Rational Developer for System z

What's new in Rational Developer for System z

The following functions have been added for IBM® Rational® Developer for System z® Verison 8.0.3.

Assembler language support

The following enhancements have been added to the Assembler Editor.

Autocomment

A new options to ignore leading and trailing whitespace changes has been added to the autocomment feature available in System z LPEX and System z C/C++ Editor.

BMS Screen Designer (BMS Editor)

The BMS Screen Designer (BMS Editor) component contains the following new features:
  • SDF II stores all the screen information in a proprietary format, and then it allows for the generation of BMS syntax files, and data structures as an output. The BMS Editor stores all of the screen information in BMS syntax in the BMS source file itself, with the original intent that a developer would assemble (compile) this file to produce data structures.

    Because SDF II stores its screen definition data in a proprietary format it can support features that are not capable of being described using BMS syntax alone. For example, SDF II allows for the definition of repeating blocks of fields in screens, and will generate a BMS file that represents the screen. In addition, the associated COBOL data structure generated by SDF II will contain an OCCURS clause representing the repeating block. However, if the same SDF II generated BMS file is assembled to produce a COBOL data structure then it will not contain an OCCURS clause, since the information used by SDF II to produce this clause is stored outside of the BMS file itself.

    Because the BMS Editor operates only on the BMS syntax and not on any alternate files and formats in order for Rational Developer for System z to support SDF II features such as repeated blocks, an SDF II provided utility (named DGIDSBMS) must first be used to add DGI comments to the SDF II generated BMS map file before opening the file in the BMS Editor. After the BMS Editor reads these special comments and converts the data to a recognized format, the following SDF II concepts can be supported:
    • SDF II repeat blocks are converted into Rational Developer for System z Structures, which allows Symbolic Map generation to contain OCCURS clauses.
    • SDF II field level comments
    • SDF II alternate Symbolic Map structure names and level numbers
  • Prior releases of BMS Screen Designer only supported vertical arrays that had all the fields defined in one column. This release allows for arrays to be non-contiguous, such as an array of fields defined across multiple columns.
  • Prior releases of Screen Designer would always generate numeric fields as a PIC 9 format for symbolic maps. This release contains a preference that allows for numeric fields to be generated as alphanumeric formats for symbolic maps.

C/C++ language support

Enhancements for C/C++ language support include the following:
  • The Remote C/C++ Editor has been renamed to System z C/C++ Editor.
  • The Build and Link preferences pages for z/OS Unix subprojects and Linux on System z project have been combined.
  • Provides syntax coloring, content assist, and templates for embedded CICS and SQL statements when editing C/C++ files in the System z LPEX and System C/C++ editors.
  • A z/OS Unix location can be specified in the Properties Editor for the Events Files in the C/C++ page.
  • Macros defined on the remote system are automatically determined when editing C/C++ files in System z LPEX and System C/C++ editors and displayed in the editor Properties tab.
  • A Scalability preference page added to the System C/C++ editors can be used to configure behavior for very large files.

CICS TS 4.2 support

The following are enhancements added to support CICS TS 4.2:
  • Ability to reuse one Event Processing Adapter across many Event Binding specifications via a new .epadapter file, which are deployed within a CICS Bundle.
  • EP Search dialog can be used to look inside Event Binding specifications (*.evbind files) for names of CICS resources and/or data structure elements to find specification affected by application maintenance.
  • Ability to develop Java OSGi projects and deploy them within a CICS Bundle.
  • Ability to develop ATOM configuration files and deploy them within a CICS Bundle.
  • Real time syntax checking and Content Assist updated to include new CICS TS 4.2 syntax.

COBOL Compiled XML Conversion

Improved support for OCCURS DEPENDING ON (ODO) in the bottom-up and meet-in-middle scenarios. ODO objects are no longer required to be selected (bottom-up) or mapped (meet-in-middle) as XML2LS conversion will now compute values for deselected or unmapped ODO objects.

