The generation target of a Program, Screen, Server, or Database Block

By default, the generated files are stored with the design files in a folder whose default name can be changed. However, you can separate them from the design files inside the generation project, or even change the generation project and folder.

What are the generated files?

The local generation of a Program, Screen, or Server produces the following files:
  • A .cbl file, nested under the Program, Screen, or Server instance in the Design Explorer view. If you right-click it and select References > Subreferences, the instances involved in this file generation will be automatically displayed in the References view.
  • A map description file for a Screen (.map, .bms, or .mfs), nested under the Screen instance in the Design Explorer view.
  • A metadata file of the generated design (.cblpdp) and a metadata file of the map for a Screen (.mappdp, .bmspdp, or .mfspdp). These files can be viewed in the Package Explorer view: They must not be edited but must be assigned the same version number as the other generated files.
Note: The generated files are named after the value of the COBOL program ID (for Programs) or Program external name (for Screens) of the Definition. The name of the generated file can then differ from the instance name.
The local generation of a Database Block produces the following files:
  • A .dll file (for a relational Block) or .txt file, nested under the Database Block instance in the Design Explorer view. If you right-click it and select References > Subreferences, the instances involved in this file generation will be automatically displayed in the References view.
  • A metadata file of the generated design: .dllpdp file (for a relational Block) or .txtpdp. This file can be viewed in the Package Explorer view: It must not be edited but must be assigned the same version number as the other generated files.
Note: The generated files are named after the value of the External name of the Block Definition. The name of the generated file can then differ from the instance name.

Generation target of the generated files

You can separate these files in the project by indicating a generation root path for them. This path will be taken into account only for the instances that have kept their default COBOL folder (folder of the design files) in their Definition tab.

You indicate this path in the properties of the project. These properties are accessed from the Definition tab of the generatable instance or of its Library in the Design Explorer view, or from the properties of the project in the Project Explorer view (Resource perspective).

This path is the first level (or levels) of the folders tree for the generated files in the Project Explorer view. In the Definition tab of the generatable instance or of the Library, it is automatically inserted at the beginning of the COBOL folder or Map folder (for Screens). For example, if the COBOL folder is CAN/IBM/PRO and the root path is gen, the files will be generated in gen/CAN/IBM/PRO. Moreover, for Screens, if you enter a different value in the Map folder, such as map, the map will be generated separately in map/CAN/IBM/PRO.

If you indicate a root path after the generation, the generated files will be immediately and automatically moved to the new target.

Generation target of the metadata files

These files are technical files that contain the location of the design file and information that is required to process the generated code. They can be viewed in the Project Explorer view only (Resource perspective).

You can separate them from the other generated files by indicating a specific root path in the properties of the project. These properties are accessed from the Definition tab of the generatable instance or of its Library in the Design Explorer view, or from the properties of the project in the Project Explorer view.

However, you must be careful because these files are required to regenerate and edit the COBOL code. Moreover, they must be synchronized with the corresponding .cbl files. So, you must always upload or download these files together with their corresponding generated files.

If you indicate a root path after the generation, the metadata files will be immediately and automatically moved to the new target.

Changing the generation target

You can also indicate a generation project and folder different from those of the design files. You can then structure your Rational® Programming Patterns projects like Rational Developer for System z® projects and easily map them to System z.

You can select a project, a COBOL folder and a map folder (for Screens) from the Definition tab of the instance to be generated or of its Library.


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