BMC AMI DevX Workbench Explorer

BMC AMI DevX Workbench Explorer allows developers to gain access to mainframe application development resources through the BMC Compuware Host Communications Interface (HCI). The extension allows you to connect to the HCI using secure and unsecure connections, as well as the ability to search and filter data sets and members.

Developers can browse and edit code using the Lock Acquiring Mechanism that enables them to edit the program and still maintain the integrity of their code and avoid code merge issues. They can also leverage automatic download of copybooks and refresh them on demand. Users can also perform various data set and member operations (i.e., delete, rename, allocate, refresh, recall), as well as Submit Job and Monitor Job execution using the Job Explorer.

What’s New

Initial release

Data Set Explorer
- Manage connections to mainframe systems (create/edit/delete/ Log In & Log Out)
- Search for z/OS assets like data sets, members using search criteria
- Browse, edit, and save PDS or sequential data set members
- Data set operations
  - Allocate and Allocate Like PDS, PDSE and sequential data set
  - Recall, refresh, delete, view properties of data set
  - Data set member features like new, rename and delete member
  - Submit JCL from a sequential data set or PDS member
  - Submit JCL from active editor
  - Copy data set to same host by rename
  - Cross LPAR copy
  - Copy multiple members with options
  - Refresh HCI connection to get updates
  - COBOL Copybook support
Settings for improved usability
- Setting to control how data sets and members are opened in editor. User will be provided with 3 options as browse, edit and prompt
- Copybooks: Ability to configure copybook data sets to use for looking up copybooks when editing in IBM Z Open Editor
- Job Explorer: Limit number of jobs to be displayed
- Job Explorer: Configuration to show/hide job column display
- Telemetry: Setting to opt in/out of collect usage data for telemetry analysis
Miscellaneous
- Enable tracing and collect logs
- Session Management
- Telemetry reporting
Job Explorer features
- List jobs filtered based on prefix and owner
- View the contents of an output file for a job/spool
- Cancel one or multiple jobs
- Purge one or multiple jobs
- Refresh job to get latest updates
- Extract JCL from a job
- Resubmit job

Prerequisites

Required: Visual Studio Code version 1.67 or above
Recommended: IBM Z Open Editor version 2.1.1 or below to provide language support for IBM Enterprise programming languages for z/OS® like COBOL, PL/I, Assembler etc. and for better user experience with respect to the following features
- Real-time syntax checking and highlighting while you type
- Problems view with all syntax errors and (in COBOL) unreachable code
- Navigate to copybook and include file sources
- Previewing of included copybooks and include files, as well as assembler macros

Getting Started

How to setup Workbench Server?

This is a first and important step user needs to follow before start using extensions
Please download installer to setup Workbench Server from here
For more information on installing Workbench Server, please go here
For more information on configuring Workbench Server, please go here

Release Notes

23.1.00

Added support for downloading PL/1 copybooks, cut/paste data set members, multi-selection when performing recall, and delete data sets and members. New enhancements in Job explorer.