Rational Developer for System z

Design Explorer view

With the Design Explorer view, you can view and modify the design of your applications. You can work on the instances which constitute these applications: create, modify, import/export instances, search for references, generate instances....

Here is what the Design Explorer view looks like, if you have selected Folders (entities) as the top-level elements in the tree (selected with the white upside-down triangle of the toolbar):
Figure 1. Design Explorer view displaying the entities as the top-level elements
Design Explorer view
The Design Explorer view contains trees.

Creating locations or instances

If you right-click on an open location, on any entity or instance, you can:
  • Create a location (New > Location...).
  • Create instances (New > Data Element..., or New > Program..., ... or any other entity available).
    From the creation wizard which opens up, you can also create a derived instance of a Program, Screen, Data Structure, or Dialog instance by selecting Derive. This instance, which points to a reference instance, does not contain any design. According to the selected derivation type, you can:
    • Generate the reference instance from another Library without duplicating its design.
    • Generate the complete source code (the generated code and the specific code) of the reference Program or Screen. The complete source of the reference instance then becomes the generated code in the derived instance and this generated code is reconciled with the specific code of the derived instance.

Viewing/Modifying the design build path of the location

This path is the hierarchy of the projects which is explored in an upward direction in order to resolve the dynamic links and references between the instances contained in the various projects of the current location.

To view and modify this path, right-click on an open location and select Properties.

Importing/exporting, copying/pasting instances

If you right-click on an open location, on any entity or instance, you can:
  • Import/export a set of instances, grouped in a file.
  • Copy and paste instances, or delete instances.

Refreshing, rebuilding your workspace

If you right-click on an open location, on any entity or instance, you can:
  • Refresh the workspace after updates.
  • Rebuild your workspace, to make sure that it is consistent. All the files and projects contained in your workspace are opened. If the files contain instances, they are parsed and repaired (the existence of the instances, their references, links to keywords... are checked and updated if necessary).
  • Rebuild the mapping between the designs and the generated files.

Opening, renaming, moving, comparing an instance

If you right-click on an instance (whatever the entity), you can:
  • Open the instance. The instance is then displayed in its dedicated PDP editor.
  • Open the selected instance with... various editors.
    • The first editor is the design editor dedicated to the entity. It is the default editor.
    • Three other editors are also available by default: text editor, system editor, and in-place editor. You can also add other editors in your preferences, accessed from the Window menu, Preferences > General > Editors > File Associations.
  • Refactor the instance. You can:
    • Rename the instance. The new name is automatically propagated to all the instance links (references, keywords, instance calls, lists...). Renaming an instance this way avoids consistency errors.
    • Move one or more selected instances to another existing project, package, while keeping all their links (references, keywords, instance calls...).
You can also open the comparison editor on PDP instances by selecting Compare in the contextual menu. You can compare:
  • Two or three instances with each other,
  • Two or three versions of the same instance. These versions can be selected from the local history or from a version stored in the remote repository.
Note: A three way comparison is possible only if you declare one of the instances or versions as the common ancestor.
In the compare editor which is displayed in the editor area, you can browse through the differences. To activate the buttons which enable you to copy these differences, double-click on the differences in the top pane of the comparison editor.

Searching for instances or for their references

You can search for:
  • Instances by clicking Search in the toolbar, selecting the Search menu and opening the Design search tab.
  • The instance references by right-clicking on the instance (whatever the entity) and selecting this choice. You can search for its super references (the instances in which it is called), or its sub references (the instances it calls). Selecting one of these choices makes you switch to the References view, where the search results are displayed.

Possible generation types

You can generate:
  • The design of a selected Program or Screen:
    • A Program if you right-click a Program and select Generate > Program generation,
    • A Screen if you right-click a Screen and select Generate > Screen generation.
    • A Server if you right-click a Server and select Generate > Server generation.
    This generation produces a .cbl file, nested under the instance in the Design Explorer view. Right-click it and select Open with > PDP COBOL System z LPEX editor to access the COBOL editor and views. You can then work on the code and the design of the instance.
  • The design of a selected Database Block. To do so, right-click on a Database Block and select Generate > Database Block generation. You can then indicate where the generation result file (a .txt file) is to be located.
  • The error messages of your applications. You generate the:
    • Batch error messages if you select Generate > Error messages generation from a location or a Data Structure (entity or instance level).
    • Online error messages if you select Generate > Generation of associated error messages from a selected Dialog or Screen.
    This generation produces a .txt file which you must integrate into the error messages file used by the applications
  • The COBOL descriptions of Data Structures in a file (Copybook) if you select Generate > Copybook generation from a location or a Data Structure (entity or instance level).

