Summary of changes

June 2026, changes for V16R1M4

This edition of the document provides information applicable to Z Data Tools Version 16 Release 1 Modification Level 4. Here are the major changes to this document from the previous release:

Installation requirements topic for the Eclipse plug-in and VS Code Extension has been updated.

Updated instructions to the topic Installation requirements for Z Data Tools on Eclipse for generating dynamic software compatibility reports through IBM HCL Software Product Compatibility Reports (SPCR) to help users obtain the latest supported operating systems, hardware requirements, and software prerequisites.
A new Installation requirements topic has been added to Z Data Tools on VS Code, describing both host and client requirements. The existing installation requirements topic for Z Data Tools on Eclipse has been updated with current version information and references to SPCR.

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:

For enhanced security, define data set profiles for data sets allocated to the HFMAUTH DD with UACC(NONE) and encrypt these files. For more details, see Preparing for Z Data Tools Remote Services.
TSO/ISPF is the preferred environment to access CICS resources using Z Data Tools. For installations using CICS via the ZCC server environment, HFM3PRFD should specify *PASSWORD=PASSTICKET. *PASSWORD=REMEMBER will be deprecated in a future release. For more information, see the topics Checklist for installing and customizing Z Data Tools to access CICS resources and Modifying and submitting HFM3INST and HFM3PRFD.

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.
Updated the security configuration to reflect compiler behavior changes; the Facility class profile FILEM.COBOL.INTERNAL is no longer used and has been replaced by FILEM.COBOL.EXTERNAL, due to the Z Data Tools internal compiler now being the default. See Customizing for processing COBOL copybooks.
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.