10 Rational Developer For System Z Features To Increase Productivity

10 little-known features in Rational Developer for
System z that increase mainframe developers'
productivity
RDz shortcuts, tips, and tools

Skill Level: Intermediate

Jonathan C. Gellin (jgellin@us.ibm.com)
Advisory Software Engineer
IBM

Jeremy Flicker (jflicke@us.ibm.com)
Advisory Software Engineer
IBM

Steven Ma (stevenma@us.ibm.com)
Usability Engineer
IBM

William Alexander (walexand@us.ibm.com)
Senior Software Engineer
IBM

08 Feb 2011

Updated 08 Feb 2011

The IBM® Rational® Developer for System z® IDE for mainframe and multiplatform
development is popular for its major features, such as remote editing, remote
debugging, source code management support, and web services for mainframe
applications. This article describes 10 of the most useful of many lesser-known
features that increase productivity for mainframe developers.

10 little-known features in Rational Developer for System z that increase mainframe developers' productivity Trademarks
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 22

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Introduction
IBM® Rational® Developer for System z® (often called RDz, informally) is a
powerful set of tools for mainframe application developers. It provides editing and
debugging capabilities for the most widely used mainframe programming languages
in both local workstation and remote host contexts. It includes tools for linking
applications to databases and enabling applications for service-oriented architecture
(SOA), as well as an extensible client interface to source code management
systems. It is built on the Eclipse platform and takes advantage of the extensible
plug-in framework. These powerful features have made RDz a popular choice
among mainframe application developers.

In addition to those major features, IBM Rational developers have continually added
features that improve usability and boost productivity for everyday users. These are
often overshadowed by the capabilities provided by the major components, and
many users haven't even discovered them. We compiled this list to bring attention to
10 of the most useful of these lesser-known features.

1. Built-in Eclipse features
Mainframe application developers are characterized by their mastery of the
mainframe technologies that they are working with, so RDz is sometimes the first
time that they have been exposed to Eclipse-based software. It is worth taking time
to learn about the built-in features of Eclipse that can increase your productivity,
such as these examples:

• Shortcut keys. The most common actions in Eclipse have shortcut keys
associated with them. For example, SHIFT+F10 brings up the context
menu, and ALT+ENTER brings up the properties page for selected items
that have properties. In addition to the preset shortcut keys, you can
customize the shortcut keys to your liking:

1. Go to the Preferences view by selecting the Window >
Preferences menu item.

2. Then in the tree on the left, select the General > Keys preference
page (see Figure 1). On this page you can change or add
keystrokes for the hundreds of actions described on this page. For
example, there is no preset shortcut key for bringing up the
Preferences, but you can set one on this page.

3. Select Preferences in the command table, move your cursor to the
Binding field, and type the shortcut key that you would like to use


ibm.com/developerWorks developerWorks®

(for example, Cntl+F10).
From now on, the Preferences view is only a shortcut key away.

Figure 1. The Keys preference page

• Navigating tree views. In tree views such as the Remote Systems view,
you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate the tree.
• Right expands a node and navigates to a child node in the tree, and
Left collapses a node and navigates to a parent node.
• Up and Down buttons navigate the tree without expanding or
collapsing nodes.
• In addition, you can use Backspace to quickly navigate to a parent
node and, eventually, to the top level without collapsing any nodes.
This trick can be useful when you are "deep down" in a tree view, and



you want to avoid excessive vertical scrolling.
• Working with perspectives and views. In Eclipse, a perspective is
simply a set of views. The views in a perspective are usually grouped
logically by function. For example, the IBM® z/OS® Projects perspective
contains the z/OS Projects view, the Remote Systems view, the Property
Group Manager view, and other views by default. These are some of the
views that are most helpful for developing z/OS projects. Meanwhile, the
Enterprise Service Tools perspective contains the EST Project Explorer
view and other views that are helpful in creating web services-related
projects.
The views for these two perspectives are laid out differently because of
the different use patterns of typical users of those perspectives. However,
you are not limited to the default perspective layouts. You can customize
perspectives for optimal productivity. Simply drag one view to a different
part of the workbench if you can use it more effectively somewhere else.
You can use the Minimize, Maximize, and Restore buttons at the
upper-right of each view to optimize screen real estate. Overlapping views
in the same screen region can be hidden and shown all at once by using
these buttons. Experiment a little to get the layout that works for you.
In addition to arranging the layout of the perspective, you can alter the
views that are present in the perspective. For example, if you are
developing a program in the z/OS Projects perspective that involves a
database defined in the Data perspective, you do not need to repeatedly
switch between the two perspectives. You can simply add the Data
Source Explorer view, the SQL Results view, and whatever other views
you need to the z/OS Projects perspective. To add a view to a
perspective, select a view from the Window > Show View menu (Figure
2).



