IBM Software Group

CICS and WAS Integration Options

Russ Heald
IBM Software Services for WebSphere, Hursley
healdr@uk.ibm.com

© 2004 IBM Corporation

 IBM Software Group

Acknowledgements

ƒ The following are trademarks of International Business Machines

Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both: IBM, CICS,
CICS/ESA, CICS TS, CICS Transaction Server, DB2, MQSeries,
OS/390, S/390, WebSphere, z/OS, zSeries, Parallel Sysplex.
ƒ Java, JavaBeans, and all Java-based trademarks and logos are
trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other
countries, or both.
ƒ Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other
countries, or both.
ƒ Other company, product, and service names and logos may be
trademarks or service marks of others.

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Agenda
ƒ What is e-business and how does CICS relate to it?
ƒ Three styles of Enterprise Transformation

ƒ What CICS assets can be transformed

ƒ HATS, Link3270 bridge

ƒ e-business access to CICS programs

ƒ Which architecture should I use to connect to CICS?

ƒ Strategic options to access CICS

SOAP J2EE JCA J2EE Enterprise JavaBean
WebSphere MQ HTTP TCP/IP sockets

ƒ Comparison table and conclusion

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What is e-Business and how does CICS relate to it?

Pervasive
Devices

9Over 30 years and $1 Trillion

invested in Applications ... IDC Combining the reliability and
9Over $1 trillion processed/day security of CICS software with the
9Over 30 billion transactions/day flexibility of e-business technology
9Most people use CICS

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Increased financial pressures require greater flexibility

from business models and supporting IT architecture
Flexible Business Models

Transformation
Business Process Outsourcing Composable
Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures Processes

Requires
Flexible IT Architecture
On demand Operating Environment
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Composable
Development Infrastructure Management Services
Software Integration Infrastructure
Development Management

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Three styles of Enterprise Transformation

Increase business process flexibility & create business value

“Innovate” by restructuring
Business Value

applications for greater

flexibility.
a te Create new and differentiated
o v solutions.
n
In

a pt “Adapt” for broader

A d connectivity.
Develop customer, partner

rove and supplier relationships.

Imp
“Improve” the user
experience.
Quick ROI.

Business Process Flexibility

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What CICS assets can be transformed?

ƒ CICS COMMAREA programs

Request + response via the COMMunications AREA
Similar to subroutines
Typically stateless
Typically CICS manages transactional scope + security

ƒ CICS terminal-oriented programs aka 3270 programs

Single interaction or pseudo-conversational
Basic Mapping Support (BMS) used to abstract static + dynamic data
Application data structure (ADS) used to describe the dynamic data

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Style to Technology Mapping

Display Integrate
CICS TG
IMS Connect
MQIAC
XML, SOAP
HATS
1 2 2
3270/5250 Data
Data Structure
CICS Web Stream
1 2
Support
Screen Maps

CICS Link3270
Existing Applications (CICS, IMS, …)
3
WSAA, WSED, Harvest Components
WSAD-IE
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CICS application architecture – a framework for reuse

CICS TS
Transaction

e-business 3270 Integration Business Data

Presentation
client logic logic access
P I B D

ƒ Best practice in CICS application design is to separate key elements of

the application, in particular:
– 3270 presentation logic
– Integration logic
– Business logic
– Data access logic
ƒ Provides a framework for reuse and facilitates separation of concerns,
clear interfaces, ownership, and optimisation
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Host Access Transformation Services (HATS)

ƒA rules-based Web-to-host transformation engine…
ƒ that provides customized access to one or more host applications…
ƒ and dynamically creates a new Web HTML interface,
ƒ while significantly improving the navigation and productivity of legacy
applications.

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HATS is WebSphere-based

ƒ WebSphere Studio
– HATS Studio is a plug-in.
ƒ WAS and WebSphere Portal
Server
– HATS Studio creates a .ear (or a
.war).
ƒ Open, flexible environment for
the creation of host portlets
– Screen customisation capabilities.
– Select specific data from a host
screen.

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HATS Programmable Interactions

ƒ Generate JavaBeans and
EJBs from Integration
Objects that navigate host
applications.
ƒ Use WebSphere Studio to
add SOAP and WSDL
elements.
ƒ Create cached, logged-on,
ready-to-use pools of host
connections.
ƒ Create and modify JSP-
based web applications
using Struts model 2
development.

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Reusing 3270 presentation logic with the Link3270 Bridge

CICS TS

Transaction
3270 terminal P B D

client Link3270 Bridge

P B ƒ Some programs combine presentation and business logic

ƒ Link3270 Bridge provides a COMMAREA interface to many BMS and

terminal-oriented programs
– ADS information in the COMMAREA is passed to the BMS application
– Does not use VTAM or screen scraping
– No changes required to existing BMS application

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e-business access to CICS programs

CICS TS

Transaction
3270 terminal P

e-business client I B D
A
A

ƒ Typical e-business clients… ƒ Transforming technologies…

– Web service requester – External connectors
– Java servlet or EJB running in a J2EE app server A– Internal adapters (user written
– C# application running in a Microsoft .NET or generated by tools)

– Web browser – Standard IP-based protocol

– Messaging middleware

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Which architecture should I use to connect to CICS?

