What s new in Mainframe Express 3.0

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1 What s new in Mainframe Express 3.0

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 1 Mainframe Compatibility Enterprise COBOL for z/os DB IMS CICS JCL Support 5 2 Testing Enhancements Test Coverage 6 3 Editing Enhancements ISPF-style source editing Embedded SQL (ESQL) Assistant Data file editing 8 4 Usability Improvements IDE enhancements Dragging and Dropping Files into a Project Displaying Files that are not in a Project Updating Workgroup Status When Adding Directories Audio Visual Tutorials 10 5 Administration and Implementation features Product Administration: Application Management: 14 6 New! Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition Introduction Analysis Option AppMaster Builder Component Generator 17 2

3 Introduction Micro Focus Mainframe Express is the leading PC-based development environment for IBM mainframe applications, enabling rapid editing, compilation, debugging and testing of applications in a Windows environment. Providing a comprehensive suite of tools that includes mainframe emulators and specialized mainframe connectivity technology, programmers are more motivated and more productive with this modern and cost effective alternative to traditional mainframe hosted development. Mainframe Express 3.0 includes a wide range of new and enhanced features focused on productivity, manageability and mainframe compatibility. Many of the highlights are described below. Micro Focus is also excited to introduce Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition. Highlights of the capabilities introduced in this new product edition are also described below. 3

4 1 Mainframe Compatibility In this release there is improved mainframe compatibility in the following areas: 1.1 Enterprise COBOL for z/os We have introduced a new COBOL dialect setting in Mainframe Express called Enterprise COBOL for z/os. This provides compatibility with the latest generation of IBM s mainframe COBOL compiler. Notable enhancements provided by this COBOL dialect include support for Unicode data types and support for XML PARSE syntax. Support for XML GENERATE syntax (introduced by IBM in Enterprise COBOL V3R3) will be included in a WebSync release soon after Mainframe Express 3.0 becomes generally available. 1.2 DB Mainframe version compatibility Version Full DB2 v7 support will be included in the SQL Option for DB2. Preliminary support for DB2 v8 will be provided in Mainframe Express 3.0 via subsequent Websync releases. Additionally, ODBC and JDBC support will be added into Mainframe Express ODBC Driver for SQL Option Mainframe Express now includes an optional ODBC driver for SQL Option. This allows ODBC enabled tools or applications to communicate with SQL Option databases. Instructions on how to install the ODBC driver can be found in the Mainframe Express User Guide JDBC Driver for Java applications SQL Option now provides a JDBC driver, so that Java applications can interact with the XDB database engine SQL Option UNICODE Support SQL Option now supports UNICODE in a fashion similar to mainframe DB2; both UTF-8 and UTF-16 data can be stored in appropriately designated SQL tables. 4

5 1.2.5 Debugging of COBOL Stored Procedures You can now debug COBOL stored procedures using Mainframe Express from a Java application. 1.3 IMS New syntax support for IMS is provided in Mainframe Express 3.0 in line with IMS v8. The additional new features are also available: MQSeries Trigger Monitor MQSeries IMS Bridge Transaction Import Component Generator support Large DB support ODBA (AERTDLI) support GSAM reposition after BMP restart IMSDBU support for sequential files IMSDBU execution from JCL 1.4 CICS New syntax support for CICS is provided in Mainframe Express 3.0 in line with CICS CICS TS v2.2. Information on supported APIs is available in the Mainframe Express User Guide. 1.5 JCL Support The following new functionality has been added to the JCL support in Mainframe Express: COMPARE utility (MFJMATCH) - Compares two MVS data sets. It accepts any record format, record length or data set organization supported by Mainframe Express. Support for unloading (DSNTIAUL) and reloading (DSNUTILB) SQL Option for DB2 tables from JCL Support for executing any SQL statement that can be executed dynamically (DSNTEP2). MFJDG has been added to emulate the IEBDG mainframe utility for creating test data. 5

6 2 Testing Enhancements 2.1 Test Coverage Developers often need to show that they have performed testing which has covered all logical paths through a program. Using the new Test Coverage utility, you can produce a report to illustrate the extent of test coverage, and can promote this report along with the source code at the various stages of the development lifecycle. This enables you to track which COBOL code has been executed (and how many times) during a single (or multiple) test run(s). A test coverage report can be generated to highlight areas that may require more testing, and to show a summary of percentage code coverage during testing. This report (available in HTML or plain text) may optionally be used as a deliverable as part of the Quality Assurance process. 6

