Question & Answer
Question
What are the known issues, limitations, and work-arounds for using IBM z/OS Debugger 14.2 and later with COBOL 6.3?
Answer
The following table lists the issues, limitations, and available workarounds:
| Area | Mode | Type | Description | Version | Work-Around |
| Compile option | All | Limitation | IBM z/OS Debugger does not support TEST(NOSOURCE). | All | Update to z/OS Debugger 16.0 for support in remote debug mode. |
| Breakpoints | Debug Tool compatibility | Issue | When you compile with TEST(SEPARATE), breakpoints set by using AT STATEMENT might fail to restore. | All | Reset the breakpoint after the debug sessions initiates. |
| Debug Tool compatibility | Issue | There are a number of known issues and limitations with usage of COBOL paragraph breakpoints in the debugger. | 14.2 | Addressed in z/OS Debugger. See APAR PH13364 | |
| All | Limitation | When you add a watch breakpoint during remote debugging, or add an AT CHANGE breakpoint to a dynamic length elementary variable, the debugger might issue message EQA2371E Invalid breakpoint label name and does not behave as expected. | 14.2 | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 14.2.3. See APAR PH23106. | |
| Debug command | Debug Tool compatibility Full-screen | Issue | When explicit debug mode is active and you enter the LoadDebugData (LDD) command for the load module and compile unit, IBM z/OS Debugger does not find the side file for that compile unit. | All | None. |
| Debug info | All | Limitation | When compiling with TEST(SEPARATE) and by using EQADEBUG to specify the location for debug information, you cannot specify a z/OS UNIX directory. | All | None. Only a *.dbg file can be specified in z/OS UNIX. |
| Debug Tool Compatibility Full-screen | Limitation | For a COBOL 6.3 program compiled with TEST (SEPARATE), you must specify the side file location. This is because the COBOL 6.3 compiler does not store the original location of the side file in the generated load module. You can do this by specifying the EQADEBUG DD card, the SET DEFAULT LISTING command, the EQAUEDAT user exit, the SET SOURCE command, or the EQA_DBG_SYSDEBUG environment variable. | All | This is a requirement for finding side files for a COBOL 6.3 program compiled with TEST(SEPARATE). Use TEST(SEPARATE(DSNAME)). | |
| Debug Tool Compatibility Full-screen | Limitation | If the compile unit name does not match the member name for the side file, users must use the SET SOURCE command to specify the location of the side file. | All | None. This is a requirement for finding side files for a COBOL 6.3 program when the member name does not match. | |
| Full-screen | Issue | If you debug CICS and use the DTCN transaction and do not bind the Language Environment assembler exit EQADCCXT to debug programs compiled with COBOL 6.3 or later with compile options TEST(SEPARATE) or TEST(SEPARATE(DSNAME)) and move the separate debug files after compilation without specifying an EQADEBUG DD in your CICS region that points to the moved side file, the remote debug session will not start. | All | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 15.0.1. See PH31381. Choose any of the following methods:
| |
| Debug Tool Compatibility | Limitation | For COBOL 6.3 programs compiled with TEST(SEPARATE(DSNAME)), z/OS Debugger fails to display the appropriate SYSDEBUG data set name when you press PF4 during full screen debugging. | All | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 14.2.4 and 15.0.0. See APAR PH25820. | |
| Listing | Standard | Issue | When you use EQASRCE or EQA_DBG_SRCE to specify an alternate location for the source, the source is found but the name of the file in the debug editor shows the path to the location where the source was originally found. | All | Ignore the name of the source in the debug editor. |
| Stepping | Debug Tool compatibility Full-screen | Issue | After you compile with TEST(SEPARATE), an application might run to completion when you perform a Step Over for CU at initialization. | All | Use Step Into instead of Step Over. |
| Debug Tool compatibility | Issue | After you compile with the November 2018 COBOL compiler PTF (APAR PH04745/PTF UI59885), the STEP OVER command on a PERFORM statement will incorrectly step over the PERFORM statement and the statement after it. | All | See COBOL APAR PH06193. | |
| Variables | Full-screen | Issue | Using automonitor results in a syntax error when a statement contains length with a variable. For example, when automonitor is enabled, and execution is stopped on the following statement: Move length of RUNNING to dfhb0020 The automonitor incorrectly displays the following: ********** AUTOMONITOR ********** Syntax error at 'RUNNING'. DFHB0020 +00000 | All | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 14.2.1 and 15.0. |
| See COBOL APAR PH18639. | |||||
| Debug Tool compatibility | Issue | When remote debugging and using the variables view with either the Automonitor Current filter (default) or the Automonitor Previous filter, length expressions are missing from the view. | All | None. | |
| All | Limitation | UTF-8 variables are not correctly displayed when debugging. | 14.2 | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 14.2.1. See APAR PH17417. | |
| All | Limitation | Dynamic length elementary items are not correctly displayed when debugging. | 14.2 | Addressed in z/OS Debugger 14.2.2. | |
| 15.0 | See Language Environment APAR PH22063 and COBOL APAR PH21585. | ||||
| Visual Debug | Standard | Limitation | Visual Debug does not work when the source view is used. | All | None. |
| 64-bit | All | Limitation | 64-bit COBOL applications cannot be debugged. | 14.2 | Upgrade to z/OS Debugger 15.0.0 and see Limitations of 64-bit support. |
| Debug Tool compatibility | Issue | Debug sessions that use watch breakpoints with file section variables, might terminate with ABEND S0C4. | 15.0 | None. | |
| Debug Tool compatibility | Limitation | See Limitations of 64-bit support for full list of limitations. | 15.0 | None. |
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Modified date:
10 June 2026
UID
ibm11072848