Feature Improvements
Technology support changes
Please see Technology coverage changes in CAST AIP 8.3.x for more detailed discussion of this subject.
Analysis Units for .NET Core Projects
In previous releases of CAST AIP, the discoverer for .NET ignored .NET projects of type .NET Core. They were discovered but not selected in the package in the CAST Delivery Manager Tool. In CAST AIP ≥ 8.3.5, projects of type .NET Core are now automatically "selected" in the CAST Delivery Manager Tool. As a consequence, when a user performs the Set as Current Version action in the CAST Management Studio, the .NET Core projects are imported and corresponding Analysis Units are created. Therefore, measures such as Lines of Code or Commented Code Lines will increase in a snapshot. Similarly, new quality rule violations can be found in the source code that is now analyzed. The exact impact on analysis results depends on the version of the .NET Analyzer extension that is used for the analysis and the level of support for .NET Core that the extension provides. Please refer to the extension documentation.
If you do not want .NET Core projects to be analyzed and results modified (with regard to a previous snapshot when in an upgrade scenario), please unselect .NET Core Analysis Units in the CAST Management Studio, after performing the Set as Current Version option.
PL/SQL
A limitation involving the display of syntax errors in the analysis log has been removed in CAST AIP 8.3.5. Previously, when the analyzer encountered superfluous parentheses in the source code, a syntax error was displayed in the analysis log. This syntax is now handled by the analyzer. See the limitation here: SQL - Technical notes and limitations.
Installation and deployment
Upgrade - batch file changes
The upgrade batch files (see Automating the CAST AIP Upgrade process) has been modified as follows:
- a new option "<discoverers_to_enable>" is available in CASTUpgrade_Schemas.txt to enable specific discoverers on existing CAST Delivery Manager Tool packages (i.e. those that are being upgraded). In normal circumstances, no discoverer is enabled for existing CAST Delivery Manager Tool packages (to eliminate the impact to post-upgrade snapshot results), however in some circumstances, it is desirable to enable a particular discoverer. You can enable discoverers for the Web Files Discoverer and the DMT Framework Scanner. See Automating the CAST AIP Upgrade process for more information.
- a new option "INSTALL_CUSTOM_UA_LEGACY" is available in CASTUpgrade_Steps.txt. It enables you to choose whether any custom legacy language packs that are present in <CAST_ALL_USERS_PATH>\configuration\languages where <CAST_ALL_USERS_PATH> is the value defined in the CastGlobalSettings.ini file (the default value is %PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\CAST\<version>) will be installed as part of the upgrade. Set to N (default) to ignore these legacy language packs, or Y to install them as part of the upgrade process.
CAST Management Studio
GUI
Discoverers to activate option
A new option has been added to the Add version dialog box called Discoverers to activate. This option is visible when you are adding a new Version based on an existing version. It allows you to specify the discoverers you would like to enable in the existing packages that will be copied into the new Version (in normal circumstances, newly installed discoverers are not enabled by default for existing packages (only for new packages)):
You can enter either any of the following (if you enter multiple discoverers, separate them with a semi-colon - ; ):
- "HTML5 project" (Web Files Discoverer)
- "XML scanner" (DMT Framework Scanner)
Note that when the "HTML5 project" option is used, the feature is specifically targeted for CAST AIP upgrades when you are generating the post-upgrade consistency snapshot and need to enable specific discoverers in existing packages to maintain consistency.
CLI
AutomateVersion
An new parameter has been added to the AutomateDelivery option, called -discoverers. This allows you to specify the discoverers you would like to enable in the existing packages that will be copied into the new Version. You can select "HTML5 project" (Web Files Discoverer) and "XML scanner" (DMT Framework Scanner). See Automating CAST Management Studio tasks for more information.
Note that when the "HTML5 project" option is used, the feature is specifically targeted for CAST AIP upgrades when you are generating the post-upgrade consistency snapshot and need to enable specific discoverers in existing packages to maintain consistency.
CAST Delivery Manager Tool
GUI
First Package Date
A new field is displayed at Version level to indicate the very first time the packaging action was run on the Version. If the Version has not yet been packaged, then nothing is displayed. This field will always show the very first date/time the package action was run on the Version - even if multiple package actions have been run:
CAST Transaction Configuration Center
GUI
AETP: Export List of Objects
The list of objects involved in an AETP calculation that can be exported via the option available in the Enhancement node has been modified. In previous releases, this option incorrectly included objects belonging to a transaction's call graph that had been deleted (from the code). The export option has now been corrected and deleted artifacts are no longer included.
