What's new in TPF Toolkit 4.6

TPF Toolkit 4.6 reinvents the TPF Toolkit infrastructure to facilitate the remote development environment and to achieve platform currency and maintainability.

Before you install TPF Toolkit 4.6, ensure that you apply any prerequisite APARs. For more information, see Prerequisite APARs.

Provisioning platform (P2) mechanism for installation and update

IBM® Installation Manager is no longer used to manage the installation of new instances of the product or handle updates and modifications to existing installations. Instead, the standard Eclipse P2 mechanism is used for installation and update. By using this mechanism, you install TPF Toolkit by directly running the product package that your administrator provides.

Parallel Tools Platform (PTP) in place of the Remote System Explorer (RSE)

The Remote System Explorer (RSE) is no longer used as the mechanism for working with project files on the remote development environment. Eclipse PTP, which is a Git server under the covers, is used to synchronize files between your remote development environment and your workstation and to automatically handle remote enablement. Remote files are treated as local files in Eclipse while the Git server moves the files back and forth transparently in the background. By using the PTP mechanism, you can use the standard C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT) support to handle z/TPF code.

The use of PTP introduces the following changes to TPF Toolkit:

  • Connection to Linux® on IBM Z®

    Previously, you used the RSE to create a connection to Linux on IBM Z. In TPF Toolkit 4.6, you configure remote connections on the Remote Connections preference page. For more information, see Configuring a remote connection to Linux on IBM Z.

  • Connection to a z/TPF system

    Previously, you used the RSE to create the connection to a z/TPF system. In TPF Toolkit 4.6, you add a z/TPF system in the TPF System view. For more information, see Configuring a z/TPF system.

Note: The generic components of the RSE are still available for use in Eclipse. For more information, see Adding a remote system.

Full CDT support

Eclipse CDT, which is integrated in TPF Toolkit, provides modern editor features that help you write your application code. You are encouraged to explore CDT and try the features in your source code. For more information about using CDT to help you write code, see the following resources:

TPF project

The infrastructure of TPF projects is changed. In TPF Toolkit 4.6, TPF projects are synchronized projects in nature. Synchronized projects maintain a copy of the source code and other project files on both the local system and the remote system. When you create, delete, or change a file locally, each file is synchronized with the currently active remote system. This synchronization ensures faster interaction with the files and editor, enables more CDT editor features because the files are local, and continues interaction for editing even if the network connection is lost.

With CDT support, TPF Toolkit provides the capability to create TPF projects based on project templates. By selecting the project template that your administrator predefined according to your development environment, you can create ready-made TPF projects in only a few clicks. For more information, see Creating a TPF project.

Also, the TPF Project Navigator view is eliminated. Instead, the standard Eclipse Project Explorer view is used to display and manage TPF projects.

New wizards for XML formatted deployment descriptors

The business event wizards and other descriptor wizards that were supported in TPF Toolkit 4.2 are no longer available in TPF Toolkit 4.6. New wizards are provided for you to create deployment descriptors in XML format. Those wizards open the standard Eclipse XML editor for you to view and edit the descriptors. For more information, see Creating deployment descriptors in XML format.

Managed build system

In TPF Toolkit 4.2, the MakeTPF build solution and target environment support were built on the RSE mechanism. In TPF Toolkit 4.6, with the elimination of the RSE from remote enablement, the build solution is also redesigned. The managed build system, which is the standard Eclipse build solution, is used to integrate the MakeTPF build solution. For more information, see Building z/TPF applications.

z/TPF debugger

In TPF Toolkit 4.2, the RSE provided the connections and base functionality for the z/TPF debugger. With the RSE removed from remote enablement for TPF Toolkit 4.6, all the following default subsystems in the RSE perspective are also removed:
  • Debug subsystem
  • ECB launcher subsystem
  • ECB Monitor subsystem
  • TPF Dump Viewer subsystem

Additionally, the TPF Debug perspective is replaced with the standard Eclipse Debug perspective.

Scriptable code coverage

The code coverage tool is reinvented to service z/TPF scriptable code coverage support, which calls REST services on the z/TPF system to collect code coverage data for your source code.

For more information about scriptable code coverage support, see z/TPF scriptable code coverage support.

For more information about using code coverage in TPF Toolkit, see Analyzing code coverage.

Other removed features and components

To reduce the product size and complexity, the following features and components are removed because of low utilization or in favor of new mechanisms.

  • Performance Analyzer
  • RTC integration feature
  • z/TPF descriptor definition projects