Running the PL/I Importer

Use the PL/I Importer to automatically generate PL/I type trees.

To run the PL/I Importer:

1. Access the Importer Wizard in the Design Studio application.
2. In the Import window, expand the Transformation Extender folder, select PL/I Include from the import source list, and click Next.
   The Type Tree Importer window opens. and you can specify the data import configuration properties.
3. If you are importing multiple PL/I structures to generate a type tree, do the following steps:
   1. Select Multiple PL/I structures to type tree (default) from the mapping list.
   2. Follow the Importer Wizard instructions to select the names of the metadata source files that you want to import, and to select a communication data structure.
      The files display in the Multiple possible output list.
4. If you are importing a single PL/I structure to generate a type tree, do the following steps:
   1. Select PL/I to type tree from the mapping list.
   2. Enter or select the name of the metadata source file that you want to import, following the Importer Wizard instructions, and select a communication data structure.
      The file displays in the PLI file field.
5. Click Next.

   The metadata source files have a default file extension of .pli. The metadata source files have a default file extension of .pli. If a file has the .pli extension, it is assumed to be a complete PL/I program. A file is assumed to be an include file if it has the .inc or .mac extension. If the file is an include member, then it must consist of only one or more data structures. For a PL/I file to be successfully imported into your project, it must be a complete PL/I program or include file. The importer operation can process only those files with the correct file extensions; files with incorrect extensions cause an importer error.

6. Enter or select the parent folder of the generated type tree.
7. For File name, do one of the following choices:
   • To create a type tree file, enter a new name.
   • To overwrite an existing type tree file, enter its name if it does not already display in the field.
   The default name for the type tree is the PL/I file name with the .mtt extension.
8. To generate the type tree, click Next.

   If you selected a file name for an existing type tree file, you are prompted to continue or stop the import operation in the Overwrite Warning window.

   After the import operation runs, it displays the run results in the PL/I Importer window. If errors or warnings, or both, occur, they display in that same window. The errors and warnings are also saved to error and log files in the product installation directory. The file names are PLIimp.err and PLI.log. You can open these files and analyze them in a text editor after the import operation completes. The import operation deletes and regenerates these log files every time a new PL/I file is imported. If errors occur, the import operation cannot generate the type tree until you resolve the problem. If only warnings occur, the import operation can still generate the type tree. However, to ensure that the reported warnings do not interfere with the requirements necessary for a valid instance document, inspect the generated type tree.

9. After the type tree generation process is complete, click Finish.

   If the type tree was generated, you are given the option to open the type tree in the Type Tree editor. The Properties view for the generated type tree contains the imported data format for the generated type tree. You can also click the type tree in the Extender Navigator view or the Navigator view to view the date and time that the import operation generated the type tree, under the Info property in the Properties view.