How does z/OS Debugger locate COBOL and PL/I separate debug files

z/OS® Debugger might read from an Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 4 compiler or earlier, Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6 Release 2 or later, or PL/I separate debug file more than once but it always reads the separate debug file from the same data set. After z/OS Debugger locates a valid separate debug file, you cannot direct z/OS Debugger to a different separate debug file. When the CU first appears, z/OS Debugger looks for the separate debug file in the following order:

  1. SET SOURCE command
  2. default data set name, with the exception of Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6 Release 2 or later compiled with TEST(SEPARATE) or TEST(SEPARATE(NODSNAME)). If a data set with the default data set name cannot be located, and if the EQAUEDAT user exit is implemented and an EQADEBUG DD statement is not specified, the data set name might be modified by the EQAUEDAT user exit.
  3. SET DEFAULT LISTINGS command. If the EQAUEDAT user exit is implemented and a EQADEBUG DD statement is not specified, the data set name might be modified by the EQAUEDAT user exit.
  4. if present, the EQADEBUG DD name
  5. For Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6 Release 2 and later, you can also provide an environment variable EQA_DBG_SYSDEBUG to look for a separate debug file.

For Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 6 Release 2 or later, if you use a SET DEFAULT LISTINGS command, EQADEBUG DD name, or EQA_DBG_SYSDEBUG environment variable, and if the separate debug file is not found because the file name does not match the CU name, z/OS Debugger will do an exhaustive search of the data sets specified by the same method to locate the matching debug file. The exhaustive search might be slow.

The Enterprise COBOL for z/OS Version 5 compiler does not create a separate debug file and the commands in this section do not apply.

The SET SOURCE command can be entered only after the CU name appears as a CU and the separate debug file is not found in any of the other locations. The SET DEFAULT LISTINGS command can be entered at any time before the CU name appears as a CU or, if the separate debug file is not found in any of the other possible locations, it can be entered later.