Figure 2. The Show View menu

• Fast view. Perhaps you prefer to maximize the language editor while
editing source code. In this case, it is helpful to be able to access
additional views without switching out of the maximized mode. For
example, it is often useful to access the Outline view to quickly navigate
to different locations of the open source file. To open a Fast view:

1. Type Alt+Shift+Q.



Figure 3. The Fast View pop-up window

1. Type O (letter O) to display the outline, or S (the letter S) to display the
search results. This will overlay the selected view on top of the maximized
editor, allowing you to interact with it.



Figure 4. The Outline view overlaid on the maximized editor

1. Select the outline element or search result that you want to navigate to.
When you are finished, press the Esc key to close the Fast view and
return to the editor.

• Error log. When an error or warning occurs in the workbench, it gets
logged in the .log file in the workspace metadata. You do not need to
leave the workbench to view this data. You can simply open the Error
Log view. This view also provides export and import capabilities so that
you can examine old logs.

2. Retrieve Data Set and Retrieve Job



Starting with Rational Developer for System z Version 8.0.1, you can very quickly
search for and retrieve data sets and jobs in the Remote Systems view without
defining a filter.

Create a filter while retrieving a data set or job
When using the Retrieve Data Set or Retrieve Job dialogs, you
have the option of creating a filter for the results listed in the dialog.

To retrieve a data set, select MVS Files in the Remote Systems view, open the
context menu, and select Retrieve Data Set, or use the shortcut key CTRL+R. This
will bring up the Retrieve Data Set dialog window, where you can type the name of a
data set or use a pattern.

Figure 5. The Retrieve Data Set dialog

When you select a data set and press OK, the data set is added to the Retrieved
Data Sets container in the Remote Systems view.



Figure 6. The Retrieved Data Sets container in the Remote Systems view

Similarly, you can retrieve a job by selecting JES and selecting Retrieve Job from
the context menu (or by using the shortcut key Ctrl+J) and specifying a job prefix).
Jobs retrieved in this way are added to the Retrieved Jobs container in the Remote
Systems view.

3. Block Selection mode's "Long Cursor"
For column-oriented programming languages, using the Block Selection mode to
create a long cursor can be helpful for formatting code, as well as for modifying text
for an entire column. To enable Block Selection Mode in the COBOL editor or PL/I
editor, type Alt+Shift+A or press the Block Selection Mode toolbar button. To
make a long cursor, use the mouse to drag a vertical selection or hold Shift and use
Up or Down keys to extend the length of the cursor.



Figure 7. The COBOL Editor with a long cursor in Block Selection Mode

Now you can use the space and backspace keys to fine-tune the alignment of the
text to the right of the cursor. Also, because typing text with a long cursor will insert
the characters in every row of the cursor's height, you can alter a whole block of
record numbers at once.



Figure 8. The COBOL editor with modified record numbers using a long cursor

The LPEX editor has a similar function that supports moving columns from multiple
rows at a time. First, move the cursor to the starting location of the block of text you
want to move. Press ALT+R to enter rectangular selection mode. Extend the
selection to the height of the text you want to move. This can be done using the
mouse or holding Shift and using Up or Down.



Figure 9. The LPEX editor with a rectangular selection

Use ALT+F7 to shift the text one space to the left, and ALT+F8 to move the text to
the right. When you are finished, press ALT+U to clear the selection.

Unlike the COBOL and PL/I Editors, the rectangular selection mode of the LPEX
editor does not support typing text into multiple rows at a time.

4. Correct mistakes while recording flows
While developing CICS service flows, you may find the flow recorder in the Host
Editor useful for quickly modeling screen-based flows. However, it can be easy to
make a mistake while recording in the live emulator. If you make a mistake, you do
not have to scrap the flow and start over. Using the Outline view in concert with the
flow recorder, you can easily remove mistakes and correct them while recording a
flow.

For example, in Figure 10, say the description field was extracted when the item number field



was supposed to be extracted. Using the Outline view, you can remove the mapping
that represents the bad extract, and then create a new extract for the item number
field, and continue recording your flow as normal.

