Rational Developer for System z

Add the same preprocessor with different options

You can call the same preprocessor more than once for a single build operation by adding it to a property group multiple times with different options.

Before you begin

You need to have defined a property group on a local or remote system.

Linux icon For PL/I files, Rational® Developer for System z® does not support local preprocessors on the Linux platform.

About this task

You can execute the same preprocessor multiple times with different options by adding it to the property group multiple times. If your site has a preprocessor that takes an argument that tells the preprocessor to look for certain statements in your source program, for example, you can define one entry in the Preprocessors list that tells the preprocessor to look for GOTO statements and another that looks for DISPLAY statements. Each definition points to the same preprocessor, but executes it with different arguments.

Procedure

To add multiple entries for the same preprocessor with different options:

  1. Open a property group in the property group editor.
  2. Navigate to the Local Preprocessors tab of the Local COBOL Settings or Local PLI Settings page.
  3. In the Preprocessors section, click the Add button. The fields in the Preprocessor Options section are cleared.
  4. In the Preprocessor Name (fully qualified) field, specify the preprocessor name or click Browse to navigate to the preprocessor file name.
  5. In the Preprocessor Description field, specify a unique description for this instance of the preprocessor. The description is used as the label in the list of preprocessors in the Preprocessors section. The descriptions you write for each instance should uniquely identify which instance is being executed. To continue the example given above, you could type Locate GOTO for the first instance and Locate DISPLAY for the second.
  6. Complete the remaining fields in this section using the options you want for the first execution of the preprocessor. See the context-sensitive help for a detailed description of the fields on this page.
  7. Click Add again to clear the fields and add another entry to the Preprocessors list.
  8. In the Preprocessor Name (fully qualified) field, specify the same preprocessor name.
  9. In the Preprocessor Description field, specify a unique description for the second instance of the preprocessor.
  10. Complete the remaining fields in this section using the options you want for the second execution of the preprocessor.
  11. Click Ctrl+S to save your changes or Add to add another preprocessor to the list.

Feedback