New and Changed Features of Most Recent Natural Add-On Products

Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4

Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4 is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

This section describes the new features of Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4 including the features already introduced in Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.3. (available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards).

Changes to Installation

Update Required for Base Natural

Before installing Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4, you need to implement the following update in base Natural:

  • Apply the Zaps contained in the delivered NAT826.S002 data set. The #README file also contained in the source module provides further instructions.

Load Fix Required for zIIP Enabler for Natural

See Load Fix Required for License Utility.

Fix Updates for Adabas and SMARTS

  • If you want to install Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4 under SMARTS, you must upgrade to to Com-plete Version 6.8.1 CF10 with SMARTS Version 3.3.1 CF25.

  • If you want to install Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4 under Adabas Version 8.3.4, you must apply the AO834004 fix update.

Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural under Com-plete

Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface supports zIIP Enabler for Natural in a Com-plete environment since Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3. 3.

No Special Requirements with Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4

Beginning with Natural Com-plete/SMARTS Interface Version 8.3.4, zIIP Enabler for Natural can be used without the following requirements:

  • The Natural startup application must be cataloged with the Com-plete ULIB attributes PV (privileged) and AF (OS task affinity) specified. For more information, see the appropriate Com-plete documentation.

  • The number of threads and tasks for zIIP processing should be increased with the Com-plete startup parameters THREAD-GROUP and TASK-GROUP to prevent Com-plete from dispatching bottlenecks. For more information, see the appropriate Com-plete documentation.

    Specify the same number of threads and tasks for each group.

  • The Natural session must run with the following profile parameter set: 

    SKEY=ON, RELO=OFF

Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 for z/OS

Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 for z/OS is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

This section describes the new features of Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 for z/OS.

Changes to Installation

This section describes the changes to the installation procedure for Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 on z/OS.

For more information, see Installing Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 on z/OS in the Installation documentation.

Updates Required for Base Natural

Before installing Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3, you need to implement the following updates in base Natural:

  1. Copy the source modules contained in the delivered NAT826.S001 data set into your Natural source library.

  2. Apply the Zaps contained in the NAT826.S002 data set. The #README file also contained in the source module provides further instructions.

Load Fix Required for zIIP Enabler for Natural

See Load Fix Required for License Utility.

Fix Updates for Adabas

See Adabas Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural for CICS on z/OS and Adabas Add-On Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural for CICS on z/OS.

NCIPARM Module Replaced by NTCICSP Macro

The NCIPARM Natural CICS parameter module including the NCPRM macro has been replaced by the new NTCICSP macro contained in the Natural parameter module. The NTCICSP macro contains all parameters specific to the Natural CICS Interface.

In principle, the parameters provided in the NTCICSP macro correspond to the parameters previously contained in the NCIPARM module. However, the following settings have changed for the following parameters:

Old Setting New Setting
YES

NO

 ON

OFF
Parameter

BACKEND
BACKOUT
CHAP
CNTCALL
COMARET
DUPTID
FDTPX
MEMOBJR
MSGPFX
PSTRNID
RCVASYN
RESENDC
RESENDS
RJEUSER
SLCALL
SLNOHLD
SNDLAST
TRANCHK
STORVIO
TTYCNSL
UCTRAN
UNITID
USERID

For information on the NTCICSP macro, see in the TP Monitor Interfaces documentation.

New CICS Startup Parameters

The following modules are now used as CICS startup parameters for system initialization:

NCIXCALL, NCIXFATU, NCIZNEP and NCIRSFE.

The parameters of the NCIZNEP module were previously used as generation parameters.

For more information, see CICS Startup Parameters in Installing Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 on z/OS in the Installation documentation.

Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural on z/OS

Natural CICS Interface Version 8.3.3 now also supports zIIP Enabler for Natural in a CICS environment on z/OS.

For more information on zIIP support, see the zIIP Enabler for Natural documentation.

Adabas Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural for CICS on z/OS

  • zIIP enablement of the Adabas CICS Interface is provided by special-purpose libraries (ACI841.MVSLXnn) which are supplied upon request.

  • For Adabas versions lower than Version 8.3.4, the fixes AO834009, AO833015 and AO832017 must be applied to the Adabas SVC.

  • The Adabas LGBLSET parameter option UBTYPE must be set to UBTYPE=POOL (the default).

Adabas Add-On Support for zIIP Enabler for Natural for CICS on z/OS

zIIP enablement of the following Adabas add-on products requires installation of the following fix updates:

  • If Adabas Review Version 4.8.2 is installed, you need to apply the fix RD482028.

  • If Adabas System Coordinator Version 8.2.2 is installed, you need to apply the fixes MI822180 and MO822022.

  • If Adabas System Coordinator Version 8.2.2 is used in a multi-TCB environment, CORS09 must be used instead of CORS07. CORS09 is supplied on request.

  • If Adabas Fastpath Version 8.2.2 is installed, you need to apply the fix AW822049.

New MEMOBJR Parameter for Usage of CICS Memory Objects

Prerequisite: CICS TS Version 5.1 (and above)

If CICS TS Version 5.1 (and above) is installed at your site, you can use the new parameter MEMOBJR (activated by default) to allocate CICS memory objects for roll data instead of rolling data into and out of CICS main temporary storage. This avoids processing overhead since the amount of rolling commands is significantly reduced.

For more information, see MEMOBJR in NTCICSP Macro Parameters in the TP Monitor Interfaces documentation.

New TIOBSZ Parameter for Natural I/O Buffer

You can use the new parameter TIOBSZ to set the buffer size to be used for Natural terminal I/Os.

