Mainframe Assessment Tool release notes

This page contains release notes for features and updates to Mainframe Assessment Tool.

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December 05, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.5.0 is available with the following new features and improvements:

  • The high-level design for the generated code is available for COBOL, Easytrieve, and HSLASM programs in the new Suggested design tab.
  • Enhanced quality of Q&A responses.
  • Standardized column and filter names in the Discovery tab.

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.5.0 fixes the following issues:

  • Numerous COBOL parsing issues.
  • Improved parsing of non-UTF-8 encoded COBOL files.
  • Improved handling of AI analyses with long duration.

November 14, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.4.0 is available with the following new features and improvements:

  • Significant specification improvements for COBOL and JCL.
  • Significant code suggestion improvements.
  • Code suggestions for HLASM and EZT.
  • Ability to provide tech stack guidance for suggested code.
  • Improved surfacing of code generation issues.
  • Assessment progress indication.
  • Cross-assessment LLM response cache, and a Clear LLM Cache operation on the settings page to purge cached responses.
  • Support for Vertex AI cached context to improve performance and reduce costs.
  • Parsing performance improvements.
  • Presenting LINK commands as part of CICS calls.

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.4.0 fixes the following issues:

  • Numerous COBOL parsing issues.
  • DB concurrency issues.
  • Incorrect description of paragraphs that include EXIT PROGRAM statement.
  • Incorrectly displaying variable names instead of programs names under call dependency, in some cases.
  • Providing a large assessment description resulted with an internal error.

October 14, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.4 is available with the following new features:

  • Parsing enhancement of COBOL, JCL and copybooks.
  • Improved program-level specifications for COBOL, Easytrieve and Assembler.
  • Improved surfacing of missing data issues.
  • Added an option to customize advanced AI configuration, such as the model and the level of the generated details.
  • Add an option to filter by a program or job status in the AI tab.
  • Precision and performance improvements by leveraging the latest Gemini 1.5 models.

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.4 fixes the following issues:

  • Filtering in the Data Lineage and Driver Modules tabs.
  • Numerous stability issues.

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.4 has the following open issue:

  • When working with multiple assessments, tab filters in the Discovery view don't work as expected. When adding and removing filters, data may appear from multiple assessments. To resolve this, either re-apply filters for the relevant assessment, or exit the Discovery view and return to it, which will clear the filters.

September 18, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.2 is available with the following new features:

  • The Missing Modules tab now reports missing dataset schemas.

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.2 fixes the following issues:

  • For JCLs that have steps that are referring to Procedures (PROCs), if a PROC doesn't exist, Mainframe Assessment Tool skips that PROC and continues with specification generation for the rest of the JCL.
  • Fixed numerous stability and performance issues.

September 09, 2024

The following is an open known issue with Mainframe Assessment Tool 1.3.1:

  • For JCLs that have steps that are referring to Procedures (PROCs), if a PROC doesn't exist, an error appears in the AI [Experimental] tab, and specifications generation fails for that JCL.

September 05, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.1 is available with the following new features:

  • Added AI-generated summarization for ASM and EZT programs.
  • Added visualization of copybook dependencies.
  • Added information about parsing issues.
  • Added information about orphan programs (programs that are neither called nor call another program).
  • Added icons in the AI tab to indicate the program type.
  • Improved file parsing performance.
  • Added resolution of TSO program executions in JCL programs.

July 18, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.0 is available with the following new features:

  • Enhanced Call Dependency graph to include dependencies between Jobs, Programs, and Procedures.
  • Added information about CICS calls used in each program.
  • Added information about JCL Substitution Parameters.
  • Added AI-generated summary describing how program outputs are calculated.
  • Added the Verify Connectivity button that allows to confirm access to the Google Cloud resources required for AI features.
  • Added the Create Support Bundle button to collect the necessary troubleshooting information that can be shared with the support team.

The following issue is fixed in Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.3.0:

  • Parsing issues for COBOL and JCL.

June 19, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool version 1.2.3 is available with the following new features:

  • Improved program-level and job-level summarization.
  • Added support for the latest Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models.
  • Improved troubleshooting information for AI analysis issues.
  • Added top-level category tree in the AI tab.

Fixed numerous parsing issues for COBOL and JCL.

May 09, 2024

Several improvements to the AI capabilities:

  • The experimental Q&A tab is available, which lets you use natural language to ask general questions about the imported code.
  • Integration with Gemini 1.0 Ultra is available.
  • SQL stored procedure code generation for JCL jobs is available.

Improved PDF export through better rendering and compression.

Improved support for COBOL extensions (DATACOM).

The following issues were fixed:

  • Improve error handling in case of LLM errors and timeouts.
  • Allow for larger LLM output and handle cases where the size exceeds the allowed size.
  • PROC file detection errors for files with no extension.

March 25, 2024

Mainframe Assessment Tool is now in Preview.