Question & Answer
Question
What are the known issues, limitations, and work-arounds for using IBM Z Open Debug as the remote debug interface of IBM z/OS Debugger in Wazi Developer for Visual Studio Code and Wazi Developer for Workspaces IDEs?
Cause
The following table lists the issues, limitations, and available workarounds for IBM z/OS Debugger with IBM Z Open Debug in Wazi Developer for Visual Studio Code and Wazi Developer for Workspaces IDEs:
Remote Debug
| Area | Type | IDE | Description | Solution or Work-Around |
| Platform | Limitation | VS Code | Z Open Debug is not supported on macOS. | None. |
| Application | Limitation | Both | 64-bit applications cannot be debugged. | Install IBM z/OS Debugger 15.0.0 or later host for 64-bit support of COBOL, and C/C++. |
| Breakpoints | Issue | Both | The debugger does not stop on some breakpoints that are set in the editor. |
For many languages, IBM z/OS Debugger primarily debugs at the generated listing level, rather than at the original source level. Breakpoints set in the original source file might not have enough information to be successfully installed while debugging and are ignored.
Additionally, with some versions of Visual Studio Code, enabling breakpoints that were restored from a previous debug session might incorrectly disable all other breakpoints, causing them to be skipped. To avoid this situation, re-enable all breakpoints before you start another debug session, or delete and re-create all breakpoints. |
| Debug console | Limitation | Both | Not all of the Debug Console commands are available. | None. |
| Variables | Limitation | Both | No variable filters or auto monitor is available. | None. |
| Issue | Both | Hover evaluation of expressions in the editor during a debug session sometimes does not display a value. | Hover evaluation uses the hyphen character as a token delimiter, so hover evaluation of expressions or variable names containing the hyphen character fails. Type the expression into the Debug Console pane to evaluate it, or highlight the expression in the editor, right-click, and select Evaluate in Debug Console. | |
| Stepping | Issue | VS Code | Stepping rapidly in certain VS Code versions may leave the debug session stuck in 'running' state. | Update to VS Code version 1.81.0 or higher: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/185785 |
Profiles View
| Type | IDE | Description | Solution or Work-Around |
| Limitation | Both | Debug profiles are not automatically deactivated when you shut down the IDE or disconnect from the host. | None. |
| Issue | Both | When the remote connection is configured in secured mode, if Debug Profile Service or Remote Debug Service are configured with a self-signed, expired, or invalid HTTPS/TLS certificate, the following error messages might be displayed when you create a debug profile in the Z Open Debug Profiles view:
|
Contact your system programmer to verify that the Debug Profile Service and Remote Debug Service are running on your z/OS host, and that the TLS certificates are signed by an official Certificate Authority (CA) and are valid. Alternately, if the certificates cannot be signed by an official CA at your site, they can be imported into the Chrome browser's internal truststore on your Visual Studio Code workstation. For more information, see Adding the self-signed certificate for the connection to Debug Profile Service. |
| Issue | Both |
When you activate a CICS debug profile, if the CICS region is not configured with Basic Authorization, or you do not have enough authority to create a CICS profile, the following vague error messages are displayed:
|
Ensure that the TCPIPS flag on the CICS region is enabled and that the authorization is set to "Basic". Ensure that the user ID being used to create the debug profile is not the default CICS user ID, and that it has authority to log in to the CICS region. |
| Issue | Both | Creating a CICS debug profile with any of the DTCNFORCExxx options enabled, results in vague messages that include one of the following DTCN API return codes:
|
Install IBM z/OS Debugger 15.0.2 for improved messages provided by Remote Debug Service.
Alternatively, review the error code description for the DTCN API HTTP response status codes and reason phrases, specify the missing values and retry activating the profile.
|
| Issue | VS Code | You cannot connect to Debug Profile Service when you try to activate the created profile. A message is displayed to indicate that Debug Profile Service is not reachable. | Install IBM z/OS Debugger 15.0.0 or later host. For more information, see the troubleshooting guide CORS problem with Z Open Debug running in VS Code 1.47 or later. |
| Issue | VS Code | A black screen is displayed when you open Z Open Debug 1.1 Profiles View with VS Code 1.48.2 or earlier |
|
| Issue | WD4W1 | When you access Z Open Debug Profiles view on Wazi Developer for Workspaces, a black screen is displayed in the profiles view. |
Upgrade to Z Open Debug 1.1.1.
For older versions, see the troubleshooting documentation for this issue.
|
| Issue | WD4W | You cannot connect to the Remote Debug API in Wazi Developer for Workspaces. The error This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. might be issued. |
To correct this issue:
|
| Issue | WD4W | In Wazi Developer for Workspaces, if the Debug Profile Editor tab loses focus, the UI becomes disabled. | Upgrade to Z Open Debug 1.2.5 |
| Issue | WD4W | Local Debug profiles are not persisted across workspace logins in Wazi Developer for Workspaces. | Upgrade to Z Open Debug 1.2.5. |
1WD4W - Wazi Developer for Workspaces
For host and common issues that are not specific to IDE, see Known issues and limitations for IBM z/OS Debugger.
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Document Information
Modified date:
13 October 2023
UID
ibm16220542