Welcome
Developing
Developing EGL applications
Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) is a programming language that you can use to focus on business problems instead of software technologies. Within the Rational® development environment, you can use EGL wizards and other tools to write complex applications with minimal effort.
EGL Programmer's Guide
The EGL Programmer's Guide covers using EGL within the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE), as well as some of the common programming tasks that EGL developers perform.
Contents of an EGL application
EGL applications contain projects, packages, folders, and files.
Files

Overview
Getting started
Installing
Upgrading and migrating
EGL Code Accelerator for IBD
Developing
- Model driven development of EGL code
- Generating source code from UML models
  You can use transformations to create source code from a UML model. First you must create a transformation parameters file and then apply those parameters to a model.
- Generating the EGL Dependency Graph from EGL projects
- Generating Source Code from OpenAPI Documents
- Developing EGL applications
  Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) is a programming language that you can use to focus on business problems instead of software technologies. Within the Rational® development environment, you can use EGL wizards and other tools to write complex applications with minimal effort.
  - How to use this documentation
  - Additional information about EGL
    The most recent EGL documentation is in the IBM Business Developer documentation.
  - EGL Programmer's Guide
    The EGL Programmer's Guide covers using EGL within the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE), as well as some of the common programming tasks that EGL developers perform.
    - Introduction
      These topics explain the fundamentals of using EGL in the Eclipse IDE, as well as changes to the EGL language and IDE in this version.
    - Contents of an EGL application
      EGL applications contain projects, packages, folders, and files.
      - Projects
      - Source folders
      - Packages
        Packages work like folders: they organize source files and prevent naming conflicts.
      - Files
        Creating EGL source files
        The creation process is essentially the same for most EGL source files.
        Renaming a source file
        You can use the refactoring function of the workbench to rename source files and correct references to those files.
        Moving a source file
        You can use the refactoring function of the workbench to move source files and correct references to those files.
        Deleting a source file
        You can delete a source file using the workbench.
        Creating EGL build files
        Creating an EGL deployment descriptor
        The EGL deployment descriptor provides service-binding detail when you generate a service, or a logical unit (program, library, handler, or service) that invokes a service.
      - Parts
        Parts are the building blocks of EGL applications.
      - Introduction to EGLAR files and binary projects
        An EGLAR file is a zip file that contains the compiled, intermediate representation (IR) version of one or more EGL parts.
      - Build parts
        Build parts control the generation process and set how an application will behave at run time. The kinds of build parts you need vary depending on the target platform of your application and the type of application that you have created.
      - Renaming parts
        You can use the refactoring function of the workbench to rename parts and correct references to those parts.
      - Moving parts
        You can use the refactoring function of the workbench to move parts between source files and correct references to those parts.
    - Properties
      Properties set specific options for parts. In general, you specify the properties when you create the part and then the properties are static. In certain circumstances, however, it is possible to change a property dynamically.
    - Annotating EGL Applications
      EGL developers can annotate their applications to indicate the version, authors as well as a general description.
    - Import and use statements
      Use the EGL import and use statements to expand the visibility of code elements.
    - Working with EGL code
    - Accessing data with EGL code
    - Transfer of control across programs
    - Developing segmented programs in EGL
      Different runtime environments have different considerations for developing segmented programs.
    - Developing EGL programs for the IMS™ environment
    - Developing EGL programs for the CICS® environment
      There are specific design and development considerations when creating EGL programs for CICS® for z/OS® and CICS for VSE.
    - Developing EGL programs for the VSE environment
      IBM Business Developer provides a Generation for VSE feature that you can use to generate EGL as COBOL source for the z/VSE® environment.
    - Developing programs for iSeriesC
      You can deploy EGL-generated COBOL programs targeted for the IBM® i environment.
    - Overview of EGL Logging for Java Application
    - Overview of EGL Rich UI
    - Services: a top-level overview
      The topics in this section describe service-oriented architecture (SOA) and related technologies, EGL support for SOA, and service-related procedures, with an emphasis on service access. For details about deployment, see “Introduction to EGL generation and deployment” and “Add web-service deployment entries in the EGL deployment descriptor.”
    - Generating source code from UML models
      You can use transformations to create source code from a UML model. First you must create a transformation parameters file and then apply those parameters to a model.
    - Building EGL Text User Interface applications
      A Text UI application presents a text-based user interface similar to that of a 5250 or 3270 terminal.
    - Creating reports with EGL
      EGL offers different ways to create reports, using external engines to generate the report contents.
    - Working with web transaction applications in EGL
    - Debugging EGL applications
    - EGL Unit Testing
    - z/OS Connect
  - EGL Generation Guide
    The EGL Generation Guide covers the process of converting EGL code to Java™ or COBOL source code, including the processes and the files involved. This section is intended for a developer who will generate or deploy EGL applications.
  - EGL Language Reference
    The EGL Language Reference covers the fundamental use of the language, including its concepts, syntax, and keywords. This volume is intended for a developer writing EGL applications with some experience in procedural programming.
  - Rational® COBOL Runtime Guide for zSeries®
    This manual provides information about customizing and administering the IBM® Rational® COBOL Runtime.
  - IBM Business Developer EGL Server Guide for IBM® i
    This manual provides information about customizing and administering EGL Server for IBM® i on the host.
  - Generation for VSE Feature Reference
    This reference manual provides z/VSE-specific information about developing and generating EGL programs in the VSE environment.
- Source code analysis with code review
  With code review, you can create configurations of coding rules for EGL source code. You can then run the configurations to check the source code for consistency with the rules.
- Responsive Design Support in IBD
  What is Responsive Design? Responsive design is an approach for creation of web pages that automatically scales its content and elements to match the screen size on which it is viewed. So, instead of designing multiple websites for different devices with variable screen sizes, we can design just one website that scales up or down automatically, to match the device it’s being viewed on.
- Containerizing an EGL RUI Application
Samples
Troubleshooting and support
EGL runtime error messages
Reference
Glossary
Using the help
Notices for IBM Business Developer documentation

Introduction to EGL files

The two most common types of files in an EGL project are source files and build files. EGL also uses deployment descriptors in service applications and service client applications.

Source files

Source files contain EGL source code in units called logic parts and data parts. You can have any number of logic parts and data parts in any one source file, except that you can have only one main part in a source file.

Source files have an extension of .egl and are written in EGL source format.

Build files

Build files contain information EGL uses to generate and deploy applications. Build files are written in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and have the extension .eglbld. This type of file contains build parts such as Build Descriptor parts, linkage options parts, and resource associations parts.

Whenever possible, use the build parts editor provided in the workbench to work with build parts and build files. However, it is possible to edit a build file with a text editor or XML editor.

Deployment descriptors

Deployment descriptors contain information that describes how EGL services will be made available to other applications and how EGL applications will find services provided by other applications. Deployment descriptor files have an extension of .egldd and open in the deployment descriptor editor.