Rational Developer for System z
PL/I for Windows, Version 8.0, Programming Guide

Porting applications between platforms

Getting mainframe applications to compile on the workstation
Choosing the right compile-time options
Language restricted
RECORD I/O
STREAM I/O
Structure expressions
Array expressions
DEFAULT statement
Extents of automatic variables
Built-in functions
iSUB defining
DBCS
Macro preprocessor
Using the macro facility to help port programs
Getting mainframe applications to run on the workstation
Linking differences
Data representations causing runtime differences
Environment differences affecting portability
Language elements causing runtime differences

The IBM mainframe environment has a different hardware and operating system architecture than your AIX system or your personal computer (PC). Operating systems other than the mainframe are sometimes referred to as workstation platforms. In this book, we use the term workstation to refer to the AIX and Windows operating systems.

Some problems can arise as you move PL/I programs between the mainframe and workstation environments. The problems may be caused by fundamental platform differences or differences between the PL/I for Windows compiler and the Enterprise PL/I for z/OS compiler. This chapter describes some of these differences between development platforms, and then provides instructions that minimize problems in the following areas:

Rational Developer for System z
PL/I for Windows, Version 8.0, Programming Guide