Creating an IBM i language definition

Create a language definition to specify the translator performed on each member during a build, and to specify the scanners used to collect source code data about dependencies.

1. If you have not already done so, from the Team Artifacts view, select your repository connection and log in to your IBM® i project area.
2. Expand your team node, then Enterprise Extensions > System Definitions > IBM i > Language Definitions.
3. Right-click the Language Definitions node and select New Language Definition.
   The Language Definition editor opens with three tabs: General, Scanners, and History.
4. In the Name field, give your new language definition a name.
5. On the General tab, in the Language field, select the language (code) that your language definition should use.
6. In the File Extensions field, indicate all the file extensions you want to associate with this language definition; for example, cbl for COBOL files.
   If you provide extensions here, and if the extensions do not already have explicit language definitions associated with them, any files that have those extensions are associated with this language definition.
7. Optional: In the Description field, briefly describe your language definition.
8. Optional: If you made changes to this language definition that do not require a full analysis of buildable files, click the Ignore changes to this system definition for dependency builds check box.
   For more information about analysis of buildable files, see Running dependency builds on z/OS and IBM i systems.
9. Optional: Select Do not calculate impacted files to prevent the calculation of impacted files when performing dependency analysis.
10. In the Translators field, specify and arrange the build order of the translators you want to define for this language definition.
    Note: You can also select one or more translators, or specify a particular build property to associate with your new language definition that will call on a particular translator when you run a build. These options are available when you click Add in the Translators section of the Language Definition wizard.

    If you want to run any translator conditionally, specify the condition for the translator that must be met before the translator can run. Conditions should be specified as Ant conditions, such as <ac:islessthan arg1="1" arg="2">. Each time the language definition runs, the condition is evaluated to determine whether the translator should be run. The following notes apply when conditional translators are used:

    Notes:

    • To use conditions for translators, you must install the version 6.0.5 Build System Toolkit that provides the Ant build toolkit. If you use the Build System Toolkit from a previous version, errors occur.
    • Trust outputs must be true.
    • Preview builds might not accurately represent what would really happen in a build, because the preview build cannot always predict the correct system definitions to use. If you have multiple translators or properties defined, the first artifact defined is used. However, if a non-conditional artifact is defined, that one is used, and all conditional artifacts with the same name are skipped.
11. In the Properties field, you can specify properties, values, and optional conditions for the language definition. The specified properties are similar to build properties, but only apply to the language definitions; they do not apply to the rest of the build. Conditions should be specified as Ant conditions, such as <ac:islessthan arg1="1" arg="2">.
    Note: If a property and a build property have the same name, the language definition property overrides the build property while the language definition is running. After the language definition completes, the build property is set to the original value.
12. On the Scanners tab, in the Source Code Scanners section, specify which scanners you want to run against source code that is associated with this language definition.
    If you do not want to use the default scanner, you can add or remove scanners. Use Up and Down to rearrange the scanners.

    For more information about specifying scanners, see Specifying a source code data scanner.

13. In the Dependency Types field, specify the dependency types supported by this language definition. Make sure you also specify the translators that resolve each dependency type.
    You can add, edit, or remove dependency types and translators using the appropriate buttons.
14. On the History tab, you can see all changes made over time by different users to the language definition. You can review the state of the language definition at any point in time, which is useful for debugging and fixing dependency build problems.
15. Click Save to save your new language definition.