Figure 10. Fixing a mistake in the flow recorder by using the Remove Mapping
action

5. Host Connection Emulator Enables Multiple Types of
Sessions
The Host Connection Emulator is typically used to connect a 3270 terminal to the
system z host using the default telnet port 23. However, the connection type, port,
and other properties associated with the connection are all customizable. The Host
Connection Emulator allows access to system z, AIX, Intel Linux, and zLinux
systems via support for 3270, 5250, and VT sessions. To edit these properties, open
the Host Connection Emulator and click on the Host Properties tab.



Figure 11. The Host Properties tab of the Host Connection Emulator

6. Lookup view
Installation note
To use the Lookup view, the Fault Analyzer Integration feature must
be installed when installing RDz.

Every mainframe application developer needs to analyze an abend from time to
time. Rational Application Developer for System z makes it easy to look up abend
codes using the Lookup view. In this view you can search for and read about MVS,
CICS User, IMS User and Language Environment abend codes. To open this view,
select Window > Show View > Other, and then, in the Show View dialog window,
select Fault Analyzer > Lookup.



Figure 12. The Lookup view

7. Remote z/OS Search view
You can search z/OS by selecting Search > Remote or by opening the context
menu in the Remote Systems view and selecting Search ... or using the shortcut
key, Cntl+H. The Remote z/OS Search allows you to define queries that will search
the MVS file system, including members of PDS's across LPAR's. You can use
regular expressions in your search, for example, member names matching BI.*|DI.*,
or files containing CODE|DIAGNOSTIC|CD|DIAG. When you perform a remote z/OS
search, the results appear in the Remote z/OS Search view. From this view you can
double click on a result to open the corresponding file. On the toolbar of this view,
there is a button that allows you to add the search query to the My Search Queries
container in the Remote Systems view.



Figure 13. The toolbar of the Remote z/OS Search view

After the query is saved into the My Search Queries container, it can be edited or
run at any time.

Figure 14. The My Search Queries container in the Remote Systems view

8. LPEX editor tips
The System z LPEX editor is used to edit many types of files that are important to
mainframe application developers, including COBOL, PL/I, Assembler, and JCL files.



Therefore, a lot of your time might be spent in this editor. Here are some tips that will
improve your productivity:

• Open Data Set Member From JCL - While editing a JCL file, highlight the
full name of any data set member in the format data.set(member), open
the context menu, and select Open Member.
• Match PL/I Constructs - The shortcut key CTRL+M matches language
contructs when editing a PL/I file.
• Autosave - The System z LPEX Editor autosaves your work in an edit
session to allow recovery of unsaved changes in case of a crash.
• Multi-view - Sometimes it is helpful to have more than one view of the
same source file. CTRL+2 adds a new view to the editor, and
ALT+SHIFT+RIGHT can be used to move between the views. CTRL+0
can be used to close the added view.
• Line Select - ALT+L selects a line of text. If you then move the cursor to
another line and press ALT+L again, all the lines between the first and
second selected line will be selected.
• Hex Edit - You can edit the hexadecimal encoding of any line of text in the
System z LPEX Editor by opening the context menu and selecting Source
> Hex edit line.
• Find/Replace - Use CTRL+F to show the find/replace panel. The find field
supports regular expressions features such as OR (|).
• LPEX Command Line - The System z LPEX Editor contains a command
line that can be used to enter LPEX commands. LPEX commands are
case sensitive. Some of the most useful commands are:
• help or ? brings up the LPEX help
• help lpex brings up the key bindings for the LPEX profile mode
• help ispf brings up the key bindings for the ISPF profile mode
• submit submits the JCL that is currently being edited
• arrow keys can be used in the command line to recall commands
• /text or 'text finds the next occurrence of the specified text (precede
with minus sign to search backward: -/text or -'text)
• lineNumber locates the specified line

9. RDz Host Tooling Version Level



Some of RDz's most powerful features are the result of RDz client integration with
host tooling on system z. As a result, some client features depend on the version of
the host tooling, so it is important to know what version of the host tooling you are
working with. It is not always obvious which version you are working with, especially
when migrating to a new version of some host tooling. Fortunately, RDz provides
some easy ways to find out the versions of some of the host-based tooling that the
RDz client interacts with.

RDz Host Server - To learn the version of the RDz host server that you are
connected to, select MVS Files in the Remote Systems view. In the Properties view,
there is a property called "Server Level" that displays the version of the RDz host
server.