Resolved Issues
The following table lists all bugs fixed in CAST AIP 8.3.5
| Call ID | Technology | Component/s | Features | Situation | Symptoms | Internal ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10791 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis - Run Data Flow Security Analysis | When comparing User Input Security results in the legacy CAST Engineering Dashboard and the raw BuildAgent.flaw file. | There are differences between the two whereas they should be identical. | SCRAIP-32544 | ||
| 10882 | CMS Application - Universal Importer | When running a query using the Universal Importer content enrichment tool. | The query takes a very long time to complete, whereas the same query run "raw" against the database completes very quickly. | SCRAIP-32540 | ||
| 11070 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When attempting to run an analysis using the Python extension. | The following warning is shown in the log file: "Job execution end of string '"' not found." | SCRAIP-32541 | ||
| 11100 | When looking at the results of the Quality Rule "Avoid too many copy pasted artifacts - 7156". | The number of objects violating this Quality Rule varies in successive snapshots, despite the source code not changing. | SCRAIP-32538 | |||
| 11228 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When attempting to analyze ProC with the C++ Analyzer embedded in CAST AIP. | Syntax errors are visible in the analysis log during the external link processing step. | SCRAIP-31647 | ||
| 11272 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When looking a the results of a PowerBuilder analysis. | There are missing links between objects. | SCRAIP-32536 | ||
| 11345 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis - Run Analyzer | When looking at the results of a Mainframe analysis, specifically with regard to the Quality Rule "When using binary data items (COMP), then use the SYNCHRONIZED clause - 7938". | This Quality Rule is being falsely violated despite the fact that the violating object has not been analyzed. | SCRAIP-32539 | ||
| 11346 | Delivery Manager Tool | When attempting to package (with the CAST Delivery Manager Tool) a JEE application that uses a non standard "webapp" folder location and name. | The DMT does not detect the webapp folder and raises alerts about missing folders. | SCRAIP-32535 | ||
| 11363 | When looking at the results of a SAP/ABAP analysis. | Unresolved objects have been incorrectly created for the keywords "wd_this" and "wd_assist". These are ABAP keywords and should not be identified as unresolved objects. | SAP-100 | |||
| 11364 | When looking at the results of a SAP/ABAP analysis. | Unresolved objects have been incorrectly created for the keyword "ANY". This is an ABAP keyword and should not be identified as anunresolved object. | SAP-101 | |||
| 11366 | When looking at the results of a SAP/ABAP analysis. | Unresolved objects have been incorrectly created for the keywords "wd_this". This is an ABAP keyword and should not be identified as an unresolved object. | SAP-99 | |||
| 11398 | When looking at the results of the Quality Rule "Avoid artifacts having recursive calls" - 7388 with regard to SAP / ABAP. | The Quality Rule incorrectly flags a violation because the ABAP method is is incorrectly identified as calling itself. | SAP-98 | |||
| 11813 | Setup | When using CAST Enlighten and attempting to use the option "view links for objects" in the "Properties" panel. The following error appears on Enlighten: "Your CAST Application Mining Suite was not correctly installed. Please register manualy UsrMsg.dll component or reinstall CAST Application Mining Suite." | The following error appears: "Your CAST Application Mining Suite was not correctly installed. Please register manually UsrMsg.dll component or reinstall CAST Application Mining Suite." | SCRAIP-32534 | ||
| 12133 | When analyzing VB6 source code and creating a Reference Pattern search string on the VB6 technology. | No entries are raised when running / checking the Reference Pattern search string results. | SCRAIP-32531 | |||
| 12152 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When attempting to generate a snapshot. | The step "Compute analysis full content" takes a lot longer in CAST AIP 8.2.8 than in previous releases, with no change in source code. | SCRAIP-32532 | ||
| 12164 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis - Run Analyzer | When looking at the results of a Mainframe Cobol analysis. | Links are incorrectly created from paragraphs containing EXIT statements to the next SECTION in the file. | SCRAIP-31872 | ||
| 12241 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis - Compute Snapshot | When comparing the results of a snapshot in AAD and AED. | There is a difference in the number of violation for several Technical Criteria between the two dashboards due the presence of shared objects (i.e. shared between Analysis Units). | SCRAIP-32533 | ||