Performance of IMS Enterprise Suite SOAP Gateway XML2LS and LS2XML converters has been significantly improved for SBCS EBCDIC host code pages by the following enhacements:
  • A new option added to avoid unnecessary Unicode overhead in XML converters for supported SBCS EBDIC host code pages. The new option is Use the host code page as the intermediate encoding for XML.
  • A new module named IRZCLCNV added to significantly reduce Unicode conversion overhead of XML markup in the XML2LS and LS2XML converters. This includes performance with large conversions between UTF-8 and EBCDIC and when the host code page is DBCS EBCDIC.

COBOL Editor

The following are enhancements added to the COBOL Editor:
  • Ability to use the output of configured preprocessors to identify the location and translation of preprocessor statements and macros in a file
  • Customizable capitalization and indentation formatting can be applied to a selected region of the editor or to an entire file.
  • A new preference page allows you to customize the syntax coloring behavior, and now supports the Bold and Italic text styles.
  • Folding feature enhanced to collapse language structures such as divisions, sections, and paragraphs and hide them from view.
  • Ability to limit the amount of text displayed in the editor using. Displays only the text of the selected language element in the editor, hiding the rest from view.
  • Formatting enhancements, such as indentation and capitulation preferences that make code easier to read in the editor.
  • Additional tools added to the editor such as view and edit a program in hexadecimal, view spaces in text, and highlight multiple occurrences of selected text.
  • Editor provides suggestions that can automate fixing of common programming and configuration errors.
  • A range indicator provided in the editor as a visual annotation displaying the vertical span of the surrounding language element.
  • Customizable comment strings that trigger the creation of task markers in a file.
  • The ability to surround selected text with a matching template.
  • Ability to create custom tab stop locations for the editor.
  • Perform hierarchy function enhanced to allow filtering and additional data such as non-explicit references to be provided.
  • Improved performance of the real-time syntax checking function.
  • All roundtrip restrictions are removed so that files containing problematic characters are editable.

Code coverage

Line-level code coverage is now available for compiled language applications, including those written in C/C++, COBOL, PL/I, and HLASM. Starting code coverage is as simple as compiling with debug information and launching your application under the debugger, with special options. Results are summarized, displayed, and compared using a graphical environment built right in to the client.

Code review for COBOL

Developers now have the capability to analyze their COBOL code early in the development phase, to ensure company internal guidelines, best practices, and coding standards are being followed.

The Software Analyzer Configuration dialog is used to create an analysis configuration that specifies the scope and rule set for the analysis. The rule set is created from selecting rules provided within the product and rules created by customizing templates. These analysis configurations can be centrally administered using the "push-to-client" capability.

The COBOL Code Review can be run on all COBOL files in the workspace, within one or more local projects, or on a single source file. Code Review can also be run on a remote COBOL file, if the file is open in an edit session.

The results from the COBOL code review are displayed in a Software Analyzer Results view. When selected, the source file is opened in the editor and the line in violation is highlighted. An HTML or PDF report can also be generated from these results.

Common Access Repository Manager (CARMA)

The following updates were added for Common Access Repository Manager (CARMA):
  • A new CARMA extension point added for defining default filters (views) allowing CARMA developers to define how the default filter will be specified when expanding a RAM, Repository Instance or Container entry in the CARMA repositories view or the CARMA Fields Table view for the first time. The filter can be defined programmatically or specify that the user be prompted for the default filter value to be used.
  • In the CARMA Fields Table view, new CARMA functions have been added to for RAMs that have member information intertwined with a member listing. These functions allow the RAM to return the member information at the same time as the member list. If a RAM developer does not implement these new functions, CARMA will fall back on using the getAllMemberInfo call and the current browsing functions.
  • The CARMA Fields Table view supports sorting columns in ascending or descending order.
  • Performance has been improved when working with a large number of members or repository instances.