Debug Tool - Another host tool that RDz interacts with is the Debug Tool. To obtain
it's version, enter call %ver in the debug console view at any time during a debug
session, and Debug Tool will echo its version.

10. Data Source Explorer features
The Data Source Explorer view allows you to interact directly with a database from
the RDz client. Compared to its ISPF counterpart SPUFI, the Data Source Explorer
is much easier to use and is less MIPS intensive. With the Data Source Explorer
view, you can sample the contents of a table, create overview diagrams showing the
relationships between tables in a database, and create SQL scripts. The results of
SQL queries are shown in the SQL Results view, and the results can be exported to
various data formats, including HTML, CSV, and XML.

Summary
In this article, we have presented a set of lesser-known RDz features that can make
your work with the product more productive and enjoyable. These ten items merely
touch upon the wealth of features that continue to be added to RDz with every
release. We hope that this article enriches your experience with RDz and enables
you to use the product more effectively. We encourage you to explore and
experiment so that you can find even more RDz features that suit your development
needs.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to all of those members of the RDz community whose brains we picked for
ideas for this article, especially Venkat Balabhadrapatruni, Alan Boxall, Dan
McCarty, and Jonathan Sayles.



Resources
Learn
• Rational expert Jonathan Sayles is a technical expert on RDz whose COBOL
Café blog posts provided ideas and inspiration for this article.
• Find out more about Rational Developer for System z features and benefits:
• Visit the product page and the developerWorks page, which is a great
starting place to find articles and other technical information.
• Read through the Information Center, and explore the Rational Developer
for System z plug-in for the IBM Education assistant, which includes
multimedia modules to watch.

• Visit the Rational software area on developerWorks for technical resources and
best practices for Rational Software Delivery Platform products.
• Stay current with developerWorks technical events and webcasts focused
on a variety of IBM products and IT industry topics.
• Attend a free developerWorks Live! briefing to get up-to-speed quickly on
IBM products and tools, as well as IT industry trends.
• Follow developerWorks on Twitter.
• Watch developerWorks on-demand demos, ranging from product
installation and setup demos for beginners to advanced functionality for
experienced developers.

• Improve your skills. Check the Rational training and certification catalog, which
includes many types of courses on a wide range of topics. You can take some
of them anywhere, any time, and many of the “Getting Started” ones are free.
Get products and technologies
• Download a free trial of Rational Developer for System z.
• Evaluate IBM software in the way that suits you best: Download it for a trial, try
it online, use it in a cloud environment, or spend a few hours in the SOA
Sandbox learning how to implement service-oriented architecture efficiently.
Discuss
• Ask and answer technical questions and exchange information with your peers
in the Rational Developer for System z forum and the community hub at the IBM
Rational COBOL Café.
• Share your knowledge and help others who use Rational software by writing a



developerWorks article. You’ll get worldwide exposure, RSS syndication, a
byline and a bio, and the benefit of professional editing and production on the
developerWorks Rational website.
• Keep up by following the Rational page on Facebook, Twitter (@ibmrational),
the Rational forums, groups, Rational Cafés, and Rational wikis.
• Get involved in the developerWorks community and connect with other s who
share your interests while exploring the developer-driven blogs and by following
devWorks on Facebook and Twitter.

About the authors
Jonathan C. Gellin
Jonathan Gellin is a Rational Developer for System z developer at IBM
in Atlanta, Georgia. He joined IBM in 2002 and has worked on host
integration and host tooling in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
and in Atlanta.

Jeremy Flicker
Jeremy Flicker is a Rational Developer for System z developer at IBM
in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He joined IBM in 2001 and
has worked on the Service Flow Modeler, the COBOL editor, and the
PL/I editor.

Steven Ma
Steven Ma joined IBM in 1999 and has worked on various projects in
the IBM Software Group, including VisualAge for COBOL, IBM
WebSphere Portal Developer Community, and WebSphere Studio
Asset Analyzer. Over the last few years, he has been serving as the
User Experience lead for Rational Developer for System z. He is
primarily involved in user interface design, feature demonstration
contents, and accessibility compliance. Steven graduated from the



University of Toronto with both B.A.Sc and M.A.Sc degrees in
mechanical and industrial engineering.

William Alexander
Bill Alexander joined IBM in 1996. He has been involved with the
development of various middleware and tooling products in the IBM
Software Group, including WebSphere Studio Application Developer
Integration Edition. Over the past year, he has been serving as an
architect for Rational Developer for System z.


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