Factors that will likely influence your choice of access method;
ƒ Business factors
– Availability of skills
– Preferred application development environment / tools
– …
ƒ Technical factors
– Security
– Transactional scope
– Performance
– Reliability, availability and scalability (RAS)
– Application interface
– Synchronous or asynchronous invocation
– Client/server coupling
– Data conversion
– State management
– …
ƒ Applications today are typically delivered across several e-business clients
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Strategic options to access CICS

ƒ Standard architectures provide comprehensive development tools and
runtime support in CICS

1 SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

2 JCA (J2EE Connector Architecture)
3 Enterprise JavaBeans (J2EE EJB)

ƒ Standard transports are suitable for use by applications that require

greater control of the protocol and do not need the development tools or
qualities of service provided by the standard architectures. These
applications will assume more responsibility for systems management,
security, and recovery

4 HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

5 WebSphere MQ (MQ APIs or JMS - Java Messaging Service)
6 TCP/IP sockets
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Strategic options to access CICS

CICS TS

A
Web services 1
J2EE App Server

Web services
JCA 2
I B D
Browser Servlet EJB 3

4
WebSphere MQ 5
TCP/IP Sockets 6

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1 Standard architecture - SOAP

e-business client CICS TS

SOAP CICS Web support

Proxy
WebSphere MQ Trigger Monitor

SOAP for CICS pipeline

Message adapter B D

ƒ The SOAP for CICS feature provides direct access from Web service
requesters and to Web service providers
ƒ WSDL (Web Services Definition Language) is used to describe the service
ƒ Tools are typically used to generate the client proxy and message adapter
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SOAP for CICS feature

ƒ Capabilities
– Synchronous when over HTTP
– Asynchronous when over WebSphere MQ
– Inbound and outbound
ƒ Security to zSeries
– Transport level security – watch this space!
• Basic Authentication and SSL when over HTTP
• User ID and password when over WebSphere MQ
ƒ Transactional scope
– CICS transaction – watch this space!
ƒ Interface
– XML in a CONTAINER
ƒ Coupling
– Loose coupling and interoperability are inherent in a service-oriented
architecture (SoA) and make it a natural choice for many enterprise
applications
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2 Standard architecture - JCA

e-business client CICS TS

CCI A
JCA Message adapter

CICS
Transaction B D
Gateway

ƒ The J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) defines the common client

interface (CCI) for the client to use to drive interactions with enterprise
information systems such as CICS
ƒ The CICS Transaction Gateway provides the JCA access to CICS

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The CICS Transaction Gateway

ƒ Capabilities
– Inbound only
– 32KB maximum message size
– Synchronous and asynchronous (within a client request!)
ƒ Security to zSeries
– SSL to the CICS TG daemon
– User ID and password
ƒ Transactional scope – see next chart
– Local transactions
– Global transactions
ƒ Interface
– COMMAREA
ƒ Coupling
– Medium – typically the COBOL formatted records are exposed to the client
– Tools can abstracted the COMMAREA interface by generating easier to
use proxies
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The CICS Transaction Gateway

ƒ Transaction scope support
– The JCA supports transactional coordination either via resource
manager local transactions or J2EE global transactions
– The CICS Transaction Gateway JCA resource adapter supports
two phase commit global transactions in conjunction with
WebSphere Application Server for z/OS
– In all other circumstances it supports resource manager local
transactions, which are one phase commit transactions local to the
CICS Transaction Gateway and the associated CICS region
– For further details refer to the whitepaper “Integrating WebSphere
Application Server and CICS using the JCA.”
ƒ Flexible installation and configuration options
ƒ Minimal changes to CICS
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3 Standard architecture – Enterprise JavaBean

e-business client CICS TS

EJB client RMI A

over
Java ORB
IIOP
Java ORB Enterprise JavaBean
CCI

JCA B D

Message adapter

ƒ Enterprise JavaBean support in CICS TS V2

allows any Java program to easily invoke an
EJB 1.1 session bean in CICS
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Enterprise JavaBean support in CICS TS V2

ƒ Capabilities
– Inbound and outbound
– Synchronous
– EJB can be stateless or stateful
– Stateful bean data automatically saved (passivated) to a VSAM file and restored
(activated)
ƒ Security to zSeries
– EJB security role and SSL
– User ID and password mapping via IIOP security exit
ƒ Transactional scope
– CICS transactions
– Global transactions – defined in EJB deployment descriptors
ƒ Interface
– Enterprise JavaBean 1.1 session bean public methods
ƒ Coupling
– High – both client and server need to be implemented by compatible J2EE technologies
and EJB interfaces
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4 Standard transport – HTTP

e-business client CICS TS

A
HTTP
CICS Web support
Web API

Message adapter B D

ƒ The HTTP listener is part of the CICS Web support

ƒ CICS provides the EXEC CICS WEB and TCPIP APIs to retrieve
the request, and DOCUMENT APIs to construct HTML and XML
responses

