About IBM COBOL Upgrade Advisor for z/OS

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IBM COBOL Upgrade Advisor for z/OS® (CUAZ) is a powerful tool that helps simplify and accelerate the upgrade process to IBM® Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 6.

CUAZ offers automated inventory discovery and reporting in a modern Visual Studio Code (VS Code) interface, making it easier for organizations to identify and address compiler issues including invalid code and data issues, to understand the size and scope of their upgrade projects, and to streamline the recompilation process. CUAZ is designed to help customers stay current with the latest Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 6 compiler release, so that they can use the modernization features to unlock the full potential of their IBM Z® hardware investment.

Features

COBOL Upgrade Advisor for z/OS features include:
  • Inventory insights
    • A visual summary of the COBOL inventory on the workstation, providing a complete view of the size of an upgrade project and recommendations for scoping it down.
    • Two inventory scans: The load library and application scans offer flexibility and accuracy in assessing COBOL inventory. Both scans provide insights into compiler versions, last compiled dates, compiler options, and other metadata. The application scan additionally shows the programs that are used for each application. This can be useful for complex or legacy applications where it is unclear which programs are called and which programs are in scope for upgrade in a specific application.
    • Re-run the inventory scan at regular intervals to track the progress of COBOL upgrade projects.
    • Find and view programs that use the same compiler option settings to ensure functionality is maintained and to learn what upgrades need to be completed for a group of programs
  • Data export
    • Export COBOL inventory to a CSV file, to easily share COBOL inventory data with team members.
    • Manipulate the CSV data file to create custom reports in any tool that supports CSV.
    • Share insights with team members who may not use VS Code.
  • Upgrade readiness assessment
    • View major prerequisite tasks per program, such as COBOL runtime updates or source code conversion, to help teams prioritize any larger efforts before recompilation.
    • Eliminate the need to read through hundreds of pages of manuals to discover the unique scenarios that are applicable to specific applications, to ensure relevant but ambiguous upgrade tasks are not missed.
  • Compiler option recommendations
    • CUAZ can provide tailored recommendations for compiler option changes, enabling developers to optimize their applications and detect invalid data problems, when upgrading to Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 6. For more information, refer to Compiler option recommendations.
  • Invalid data detection
    • View all the runtime messages generated in your application at once, simplifying the process of finding and addressing runtime errors. This includes runtime messages generated from invalid data detection compiler options such as NUMCHECK, PARMCHECK, and SSRANGE. For more information, see Invalid data detection reports.
    • Find and fix invalid data-related issues easily with the "Invalid data" problem type grouping.
    • Source code linking within the report allows users to fix errors in the code directly. Guidance on how to address each message is available in the Runtime message side panel.
  • Project and reports
    • Save the load library, application, and invalid data detection scan reports to projects for easy retrieval. Projects and reports can be saved and reopened without loss of information, helping you manage your COBOL upgrade process more efficiently. For more information, see Projects and reports.
  • Smart code converter
    • Use the Smart code converter to perform AI-assisted automatic conversion of 68/74 COBOL Standard syntax to 85 COBOL Standard for COBOL 6 compatibility. In addition to code conversion, the AI code assistant can also provide explanations of the modifications that are applied to the code. The programs are automatically saved to the mainframe after conversion. For more information, see Smart code converter.
  • Fix compilation and runtime errors using AI
  • Access CUAZ MCP tools using AI assistant
    • Access CUAZ tools and capabilities through external AI assistants, such as IBM Bob™, to accelerate your COBOL upgrade workflow. By using IBM Bob, you can leverage CUAZ MCP tools to automatically upgrade legacy COBOL syntax to the 85 COBOL Standard and identify and resolve invalid data runtime issues efficiently.

Workflow

Here's an example of how CUAZ fits into the COBOL upgrade process:

Figure 1. General workflow for using COBOL Upgrade Advisor for z/OS

This workflow shows how and where CUAZ can be used to accelerate and simplify the COBOL upgrade process. Generally, once the development environment is set up, there are two paths. If you need to build understanding of your COBOL inventory to plan out the upgrade, use the load library scan. If you already understand the COBOL inventory and know where to start the upgrade, use the application scan. Then, set up the testing environments and follow the recommendations to upgrade each program, repeating different steps as necessary.

Supported COBOL versions

CUAZ supports COBOL upgrade scenarios across many IBM COBOL products, versions, and releases. For a list of supported versions, refer to COBOL compiler versions, required runtimes, and support information.