    This file is then available for a subsequent insertion in programs, through the use of the COPY statement.

    A single Data Structure can be used to generate several descriptions, each one adapted to a particular need in the programs. (in the FILE SECTION or the WORKING-STORAGE SECTION, taking the internal and input formats into account).

    This generation produces a .cpy file. To see its content, open the Navigator view, select the appropriate project/package, right-click on the file and select Open with > System z LPEX editor.

  • The files which are to contain the code lines of one or more Macros if you select Generate > cblgen generation from a location, or on a Macro (entity or instance level). You must select this choice if you want to:
    • Enter the code lines of a Macro and if they do not exist yet.
    • Overwrite the existing code lines of a Macro. These code lines were either entered in Pacbase and imported into RPPz (with a drag or a copy/paste) in the Navigator view, or directly entered in RPPz. If the code lines of the Macro exist, a message warns you that the content of the .cblgen file is to be reinitialized.
    This generation produces .cblgen files in the Navigator view. To see the content of a .cblgen file, open the Navigator view, select the appropriate project/package, right-click on the file and select Open with > PDP Macro editor (batch model) or Open with > PDP Macro editor (online model). You access the .cblgen editor and the Macro tags tree view, in which you can enter the Macro code lines.

Dispatching Macros

The dispatch Macro choice is available from the location and the Macro levels (entity and instance levels).

You select it if Macros exist in Pacbase and if the file produced by the Macro migration batch procedure contains the code of more than one Macro.

If you do not select this choice, you must put this file in the Navigator view (with a drag or a copy/paste). Give it a .cblgen extension. It means that this file contains the code lines of all the generated Macros.

However if you dispatch the Macros, one .cblgen file is automatically created for each Macro included in the Pacbase generated file. The cblgen files are created in the packages of the Navigator view, according to the Pacbase generation Library.

You can right-click on one of these cblgen files and select Open with > PDP Macro editor. Then you access the Macro tags tree and the Macro editor, in which you can view and modify the Macro code.

Using the migration help

The migration help choice is available from the Program or Screen instance level.

This function is useful when you migrate the code generated in Pacbase to RPPz. It sets warnings on the lines which are generated from the design wherever it detects differences between the code generated in Pacbase and the locally generated code.

The toolbar

The Design Explorer view has its own toolbar, from which you can:
  • Go back (back icon). This command navigates to the most recently displayed state of the view with a different element at the top-level. This button becomes available when you double-click an entity line and consequently see its instances alone in the Design Explorer view. Clicking this button then returns the view to the same hierarchy from which you double-clicked the entity line. The hover help for this button tells you where it will take you.
  • Go forward (forward icon). This command navigates to the state of the view with a different element at the top-level that was displayed immediately after the current state. For example, if you have selected the back command, then selecting the forward command in the resulting display returns the view to the same hierarchy from which you activated the back command. The hover help for this button tells you where it will take you.
  • Go up (up to icon). This command navigates to the location level. The hover help for this button tells you where it will take you.
  • Expand all (Expand all icon). This command expands all the tree nodes in the Design Explorer view
  • Collapse All (Collapse all icon). This command collapses all the tree nodes in the Design Explorer view
  • Link with Editor (Link with editor icon). This command links the active editor to its corresponding instance in the tree of the Design Explorer view. If this button is not clicked, changing the active editor does not update the selection, in the tree of the Design Explorer view, to the instance being edited.
  • Change the sort and display of instances in the Design Explorer view. Click the white upside-down triangle icon and select:
    • Top-level elements to indicate which element type is to constitute the top of the hierarchy in each location tree: folders (default value, represented by the entity types), packages or projects.
    • Sort to specify a new sort criterion: by name (default), package or project.
    • Display to display additional information about each instance line in the tree: package, project, label. You can combine the three choices. If you want to remove one of the selected information from the line, select it again in the menu.
    This new setting is then automatically saved and associated with the Design Explorer view, until you change it again.

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