Summary of changes

February 2026, changes for V16R1M3

This edition of the document provides information applicable to Z Data Tools Version 16 Release 1 Modification Level 3. Here are the major changes to this document from the previous release:

Z Data Tools has been updated to align its handling of the ISPF Packed format with the global ISPF setting Global_Disable_Pack, when a new Z Data Tools option ISPFGLBL is enabled. See ISPFGLBL:
  • A new ISPFGLBL option is introduced in the Customization Guide. When set to YES, Z Data Tools enforces ISPF global settings; when NO (default), Z Data Tools behavior remains unchanged and independent of ISPF globals.
  • If ISPF globally disables packed data:
    • Users can still read and interpret existing packed data, but cannot save or rewrite data in packed format.
    • PACK-related options and commands (PACK, PACK=ASIS) become unavailable or are ignored, and data is always saved in standard format.
  • Updated multiple User Guide sections to document the enforced behavior when ISPF packed format is restricted.
  • Enhanced panels and informational messages to clearly notify users when ISPF packed data is disabled and explain Z Data Tools resulting behavior. see Editor Options panel.
  • Added new system messages HFMBB674 - HFMBB678 to explicitly indicate when packed format usage, related commands, or options are unavailable or overridden. See Z Data Tools messages.

November 2025, changes for V16R1M2

This edition of the document provides information applicable to Z Data Tools Version 16 Release 1 Modification Level 2. Here are the major changes to this document from the previous release:

June 2025, changes for V16R1M1

This edition of the document provides information applicable to Z Data Tools Version 16 Release 1 Modification Level 1. Here are the major changes to this document from the previous release.
  • A new option has been added to use an auxiliary data set when viewing a large non-VSAM data set that will not fit into memory. See the new option in VIEWAUX.

April 2025, changes for V16R1M0 First Edition

This refresh version of Z Data Tools includes the following new support:
  • Z Data Tools provides a Microsoft Visual Studio Code extension client with an intuitive interface to access, edit, and manage data sets and files on z/OS systems. See Z Data Tools on VS Code for more details about downloading the extension.

March 2025, V16R1M0 First Edition

This edition of the document provides information applicable to Z Data Tools Version 16 Release 1 Modification Level 0. Here are the enhancements delivered with this version:
  • Z Data Tools provides updated internal COBOL and PL/I compilers with this version. Starting with this version, by default, the internal default COBOL compiler is used and additional internal compilers are provided.

    To determine which Z Data Tools COBOL compiler is to be used, a new option, ALTCOB, has been added. See ALTCOB for more information about the available COBOL compilers.

    To determine which Z Data Tools PL/I compiler is to be used, a new option, ALTPLI, has been added. See ALTPLI for more information about the available PL/I compilers.

    To discover the level of the internal PL/I compiler being used, a new command is available, SHOWPLI, from both batch and the Z Data Tools command line. See Customizing for processing PL/I include books for more information about submitting this command.
  • Z Data Tools provides the SHOWCOB command, from both batch and the Z Data Tools command line, to determine which COBOL compiler is being used, internal or external. When the Z Data Tools internal COBOL compiler is being used, more detailed messages are provided with this release to indicate why it is being used. See Customizing for processing COBOL copybooks for more information.
  • ZDT/Db2 IVP updates for supported versions of Db2 Version 12 and later. See the section Verifying the customization of ZDT/Db2 for the updates.