Debugger

The Debugger contains the following enhancements:
  • With an appropriate level of the Debug Tool
    • Debug sessions can be authenticated by requiring clients to provide a user name and password to accept an incoming debug session and prevent accidental access to a sensitive program.
    • Debug connections are secured debug connections. The client's debug daemon can now accept SSL connections as well as traditional debug connections.
  • A time out session feature that automatically terminates inactive debug sessions to save on system resources.
  • Memory contents can be view in though a single pane in both hex and character data in a more compact format.
  • An array range control which limits the array elements displayed for a given range.
  • You can hover over a complex type in the source editor to display a navigable tree of its contents.
  • The Debugger Editor can be used for large files. The size of a file copied from a remote system is limited for the purposes of debugging, If a stop occurs in a file larger than the limit, the light-weight Debugger Editor is used instead of the Debugger Editor.
  • A new preference to use the debugger editor for large files while using the default editor for smaller files.

IMS PL/I top-down support - WSDL2PLI

The IMS PL/I top-down support enhancements have been included:
  • For SOAP Fault messages:
    • IMS provider MPPs can issue SOAP Fault messages with customized details.
    • PL/I structures and LS2XML converters are generated for each fault message.
    • IMS Connect allow IRZPWSIO to switch to a fault LS2XML converter when processing MPP output.
  • For base64Binary:
    • IMS provider MPPs can send and receive binary data that has an intermediate encoding of Base64.
    • Generated PL/I structures and XML converters support the XML Schema base64Binary type.
  • For variable and custom IMS message segment size:
    • IMS Connect now allows specification of maximum language structure segment size used by IRZPWSIO.
    • IRZPWSIO honors the maximum segment size when sending or receiving PL/I structures from an MPP.
  • For empty complex types:
    • IMS provider MPPs can send or receive "empty" request or response messages.
    • This can be used to implement health-check or ping operations.
  • Separation of business logic:
    • Generated IMS MPP provider template programs provide clear separation of protocol logic from business logic. - Interaction with the IMS Message Queue and the IRZPWSIO is handled at a layer above user-written code.
    • User-written code goes into procedures suffixed with "Impl" and is supplied pointers to PL/I request, response, and/or fault structures.

Menu Manager

Enhancements to the Menu Manager include the following:
  • Menu Manager files can be distributed using the push-to-client mechanism.
  • Menu Manager actions can be filtered on MVS data sets and member names.

PL/I Compiled XML Conversion

Support for XML whitespace has been improved. Bottom-up, meet-in-middle, and top-down LS2XML PL/I converters fully support standard whitespace processing.

PL/I Editor

The following enhancements added to the PL/I Editor:
  • The ability to use the output of configured preprocessors to identify the location and translation of preprocessor statements and macro in a file.
  • Formatting enhancements, such as indentation and capitulation preferences that make code easier to read in the editor.
  • Customizable capitalization and indentation formatting can be applied to a selected region of the editor or to an entire file.
  • A new preference page allows you to customize the syntax coloring behavior, and now supports the Bold and Italic text styles.
  • Folding feature enhanced to collapse language structures such as procedures and hide them from view.
  • Ability to limit the amount of text displayed in the editor using. Displays only the text of the selected language element in the editor, hiding the rest from view.
  • Additional tools added to the editor such as view and edit a program in hexadecimal, view spaces in text, and highlight multiple occurrences of selected text.
  • Editor provides suggestions that can automate fixing of common programming and configuration errors.
  • A range indicator provided in the editor as a visual annotation displaying the vertical span of the surrounding language element.
  • Customizable comment strings that trigger the creation of task markers in a file.
  • The ability to surround selected text with a matching template.
  • Ability to create custom tab stop locations for the editor.
  • The ability to navigate to the declaration of a variable reference using the keyboard, a menu action, or a hyperlink
  • The ability to hover over a language element reference and view the details of the element's structure
  • Perform hierarchy function enhanced to allow filtering and additional data such as non-explicit references to be provided.
  • Improved performance of the real-time syntax checking function.
  • All roundtrip restrictions are removed so that files containing problematic characters are editable.

