Development and Pipeline - Group home

What's New in IBM Developer for z/OS 15.0.3

  
As we end the harvest season, one of the events we look forward to is the local fall festival.
We ride the Ferris Wheel, try the interesting fried foods and cotton candy, enjoy the hay ride, and experience the spectacle and pageantry with a backdrop of crisp cooling air and autumn colors.

With this in mind, I would like to present to you....
IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz) 15.0.3
... like a carnival, full of features and fun surprises!

You may have seen the IDz 15.0.3 announcement flyers around town, so you can now take a ride on IDz 15.0.3 and all the other new Aqua 3.2 offerings.


Remote Connection Emulator

The first and foremost new functionality has all the same surprise as the new colors in the trees; introducing Remote Connection Emulator!
The Remote Connection Emulator (RCE) is both the newest MVP (Most Valuable Player) of MVP (Minimum Value Product) in the exhibition for the IDz 15.0.3 fair.
The Remote Connection Emulator is the next generation design for our connection emulation (think Telnet 3270) functionality, and delivers fun and innovation to be a ribbon winner.
Remote Connection Emulator is a move to newer web-based technologies, and the user interface has been upgraded to Carbon with snazzy new screen icons, with cross-hairs on the cursor you can definitely win the stuffed bear in the balloon popping contest because you'll never lose where you are aiming to type.
cross-hairs RCE

Remote Connection Emulator allows you to change the text colors and font to get those in-fashion fall colors, (I call this combination Pumpkin Spice in my mind.)

There is also a pop-up on screen keyboard that you don't have to play whack-a-mole with, and a dynamic way to remap keys!
popup and key remap for RCE

Oh, and don't worry: although deprecated, the current Host Connection Emulator is still available, with all of its wonderful existing features.
RCE and HCE


Git™ Integration

If you use Git™, you will like all of the additions in the latest Eclipse® EGit™ 5.13, which we are now using in IBM Developer for z/OS 15.0.3.
There are too many improvements to list here! From usability enhancements to new options for compares and differences, check out the full list directly from EGit 5.11, EGit 5.12, and EGit 5.13.  
We also added a way to create a z/OS project from the working tree at the root of the git repository, for the git pull ./tractor contest!  
tractor


Dependency Based Build Integration

Using Dependency Based Build (DBB) just got an option to be faster! Upgrade to the latest zAppBuild, and add in the secret word (which is to add the attribute --dependencyFile ${dependencyFile} but don't tell anyone! ) and IDz will pass along all of the discovered dependencies to the build, which means running zAppBuild in DBB on the z/OS doesn't have to do all that discovering of dependencies again! This is extremely useful, especially in conjunction with development and test on a ZD&T, like the new learners edition.
DBB and IDz are utilizing the same scan to identify whether a program contains EXEC CICS, EXEC SQL, or EXEC DLI statements, as well as MQ calls, and so the IDE is doing all of the bobbing for apples for you. 
Best of all, of this also works in IBM Wazi Developer extensions for VS Code.


Engineering Workflow Management Integration

Speaking on going faster, the Engineering Workflow Management (EWM) integration in IDz can pile a code source's friends into the queue for the pipeline roller coaster so they can all ride! You now can request user builds of multiple COBOL sources or PL/I sources in one EWM User Build click.
multiselect user build


Integrated Development

Now on to the plant competitions in the Editor.
Not sure if the statement starch is a copybook turnip or an include rutabaga?
If there isn't a z/OS file mapping defined for the reference in the CALL statement, IDz can now figure it out by looking at the content and open in the appropriate editor.

Using databases to track the biggest pumpkin?
You can use the DCLGEN menu option that is now available for database table aliases.

The Open, Browse, and View actions now support EXEC SQL call statements.


z/OS Debugger

Finally, as we end our trip to the jamboree today, make sure to avoid getting bitten by the flying pests at dusk with the bug prevention features the new IBM z/OS Debugger 15.0.3 delivers. This is the first z/OS Debugger deliverable that offers debugging for IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Go; now you have some bug repellent!

Oh, and don't forget to check out  Is bug free code possible? Maybe with Debug and Code Coverage, on Wednesday, Nov 3rd, 12pm ET.

November 8 Update: Halloween has past, but the season hasn't changed yet; check out The New and Noteworthy with ZUnit this Fall!