Most Integrated Development Environments (IDE) are designed for local development. In the local scenario source files and development tools, such as the compiler and debugger, are expected to reside on the developer's workstation. However, if the developer wishes to use a local IDE to develop for a remote platform, this model will not work. Development tasks such as build and debug cannot be performed locally since relevant compilers and debuggers are only available on the remote system.

The solution is to use an IDE that allows development on a local IDE client which communicates back to a remote host on the target platform. The C/C++/COBOL IDE for AIX accomplishes this by leveraging existing Eclipse technologies such as C/C++ Development Tooling (CDT), Remote System Explorer (RSE) and Remote Development Tools (RDT) to provide:

• support for remote project creation
• source navigation and various source knowledge tools such as type hierarchy, call graph, include browser, macro definition browser, code editor with syntax highlighting, folding and hyperlink navigation
• access to remote file systems through RSE agent allowing for seamless local editing of remote files
• remote process handling through RSE agent
• visual debugging tools including memory, registers, and disassembly viewers
• remote debugging
• remote makefile build and support for IBM’s XL C/C++ Compiler with error feedback.

The IDE also integrates the IBM Debugger for AIX for debugging applications written in C, C++ and COBOL. It works on a Windows-based client that is connected remotely to a debugger engine running on AIX.

How does it work?

The C/C++/COBOL IDE for AIX consists of two parts: a Windows client and a host component on the AIX system. The Windows client is an Eclipse-based IDE with a programmable editor, source analysis tools and visual debugging tools. The host component is made up of the debugger engine, C/C++ parser and indexer, RSE agent, and COBOL error parser.

The client-host interaction begins when the user connects to the remote system through the IDE. This connection is established by a transport layer provided by RSE. Although C/C++/COBOL source code is edited in the editor locally, it is parsed remotely where named entities in the code are stored in an index (database) on the remote system for fast lookup. This information is retrieved from the index and used to enable C/C++ searches as well as other source analysis features such as call graphs, type hierarchy, and code navigation on the client.

When the developer is ready, he can invoke a build from the client. To initiate, the client sends a request to its remote build provider to execute build commands on the remote system. The build is then performed using the IBM XL C/C++ compiler and IBM COBOL for AIX compiler.

Similarly, the interactive source-level debugger connects remotely to the debug engine running on AIX. When it is started, the debug engine will find the source for the application. The Developer can then control execution and monitor variables, registers, memory, call stacks and other elements on the client.

This technology stems from various IBM development teams working on tools for C/C++/COBOL developers.