7 3 Editing Enhancements 3.1 ISPF-style source editing An observation sometimes made by new users of Mainframe Express is how different the Mainframe Express editor looks compared to mainframe ISPF. This is because the 3270 character based environment provides a very different look and feel to the latest graphical editors available in modern development environments like Mainframe Express. To ease the learning curve for new users as they make the transition away from legacy tools, we have added an option which introduces ISPF-like features to the Mainframe Express source editor. This means that when this feature is enabled, you can use several of the most common ISPF primary and line commands from within the Mainframe Express source editor. Additional enhancements have been made to source file editing: Navigation bar - The Mainframe Express source code editor now features a navigation bar on the right of the window frame. Indicators in the navigation bar show where compilation errors, bookmarks and breakpoints exist in your source code. By clicking on an indicator, the editor moves to that point in your code and places the cursor in the indicated line. Automatic line numbering and line renumbering - You can now specify that lines in your source code are to be numbered when you save your source code. You can also renumber lines, and remove the line numbers. Block style cursor for overtype mode - You can specify that, if the editor is in overtype mode, the cursor is changed to a block style cursor rather than a vertical line. Autocomplete - You can specify that the editor should attempt to autocomplete data names or procedure names in your program. The editor can only autocomplete for programs that have previously been compiled. 3.2 Embedded SQL (ESQL) Assistant ESQL Assistant is a new Mainframe Express tool to help you build and test SQL queries using either SQL Option for DB2 or IBM UDB databases. The ESQL Assistant helps you to add SQL calls into your code by use of prompts and wizards rather than having to manually hand-code the SQL. This tool looks inside your DB2 location to see what tables and other entities are available, and allows you to create SQL syntax by simple point and click actions. 7

8 3.3 Data file editing Cut and Paste The data file editor now supports the use of cut, copy and paste operations, including the acceptance of text blocks created by other tools Editing Files in Hexadecimal Mainframe Express now enables you to open files in a hexadecimal editor. You can do this when you choose to open a file using File > Open. One of the options on the Open dialog is Open as; if you select Binary, the file is opened in a hexadecimal editor. This is useful for investigating data problems eg., when DCB information is not available or is unknown.. 8

9 4 Usability Improvements 4.1 IDE enhancements Several enhancements have been made to the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to aid usability. These include: Indicators on the right edge of the editor window to show position of errors and breakpoints. Single click on individual tabs for closing edit/browse windows when several are open. Option that allows you to make dockable windows translucent this is a useful visual enhancement, especially when many windows are open and overlapping Mainframe Express now enables you to export COBOL reports to a new editing window, which allows you to edit the information to your own needs. 4.2 Dragging and Dropping Files into a Project You can now add files to a Mainframe Express project by dragging and dropping from any other application or utility that supports drag and drop (including My Mainframe). By default, dropping a file into a Mainframe Express project causes a copy of the original file to be made in the project directory. However, you can use either of the following two methods to make Mainframe Express use a link to the original file rather than create a copy of it: hold down Ctrl during the drag and drop use the right mouse button for the drag and drop. When you release the button a popup menu is displayed asking if you want to make a copy or create a link 4.3 Displaying Files that are not in a Project When navigating a project, Mainframe Express previously restricted your view to only those files in the project. To view files that were not in the project you had to switch from Mainframe Express, use a utility such as My Computer to navigate your files, and then return to Mainframe Express. Mainframe Express now has an option to enable you to view files outside a project. 4.4 Updating Workgroup Status When Adding Directories Previously, adding a directory to a workgroup level updated the workgroup status. This process could take some time and the IDE was locked until it was complete. This has been optimized so that the update only happens if the directory contains at least one file, and it now takes place as a background task which means you can continue to use Mainframe Express while the update is carried out. 9

10 4.5 Documentation The Mainframe Express documentation has been updated it can all now be accessed from the Start menu in a more consistent format. 4.6 Audio Visual Tutorials Recorded tutorials of some of the new Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition features are available from the Start menu. 10

11 5 Administration and Implementation features In addition to productivity and quality improvements as described above, we have added a number of enhancements to help with the manageability and administration of the Mainframe Express solution. For administrators, these are summarised below: 5.1 Product Administration: Mainframe Express Administrator's Toolkit This comprises tools that make it easier to perform common Mainframe Express administration tasks. These tools are: Automatic FixPack Installation (AFI). AFI enables you to automatically install FixPacks using a central.ini file, giving you greater control over the FixPack versions running on client machines. Automatic Synchronize and Compile (ASC). ASC enables you to automatically synchronize components on the PC with components on the mainframe. This includes facilities to identify source types and build executables (loadlibs) for the use of Mainframe Express developers Usage Logging facility Usage logging enables you to track the use of Micro Focus products. It does this by passing information about such operations as opening files and start of debugging, to a user-created program, enabling you to select the information and format it to your requirements. This enables you to monitor and measure the usage patterns of Mainframe Express to help determine the return on investment being achieved Integration of Mainframe Manager into Mainframe Access. Mainframe Manager has now been incorporated into Mainframe Access. This helps to simplify the installation and packaging of this software, as held on the Host Connectivity CDROM that is available with Mainframe Express. Additionally, several improvements have been made to the host connectivity software that should result in better overall performance. 11

