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June 22, 2026

# Zengines Assist - Variable Summaries

**Zengines Assist - Variable Summaries** explain what a program data item does and how it participates in processing—without manually following every assignment and SQL statement. They are especially useful for **top variables** (record-level groups) and key fields inside them.

### Where to find it

1. Open **Explore** → **Variables** tab (often via a link from **Modules**, **Fields**, or **Jobs**).
2. Select a variable to open its detail view.
3. Click **Summary**.

Generation usually takes a few seconds.

### What to expect

When you click **Summary**, you get a short plain-English read of what that variable does in the program—often enough to orient yourself before tracing in Explore.

Click **Tell Me More** for a longer **AI summary**. Expanded content is grouped into themes such as (wording may vary by release):

- **Purpose** — Business meaning and role of the variable
- **Implementation** — How logic sets, moves, and tests it
- **Execution context** — Paragraphs or subroutines where it matters
- **Data lineage** — Where the value comes from and where it goes, with links to **copybooks**, **tables**, **files**, and related **variables**

Summaries can describe flow across a program (and related modules) in one narrative—useful when manual point-and-click tracing would take longer. You should still use **Explore** links to verify paths that matter for compliance or migration decisions.

### Summary and Tell Me More

| Step | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Summary** | Brief statement—for example, that a field is an account identifier used as part of a key |
| **Tell Me More** | Longer **AI summary** with the themes listed above |

### Hyperlinks in summaries

**Tell Me More** content links to **tables**, **files**, **copybooks**, and other **variables** mentioned in the narrative. Use them to pivot into deterministic detail.

### When to use Zengines Assist - Variable Summaries

- You landed on a field from the **Fields** tab and need the COBOL story behind one column.
- A **top variable** represents a file or table record and you want the whole group explained.
- Manual edge-to-edge tracing is correct but slow; run **Summary**, then confirm the highest-risk edges in Explore.

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