Identifying preprocessor statements

After you set preferences for preprocessor statements and configure a preprocessor in a property group, you can identify preprocessor statements in an edit session.

Before you begin

Supported Editors:
  • COBOL Editor
  • PL/I Editor
  • z Systems® LPEX Editor
Before you can identify preprocessor statements in an edit session:
  1. Set preferences for preprocessor integration. For instructions, see the related topics.
  2. Configure a local preprocessor, preprocessor extension, or remote preprocessor. For instructions, see the related topics.
By default, the comparison routine that is used by the Preprocessor Statements > Identify actions uses a faster comparison algorithm for large files with many differences. As a result, the differences that are identified as preprocessor statements in the editor for large files might include some lines of text that were not modified by the preprocessor. To disable this optimized algorithm:
  1. In the Preferences window, expand the General category and select Compare/Patch.
  2. Click the Text tab.
  3. Select Disable capping when comparing large documents.
  4. Click OK.

About this task

Preprocessor statements are customized language statements that are supported by your environment to extend or simplify the creating of code. For local and remote preprocessors, the editor uses a preprocessor output file that contains the programming language statements that are generated from the preprocessor statements. The location of the output file depends on whether the preprocessor is local or remote. For a local preprocessor, the output file is defined by the Preprocessor Output File Name option on the property group and is in the BuildOutput folder of the local project. The output file for a remote preprocessor is defined by the Preprocessor output location option on the Editor Configurations page of the property group.

The editors can provide functions such as hover information and content assist for preprocessor statements with the following limitations:
  • Syntax of the preprocessor statement is not verified.
  • Content assist and quick fix for incomplete preprocessor statements is not provided.
  • Hover information for a preprocessor statement variable is not provided.
  • Syntax coloring for specific keywords in preprocessor statements is not supported. Syntax coloring can be defined for a preprocessor statement and applies to the entire statement.

Procedure

  1. Open a COBOL or PL/I file in the editor.
  2. Right-click and select:
    • COBOL and PL/I Editors: Source > Preprocessor Statements
    • z Systems LPEX Editor: Preprocessor Statements
  3. Click one of these menu items:
    Identify Using Configured Preprocessors
    Compare statements in the program with the specified preprocessor. Statements that match statements in the preprocessor are marked as preprocessor statements. This menu item locates preprocessor statements in the file by starting the preprocessor that is associated with the file. Preprocessor statements are replaced code as defined by the preprocessor. These statements are highlighted according to the settings of the Syntax Coloring preference. The default annotation for preprocessor statements is a vertical blue line at the left side of the editor.
    Identify Using Specific Output File
    Compare statements in the program with an identified output file from a previous invocation of the preprocessor. Statements that match the output file are marked as preprocessor statements.
    Note: If code changes, after the preprocessor statements are identified, the Outline view reflects the processed file.
    Clear Identifications
    The code that is inserted by the preprocessor persists when the file is saved. Use this menu item to remove marks that identify a preprocessor statement.
    Note: In the PL/I Editor or z Systems LPEX Editor, after local preprocessors are started, the PL/I macro preprocessor is started if either the MACRO or PP compiler option is specified. If you are using the Windows operating system, you can specify these options in the property group or PROCESS statement in the program.

Results

The source file is compared to the preprocessor file and preprocessor statements are added or marked in the source file. The Outline view is also updated to include the preprocessor statements. If no code changes, the preprocessor output does not display in the Outline view. If code changes, after the preprocessor statements are identified, the Outline view is updated to reflect the processed file.

Limitation:
  • In z Systems LPEX Editor, if preprocessing is applied to an editor file or removed from an editor file, you need to save the editor file for the Outline view to reflect the content changes.
  • The LPEX editor does not support hovering to view remote preprocessor declaration information.