Technical Detail
Tightly coupled connectivity solutions, such as JCA, and loosely coupled Web services, coexist to fully exploit the agility of an on demand environment.
CICS Transaction Gateway is a tightly coupled, directly bound connector from a mid-tier application, usually a J2EE Web application server such as IBM WebSphere Application Server, to a CICS application.
CICS Transaction Gateway provides three core capabilities:
Plumbing - J2EE connectivity into CICS
High performing, scalable and secure inbound connector to CICS
Access to CICS COMMAREA and 3270-based CICS applications
Interfaces - Java and non-Java API's
J2EE standard JCA interface delivers best Qualities of Service
Also base Java, C, C++, COBOL and COM interfaces
Integration – CICS, WebSphere and others
All supported CICS releases across host and distributed platforms
WebSphere Application Server across 7 different platforms
SNA servers on AIX, Windows and Linux on zSeries
For the CICS Transaction Gateway, the JCA interface is strategic. Utilizing the JCA offers two significant development advantages. Firstly, it allows J2EE developers to program to a standard interface that is supported by a variety of tools. Secondly, the JCA can programmatically manage the connection pooling, the transaction scope and the security control – so this does not have to de developed within the application.
CICS Transaction Gateway is an extremely popular connectivity method from WebSphere to all CICS servers, including CICS Transaction Server on z/OS, VSE, iSeries and TXSeries CICS on UNIX and Windows platforms. It will also support CICS on Linux, when released in 2005*.
The CICS Transaction Gateway has been production proven over many years to be a high performing, secure, and scalable connectivity method. It is easy to implement, requiring minimal changes to CICS and usually no changes to exiting CICS applications.
System Requirements
CICS Transaction Gateway Version 6.0 is supported on the Windows®, AIX, OS/390, z/OS, Linux on zSeries, Linux on Intel, Sun Solaris and HP-UX operating systems.
For detailed technical information, please refer to:
CICS Transaction Gateway for z/OS V6.0; IBM Software Announcement US letter 204-283
CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms; IBM Software Announcement US letter 204-284
*Refer to IBM Statement of Direction in TXSeries for Multiplatforms Version 5.1 Software Announcement US letter 204-060. All statements regarding IBM's plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.