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Introduction

What is IBM Dependency Based Build

IBM Dependency Based Build (DBB) provides the capabilities to build traditional z/OS® applications that are developed in programming languages such as COBOL and PL/I. It provides a modern scripting-language-based automation capability that can be used on z/OS. DBB is a stand-alone product that does not require a specific source code manager or pipeline automation tool.

Usage scenarios

IBM Dependency Based Build provides the ability to run Groovy on z/OS. You can run MVS™, TSO, or ISPF commands as part of the Groovy scripts. This gives engineers that are new to the platform a more familiar way to automate tasks. With DBB, engineers can use Groovy scripts that were written for other platforms in the z/OS pipeline.

The first and primary task that you can use DBB for is compiling and link-editing programs. For this DBB provides a dependency scanner to analyze the relationship between source files, as well as a web application to store the dependency information and build reports.

You can also use DBB to automate testing to be added to the pipeline, or any other system administration task that you might write JCL for.

DBB is normally used in an environment with Git and Jenkins or other continuous integration/continuous delivery coordinator.

Targeted personas

The primary personas for IBM Dependency Based Build are the build engineer and the z/OS developer.

Build engineer

The build engineer is the primary persona for DBB. The build engineer is responsible for creating the scripts, using the APIs, and setting up the build definitions. DBB provides samples to allow the build engineer to create what is necessary to build scripts for applications.

Developer

The developer is a second persona for DBB. The developer uses the scripts that are provided by the build engineer. DBB provides integration with IBM Developer for z/OS (IDz), as well as providing sample build scripts that the release engineer can configure for developers that are developing directly on z/OS. Build reports help the developer understand what is built, what is included in the build, and what the output is.

Samples

The samples used in the documentation can be found in Samples for use with IBM Dependency Based Build.

The GitHub project will continue to be updated as new samples and capabilities are added. You can bookmark and frequently visit the project homepage for latest information on the samples.

How to download IBM Dependency Based Build

IBM Dependency Based Build is available as a stand-alone product or as a component of other products. You download DBB and the other products for an SMP/E installation in the following ways: - IBM Dependency Based Build stand-alone product (program number 5737-K80) from IBM Passport Advantage® - IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition (program number 5755-AC5) from Shopz - IBM Wazi for Red Hat® CodeReady Workspaces (program number 5900-A8N) from IBM Passport Advantage

Moreover, you can also download DBB as a trial version from Mainframe DEV. This version is a .tar archive file and the PTFs issued for DBB cannot be applied to it.