Readme

This readme file provides late-breaking information and other information that supplements the online help for PL/I for Windows, Refresh V2.1.13.

For more information about PL/I for Windows Refresh V2.1.13, refer to the IBM PL/I Web site.

IBM PL/I Refresh V2.1.13 Enhancements/Fixes - July 2005

Refresh V2.1.13 combines the enhancements and changes in FixPak #12, FixPak #11, FixPak #10, FixPak #9, FixPak #8, FixPak #7, FixPak #6, FixPak #5, FixPak #4, FixPak #3, FixPak #2 and CSD #1.

Installation information

PL/I for Windows Component Updates

This file provides information about changes made for Version 2.1.13 PL/I for Windows.

Changes to prerequisites for PL/I for Windows V2.1.13

The following table summarizes the additional or changed requirements for the use of remote edit-compile-debug in Version 2.1.13.
Prerequisite product or component Requirement or change
Foreign File System server PTF IP22794 supersedes all previous FFS PTFs.
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS Version 3 Release 4 With the installation of the new version of FFS that is provided with PL/I for Windows 2.1.13 and the application of FFS PTF IP22794, there is no requirement for an additional Enterprise PL/I for z/OS PTF for the TSO Commands Server as in previous fixpaks.
IBM Enterprise PL/I for z/OS and OS/390 Version 3 Release 3 With the installation of the new version of FFS that is provided with PL/I for Windows 2.1.13 and the application of FFS PTF IP22794, there is no requirement for an additional Enterprise PL/I for z/OS and OS/390 PTF for the TSO Commands Server as in previous fixpaks.
IBM Enterprise PL/I for OS/390 Version 2 Release 2 With the installation of the new version of FFS that is provided with PL/I for Windows 2.1.12 and the application of FFS PTF IP22794, there is no requirement for an additional Enterprise PL/I for OS/390 PTF for the TSO Commands Server as in previous fixpaks.

Known problems and limitations

There are known problems and limitations for the following components: foreign file system (FFS), MVS connections manager, debugger, program editor and REXX product environment.

Foreign file system (FFS)

Problem or limitation Solution (if applicable)
You may need more information if you encounter problems while trying to access MVS files. For additional information about a problem, view the ffsuser.log file in WINNT\Profiles\userid\Application Data\IBM\FFS, where userid is your Windows user ID.
During system startup, an error may occur when your system tries to restore a network connection to the FFS server. Click OK and connect to the FFS server after system startup has finished.

MVS connections manager

Problem or limitation Solution (if applicable)
If you are using a version of Netscape earlier than 4.7 and you have opened the Information Center, and you attempt to open the Information Center again from the MVS connections manager, the following error may occur: Smart Browsing was unable to match your request. Click the X button at the far right of the title bar to close the second browser window, and use the first browser window instead. Or, you can download and install Netscape 4.7 to avoid the problem.

Distributed Debugger

Problem or limitation Solution (if applicable)
When you remotely debug an PL/I for z/OS program that contains graphic variables, an error may occur when you try to change the value of the variable in the Program Monitor. To change the value of a graphic variable for debugging, do the following:

1. Double-click the graphics variable in the Source pane. Right-click the variable and select Add to Program Monitor.

2. Double-click the value in the Monitors pane.

3. Remove the old value completely and then enter the new one.

4. Add a G in front of the first single quote (for example, G'X Y Z ') to indicate that this is a graphic value. Press Enter.
You may see some unexpected behavior if your program contains unprintable data. An unprintable character appears in the debugger as a box. Here are some examples of unexpected behavior: 

- If a statement in the program contains a literal string with unprintable characters, you may not be able to highlight variables in that statement.

- If you try to edit the value of a variable that contains unprintable data, the boxes are replaced by the tilde character. 

- You may not be able to see the end of a long string.

 None
The Distributed Debugger shipped with PL/I for Windows does not support debugging AS/400 applications. None
When you install products (such as PL/I for Windows) that install the Distributed Debugger on your workstation, and then you uninstall those products, the Distributed Debugger does not uninstall. Check your workstation registry to ensure no products that use the Distributed Debugger are installed. Next, change the RefCount number in your workstation registry to 1. Finally, uninstall the Distributed Debugger. 

To check your workstation registry to ensure that no parent products are installed, do these steps: 

  1. Click Start -> Run, type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
  2. Double-click the following folders:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    SOFTWARE
    IBM
    IBM Distributed Debugger
    CurrentVersion
    install
    ParentProducts
  3. Check for parent products. If no parent product is installed, proceed to the next step. If a parent product is installed, do not uninstall the Distributed Debugger.
To decrement the RefCount in the workstation registry, do these steps:
  1. Double-click the install folder again.
  2. Right-click RefCount and select Modify.
  3. Change the number to 1 and click OK.
To uninstall the Distributed Debugger, do these steps: 
  1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel.
  2. Click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
  3. On the Install/Uninstall page, click IBM Distributed Debugger in the list of installed products, then click OK.
  4. Shut down and reboot your workstation.

Program editor

Problem or limitation Solution (if applicable)
You may need more information if you encounter problems while using the program editor (LPEX). For additional information about a problem, view the editor's macro log. To get to the macro log, click Windows -> Macro log.
If you use Notepad and Wordpad to edit an MVS file, the file is not locked during the edit session. Similarly, if you invoke the program editor (LPEX) from the start menu, or in any way other than selecting MVS Edit from a project, the file is not locked during the edit session. To lock (ISPF style) an MVS file during an edit session, right-click the file in the project window and then select MVS edit. 

REXX Product environment

Problem or limitation Solution (if applicable)
When you install other products that also provide REXX runtime files, the mix of files from different REXX versions can lead to an unstable REXX environment. Two REXX rename utilities have been added to the PL/I for Windows install image. These utilities are originally from the IBM COBOL for Windows product but are still useful in correcting the REXX problem in a PL/I for Windows environment.

The two utilities can be found in the \service directory and are named:

  1. IWZFREXX.EXE
    This utility is run first. It will search your hard drives and find all of your REXX installations. It then presents you with four choices:
    1. "Use the REXX installation from VA COBOL (Recommended, but may break other programs)."
      This option should not be chosen when in an PL/I for Windows environment. It looks for COBOL-specific information and will return an error.
    2. "Use the REXX files with the most recent date."
      Choose this option to use the most recent REXX environment installed on your machine. It generates a report file that can be used by the IWZUREXX.EXE utility to undo the changes made to your system.
    3. "List the most recent files that will be used."
      Choose this option to list the files that would be used if Option 2 were chosen.
    4. "Exit without making an changes."
      Choose this option if you wish to do nothing. It generates a report that lists all of the REXX files from all the REXX installations on your hard drives. This report would be useful should you decide to do the selecting and renaming of the REXX files by hand.

  2. IWZUREXX.EXE
    This utility will undo the changes that were made if Option 2 from the IWZFREXX.EXE utility were chosen. It requires the generated report file from Option 2 as input.