Impact Analysis Report

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The Impact Analysis report allows the developer to understand the consequences of modifying a certain resource. The impact analysis determines who uses the objects and presents the dependencies between the objects.

To generate this report, in Explore Projects view, go to the Mainframe Reports list in the pane to the right. Select Impact Reports then double-click the desired report to display the report wizard.

In the first dialog window of the report wizard, specify the location of the variable for which you want to generate the Impact Analysis report, or browse for a table field.

Note: If you choose to start the impact report for an SQL table field, the report is generated on a variable that is mapped with the table field and not on the table field.

Then, select the impact direction (omnidirectional, forward, or backward). If you want to limit the analysis to X depth, check the option limit expansion depth and enter the desired value in the corresponding field then press Next.

Select the type of resource - program or include - that contains the variable for which you want to perform the analysis, then press Next.

Note: In case you selected the include type of resource, a list of include items is presented. Select a single entry from the available list, then press Next. A list of programs that uses the selected include resource is presented. Use CTRL to select non-consecutive programs from the list.

Regardless of the selections made in the previous dialogs, a list of programs or tables is displayed. Use the field to filter the list and to locate the desired resource. Select the resource then click Next to display the next dialog window of the wizard.

A list of variables that were found in the selected resource is presented. Use CTRL to select non-consecutive variables from the list. Use the field to filter the list and locate the desired variable then select it and click Next to display the next dialog window of the report.

Note: In case you selected the include type of resource, only the variables from the first selected program are listed.

Use this dialog to specify variables that must be EXCLUDED from the report. If you do not want to exclude variables from the report, click Next. If you want to exclude certain variables from the report, follow the instructions below.

Enter the name of the variable in the available field then press Add to add it to the list.

Use Import to import a file that contains the variables to be excluded from the report. The variable list has to be saved in a *.txt file, one variable on each line.

Alternatively, use Browse to locate the variable. Click the Browse button to select the type of resource that contains the variable and to display the next dialog window of the report wizard.

Select the type of resource - program or include - then press Next.

According to the selections made in the previous dialog, a list of programs or includes is displayed. Select the resource then click Next.

A list of variables that were found in the selected resource is presented. Select one of the variables from the list then click Add to add it to the list of variables to be excluded from the report. The variables that were selected for EXCLUSION are displayed in the central part of the dialog window. For variables added via Browse and Import the name of the resource (program or include) containing the variable is displayed as well as the variable’s position (line …) within the resource.

Repeat the procedure that is presented above to add to the list as many variables as you need. To remove a variable from the list, select it then use Delete. Click Next to display the next dialog window of the report wizard.

Use this dialog to specify which datasets must be excluded from the analysis. Use the arrow buttons to move the datasets between the Available and Selected lists then click Finish to generate the Impact Analysis report.

After Impact Analysis Report is generated, in the Report summary section, of the Table of contents, different entries are displayed. The entries can be: Variables, Programs, SQL Table, File, DAL, Dataset, Impacted jobs, Impacted AAuto Networks, String Literal, Initial Value, Figurative Constant, and Sources.

For all entries, there are dedicated sections that contain their summaries. For programs, there is a dedicated section that is called Programs summary page and which contains the name of the programs that are impacted. Some of the programs that are displayed are underlined and some are not.

The programs that are not underlined are the ones that represent the starting point for the selected variable.

The underlined programs are the ones that are the final point for the selected variable. If an underlined program is selected, you are redirected to the Report Details section where the impact analysis of the program is displayed.

The Impact Analysis report takes into consideration the COBOL Reference Modification to move partial data from source field to target field. In the reference modification, the first position indicates the starting position and the second position indicates the length of the variable.