Features Added in Enterprise Developer 2.3

This release provides enhancements in the following areas:

Integration with the Eclipse IDE

This release ships with Eclipse version 4.4.2.

Support for Eclipse versions 3.7 and 3.8 has been deprecated. This affects any applications that were created using an earlier version of Enterprise Developer that have a JVM COBOL part. Such applications must be rebuilt using Enterprise Developer 2.3 to avoid receiving errors during compilation or execution.

In addition, when Enterprise Developer is installed, you can optionally install the Enterprise Developer plugin in other instances of Eclipse installed on your machine (supported versions of Eclipse are 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 for the 32-bit IDE).

See Related Information at the end of this topic.

General IDE enhancements - Eclipse

The Variables view now shows the file status of an internal file name.
The Find All References and Go To Definition commands are now supported for JVM COBOL applications.
Support is provided for the SOCKS5 proxy server for debugger communication over SSL.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Application Workflow Manager

IDE integration improvements:
- The Team Developer perspective (TDP) is now the default perspective within Enterprise Developer. Some of the views supplied with TDP are:
  - a property view displaying main properties of a selected project entry.
  - a table view which displays project entries in a table format and allows column sorting.
  - a filter view which enables you to search projects and project entries based on specific search criteria.
  Using the Team Developer perspective for all kind of Enterprise Developer projects makes the User Interface fully customizable. As all COBOL and PLI projects are now based on an Application Workflow Manager model it is possible to adapt or extend the supplied functionality to the needs of the customers or to merge the functionality of various Application Workflow Manager application models.
  
  This supports an easy and seamless integration of all kind of Windows, Eclipse or mainframe tools necessary to support the client's development process.
  
  For example: combining SCM tools like Accurev, Starteam, SVN, Endevor, ChangeMan, SCLM with Micro Focus projects.
- Enterprise Development Projects is provided as the Application Workflow Manager default application within the TDP. This application includes the functionality of the COBOL and the PL/I perspectives so that you can directly define and work with all kinds of Enterprise Developer projects using the TDP.
- An Application Workflow Manager default configuration is used when starting Enterprise Developer. This configuration includes some initial settings and preconfigured file mappings which are visible in the file mappings view.
  You can extend the default configuration file with your preferred settings and deploy Enterprise Developer with some default configuration settings such as the correct predefined mainframe connection and file mappings which are used to map the your mainframe dataset naming standards to Eclipse file suffixes.
The Application Workflow Manager model has been extended by introducing function packages.
The Application Workflow Manager tool types are now grouped by the following function packages:
- Application Workflow Manager function package - supports various modelling of Application Workflow Manager-specific tool types such as "Edit Opener".
- Micro Focus Project function package (not supported in Enterprise Developer Connect) - supports modelling of Enterprise Developer project-specific tool types such as "Single Compile".
- Micro Focus Editor function package - supports modelling of editor-specific tool types such as "Reparse".
- Micro Focus Enterprise Server function package (not supported in Enterprise Developer Connect) - supports modelling of Enterprise Server-specific tool types such as "Submit to ES".
- Eclipse function package - supports a powerful set of tool types which enable modelling of standard Eclipse functions such as wizards, Eclipse projects, folders and file selection dialogs, icons and decorators, and the automatic synchronization of Eclipse project entries with Application Workflow Manager elements.
- MVS function package (requires Enterprise Developer Connect or Enterprise Developer for z Systems) - supports the modelling of native MVS tool types which do not need an ISPF environment such as "Submit JCL", "Edit MVS file", and catalog services.
- USS function package (requires Enterprise Developer Connect or Enterprise Developer for z Systems) - supports the modelling of USS tool types such as USS directory and file services, edit, and browse.
- ISPF (requires Enterprise Developer Connect or Enterprise Developer for z Systems) - supports the modelling of tool types that require an ISPF environment such as calling REXX procedures in ISPF and ISPF dialog services.
- OS function package - supports the modelling of Windows tool types such as a command executor and a dialog to select folders or files from the Windows file system.
- RDz function package (requires RDz and Enterprise Developer Connect) - supports some RDz-specific tools.
You can develop and install your own custom function packages that have extra modelling capabilities. For example, they can enable you to support new tool types, linked properties and icons, extend the Application Workflow Manager model editor with new tool-specific attributes, support templates when defining a new tool type, extending the validation rules within the model editor or synchronize external objects with Application Workflow Manager-modelled elements.
The Application Workflow Manager model now supports:
- The modelling of password fields
- A new attribute for enabling conditions that can be used to hide actions or dialog input fields if a condition is not true (instead of grey-out).
- Modelling application actions - this enables you to model actions which are displayed on the context menu of the application entry.
- An option to define bulk output parameters for a tool type during bulk processing.
Application Workflow Manager client improvements:
- The MVS Explorer now supports some additional MVS dataset properties (for example - VSAM properties).
- It is now possible to edit MVS files that contain non-displayable characters. If such files are loaded into the Eclipse editor, the non-displayable characters are preserved when saving the file back to z/OS.
- An extension point is supplied by which a third party vendor or a customer can integrate a tool to provide a pass ticket for mainframe login.
- The Team Developer Job view now includes a Submit Time column for jobs submitted from a modelled application.
- The Team Developer Error View now supports local or network file paths. If an error feedback file is returned from any of the non-mainframe tools (such that are running in an Enterprise Server environment), the Team Developer Error view is now able to display the entries, which do not point to mainframe file.
- The Team Developer Table view now includes a new Find function which can be used to hide non-matching table rows.
An improved integration into the mainframe source control management systems:
- Endevor - the Application Workflow Manager bulk processing is implemented so that multiple elements can be processed in a single step. This also supports long element names (where the names are longer than eight characters).
- ChangeMan - provides support for ZMF baseline versions and an improved user interface. You can now see some extra details such as date and time, or changes, and view any delta versions. An action to display the promotion history for a package is also available.
- SCLM - provides an improved user interface. When expanding members in the tree view or displaying members in the table view, you receive a dialog that enables you to specify a member filter or to use a hierarchy search.
Application Workflow Manager remote precompiler:
A support for the integration of mainframe COBOL precompilers is now available. This enables you to edit COBOL files in the precompiler format. Any errors that are reported refer to the lines of the precompiler source.

