Features Added in Enterprise Server

This release provides enhancements in the following areas:

Application Server JCA support for Enterprise Server
Enterprise Server
Data File Tools
Database Access - Mainframe Batch Database Tools (MBDT)
File Handling
PL/I support

Application Server JCA support for Enterprise Server

This release provides support for:

Automatic connection recovery to an active Java application server when an enterprise server region is restarted. This applies to:
- COBOL resource adapters
- CICS resource adapters
- All CICS API based programs
The IBM implementation of CICS resource adapter for WebSphere 8.5 and JBoss 7.1.1.

Data File Tools

This release provides improved security and increased support for more file types. Features include:

Certain aspects of Enterprise Server security are honored when you attempt to access data sets. If the Enterprise Server region has security enabled, logon details must be authenticated before you can access the data set. If the details are unable to be authenticated, access is denied.
When using a record layout, certain data is now validated at field level (to ensure the contents is compatible with its picture string ) and record level (to ensure the record length matches the layout size).
Full editing support has been added for variable block sequential files and relative files. Full editing is also available for line sequential files, as long as they do not contain any binary data.

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

Database Access - Mainframe Batch Database Tools (MBDT)

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.

This release provides MBDT support for DB2 LUW partitioned tables.

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

Enterprise Server

This release provides support for the SO_RCVTIMEO and SO_SNDTIMEO timeout options of EZASOKET support that help reduce the risk of applications becoming unresponsive due to EZASOKET APIs not completing.

File Handling

The following enhancements have been made to file handling processes:

A new indexed file format, IDXFORMAT12, has been introduced to improve file maintenance and recovery procedures when using the rebuild utility. This file format is similar in structure and use to IDXFORMAT8. Where the two formats differ is that an IDXFORMAT12 file has an accompanying side file (.idx file) containing the indexed key information.
You can use this type of file with the new rebuild /q option. This rebuild process is considerably quicker than other rebuild processes such as a data scrape or rebuild /p.
Faster SORT operations for fixed block records - when using the DFSORT emulation, the performance when sorting fixed block records has greatly improved.

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

Mainframe support and emulation

This release provides the following enhancements:

Support for using multiple catalog files (up to 32).
Support for storing the spool files in a location that differs from the location of the catalog file.
Enhanced support for searching the catalog using wildcards.

PL/I support

Support is available for the following features:

FIXED BIN(63) data type - PL/I programs that utilize FIXED BIN data types that are larger than FIXED BIN(31) are now supported which enables you to migrate such programs more easily to distributed platforms.
TRIM() built-in functions - the Open PL/I macro preprocessor now supports the TRIM() built-in function.
A 64-bit Open PL/I peephole optimizer - when compiling 64-bit Open PL/I programs optimization for speed, a peephole optimizer is now run against the intermediate code to improve your applications' performance. Any code which has attributes that benefit from peephole optimizations will then run faster.

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