Remote resource API

The Remote Resource API has been enhanced with additional functionality such as:
  • subscribing to notifications of a remote system connect
  • getting the dependencies for a source file
  • querying whether a file contains non round-trippable characters
  • carrying out error feedback processing and remote error list population
  • issuing TSO commands

Remote search improvements

The following enhancements have been added for remote index search:
  • The Remote z/OS Search dialog and Remote z/OS Search Results view have been enhanced.
  • Display the number of matches returned for each file.
  • Provides the ability to generate two types of indexes, the standard index and a new compact index.
  • Multiple index locations can be specified for remote index search.
  • Remote index locations can be distributed using the push-to-client mechanism.
  • Remote Index Search can be run on filters from the Remote Systems tree view.
  • A Search tab has been added to the Linux on System z Search dialog. This search can be used to for remote search and to search Linux on System z projects.

System z LPEX Editor

The following are enhancements added to the LPEX Editor:
  • A progress dialog displays when searching large files to allow the user to cancel long-running searches.
  • For COBOL, the LPEX Editor supports the ability to use the output of configured preprocessors to identify the location and translation of preprocessor statements in a file.
  • For PL/I, the LPEX Editor supports the following:
    • The ability to use the output of configured preprocessors to identify he location and translation of preprocessor statements in a file.
    • The ability to navigate to the declaration of a variable reference using the keyboard, a menu action, or a hyperlink.
    • The ability to hover over a language element reference and view the details of the element's structure.
  • Option added to the COBOL and JCL System z LPEX editors to uppercase source code.
  • All roundtrip restrictions are removed so that files containing problematic characters, such as embedded HEX characters in literals, are editable.

SCLM Developer Toolkit

Enhancements to SCLM Developer Toolkit include the following:
  • Performance improvements incorporated into the Edit/Check out, Copybook/content assist retrieval, and populate project for SCLM projects with multiple account files.
  • Populate Project can retrieve all nested INCL ARCHDEF members on an ARCHDEF populate request.
  • Properties table updates for members include SCLM account status and support for multiple SCLM account files (retrieves all properties).

XML Services (XSE) Batch process command line utility

The Batch process command line utility now supports validating the generation properties files against an XML Schema to avoid situations such as:
  • Failure during the artifacts generation process in the case when the required information is not provided
  • Generation of artifacts which would cause problems during build and deployment
The utility updated to support the following CICS Assistant parameters:
OPERATION-NAME
Specifies the customer operation name in the generated WSDL. It is applicable for DFHLS2WS (Bottom-up interpretive).
WIDE-COMP3
Used to request the COBOL 31 digit support in DFHWS2LS and DFHSC2LS.

Validation support added for WSDL so that it is consistent with other IBM tools. IBM WSDL Validator and IBM XML Schema Validator support added.

z/OS Integrated Development Environment (zIDE)

zIDE contains the following new features:
  • A new editor, System z Data Editor is available for editing QSAM data files. These files can now be edited without using File Manager.
  • View capabilities available for members and sequential files.
  • Support for browsing of load modules available.
  • Hyperlink from job submission confirmation to an item in the JES queue.
  • Explicitly specify a load module name.
  • Define filters for JES to show Input queue, Held queue, or Running jobs.
  • Provide change-password action for z/OS systems.
  • Updates to the Find Member dialog supports the following:
    • Direct member access
    • Direct member access on the Retrieve Data Set dialog
    • Find member function in z/OS Projects view
  • Option added to toggle file name extensions in z/OS Projects view.
  • The MVS subproject wizard has been enhanced to allow the creation of new connections, connection to existing connections, and selecting and adding resources to the subproject.
  • A new offering is available that combines Rational Developer for System z and Rational Developer for Power. This offering allow you to perform basic operations related to both z/OS and AIX development without having to leave the default perspective. For more involved operations, you can switch to platform specific perspectives available from the separate products.

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