This support is available for modelled applications in remote edit scenarios. Out-of-the box support is provided for all types of mainframe precompilers, as long as the standard ISPF comparison tool, which compares the pre-compiler input and output file, creates delta information that can be used in the COBOL editor. In case you are using some very complex precompilers, there is a special exit which can used to create more meaningful delta information.

For customers who do not work with native COBOL on the mainframe but still need an additional mainframe precompiler that generates native COBOL code, such COBOL dialects are supported now when opening the file in the COBOL editor with remote edit. This enables you to use all the available powerful COBOL editor functions such as syntax checking, Content Assist, Outline view, Copybook Dependencies view with the COBOL code.
z/Explorer Improvements:
- The MVS Explorer now supports some additional MVS dataset properties (for example - VSAM properties) and enables you to browse data files using the Classic Data File Tools editor.
- zExplorer in the Remote Systems view now provides a USS (UNIX System Services) Explorer. This provides some additional USS mainframe server-side functionality (such as rename, copy, move, search or set permissions) that enables the Application Workflow Manager client to take advantage of the new USS Explorer UI.
  The USS Explorer enables you to define filters to explore the z/OS USS file system and work with USS directories and files.
- Embedded HEX values in the source code are preserved after the code is downloaded from or uploaded to mainframe.
Security administration enhancements:
- Calling ESF administration user exits - it is now possible to enable Security Manager "referential integrity" policies to be implemented and enforced using customizable ESF administration user exits. A sample exit is supplied.
- A LISTREFERENCES ESF administration facility - enables you to determine any relationships among security objects and rules. This is available using the existing ESFADMIN command line tool and also using the new ESF LDAP Security Administration Web Interface.
- An ESF LDAP Security Administrator Web Interface - a new modern, scalable web interface enables you to administer the Micro Focus Enterprise Developer user, user group and security resource data stored on third-party LDAP-based Security Managers. Faster and more functional than the existing MFDS-based interface, it also provides a dedicated interface for the security administrator role which does not interfere with Enterprise Server's runtime or region configuration operation.
- New ESFADMIN commands - the new commands ADDMEMBER, DELMEMBER, ADDACE, DELACE and ALTACE help simplify the manipulation of the multi-valued attributes for group membership and ACLs.
- "username substitution" MLDAP ESM resource access rule feature - the MLDAP ESM module has been updated with a new algorithm for identifying the best-matching resource-access rule and ACE for resource-access security checks. The new algorithm also provides an optional "username substitution" feature.