For more information, see TIOBSZ in NTCICSP Macro Parameters in the TP Monitor Interfaces documentation.

Natural Development Server Version 8.3.3

Natural Development Server Version 8.3.3 is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

Natural Development Server Version 8.3.3 provides maintenance updates and program fixes.

Installation Changes for z/VSE

The installation procedure for z/VSE has been updated: see Installing the Natural Development Server in the Natural Development Server documentation in the Documentation section of Software AG's Empower web site at https://empower.softwareag.com/.

Attached Debugging Supported for BS2000/OSD

With Natural Development Server Version 8.3.3 CF05, attached debugging with the NaturalONE debugger can now also be performed in a BS2000/OSD environment.

Prerequisite: You must apply the Zaps NA96133 and NA96144.

Additional prerequisites required for attached debugging are described in Preparing Natural for Attached Debugging in the Natural Debugger documentation.

For information on the NaturalONE debugger, see the section Using the Debugger in the NaturalONE documentation in the Documentation section of Software AG's Empower web site at https://empower.softwareag.com/.

For the changes in installation, see Installing the Natural Development Server in the Natural Development Server documentation in the Documentation section of Software AG's Empower web site at https://empower.softwareag.com/.

Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1

Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1 is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

This section describes the new features that have been implemented in the SQL statements of Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1 in support of IBM DB2 Version 12. For details on the features mentioned in this section, see the IBM SQL Reference Guide.

For the changes in installation, see Installing Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1 in the Installation documentation.

Installation: Updates Required for Base Natural

Before installing Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1, you need to implement the following updates in base Natural:

  1. Copy the source modules contained in the delivered NAT826.S001 data set into your Natural source library.

  2. Copy the load modules contained in the delivered NAT826.L004 data set into your Natural load library.

  3. Apply the Zaps contained in the NAT826.S002 data set. The #README file also contained in the source module provides further instructions.

New Compiler Option for Update of DB2 Primary Keys

With Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1, the new DB2PKYU compiler option can be used to specify whether DB2 primary keys updated in a Natural DML UPDATE statement are placed into the resulting DB2 positioned UPDATE statement.

The DB2PKYU option can be set with the CMPO profile parameter and the COMPOPT system command.

For more information, see DB2PKYU in COMPOPT in the System Commands documentation.

MERGE for Source Tables

With Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1, the MERGE statement provides the option to merge an SQL source table into an SQL target table.

In addition, MERGE supports DELETE operations of target rows and SIGNAL operations on error conditions specified as MERGE actions.

For more information, see MERGE under Natural for DB2 Version 8.4 in the Database Management System Interfaces documentation.

New Scalar Functions

Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1 now also supports the following scalar functions:

  • HASH functions (CRC32, MD5, SHA1 and SHA256),

  • GENERATE_UNIQUE_BINARY,

  • VARCHAR9 and

  • VARCHAR_BIT_FORMAT.

See also scalar-function in the section Using Natural Statements and System Variables under Natural for DB2 Version 8.4 in the Database Management System Interfaces documentation.

New Aggregate Functions

Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1 now also supports the following aggregate functions:

  • MEDIAN and

  • PERCENTILE_CONT, PERCENTILE_DISC.

See also column-function in the section Using Natural Statements and System Variables under Natural for DB2 Version 8.4 in the Database Management System Interfaces documentation.

Row Count for Result Limit in SELECT and DELETE

With Natural for DB2 Version 8.4.1, the FETCH FIRST clauses of the SELECT and DELETE statements provide the option to specify a numeric variable that limits the number of rows returned in a table.

In addition, the OFFSET clause of the SELECT statement can be used to specify the number of rows to be omitted before the next FETCH cycle.

See also SELECT under Natural for DB2 Version 8.4 and Searched DELETE under Natural for DB2 Version 8.4 in the Database Management System Interfaces documentation.

Natural for DB2 Version 8.3.3

Natural for DB2 Version 8.3.3 is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

Natural for DB2 Version 8.3.3 provides maintenance updates and program fixes.

Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.4

Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.4 is available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards.

This section describes the new features of Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.4 including the features already introduced in Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.3. (available from Natural Version 8.2.6 onwards).

Support for BS2000/OSD

Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3. is available on BS2000/OSD since Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.3.

For the changes in installation, see Installing the Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.4 on BS2000/OSD in the Installation documentation.

Support for IBM Architecture Level 11

Architecture levels are used to employ new instructions available with IBM hardware facilities in order to enhance the performance of generated code (see the related literature from IBM).

The ARCH option of Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3. supports IBM Architecture Level 11 on z/OS and z/VSE platforms since Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.3.

When using Architecture Level 11, you can improve the performance of specific Natural statements with arithmetic variable operations.

For the requirements and restrictions that apply, see Support for Architecture Level 11 in the section ARCH Option in Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3 - Documentation Updates (Natural Optimizer Compiler documentation).

Enhanced Arithmetic Operations for IBM Architecture Levels 10 and 11

With Natural Optimizer Compiler Version 8.3.4, the use of IBM Architecture Levels 10 and 11 benefits from an improved set of arithmetic operations calculated with decimal floating point (DFP) instructions which now also covers the following operations for packed numeric (format P) and numeric unpacked (format N) fields:

  • DIVIDE operations such as COMPUTE #P3 := 7 / 3,

  • Rounding operations such as COMPUTE ROUNDED #P3 := 1.3 + 1.4.

Natural Web I/O Interface Server Version 8.3.3

Natural Web I/O Interface Server Version 8.3.3 is available from Natural for Mainframes Version 8.2.6 onwards.

Natural Web I/O Interface Server Version 8.3.3 provides maintenance updates and program fixes.