What's new in Rational Programming Patterns

Migration and installation completeness

• The AS/400 generation target is recognized with the O type of COBOL code, the AS/400 Database Block types, and the Indicator number column in the Screen -CE Lines.
• A Pactables package allows to create or modify Table descriptions.
• The Rational Programming Patterns quality control package can be installed on Rational Developer for AIX and Linux.

Enhanced search and impact analysis

• An Advanced Design Search and a Server Advanced Design Search are now available. They provide standard advanced searches on Data Elements and Screens but can also contain user advanced searches implemented with the MAF Rational Programming Patterns API. Search results are displayed in the standard design search result view.
• The result view of a design search has two display modes: Flat and Hierarchy. In the flat mode, the columns vary according to the search. You can reorder them and sort their contents.
• The result view of a design search includes a Compare choice and gives access to the design build path of the location from the Properties of a stream line. You can copy an instance from the result view and paste it to another project in the view, or to the same project but under a new name.
• The result view of a Macro cross-references search includes a new action to run the current search and refresh the results that reflects the modification in the -CP Lines. It also includes another action to view the previous searches.

Enhanced design editors

• All the editable tables of the design editors include a new column to easily select multiple lines.
• A special copy-paste is available in some design editors (Report -L Lines, Data Element -D Lines, and -G Lines of all entities). You can copy columns to an external editor or to another instance of the same entity, and paste them.
• The list of the generation options available in the -GO Lines is adapted to each transactional or client/server entity type.
• You can now manually enter the label and Data Element attributes in the Screen -CE Lines, and the organization and sort key composition in the Program -CD Lines. You save time with this expert input mode because you do not need to open the drop-down lists with all the values.
• The Segment Level, Address and Length tab displays the Data Element output format.
• Dialog and Screen types are editable. A client-type Dialog can be changed into another client-type Dialog and a Screen type can be changed into any another type that is compatible with the Dialog type.
• The Data Element Usage is filtered according to the Data Element type. The Data Element Type is chosen upon creation. So, The default type value no longer needs to be modified in the Data Element design editor.

Enhanced code management and generation

• Filters are available in the PDP COBOL editor to narrow the search scope in the COBOL code.
• The design editors of the instances that were involved in the generation of the COBOL file can be opened after a selection on the instance names in the PDP COBOL editor.
• You can enter a property on the micropattern declaration lines to indent the micropattern generated lines.
• The COBOL file of a Program is no longer marked desynchronized if the modifications of the Data Structures called in the -CD Lines or the WF micropattern do not impact the code.
• The Design Explorer view includes a new choice: Generate - preview. It generates a new version of the COBOL code and recognizes the state in memory of the files that are involved in the generation. It opens the COBOL compare editor, where you validate or discard the new COBOL code.
• A Generate the code button is available in the Generated Code Structure view.

Enhanced controls upon delivery

• A new precondition prohibits the delivery of the generated files that contain reconciliation warnings.
• A new precondition controls that the COBOL files were generated with the generation process implemented from version 9.6.1. Projects can be selected to limit the scope of the precondition.

Enhanced preferences

• The preferences to forbid the deletion or the move of a used instance and to manage the severity levels of Macro problems are indicated in the Rational Team Concert server with an administrator profile. When users log in to the server in Rational Programming Patterns, the corresponding local preferences automatically take on the server values and cannot be modified.
• Design editors preferences are available in the Pattern Driven Programming preferences. They apply to the tables of the design editors. They include a preference to open the design editors in the Expand all mode and another preference to indicate the position of the buttons relatively to the tables of the design editors.

Web client completeness

The Rational Programming Patterns web client has been completed for all the pattern types. It displays the same COBOL code coloring as the Eclipse client.