IBM IMS® Explorer for VS Code

Visualizing DBDs and PSBs and advanced search

Overview

IMS Explorer for VS Code provides interactive hierarchical visualization of DBDs and PSBs, allowing you to visually navigate database structures and view segment relationships.

Accessing Visualization

From IMS Connections View

  1. Expand an IMS database connection in the IMS Connections view.
  2. Right-click a DBD or PSB.
  3. Select Visualize DBD or Visualize PSB.

From IMS Projects View

  1. Expand an IMS project containing imported DBDs or PSBs.
  2. Right-click a DBD or PSB file.
  3. Select Visualize DBD or Visualize PSB.

Visualization Features

Interactive Navigation

  • Expand segments to view child segments and fields.
  • Click segments to highlight and focus on specific areas.
  • Navigate hierarchical relationships visually.

Zoom Controls

  • Zoom In: Magnify the visualization for detailed inspection.
  • Zoom Out: View the entire structure at once.
  • Reset View: Return to default zoom and position.

Multiple View Modes

Switch between different views using tabs or context menu:

  • Visualization: Interactive hierarchical diagram.
  • Source Code: View the original source code.
  • DDL: View the Data Definition Language.
  • Table: View segments and fields in tabular format.

Use cases

  • Understand database structure and relationships.
  • Navigate complex hierarchies visually.
  • Identify segment dependencies and parent-child relationships.
  • Review database design before making changes.

The DBD and PSB table views include an advanced search feature that lets you find related definitions across your IMS catalog.

Finding referenced PSBs and DBDs

  1. In the IMS Connections view, expand a database connection to display the DBD or PSB table view.
  2. Select the overflow menu ( ⋯ ) for any DBD or PSB entry.
  3. Choose Find referenced PSBs (for a DBD) or Find referenced DBDs (for a PSB).
  4. Results are displayed in a nested table showing all related definitions.

Importing referenced DBDs and PSBs into IMS projects

You can use the advanced search results to import referenced DBDs and PSBs directly into an IMS project.

  1. Run an advanced search as described above.
  2. In the results table, select the DBDs or PSBs you want to import.
  3. Select Import to add the selected definitions to your IMS project.

This lets you quickly populate an IMS project with all the dependencies needed for a given database or program specification block.