See Related Information at the end of this topic.

Building JVM COBOL projects incrementally

To minimize the number of modules to compile when building JVM COBOL projects, Enterprise Developer now enables you to configure your projects so that they are built incrementally - the IDE only rebuilds the files that have changed.

To enable incremental builds for JVM COBOL applications that contain namespaces, check the Use incremental build (Technical preview feature) option on the project build configuration tab in the project's properties.

For JVM COBOL applications that do not contain namespaces, you can use the Use dynamic calls option available on the build configuration tab in the project's properties. When the project is built with this setting, calls to modules are resolved at run time rather than during compilation. This has the effect of not requiring every module to be compiled when rebuilding the application.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

COBOL editor

Content Assist support for COBOL includes various enhancements and is now also available in JVM COBOL:

Context sensitive proposal - Content Assist only shows proposal that are relevant for the position of the cursor in the code or for the type of project
Enhanced proposal lists - lists include any relevant COBOL verbs, clauses and words, copybooks, code templates, data items and section and paragraph names
Intelligent assistance with completing statements - when you have entered a COBOL verb, Content Assist shows proposals for the relevant clauses and identifiers that you can use to complete the statement.
Automatic completion for items - Content Assist automatically inserts single suggestions in the code.
Qualifying non-unique names - Content Assist qualifies data items whose names are not unique.
Configuration preferences for Content Assist - enable you to configure what suggestions appear in the completion lists, whether suggestions are added in insert or overwrite mode, and the case of the inserted words.
Code templates - code templates are now included in the Content Assist proposals.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

CICS Web services (Technology Preview)

Enterprise Server has been extended to provide a CICS Web Services capability compatible with the mainframe.

A new CICS Web Service wizard enables you to generate CICS Web service providers and requesters using either a CICS COBOL application or a WSDL file as input. This enables you to develop and test, including end-to-end testing, CICS Web Services for deployment to the mainframe.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Code analysis

Enterprise Developer now offers more advanced code analysis features and enables you to run various analysis queries (rules and groups of rules called rule sets) against your code to ensure adherence to standards such as standards for coding or performance.

You can run analysis rules against programs in a project in the IDE at user request or you can run analysis rules at the end of a project's build.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Code coverage

Enterprise Developer now provides support for code coverage of native COBOL applications directly from within the IDE where code coverage uses the Test Coverage functionality. You can produce code coverage reports for applications running in the COBOL run-time and for applications that run in Enterprise Server.

To produce reports, you need to enable code coverage in a project's, a build configuration's, or a file's properties, compile your application and then run your application with code coverage to produce the relevant reports. For applications that require an Enterprise Server instance, you start the enterprise server with code coverage.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Command line compilation and linkage

When using the cbllink command to compile and link, there is a new -y option. Use this option to create an executable that includes support to be able to run on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Compiler directives

The following Compiler directives are new in this release:

EOF-1A: Treats a 0x1a character in the source file as the end of file.
JVMDECIMAL: Determines the type in which certain items are exposed. This directive affects COBOL data items of type 'decimal' and non-integral numeric items exposed as a result of either ILSMARTLINKAGE usage or the PROPERTY keyword.
NLS-CURRENCY-LENGTH: Specifies the number of bytes to allocate for the currency symbol in a PIC field.
NULL-ESCAPE: Treats a 0x00 character in the source file as an escape character for other non-printable characters in the source code.