12 5.1.4 Long filename Support It is now possible to install Mainframe Express using long filenames supported by latest versions of Windows, rather than the previous restriction of 8.3 length filenames Terminal Services and Citrix Support Mainframe Express now supports Windows Terminal Services and Citrix as an operating environment License Management License management improvements have been made to allow a more flexible approach when implementing a managed Mainframe Express environment. Improvements include: Web-based license keys This automates the process of issuing request/response keys and removes time delays associated with this. Removal of hardware license keys for License Server Previously, License Server implementations required a parallel port security key (known as a dongle). This is no longer required Exporting Project Settings to XML Mainframe Express now includes a command-line utility that enables you to export project settings to an XML file. This is useful for tracking and viewing the content of template project files, or for comparing similar user project files for problem determination without the need to view project content and settings from the IDE SQL Option settings per project You can now specify distinct SQL Option client-side settings and parameters at the project (.MVP) level. For instance, each project can be associated with a different default SQL Option location Compacting Projects To minimize the size of Mainframe Express project (.mvp) files you can perform one of the following operations: click Project > Compact Project specify the /COMPACT option to the mfecl command line 12

13 Quick Build A new option, Quick Build, has been added to the Build menu. Performing a Quick Build operation only builds objects that Mainframe Express recognizes as being out of date or that failed during the previous build operation. A toolbar button has been added for Quick Build (in addition to the existing Build button) JCL User Exits Mainframe Express now provides a facility called the JCL user exit, which enables you to monitor and control various events that occur during execution of a job or TSO session. Certain events enable the user exit to alter the actions that follow the event. For example, when a job is submitted for execution, the user exit can modify the job or create a new one PCOMP Support The PCOMP Compiler directive has been added to enable you to specify a userprogram as a pre-compiler for COBOL or BMS files. The user program can use "CBL_EXIT_PROC" to perform some post build processing. If the specified user program is not found, the compilation fails Entry Point Mapping Enhancements Mainframe Express now enables you to control whether it looks for programs to load using mfentmap.dat before or after searching the load libraries for them. This can help increase performance when large loadlibs are used. You can also specify CICS-specific entry name maps in the file cics.mfentmap.dat in the project folder. These definitions take precedence over any definitions in other mfentmap.dat files. If you are not running or debugging a CICS application, the CICS-specific file is ignored and the usual precedence rules are used. You can also specify the file default.mfentmap.dat, which will be used whenever cics.mfentmap.dat isn't used (that is, for non-cics applications). Functionality is identical to cics.mfentmap.dat. These definitions take precedence over any definitions in other mfentmap.dat files. If you are not running or debugging an application that uses the default.mfentmap.dat, this file is ignored and the usual precedence rules are used. 13

14 Project Portability In previous versions of Mainframe Express project files contained absolute references to installation and user folders which prevented the distribution of projects across PCs that did not have identical configurations. With this version of Mainframe Express, new projects are created using indirect references to the installation and user folders, which means the project files are much more portable. The indirect references are listed as $<MFE.Install> and $<MFE.User> in the Files View and Workgroup View Using Mainframe-style Data Set Names The PC Dataset Name option on the General tab of the Catalog page on the Project Settings dialog box lets you choose how Mainframe Express assigns the PC filename to correspond to a mainframe data set. The following three options are available: Use sxxxxxx.dat names. The PC filenames are assigned using the sequence s dat, s dat, s000000n.dat. Dots into subdirectories. The PC filenames are assigned by converting dots in the data set name to backslashes (\) in the PC filename. For example, the mainframe data set name PROD.ACCT.JULY would be assigned to PROD/ACCT/JULY on the PC. Use mainframe names. The PC filenames are assigned using the same name as the mainframe data set, with an extension of.dat (unless a default extension was supplied on the ALLOC function, in which case that would be used). The file is created in the Catalog Data workgrouping folder. This will be the default for new projects. This facility makes it easier to identify data files, especially useful for sharing data with other Mainframe Express users and for identifying redundant files which can be deleted. 5.2 Application Management: Workgrouping-style Paths Mainframe Express now provides workgrouping-style data search paths. Instead of Mainframe Express using the folder specified in the Allocation Folder edit box when looking for data files, it now uses the active Catalog Data folder (which will have a blue check mark next to it). This functionality enables you to use different data locations depending on the workgroup levels in use, and works for all types of data source, although the initial priority is support for flat COBOL files. If a data file isn't found during debugging, 14

