PL/I MACRO support for IBM Z Open Editor

We are adding support for PL/I macros incrementally. The first step is to avoid seeing syntax errors, which we are achieving with our new PL/I preprocessor support added with v4.5.0: https://ibm.github.io/zopeneditor-about/Docs/advanced_preprocessor.html. This will allow developers to run the compiler remotely for expanding the macros and see the results in Z Open Editor. We will be publishing a blog for how to do that shortly. Full editing support for code completion and preprocessor-free editing will be a future enhancement.

Example of code causing issues in the IDE:

 %SETMSG: PROCEDURE(PMR_MES_ID,PMR_MES_TX) STATEMENT;                   
/*********************************************************************/
/* The SETMSG macro is used to generate a fully qualified message in */
/* the job standard output.                                          */
/*********************************************************************/
                                                                       
  DCL    PMR_MES_ID           CHAR NOSCAN;                             
  DCL    PMR_MES_TX           CHAR NOSCAN;                             
  DCL    WRK_ORI_CD           CHAR NOSCAN;                             
                                                                       
  IF FWK_FRAMEWORK_PROGRAM = 'N'                                       
  THEN DO;                                                             
    WRK_ORI_CD = "'A'";                                                
  END;                                                                 
  ELSE DO;                                                             
    WRK_ORI_CD = "'F'";                                                
  END;                                                                 
                                                                       
  ANS("DO;") SKIP;                                                     
  ANS("IF FWK_MESSAGE(PACKAGENAME(),PROCEDURENAME(),SOURCELINE()," !!  
      WRK_ORI_CD !! "," !! PMR_MES_ID !! "," !! PMR_MES_TX !! ")")     
        SKIP;                                                          
  IF TRIM(SYSTEM) = 'CICS'                                             
  THEN DO;                                                             
    ANS("THEN DO;") SKIP;                                              
    ANS("  EXEC CICS ABEND ABCODE('$MSG');") SKIP;                     
    ANS("END;") SKIP;                                                  
  END;                                                                 
  ELSE DO;                                                             
    ANS("THEN SIGNAL ERROR;") SKIP;                                    
  END;                                                                 
  ANS("END;") SKIP;                                                    
                                                                       
%END SETMSG;                                                           
                                                                       
%ACTIVATE SETMSG SCAN;                                                 

...
SETMSG('E001','Error calling XYZ');
...

 

SETMSG above is obviously not a valid PL/1 statement, so it is not recognized by the ide parser.

But SETMSG being defined as a macro procedure, and being active, replacement will occur during macro preprocessing and valid PL/1 code will be generated instead.

 

SETMSG should thus be accepted and ignored by the parser.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to suggest an Idea to our product. Many of our product enhancements result from feedback from our customers, so your input is always very important to us. Your request is currently in line with our product strategy and we added it as a candidate for future releases of the product. Thank you for your suggestion and continued support.