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CICS Web support

ƒ Capabilities
– Inbound and CICS TS V2 provides outbound
– Synchronous
ƒ Security to zSeries
– SSL
– User ID and password via HTTP basic authentication
ƒ Transactional scope
– CICS transactions
ƒ Interface
– CICS WEB API to extract HTML form data or XML
ƒ Coupling
– Medium depending on the interface and data being sent
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5 Standard transport – WebSphere MQ (1 of 2)

e-business client CICS TS

JMS A
WebSphere MQ WebSphere MQ trigger monitor
MQ API

Message adapter B D

ƒ WebSphere MQ provides assured delivery of messages from

many platforms to efficiently access CICS asynchronously

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Standard transport – WebSphere MQ (2 of 2)

e-business client CICS TS

A
Message adapter WebSphere MQ DPL bridge B D
WMQ
WebSphere MQ

ƒ The WebSphere MQ DPL bridge can link to existing CICS

programs without having to write an MQ trigger monitor
program or message adapter

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WebSphere MQ
ƒ Capabilities
– Inbound and outbound
– Asynchronous
– Assured delivery
ƒ Security to zSeries
– SSL
– User ID and password as specified in the queue definition
ƒ Transactional scope
– CICS transaction – by default the transaction encompasses the message GET
and PUT
ƒ Interface
– WebSphere MQ APIs or the COMMAREA when used with the DPL bridge
ƒ Coupling
– Medium – typically MQ clients used and data is COBOL formatted records
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6 Standard transport – TCP/IP sockets

e-business client CICS TS

A
TCP/IP
CICS Sockets listener

Child server

Message adapter B D

ƒ CICS Sockets provides a completely programmable solution

where other access options are not suitable

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CICS Sockets
ƒ Capabilities
– Inbound and outbound
– Synchronous and possibly async
ƒ Security to zSeries
– User ID and password
ƒ Transactional scope
– CICS transaction
ƒ Interface
– CICS Sockets API – variant of the Berkeley Software Distribution 4.3
Sockets
ƒ Coupling
– High – both client and server ends are highly programmable

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Comparison table
CICS Transaction Server
Standard architecture Capabilities Security to zSeries Transactional scope Interface Coupling
1. SOAP Synchronous (HTTP) User ID + password CICS transaction XML in a Low
CONTAINER
Asynchronous SSL
(WebSphere MQ)
Inbound and outbound
2. JCA 32KB max message size User ID + password Local transaction COMMAREA Medium
Inbound only Thread identity Global transaction
Synchronous and Async SSL
3. Enterprise JavaBeans EJB state management EJB security roles CICS transaction Enterprise High
Inbound and outbound SSL Global transaction JavaBean
Synchronous session bean

Standard transport

4. WebSphere MQ Inbound and outbound User ID + password CICS transaction WebSphere MQ Medium
API or
Asynchronous SSL
COMMAREA
Assured delivery
5. HTTP Inbound and outbound User ID + password CICS transaction CICS WEB API Medium
Synchronous SSL
6. TCP/IP sockets Inbound and outbound User ID + password CICS transaction CICS sockets API High
Synchronous and Async

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Conclusion
ƒ CICS provides a range of access options to support
– modern connectivity architectures and
– standard transport mechanisms

ƒ With the right external connectors and internal adapters you can
maximize the reuse of existing mission-critical CICS assets

ƒ Application functional requirements should be compared with the

information about each access option. It is recommended for the
business logic program to maintain a COMMAREA interface for
maximum flexibility to support multiple access options now and in the
future as open standards evolve

ƒ CICS and WebSphere Application Server are strategic middleware

products that together…
– Interoperate - Web services, JCA, Enterprise JavaBeans
– Exploit and complement z/OS qualities of service
– Have high qualities of service, low cost per transaction, excellent security.
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Further information
ƒ IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS
– Whitepaper “e-business access to CICS: strategic options”
• ibm.com/software/htp/cics/library/cicstsforzos23.html#wpapers
– Companion whitepaper “Integrating WebSphere Application Server and CICS using the JCA”
• ibm.com/software/htp/cics/library/cicstgv5.html#wpapers
– SOAP for CICS Feature - ibm.com/cics/soap/
– Redbook “Revealed! Architecting Web Access to CICS
• redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg245466.pdf
ƒ HATS – ibm.com/software/webservers/hats
ƒ IBM CICS Transaction Gateway – ibm.com/software/htp/cics/ctg/
ƒ WebSphere Application Server - ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/
ƒ WebSphere MQ - ibm.com/software/integration/mqfamily/index.html
ƒ WebSphere Studio Enterprise Edition
– ibm.com/software/awdtools/studioenterprisedev/

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