The following Compiler directives contain new parameters in this release:

DBSPACE: The new parameter 'MIXED' extends the DBSPACE directive to be able to evaluate data items in programs that contain a mix of single-byte and double-byte strings.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Data File Structure command line utility

The Data File Structure Command Line (DFSTRCL) utility is a DOS-based command line utility that enables you to create record layout (.str) files from COBOL debug information (.idy) files. You can use the utility to process a single .idy file or batch process up to 100 .idy files.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Data File Tools (Technology Preview)

Note: This is a technology preview feature only. It is being made available to allow you to test and provide feedback on this new capability; however, this feature is not intended for production use and it is not supported as such. Furthermore, Micro Focus does not guarantee that this feature will be delivered at a GA level and if it is, then the functionality provided might differ considerably from this technology preview.

The Data File Tools (Technology Preview) is a new standalone text editor in which you can create and edit data files. By nature of it being a 'technology preview' product, it does not currently include all the functionality that was available in the previous version of Data File Tools - now referred to as Classic Data File Tools. If you require any of the functionality not provided in this version, you can still use the classic version by accessing it in the usual way.

To run Data File Tools (Technology Preview), type mfdatatools2 from Enterprise Developer's command prompt (Windows) or a terminal (UNIX).

To use the new editor directly from the Eclipse IDE, use the Open with option on the shortcut menu when selecting a data file or structure file, and select Data File Tools. Eclipse remembers the last tool used for a particular file type, and so will use Data File Tools (Technology Preview) until you select a different editor.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Database access

This release provides the following enhancements to database access:

COBSQL

This release provides:

Selection and configuration of the Oracle Pro*COBOL preprocessor for compiling COBSQL applications in project properties on the SQL Preprocessor tab and in the build configuration settings.
Support for COBOL directives SOURCEFORMAT=TERMINAL and SOURCEFORMAT=VARIABLE for Pro*COBOL applications.

HCO for DB2 LUW

This release provides:

GUI versions of data migration tooling (Windows platforms)
A new tool that enables you to bind or rebind all packages. See BindAll Packages Tool for details.

Support for MFHCO mode across all platforms by default via the new HCO (NOHCO) DB2 compiler directive option. See the HCO DB2 compiler directive option topic for details.
A new DB2 compiler directive option, OPTPER (NOOPTPER), that enhances performance for CHARSET EBCDIC processing. See the OPTPER DB2 compiler directive option topic for details.
A new DB2 directive option, BINDDIR, which specifies an alternative directory in which to write the DBRM file created during compilation. You can set BINDDIR from the command line or specify it in your project properties. See the BINDDIR DB2 compiler directive option topic, and the Binding topic for details.

64-bit support for PL/I on appropriate platforms. See Additional Software Requirements on Windows and Additional Software Requirements on UNIX for details.

HCO for SQL Server

This release provides:

Support for the DATA-CHANGE-TABLE-REFERENCE clause.
Context Help is now provided for:
- Options for HCO for SQL Server tools
- Each tool in the HCO for SQL Server user interface

OpenESQL

Date/Time Processing

This release provides streamlined datetime processing for ODBC and JDBC.

OpenESQL Assistant

OpenESQL Assistant Options are now set via the Eclipse IDE from Window > Preferences > Micro Focus > Database > OpenESQL Assistant (applies to Windows environments only).

Performance

This release includes a new SQL compiler directive option, OPTPER (NOOPTPER), that enhances performance for CHARSET EBCDIC processing. See the OPTPER SQL compiler directive option topic for details.

PL/I

This version provides 64-bit support for PL/I on appropriate platforms. See Additional Software Requirements on Windows or Additional Software Requirements on UNIX for details.

PostgreSQL

In this release, PostgreSQL 9.4 has been tested with OpenESQL and OpenESQL Assistant using the following PostgreSQL software:

Server software

PostgreSQL EnterpriseDB version 9.4.4

Client software

psqlODBC driver version 09.03.04.00
JDBC41 PostgreSQL driver version 9.4-1201

PostgreSQL 9.4 has been tested with OpenESQL and OpenESQL Assistant on the following Windows platforms:

Windows 32-bit
Windows 64-bit

PostgreSQL 9.4 has been tested with OpenESQL on the following UNIX platforms:

X86-64 running Red Hat Linux, 32- and 64-bit
X86-64 running SuSE Linux, 32- and 64-bit

Note: Micro Focus provides compatibility for PostgreSQL but does not directly contribute to or support the PostgreSQL open source project. Any issues relating to PostgreSQL functionality should be addressed through an open source support vendor.

