What's new for Language Environment® for z/OS Version 1 Release 10

For z/OS Version 1 Release 10, Language Environment has the following changes:

• Ease of use

   

  • CEEROPT enhancements

    CEEROPT is expanded so that it can now be loaded outside of the CICS and LRR environments.

    This support is controlled by using keywords in CEEPRMxx parmlib members.

    For more details, see z/OS Language Environment Customization.

  • Tool for checking the syntax of CEEPRMxx members

    Language Environment is enhanced to provide a tool for syntax checking of one or more CEEPRMxx members of PARMLIB before attempting to activate them.

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Customization.

  • IBM Health Checker for z/OS and Sysplex support

    Support is added to verify the use of parmlib members for Language Environment on z/OS Version 1 Releases 8, 9, and 10. The check is to verify that at least one parmlib member is defined and at least one option group is in use. It reports on which option groups are in use.

    For more information, see IBM Health Checker for z/OS: User's Guide.

• Performance

  Performance is enhanced with the following:

  • Heap pools performance improvements

    Enhancements are made to reduce contention when heap pool cells are allocated and freed.

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Customization and z/OS Language Environment Programming Reference.

    For usage tips, see z/OS Language Environment Programming Guideand z/OS Language Environment Programming Guide for 64-bit Virtual Addressing Mode.

    For more information on heap pools, see z/OS Language Environment Debugging Guide.

  • AMODE 64 support for HEAPPOOLS

    Language Environment provides support for the HEAPPOOLS run-time option in AMODE 64 applications. This allows AMODE 64 applications that use __malloc31() to exploit the optional heap pools algorithm to manage 31-bit user heap storage (above the 16MB line and below the 2GB bar).

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Run-Time Application Migration Guide, z/OS Language Environment Customization, and z/OS Language Environment Programming Reference.

    For usage tips, see z/OS Language Environment Programming Guide for 64-bit Virtual Addressing Mode.

    For more information on heap pools, see z/OS Language Environment Debugging Guide.

  • Performance improvement for I/O

    The Language Environment C/C++ run-time library provides support to improve I/O performance in multithreaded C/C++ applications. A new keyword, samethread, is added to the fopen() function. The unlocked() family of functions is expanded.

    For more information, seez/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference.

  • Middleware performance improvement

    Language Environment now provides a way to save and restore the stack pointer when not running on the Language Environment stack. This can be used by vendors in middleware and Assembler programs to achieve better optimization because another register is available.

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Debugging Guide and z/OS Language Environment Vendor Interfaces.

• Reliability, availability, and serviceability

  Language Environment is enhanced to provide the following:

  • IPCS LEDATA for C control blocks

    Language Environment debugging is enhanced to show the format of specific control blocks in the IPCS LEDATA report.

    A new report-type parameter, COMP, is added to LEDATA. This new parameter gives the user flexibility to format component-specific control blocks.

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Debugging Guide.

  • SDUMP serviceability

    Language Environment in AMODE 64 now assigns a dump priority to each memory object that is obtained. This priority helps to ensure that information important for problem determination, such as stacks and control blocks, is available in a partial dump.

    A Memory Object Services function, __moservices(), is also provided. This function allows a user to get and detach memory objects with a user-defined dump priority, and also to set the dump priority for shared memory.

    For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Programming Guide for 64-bit Virtual Addressing Mode. For information on pthread stack tuning considerations, see z/OS Language Environment Programming Reference and z/OS Language Environment Customization.

    For information on the __moservices() function, see z/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference.

• Security enhancements

  Language Environment provides the following security enhancements:

  • Password phrase support

    The C/C++ run-time library functions __login(), __passwd(), and pthread_security_np() are updated to provide password phrase support.

    For more information, see z/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference.

  • Specifying applid for services accepting passtickets

    C/C++ runtime library APIs are added that accept an application identifier (APPLID) in addition to the existing arguments for the functions __login(), __passwd(), and pthread_security_np(). New versions of these functions are provided to allow specification of an APPLID.

    For more information, see descriptions of APPLID inz/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference.

• Decimal floating-point (DFP) support

  Additional support is provided in the C/C++ run-time library for decimal floating-point based on the ISO Technical Report draft.

  For more information, see z/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference .

• Virtual storage constraint relief

  The amount of below-the-line storage used by Language Environment is reduced.

  For more information, see z/OS Language Environment Run-Time Application Migration Guide and z/OS XL C/C++ Compiler and Run-Time Migration Guide for the Application Programmer.

• Support for the compare and trap data exception

  Language Environment is enhanced to provide information to condition handling routines so that they can detect that a compare and trap data exception has occurred.

  For more information, see the "compare and trap" topic in z/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference .

• Support for zFS file system status

  Language Environment provides support by using the w_getmntent() function to obtain status information about the zFS physical file system (PFS).

  For more information, see z/OS XL C/C++ Run-Time Library Reference.