You can use EXEC CICS statements in PL/I applications that run as transactions under CICS.
If you do not specify the PP(CICS) option, EXEC CICS statements are parsed and variable references in them are validated. If they are correct, no messages are issued as long as the NOCOMPILE option is in effect. If you do not invoke the CICS translator and the COMPILE option is in effect, the compiler will issue S-level messages.
The compiler will invoke the CICS preprocessor if you specify the CICS suboption of the PP option. For compatibility, it will also invoke the CICS preprocessor if the compiler sees any of these options: CICS, XOPT or XOPTS. However, you should not specify one of these options and also the PP(CICS) options.