VS COBOL II programs

If you are currently using the TEST option to compile your programs, consider using NOTEST. Using NOTEST allows you to take advantage of Debug Tool for z/OS functionality that is not available when compiling with the TEST option. Examples of Debug Tool for z/OS functions that are available when compiling with the NOTEST option include the automonitor feature and using AT ENTRY program name breakpoints. Compiling with NOTEST also allows you to generate a module that can be debugged but does not incur additional overhead when running without the debugger.

The following table shows various compiler options that can be used to prepare VS COBOL II programs for use with the IBM Problem Determination Tools products (Debug Tool for z/OS, Fault Analyzer for z/OS and Application Performance Analyzer for z/OS). The methods suggested in the following table indicate if the load module produced is suitable for a production environment. Load modules suitable for a production environments have no significant run-time overhead.

Table 1. Examples of compiler options and source information files supported by Problem Determination tools products for VS COBOL II
Compiler options Source information file type produced Is the load module production ready? Options supported and suggested for Debug Tool for z/OS Options supported and suggested for Fault Analyzer for z/OS Options supported and suggested for Application Performance Analyzer for z/OS
NOTEST, LIST, MAP, SOURCE, XREF, NONUMBER, NOOFFSET Compiler listing Yes N/A Supported Supported
NOTEST, LIST, MAP, SOURCE, XREF, NUMBER Yes N/A Supported N/A
NOTEST, LIST, MAP, NOOPT, SOURCE, XREF, NONUMBER LANGX file Yes Suggested for production and test
Note: The highlighted row or rows in the table above indicate the suggested compiler options and source information file types for each product.