| 12274 | Transaction Configuration Center (TCC) | When looking at the results of an analysis/snapshot in the CAST Transaction Configuration Center. | The calculation of AETP (Automated Enhancement Technical Points) and CF (Complexity Factors) is incorrect: - AETP values take deleted transactions into account. So displayed values are higher than the correct values. The amount of the error depends on the number of deleted transactions and their respective sizes. - CF values are incorrect due the use of Floating-Point Types in the CAST AIP algorithms which return rounded values on CAST Storage Service. | SCRAIP-32261 | ||
| 12330 | CMS Assessment model | When looking at the documentation for the rule Avoid redundant indexes -7346. | The rule documentation needs updating to explain that Primary Keys are treated as indexes for this rule. | SCRAIP-32127 | ||
| 12332 | CMS Assessment model | When looking at the documentation for the rule "Avoid too many Indexes on one Table - 7348". | The documentation does not state that Primary Keys are considered as indexes for the purpose of this rule. | SCRAIP-32128 | ||
| 12407 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When looking at the value for the number of lines of code displayed in the CAST dashboards with regard to Mainframe Cobol source code. | The value appears to be incorrect when nested Cobol Programs are involved, i.e. the lines of code for the nested Cobol Programs is being counted twice, i.e. once as Cobol Programs and once as nested Cobol Programs. | SCRAIP-32164 | ||
| 12408 | Source extractors | When looking at the set of extractors delivered with CAST AIP. | The DB2 z/OS extractor is still delivered with the CAST AIP setup and should not be since it is not used anymore. | SCRAIP-32162 | ||
| 12446 | Application Engineering Dashboard (AED) | When looking at the results of the Quality Rule "Do not use auto wiring -7714". | The Quality Rule reports more failed checks than total checks. | SCRAIP-32528 | ||
| 12453 | Delivery Manager Tool | When using the CAST Delivery Manager Tool to discover a JEE Maven based project. | The DMT shows alerts for missing "webapp" folders, despite the folders not being present in the source code. | SCRAIP-32253 | ||
| 12487 | CAST Management Studio (CMS) | When attempting to use the manual lock mechanism for the CAST Management Studio (CMS_LOCKS) table. | Running the query to activate the lock does not lock CMS. | SCRAIP-32527 | ||
| 12558 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When looking at the results of the the rules "Avoid SQL queries that no index can support - 7902" and "Avoid SQL queries on XXL tables that no index can support - 7904". | The rules are incorrectly producing violations for the Mainframe Cobol technology. | SCRAIP-32406 | ||
| 12646 | CMS Infrastructure/Services | When attempting to use the CAST Management Studio CLI option "DeleteSnapshotsInList". | The CLI fails with a null pointer error. | SCRAIP-32435 | ||
| 12754 | Delivery Manager Tool | When using the CAST Delivery Manager Tool via the CLI. | The Delivery Report is not generated. | SCRAIP-32141 | ||
| 12817 | Server Manager | Upgrade from 8.2.5 to 8.3.4 using the upgrade script. | The upgrade scripts starts but the upgrade does not complete and does not throw any error. The issue is caused by the path to the script file: the path contains "\t" which is handled as a tab space. | SCRAIP-32652 | ||
| 12836 | CMS Snapshot/Analysis - Run Analyzer | When looking at the log following a Mainframe analysis. | The log contains the error "Abnormal situation during copybook expansion". | SCRAIP-32664 | ||
| 12895 | CMS Assessment model | Looking at the documentation for the rule "Avoid unchecked return code (SQLCODE) after EXEC SQL query - 7690". | The rule documentation needs to be updated to explain that when SQLCODE check occurs immediately after the execution of the SQL query using another section (using perform statement) there is no violation. | SCRAIP-32725 | ||
| 12989 | When attempting to use a custom tile with the "CustomExpressions" feature in the CAST Health Dashboard (cmp.json). | The tile continually times out and does not display any content. | SCRAIP-32834 | |||
| 13030 | When attempting to use the Extension Downloader from the CLI. | The command line repeatedly requests the authentication credentials despite the fact that they are included in the CLI. | SCRAIP-32843 | |||
| 13068 | Delivery Manager Tool | After upgrade to CAST AIP 8.3.x of an Application using the "JEE Maven Http Extractor" extension. | The URL entered into the "Repository URL" field in the CAST Delivery Manager Tool has been deleted during the upgrade. | SCRAIP-32777 | ||
| When upgrading to CAST AIP 8.3.x. | It is not possible to enable the Web Files Discoverer extension during the upgrade. | SCRAIP-32658 | ||||
| When upgrading to CAST AIP 8.3.x | It is not possible to activate the Web Files Discoverer extension during the upgrade. | SCRAIP-32659 | ||||
| CMS Snapshot/Analysis | When generating a snapshot. | The snapshot generation gets stuck on the step "Run Procedure AED_TREE_RANKING2" and takes a long time to complete. | SCRAIP-32795 |