SQL Server

This release provides support for the SQL Server OUTPUT clause.

Mainframe Batch Database Tools (Technology Preview)

Windows only. This release includes mainframe batch database tools (MBDT) that provide the following functionality for Oracle, DB2 LUW, and SQL Server agnostically, as well as specifically for HCO for SQL Server:

DSNTEP2
DSNUTILB LOAD
DSNUTILB UNLOAD
32-bit and 64-bit support
New batch configuration utility

SQL Option for DB2

This release provides the following enhancements:

Initial support for XML data type in XDB Server, in addition to XDB Link
Better performance on table expressions and joins using literal strings
JDBC driver supports result set processing
SQL Wizard provides better LOB data type support
z/OS DB2 version 10:
- Extended support for implicit casting
- Greater timestamp precision for applications
- Support for TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE (applies to Windows environments only)

XA Switch Modules

In this release, the XA interface has been redesigned to provide:

Consistent look and feel for SQL Server, DB2, and Oracle user personalization
Consistent look and feel for both RM dynamic and static registration (SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, generic one-phase commit for ODBC)
Additional support for two instances of the same switch module using Web Services applications via the new XAID compiler directive
Using a specified XA resource only with batch applications executing under Enterprise Server

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Environment variables

The following new environment variables are available:

MFJ_REPRO_EMPTY: Enables or disables the ability for the IDCAMS REPRO action to copy from a pristine VSAM file. Permissible values: Y or N.
ES_JESYSMSG_RESTRICTED: When system message spool files are being routed directly to the Output queue, by using ES_JESYSMSG_OUTPUT, you can hold back spool files based on their class, by using ES_JESYSMSG_RESTRICTED. Permissible values: class names or numbers entered as a continuous string; for example, ES_JESYSMSG_RESTRICTED=ABC123.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

File handling

This release contains the following new configuration options:

ACUFH: Enables or disables the use of the ACU file handler (ACUFH), which is required to handle Vision and RM/COBOL indexed files.
ESACUFH: Enables or disables the use of the ACU file handler (ACUFH) for file handling operations running under Enterprise Server. ACUFH must also be enabled for this option to take effect.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

File locking

In versions prior to Enterprise Developer 2.3, the semantics of the sharing phrase specified in an OPEN statement or used within a call to CBL_OPEN_FILE were not correctly applied in some cases on UNIX and Linux platforms. From version 2.3 onwards, the sharing phrase is correctly honored when the tunable strict_file_locking=true is set, which is the default setting.

Example of potential changes in behavior:

Process-A opens a file with read-only access and a sharing mode that denies other processes write access (SHARING WITH READ ONLY).
Process-B then attempts to open the file with read-only access and a sharing mode that denies other processes read access (SHARING WITH NO OTHER).

With strict_file_locking=true, Process-B is unable to open the file, because Process-A has successfully opened the file allowing only read access.

With strict_file_locking=false, Process-B successfully opens the file.

If your application encounters unexpected OPEN conditions or fails to open files, it might be as a result of the new file locking behavior. In such circumstances, we recommend that you review the file locking and sharing requirements of your application and refactor your source code to work with the default setting. The original file locking and sharing behavior can be restored by setting strict_file_locking=false.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

iFileshare - Fileshare support under Enterprise Server (Technology Preview)

Note: This is a technology preview feature only. It is being made available to allow you to test and provide feedback on this new capability; however, this feature is not intended for production use and it is not supported as such. Furthermore, Micro Focus does not guarantee that this feature will be delivered at a GA level and if it is, then the functionality provided might differ considerably from this technology preview.

Should you wish to test and provide feedback for this feature please contact Micro Focus Support Line for instructions on how to enable the new functionality.

You can configure iFileshare to offer enhanced availability for mission critical files by configuring a high availability group, consisting of a primary iFileshare server and a number of stand-by servers. (Currently, this type of configuration only supports having one stand-by server)

Files that are critical to your application can be replicated from a primary server onto the stand-by servers. Should the primary server fail, you have up-to-date data (minus any in-flight transactions) available.

