Skip to Main Content
IBM Z Software


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Z Software products. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


Shape the future of IBM!

We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:

Search existing ideas

Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,

Post your ideas
  1. Post an idea.

  2. Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.

  3. Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

ADD A NEW IDEA

My ideas: COBOL Compilers

Showing 280 of 8537

JSON PARSE error details

JSON PARSE error handling improvements - Expose Parse messages to application code. We continue to struggle with problem resolution when specific use cases cause unexpected results from web service calls, resulting in Parse failures. Displaying th...
9 months ago in COBOL Compilers / z/OS 1 Future consideration

Handle abend when using JSON GENERATE statement

We are facing an issue when using the JSON GENERATE cobol statement with cobol variables containing incorrect value. For exemple, in the case of a numeric variable containing spaces, the order triggers an ASRA abend and the generated json buffer i...
over 1 year ago in COBOL Compilers / z/OS 2 Planned for future release

COBOL DISPLAY prefixed by program-id - compile option

If COBOL developers make DISPLAY in CICS and do not ensure that the DISPLAY-text contains a unique identifier, it can be very difficult to find the programs, that make the DISPLAYs and a lot of parallel DISPLAYs can be a serious performance proble...
over 6 years ago in COBOL Compilers 8 Not under consideration

COBOL source input stored as compressed encrypted part of load module

Hi, to avoid loss of COBOL (or any other) source code in the future can the IBM compilers please generate a load module that stores inside it the full COBOL source input in a compressed and encrypted form which is then wrapped and protected before...
3 months ago in COBOL Compilers / z/OS 4 Needs more information

IBM Enterprise COBOL V6R4+ - Add support for the equivalent of the -M option from the USS version of the compiler to the MVS version of the compiler

Hi, The USS version of the IBM Enterprise COBOL V6R4 compiler, cob2, has a -M option that allows to produce a makefile of dependencies between the program and the copybooks it uses: mkdepend.o: mkdepend.cbl mkdepend.o: /home/usera/test/f171592/WSC...
3 months ago in COBOL Compilers / z/OS 4 Not under consideration

COBOL: Catch use of wrong index

Case: TS006008227Summary: The COBOL compiler should warn when the wrong index is used Details: In COBOL the data division INDEXED BY phrase is used to associate an index with a table. “A table without an INDEXED BY phrase can be referred to throug...
over 3 years ago in COBOL Compilers 3 Future consideration

Add Cobol language command for support Base64 Code/Decode

Permit Receive/Send special characters from/to MF without have conversion problems
almost 4 years ago in COBOL Compilers 4 Not under consideration

Introducing Local Working Storage (Valid only inside a Section)

Hi, it would be great, if COBOL would allow local variables which would be defined into a COBOL section and are valid only in this COBOL Section. This would bring a huge benefit making COBOL programs much more structured and reducing the working s...
almost 2 years ago in COBOL Compilers / z/OS 6 Not under consideration

new function for current timestamp

I would a cobol function to retrieve the current system timestamp with the higher possible precision like STCKE or Db2 SET CURRENT TIMESTAMP. Optionally a parameter could drive the required precision of the timestamp (same way as the current times...
about 4 years ago in COBOL Compilers 15 Future consideration

Adopt Dataname Picture and Usage in Mainframe COBOL

It would be extremely useful, and would help to prevent logic errors, if the COBOL compiler would allow a dataname to adopt the PICTURE and USAGE from another dataname at compile time. At execution time, logic errors (and even abends) can occur in...
almost 4 years ago in COBOL Compilers 3 Future consideration