract actions and Insert actions:
        • Visual feedback is provided when a field is selected for an Extract action or an Insert action.
        • The user can recover from accidentally selecting the wrong field by editing in-progress recordings using the Outline view.
        • The EST Tips window provides more information and guidance.
    • For the generation properties editor:
      • The editor automatically calculates the maximum COMMAREA size.
      • The outline tree opens in the editor area next to the input fields.
    • For the Generate Runtime Code wizard:
      • The wizard is integrated with the Application Deployment Manager component.
      • A user can configure a connection to a CICS primary connection while the wizard is opened.
      • The wizard warns if the JCL templates have not been customized.
    • Improved testing and logging:
      • The Generate Client Requester generates a COBOL source code module for a CICS client test program that invokes your service flow through the CICS Service Flow Runtime, using either Link with COMMAREA or Link with Channel.
      • The service flow project tools now use the Rational Developer for System z logging system.
    • New file extensions allow easier identification of files.
    • An automatic migration facility migrates service flow projects to the current level from previous levels including:
      • Rational Developer for System z V7.0 and 7.1
      • WebSphere Developer for zSeries® Version 6.0

File Manager

Rational Developer for System z File Manager now provides a template editor that offers functionality for generating templates based upon a COBOL copybook or PL/I include. The template editor also provides functions for creating dynamic templates as well as editing template information. This enables Rational Developer File Manager users to have additional control over formatting and filtering criteria that can be used when editing data sets in the Formatted Data Editor.

The Find/Replace function has been improved to now locate/replace results anywhere within the current data set. When performing a search, Find/Replace first searches through the current data window until it reaches the last record in the window. When the search reaches the end of the current window, users are given the option to continue searching outside of the current window and into the remaining portion of the data set.

Rational Developer for System z File Manager version 7.5 also features:
  • Support for connecting to an IBM File Manager server instead of running IBM File Manager in batch. This allows the user to minimize the number of initiators needed for their Rational Developer File Manager edit sessions.
  • IPv6 support for File Manager connections.

zAPG

zAPG contains the following new features:
  • UML-to-COBOL processing that helps the modeling of data structures and programs and then subsequently, the generation of COBOL source code using these models. This modeling-to-development processing uses both the Rational Software Architect and Rational Developer for System z platforms. An Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) representation of the RSA generated model can be exported and then imported into Developer for System z to generate COBOL.
  • It is now possible to create new COBOL programs that perform I/O to VSAM and/or QSAM files using the new VSAM/QSAM Wizard. The generated programs provide a good basis for developing applications that access VSAM and QSAM data sets; in nearly all cases some modification is necessary.

New extension: Rational Developer for System z provides an extension installed with Rational Software Architect that enables the functionality of modeling COBOL. To use the functionality, download and install the "UML Profiles for COBOL Development" extension. For further instruction and information, see the RSA documentation.

zIDE

zIDE contains the following new features:
  • Content-assist for COBOL based on an associated symbol table (AST). The AST represents the COBOL source as a tree structure. This content-assist supports embedded languages including SQL and CICS. This feature also provides support for copybook.
  • The Advanced COBOL Editor has been enhanced to do the following:
    • Real-time syntax checking with limited semantic checking; for example, unresolved references.
    • An "Open Declaration" action that helps navigation from a reference to a data item, section, or paragraph to its corresponding declaration.
    • An "Open Perform Hierarchy" action that presents a view for navigating a perform hierarchy for a given paragraph or section.
    • A "Rename" refactoring that operates on data items, paragraphs, and sections.
    • A "Remove Noise Words" refactoring that removes unnecessary noise words from the source.
  • Single-process RSE server in which one server serves multiple clients and multiple servers are maintained for workload balancing. This change to the RSE server enhances scalability and start-up performance.
  • Unified project development model to provide seamless online-offline project behavior, to allow for better integration of projects with source code management programs such as ClearCase®, SCLM, and CARMA, and to allow closer integration between the zIDE project model and other Rational Developer for System z components, such as EST and zAPG.
  • Provision of a more flexible build properties framework to allow users to create and maintain new properties and property sets. With the introduction of property sets, users can define and save multiple build configurations for a project, subproject, or file and decide at the time of the build which set of properties to use. This framework also makes it easier for users to save and share property sets.
  • Enhancements to the System z LPEX Editor, including the display of a visual indicator for the editor margin area, ability to edit hex values in remote files, and support for ISPF commands.
  • Enhancements to the zIDE user interface, including the ability to merge file differences between the local and remote systems in the Compare view and the ability to sort the z/OS File System Mapping view.
  • Enhancements to the zIDE Remote Resource Access API to allow for setting file system mappings for remote resources, marking resources as read-only, and better integration with SCLM and CARMA.
  • The Menu Manager has been enhanced to simplify creation of menu actions and their association with various zIDE views.

Terms of use | Feedback

This information center is powered by Eclipse technology. (http://www.eclipse.org)