To reduce the complexity and to increase the stability of an iFileshare high availability group, it is recommended that each region is configured as a dedicated iFileshare server. If other Enterprise Server work is hosted within the group, the setup must be consistent on each server so that in the event of a fail-over, the non-Fileshare work can be continued on the new primary server.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

JCL parsing editor

A new parsing JCL editor provides assistance with writing JCL code to users who are not experienced mainframe programmers. This is especially useful when using the Enterprise Developer Connect to edit source files on a remote mainframe machine. Features include:

Block selection - use the button from the toolbar to toggle the mode.
Content assist for JCL constructs.
Configurable background syntax parsing
Configuration settings for the editor - you can hide or show the horizontal ruler, turn on or off visible lines for the margins, and configure the syntax coloring and the smart edit mode.
Folding support - enables you to collapse and expand blocks of code.
Horizontal ruler
Locate definitions
Margins
Outline view - shows a structure of the procedure and structure declarations within a program. Clicking on an item in the Outline view positions the cursor on that item in the code and vice versa.
Renumber and Unnumber - support for renumbering and unnumbering lines of code.
Submit JCL command directly from the editor.
Smart edit mode - defines the word wrapping behavior when breaking lines or around margins, moving the cursor using the Home and End keys.
Syntax colorization
Syntax error reporting - uses red squiggles to denote errors in the code.
Task creation - inserting a TODO or a FIXME in a comment in the code automatically creates a task that appears in the Task view.
Templates for the most common JCL constructs.

Note: The following limitations apply:

There is no support for VSE dialect statements in the editor. JES2 and JES3 are supported.
PROCS is not supported in the editor so that it is not possible to read in libraries of JCL routines from a PDS.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Library routines

The following library routines are new in this release:

CBL_MANAGED_SESSION_GET_USERDATA: Retrieves user data saved in the current RunUnit.
CBL_MANAGED_SESSION_SET_USERDATA: Sets user data in the current RunUnit.

The following library routines contain new parameters in this release:

CBL_LOCATE_FILE: You can now specify a file name that is a null-terminating string, which has resulted in three new values available for the user-mode parameter.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Mainframe compatibility

IMS DBCS - Enterprise Server IMS support has been expanded to include applications that use double-byte character sets (DBCS). MFS EATTR=ECGS (full DBCS string without SOSI) is now supported.
Implement /DIS USER DEQUEUE - the /DEQUEUE USER command is now available to remove messages from the message queue to provide you with greater flexibility when managing IMS systems.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Managed COBOL syntax

The following enhancements have been made to the managed COBOL syntax:

The TYPE OF type-name[ANY...] syntax enables you to obtain the System.Type (.NET) or java.lang.Class (JVM) object for a generic class, interface, or delegate.
The self:: or super:: syntax is no longer required to access inherited data within a subclass.
The ATTRIBUTE-ID syntax enables you to define new attribute types, which can be used in various contexts.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Micro Focus FTP utility

A new utility, Micro Focus FTP (MFFTP), provides FTP support for JCL-enabled enterprise servers within Micro Focus Enterprise Server. The MFFTP utility provides a support mechanism for batch processes that takes advantage of FTP from JCL on the mainframe.

Support is available for:

Fixed Block (FB) files
Variable Block (VB) files
Generation Data Group (GDG) files
Configuring third party FTP clients
Input and output temporary file handling
Configuring the end-of-line markers
Configuring the error codes
Configuring the text messages

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Micro Focus Rumba

Micro Focus Rumba version 9.4 is now supplied with the Enterprise Developer 2.3 setup file. The license for Enterprise Developer will license all components of Rumba.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Micro Focus Unit Testing Framework

Note: This is a technology preview feature only. It is being made available to allow you to test and provide feedback on this new capability, but it is not intended for production use and is not supported as such. Furthermore, Micro Focus does not guarantee that this feature will be delivered at a GA level and if it is, then the functionality provided might differ considerably from this technology preview. During the preview, you are encouraged to share your feedback and experiences via the Micro Focus community forum - http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/).

The Micro Focus Unit Testing Framework is an xUnit style testing framework, available from the command line, for procedural COBOL applications.

