ISPW External Function Process Enhancement

This section explains the ISPW External Function Processor Enhancement.

Background Information

For ISPW’s Promotion Analysis and Build functions to work properly, ISPW needs accurate and complete “generate impact” information. To collect this information, the source must be parsed. ISPW currently parses your source at the following times:

• When you generate a source member (if the ISPW DNA Facility is in use).
• When you promote an include file (if the ISPW DNA Facility is in use).
• When you promote a source member or include file (if the ISPW DNA Facility is not in use and parsing is enabled).
• When you manually trigger a parse (M.CR panel in ISPF).

The current parsing methodology can lead to inaccurate or incomplete information. The following scenarios describe how this can occur.

Scenario #1

1. Initially, COBOL program PROGA makes use of copybook COPYA.
2. Initially, COBOL program PROGB makes use of copybook COPYB.
3. An ISPW/Eclipse user changes PROGA and now it also uses copybook COPYB.
4. An ISPW/Eclipse user also changes copybook COPYB.
5. An ISPW/Eclipse user does a Build on COPYB.

Until PROGA is parsed, ISPW is unaware of the relationship between COPYB and PROGA. As a result, the Build will only compile PROGB.

Scenario #2

1. Using the same initial program relationships from Scenario #1, an ISPW/Eclipse user updates PROGA to also use COPYB and updates COPYB.
2. The ISPW/Eclipse user does a Git commit, causing the two changed files to be uploaded to ISPW on the mainframe.
3. The ISPW/Eclipse user does a Build on COPYB.

Again, until PROGA is parsed, the Build will only compile PROGB.

Scenario #3

1. Using the same initial program relationships from Scenario #1, an ISPW/Eclipse user updates PROGA to also use COPYB and updates COPYB.
2. The ISPW/Eclipse user compiles PROGA and PROGB because both use COPYB.
3. The ISPW/Eclipse user runs Generate Impacts (GI) or Promotion Analysis (PA) against COPYB.

If the ISPW DNA Facility is not in use, until PROGA is parsed, only PROGB will be identified by GI and PA.

The Solution

The ISPW External Function Processor Enhancement allows the ISPW administrator to set a series of options that cause ISPW to parse the source when an ISPW/Eclipse user saves the source member, or a member is uploaded (for example, for a Git Commit operation).
The files are parsed using the standard ISPW parsers. If you are using the ISPW DNA Facility, you cannot use the ISPW External Function Processor Enhancement to parse source members because the ISPW DNA Facility disables the standard ISPW parsers.