15 you are prompted to enter the file's location, and Mainframe Express adds the location you specify to the project IMS Transaction Import Facility Mainframe Express now provides the IMS Transaction Import facility, which reads an IMS stage 1 file - which contains the definitions for transactions, terminals and printers for the IMS system - then extracts the transaction definitions, and imports the transactions into a Mainframe Express project. To use this facility, the IMS Stage 1 file must be downloaded from the mainframe and be in EBCDIC format. This facility speeds up the process of setting up an IMS testing environment, potentially saving much time that would otherwise be spent on manual keying of transaction definitions Bulk Importing and Cataloging of Application Data Files This is a new facility for automatically populating the Mainframe Express catalog with data file definitions from the mainframe. This allows you to run a job in a special mode such that the datasets that it uses will be created and, when requested those datasets can be searched for on the mainframe and downloaded to the PC. This can save you several hours of effort when setting up template projects and data Support for UNLOAD/RELOAD DB2 Tables from JCL DB2 tables can now be loaded from and unloaded into DSNTIAUL format files via JCL. This means that existing JCL for data population can be ported to Mainframe Express and used with the SQL Option instead of building new EXPORT and IMPORT scripts. 15

16 6 New! Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition 6.1 Introduction Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition is a new product offering that is available as an upgrade to existing customers which adds the power of Micro Focus application generation and Web services capabilities into a single integrated toolset. This edition allows fast and easy extension of existing CICS and IMS transactions into new software architectures such as J2EE (eg. WebSphere Application Server) and Microsoft.NET. 6.2 Analysis Option Analysis Option enables you to find out a wide range of information about your application. Examples of the information available using Analysis Option are a list of statements that could change the value of a specified data item and a graphical view of the flow of control through the application. The Analysis Option is available within both the AppMaster Builder component and the Mainframe Express IDE, allowing users to take advantage of advanced analysis capabilities regardless of the development approach. Customers with Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition will benefit from new analysis capabilities available directly from within the Mainframe Express IDE (Integrated Development Environment). For programmer-level analysis tasks, it will no longer be necessary to launch a separate product or tool. Instead, the following functions will be available with just a few clicks of the mouse: Impact Analysis tools Analysis query tools COBOL outline view for easy code navigation Flowcharts System diagrams Accessing these functions within Mainframe Express provides further productivity gains across a wider scope of the development lifecycle supporting all major source types such as COBOL, S-COBOL, Assembler, PL/I (where installed) and JCL. 6.3 AppMaster Builder AppMaster Builder allows very fast creation of whole applications (such as IMS and CICS transactions and batch systems) including generation of supporting infrastructure items such as screen maps and database copybooks. The process is automated and can be carried out with a minimum of coding using a point and click approach. The resultant application is a pure mainframe COBOL application that is easy to debug and understand, with no proprietary runtime components required for deployment into production. 16

17 For customers migrating from APS for MVS, additional benefits include an APS to AppMaster Builder migration wizard, and tight integration with the Mainframe Express development environment. 6.4 Component Generator With Component Generator, you can capture complete legacy application business processes and automatically generate reusable, industry-standard components in the form of JavaBeans, EJBs, COM, XML, WML and J2ME for use throughout your enterprise. With Component Generator you can: Maximize return on existing mainframe assets - enable mainframe assets to be integrated into new applications, extending the life and value of your legacy investments. Create mainframe components - develop and generate components that provide access to complete legacy business processes which can be reused and integrated with your other enterprise applications or combined with custom and off-the-shelf components to assemble new applications. Reduce risk - no changes to existing applications are required since the generated components interface to your existing transactions and manage all communication with your legacy application. Support standard component models eg. JavaBeans, EJBs, COM and.net Enable mainframe assets for use in B2B transactions - visually map mainframe data to vertical industry XML DTDs. Support access to mainframe assets from wireless and consumer devices using J2ME. 17

What s New in Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition 3.1.

What s New in Mainframe Express Enterprise Edition 3.1. Micro Focus Limited Version 1.0 24June 2007 Table of Contents Introduction... 4 1 Mainframe Compatibility... 5 1.1 SQL Option for DB2... 5 1.1.1