It includes much of the architecture you would expect in an xUnit framework. The test runner is a 32- or 64-bit executable that you run from an Enterprise Developer command or shell prompt. A test fixture or suite is a COBOL program compiled to .dll (Windows) or .so (UNIX) that can include the setup, the test case code, and the teardown associated with the test case.

Test results are available in a number of formats. By default, results are displayed to screen and to a .txt file, but you can use additional parameters on the command line to produce reports in JUnit format.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Micro Focus Infocenter

The Micro Focus Infocenter Web site (http://documentation.microfocus.com) has been upgraded and now includes the following improvements:

Scope being persisted when you select a product documentation in the Product Documentation section on the Micro Focus SupportLine Web site and choose to view the documentation in the Micro Focus Infocenter.
Updated Scope settings - provides the ability to nest four levels deep when setting a scope.
Scope being persisted between browser sessions once it has been set.
Creating automatic scopes using the Search Topics icon, .
A link to change the scope from the search results when there are too many results.
Improved Boolean search expressions.
Details included with the search results.
Help on how to use the Infocenter and how to construct search expressions - available using the Infocenter Help button, .

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

PL/I support

This release provides the following enhancements to PL/I support in Enterprise Developer:

64-bit support - Enterprise Developer provides a full 64-bit environment for developing PL/I applications on Windows, Solaris(SPARC), Red Hat Linux, and SUSE Linux to enable you to take advantage of any 64-bit features such as 64-bit address space or interact with 64-bit relational databases when modernizing your applications.
Data types - support has been added for GRAPHIC data type, including GRAPHIC, GRAPHIC VARYING, GRAPHIC VARYING BIGENDIAN, Gx and G constants. This enables you use GRAPHIC data within your applications to migrate to Open PL/I running under Enterprise Server.
PL/I debugger:
- The cwgui debugger is no longer available. You can now use the cw_java debugger which provides a richer graphical debugging experience.
- The debugger has been enhanced to support the evaluation of the following built-in functions: CENTER, CENTERLEFT, CENTERRIGHT, HEX, LEFT, LOWERCASE, MAXLENGTH, PACKAGENAME, RIGHT, REVERSE, ROUND, SEARCH, SEARCHR, TALLY, and UPPERCASE.
New -systemmvs, -systemims, and -systemcics link options - the mfplx and linker logic has been enhanced to decouple the -cics, -ims, and -mvs flags from the link options. If you have PL/I CICS EXCI applications, this enables you to compile and link your applications more easily to run under the control of JCL or IMS.
In addition, the macro preprocessor SYSTEM() built-in function will now correctly return the value of the "SYSTEM" in effect (for example: IMS, CICS or MVS).
The Open PL/I macro preprocessor now supports the following:
- The Open PL/I macro statement ANSWER. This enables the migration of PL/I code which uses ANSWER in its PL/I macros.
- The use of arrays of FIXED and CHAR macro variables. This simplifies the migration and maintenance of PL/I Macro preprocessor code that uses variable arrays.
IBM Structure Alignment (-zalign) - the Open PL/I compiler has been enhanced to provide an option which causes ALIGNED structures to map data elements at the same offsets as IBM's compiler. This facilitates the migration of applications and data to Open PL/I running under the control of Enterprise Server.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Preprocessors

Support has been added in the IDE for enabling and using multiple preprocessors with your projects.

A new page, Additional Preprocessors, has been added to the project's and the files' properties of native COBOL applications to enable you to choose one or more preprocessors to use when building your application and to specify their order of execution.

New reporting capability is now available for user preprocessors: resp-main code 18 indicates that a buffer contains a data name to be marked as modified by the immediately preceding preprocessed line. The data name may be qualified and resp-more contains the column information for the reference.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Profiler

Enterprise Developer now provides support for Profiler for native COBOL applications directly from within the IDE. To produce reports, you need to:

Enable Profiler in the COBOL property page for a project, a build configuration, or a file.
Compile your application to apply the changes.
Create a run configuration that has Profiler enabled.
Run your application with Profiler to produce the relevant reports.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Remote connections

This release provides the following enhancements:

