Getting information about data elements

Use the Data Elements view to display information about the data elements in a COBOL or PL/I program and included copybooks and include files.

About this task

The data element table is created by parsing a program and its copybooks or include files. Parsing includes real-time syntax checking of the program, and included and found copybooks and include files. The data element table can contain the following information about each data item.
  • Data item name
  • Declared level
  • Top-level structure name
  • Declaration data
  • Declaration location
  • Declaration line number
  • Number of references to the data item
  • Item type
  • Initial value
  • Full declaration
If the data element table is open and you make another request to open it, the new contents replace the current data in the view. The Data Elements view cannot be opened from a copybook or include file.

Procedure

  1. In the editor, right-click and click Show In > Data Elements.
  2. When you double-click a row in the table, the corresponding data in the source file is highlighted in the editor.
  3. Right-click in a row to open the menu. From the menu, you can do the following actions:
    • Open Declaration highlights the data item declaration in the editor.
    • Occurrences in Compilation Unit opens a hierarchy view of the program that shows the selected data element in the hierarchy.
  4. To limit the data that is shown by name, type a name pattern in the Type search text to filter by Name field. You can use the * and ? wildcard characters in the filter string. Separate multiple filter strings with commas.
  5. To add or remove columns in the table, select Columns from the toolbar menu. The Name column is always displayed. The Name column is sorted alphabetically. It can be sorted in ascending or descending order by using the sort icon on the column name field. You can change the size of a column by dragging the column header. Columns can also be dragged from one location into another.
  6. To filter data in the data element table, select Filters from the toolbar menu and then choose one of the following options:
    • Hide unnamed items filters out data items that are not named. This filter is on by default.
    • Hide program labels filters out program labels.
    • Hide implicit declarations filters out data items that are implicitly defined. This filter is on by default.
    You can choose multiple filters, but you must turn them on and off individually.
  7. To set the filters and columns to the default settings, select Reset View from the toolbar menu.
  8. To refresh the data element table automatically whenever the table is parsed successfully in the editor, select Refresh Automatically from the toolbar menu. If this option is disabled, you can refresh the table manually by using the refresh icon Refresh icon.

Feedback