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V15.0 is a major new release for IBM z/OS Debugger! In addition to many fixes (15 APARs between host and client), this release has some key new features:

64-bit Support

Debug Tool compatibility mode now boasts 64 bit-support for COBOL and C/C++.  Create breakpoints, view variables and step through 64 bit programs in remote debug. See Limitations of 64-bit support in Debug Tool compatibility mode for details on what is not supported. Don't forget to ensure you install Language Environment APAR PH26071 and COBOL APAR PH28997.

z/OS C/C++

C/C++ users also get an added support for DEBUG(NOFILE) compile option.  Program objects are larger with this option, but you do not need to save the dbg files as the z/OS Debugger needs only the source files to debug your program.. For more information, see Choosing DEBUG compiler suboptions for C programs and Choosing DEBUG compiler suboptions for C++ programs

IMS Isolation

With IMS Isolation, you can now use type 2 IMS commands for retrieving information on transactions in cases where the type 1 commands that are normally used, are disallowed. For more information, see Scenario F: Enabling the Transaction Isolation Facility.

Debug Profile Editor

To speed up navigation in the Debug Profile Editor, we have added an outline view, and a quick outline (Ctrl+O on Windows). Use the outline view to quickly navigate to the debug profile setting you want to modify and note that modified fields are bold.  For more information, see Quick outline for the Debug Profile Editor.

Code Coverage

There are several exciting enhancements for code coverage this release:

• Headless Code Coverage for z/OS  is now included in IBM z/OS Debugger. Headless code coverage collection can be an essential part of a DEVOPS pipeline. For more information, see Generating code coverage in headless mode using a daemon.
• A continuing theme we have been focusing on is simplification, and this release, single letter parameters are now supported in the headless code coverage collector command line and in EQA_STARTUP_KEY when you use JCL. For more information, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage daemon and Specifying code coverage options in the startup key.
  
  
• Headless Code Coverage now includes Code Coverage Service (CCS) and the Code Coverage Results view of the Eclipse IDE now supports CCS result locations. You can add a CCS result location which collects and retrieves code coverage data by using RESTful API, and interact with the results under the CCS result location in the same way as locally stored results. For more information, see Viewing code coverage results in the Code Coverage Results view and Starting and stopping the headless code coverage daemon.
  
  
• Remote Debug Service, available with IBM Wazi Developer for Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces or IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition, can now also be used to collect headless code coverage. For more information, see Generating code coverage in headless mode using Remote Debug Service.

Deprecations

In z/OS Debugger we announce several deprecations:

• The Load Module Analyzer is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.
• Debug Tool Plugins are deprecated and will be removed in the next release:
  • DTCN Profile Manager plug-in
  • DTSP Profile Manager plug-in
  • Instrument JCL for Debug Tool Debugging plug-in
  • Debug Tool Code Coverage plug-in
  • Load Module Analyzer plug-in

Z Open Debug

IBM Z Open Debug now provides support for the  Wazi Developer for Workspaces IDE, in addition to the Wazi Developer for Visual Studio Code IDE. Both IDEs are offered in IBM Wazi Developer for Red Hat CodeReady Workspaces and IDz EE.

To help simplify remote debugging with Z Open Debug, you can now specify TEST(,,,RDS:*) for the TEST runtime option to start a debug session using Remote Debug Service.

For a comparison of z/OS Debugger features provided in different products and IDEs, see Overview of IBM z/OS Debugger.