An improved diagnostic tooling to help determine connection problems - enhancements are available for both the client and the server installations.
It is now possible to specify the Remote System Explorer (RSE) type of connections to create remote mainframe COBOL and PL/I projects. This is to cater for scenarios when it is not possible to use SAMBA or NFS connections within your environment.
Note: The following features and utilities are not supported when remote projects use the RSE connection type:
- The file layout editor and the file editor in the Classic Data File Tools and Data File Tools (Technology Preview) utilities.
- The BMS compiler and painter.
- The IMS layout editor and the IMS database editor.
- Mainframe Assembler.
Changing the type of a remote connection - it is now possible to change the type of the remote connection from RSE to NFS and vice versa using the Remote Settings for remote projects.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Remote PL/I applications

Support is provided in Eclipse for editing, compiling and debugging of 32-bit and 64-bit PL/I applications running on remote UNIX and Linux machines.

All PL/I editor features available for local projects are present in the editor for remote PL/I applications. Improvements have been made to the syntax recognition of the PL/I editor parser.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

REST service interfaces

RESTful service interfaces utilizing JSON as the media type in request and response messages are now supported using the Interface Mapping Toolkit. This enables you to extend COBOL applications using modern transport payloads and protocols.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

RPM UNIX installer

In addition to its proprietary installer for installing Enterprise Developer on UNIX and Linux, Micro Focus provides a standard RPM installer for installing Enterprise Developer on Linux. RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a technology available on all Linux operating systems for managing the installation of products.

The RPM installer for Enterprise Developer supports all the RPM functionality.

For instructions on how to install using the RPM installer, refer to the Installation section in your product help.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Single file support

The recommended way to work with files within Enterprise Developer is to include them in a project. For situations where you might want to quickly open edit a single file, Enterprise Developer now provides support for native COBOL files in the IDE when the file is not opened as part of a project. There is limited support for the IDE editing, compiling and debugging features as full support requires a project file.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Spooler housekeeping

A new spooler housekeeping utility has been introduced (MVSSPLHK). It offers additional archiving functionality compared to the previous spooler housekeeping utility (MVSP0027), and can also be configured to run directly from a JCL job.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Transaction class (TRANCLASS) support

Transaction class (TRANCLASS) support is no longer a technology preview feature, and is now a full release feature.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Tunables

This release of Enterprise Developer contains the following new tunables:

putenv_interface: Provides backward compatibility for UNIX systems in which the operating system's putenv() function is required when setting environment variables.
strict_file_locking: Enables a new, more reliable method of file locking for UNIX systems. See File Locking for more information.

This release of Enterprise Developer contains the following updates to tunables:

default_cancel_mode: A new parameter, and default, has been introduced for this tunable; see default_cancel_mode for more information.
subsystem_cancel_mode: A new parameter has been introduced for this tunable; see subsystem_cancel_mode for more information.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

Updated run-time system

Enterprise Server has been updated to provide an execution environment capable of running applications that were each built using different development products. A consequence of this is that If your application has a main COBOL executable (.exe) that was built with a previous version of Enterprise Developer, you should ensure that the executable is rebuilt and packaged with the new run-time system. This does not affect mainframe subsystem projects deployed to Enterprise Developer. You can rebuild from the IDE or the command line.

Other COBOL subprograms built with previous versions of Enterprise Developer are not required to be rebuilt.

For more information see Related Information at the end of this topic.

z/Server installation and configuration

Back to list

XML configuration files - a single XML configuration file replaces the five separate configuration files that were used in previous releases. This helps reduce the complexity of the z/Server installation and configuration. An XML schema is supplied and enforced. The input parameter values for type and range are checked at execution time and can also be externally verified using standard or custom tooling before they are applied.
z/Server Configuration Utility (Technical Preview only) - this release provides a technical preview of a new web-based z/Server Configuration Utility.
Note: This is a technology preview feature only. It is being made available to allow you to test and provide feedback on this new capability; however, this feature is not intended for production use and it is not supported as such. Furthermore, Micro Focus does not guarantee that this feature will be delivered at a GA level and if it is, then the functionality provided might differ considerably from this technology preview.
The Application Workflow Manager now requires that you have both z/Server and Mainframe Access Server (MFA) installed.