Rational Programming Patterns is a modern, comprehensive, and collaborative Integrated Development Environment. It is used to reach a high development and maintenance productivity in Pacbase applications and in applications coded in native COBOL.

This blog is intended for the Rational Programming Patterns users who are already familiar with the product. 

If you do not know this product, you can access the Rational Programming Patterns documentation in IBM Docs to understand how this product works.

Rational Programming Patterns (RPP) V9.7.3, the latest version generally available on 12-15,  provides enhancements on various aspects of the product, from the installation to the usability of the application design and code management.

Enhanced installation

• RPP V9.7.3 can be installed without IBM Engineering Workflow Management to allow the connection to a Source Code Management tool such as Git. In this case, only the RPP Client is to be installed on the users' workstation. On the other hand, the RPP server functions that are managed  with EWM, such as the server searches, the server controls, or the RPP Web interface are no longer available.  
  
  
• A new P2 installation mode is available, in addition to the installation with IBM Installation Manager. This new installation mode makes the installation process and the deployment of new versions easier.

Enhanced design editors and tools

• A new "RPP - List of unused entities search" is available as a new advanced design search. This search operates with the same criteria as the other design searches. 
  

• Search dialogs on the main tabular editors have been added (Screen -CE ; Segment -CE ; Database Block -DR ; Program -CD ; Screen -CS ; -Gx ; Report -CE ; Report -L; Report -D).
  Example on the Screen -CE:

   

• A Database Block cannot be created if its type (generation variant) is deprecated or not supported. 
  

  

  For the existing Database Blocks, a warning is displayed in the Database Block editor if the Block type is deprecated or not supported.
  

• In the design duplication wizard, you can use the "Allow duplication in any project" check box to select a target project in a hierarchy other than the hierarchy of the initial project or in its upward hierarchy.

  With the check box unselected (default):

  With the check box selected:

• New controls ensure that the content of the Database Block description lines remain consistent with the line types, even after modifications. For example, you cannot change the selected Segment if a -G Line is associated with the -DR Line.

COBOL code

• A "COBOL Analysis" action is now available from the Design Explorer view when a location is selected. The analysis, which runs in an asynchronous mode, detects the right margin problems.

  It is now easier to have a global view of all the errors of this type and to be able to correct them quickly. Before this enhancement, these errors were detected only when a COBOL file was opened.  

  
  

  The errors are listed in the Problems view, like in the following example;
  
  

• A new "Copy-paste - tree" action is now available in the Function and subfunction actions wizard of the Generated Code Structure view. Its behavior is similar to "Move - tree", except that the original functions tree is kept.
  

Quality control

• The quality control rule that identifies a COBOL code with "NEXT SENTENCE" clauses has been improved. It no longer flags the NEXT SENTENCE clauses that are detected in the functions and subfunctions generated by the functions and subfunctions creation wizard.

  
  So, for example, the NEXT SENTENCE is not flagged as an error in the following code:
  

• A new quality control rule is available. It applies when a Copybook is generated with the values of the DATA or DATASQ Input Aid specified in the -GC Lines of the Data Structure. It checks that the values of the Input Aid are correct.

  This is the new rule:

  This is how a DATASQ Input Aid is called inside a Data Structure:

  This quality rule has detected that the external name mentioned in a Data Structure call is not the same as the real external name of the Copybook:

To benefit from additional documentation and share any questions or feedbacks, you can join the RPP private user group. To request access to this user group, you can send an email to Jean-Yves Rigolet (rigolet.j@fr.ibm.com), the RPP Product Manager, or Olivier Le Louer (le_louer.o@fr.ibm.com), the RPP Development Manager.