CICS Portfolio e-NewsFlash

Subscribe to and read CICS eNews at:
http://ibm.com/cics/enews

June 25^th 2010

Available now: CICS TS Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack

The CICS Transaction Server Feature Pack for Dynamic Scripting V1.0, announced April 30, is now generally available. The Feature Pack embeds and integrates technology from Project Zero and WebSphere sMash into the CICS TS V4.1 run-time, enabling more than four million PHP and Groovy developers to create reports, dashboards, and widgets, quickly front-end existing applications, integrate CICS assets (programs, files, queues, etc) in mash-ups, build productivity applications for IT and LOB, port existing unmanaged PHP into CICS, and much more.

The CICS Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack provides a robust, managed environment for situational applications. Built on scalable CICS TS V4 JVMServer technology to provide the capacity needed for tactical applications without impacting strategic production workload. The built-in Zero Resource Model (ZRM) provides a simplified way to create RESTful resource handlers with a data store that can be mapped to IBM DB2 for z/OS for improved resilience, security, and performance. CICS scripting regions can be easily isolated from production CICS workload while still providing access to CICS resources.

More information about the Feature Pack can be found in the Announcement Letter here http://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=an&subtype=ca&supplier=897&appname=IBMLinkRedirect&letternum=ENUS210-144 or on our new CICS Dynamic Scripting web page here http://ibm.com/cics/scripting.

The Feature Pack requires that you install a number of PTFs to CICS TS V4.1, details of which can be found on the System Requirements page here http://www.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/scripting/sysreqs/index.html?S_CMP=rnav.

Information about Project Zero and WebSphere sMash technology including documentation, downloads, and a community hub including a blog, forum, and wiki, can be found on the Project Zero community website at http://projectzero.org/cics (link resides outside of ibm.com). You'll also find a list of the existing sMash sample applications there, as well as some new CICS-specific samples that we will be adding over the coming weeks and months. Please feel free to use the Project Zero forum to comment on and ask questions about CICS Dynamic Scripting http://www.projectzero.org/forum/ (link resides outside of ibm.com).

Available now: CICS Explorer V1.0.0.7 and updated CICS Tools plug-ins

We continue our enhancements to IBM CICS Explorer with the latest version - V1.0.0.7 - which is now available for download. Some of the more significant new items available in this version are:

• New Connection Credentials page in the Preferences view, enabling you to manage multiple connections that use the same userid and password more easily.
• Ability to use a proxy server to connect to Service updates for the CICS Explorer, useful when your organization might require you to connect to the internet through a proxy server.
• Ability to disable a JVMServer, useful now that the new CICS Dynamic Feature Pack which utilizes JVMServers, is available
• Two new operation views: CICSPlexes - displays information about all CMASs associated with a CICSPlex, and CMAS Details - displays information about the maintenance point CMAS
• Three new Administration views: CICSPlex Definitions view - displays information about the CICSPlexes associated with the local CMAS, System Definitions view - displays information about CICS systems that are managed as part of a CICSPlex, and System Group Definitions view - displays information about a CICS system group, which is used to set the scope for a CICSPlex.

CICS Performance Analyzer enhances the CICS PA plug-in V3.1.0.4 with:

• Support for the Connection Credentials described above
• We have reintroduced the CICS PA perspective to make it easier to locate performance data, since the Resource perspective is being used more by other plug-ins
• You'll also find a very useful Easter Egg in this release. Just try copying a selection of rows form a sheet view and paste it into a project in the Resources perspective. It's a very powerful way to create off line copies of data that you can analyse at your leisure. You can also paste into an Excel spreadsheet, and now you get the column headers too.

CICS Configuration Manager enhances the CICS CM plug-in V3.1.0.4 with:

• Support for the Connection Credentials described above
• You can now add a group to a list for a CICS system definition (CSD)

Available now: CICS Transaction Gateway V8.0

IBM is pleased to announce the release of CICS Transaction Gateway V8.0 for z/OS and Multiplatforms. This release continues the journey of CICS Transaction Gateway as the premier connector for SOA connectivity and enterprise modernization of CICS assets, and delivers new capability in the following areas:

• Extended support for Java™ Enterprise Edition (JEE) Application Servers and .NET environments, and optimized for WebSphere® Application Server.
• Improved scalability and availability with support for highly available XA configurations, and exploitation of the Java 6 runtime environment.
• Extended interoperability and simplified security with CICS, and exploitation with CICS Explorer.

For more information about CICS Transaction Gateway, please visit the website: http://www.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/ctg/

Available now: TXSeries Events SDK for WebSphere Business Events

The SupportPac on IBM TXSeries for Multiplatforms, TXSeries Events SDK for WBE, is now generally available for download. This is part of our ongoing enhancements to TXSeries and it helps customers to implement smarter business analytics initiatives, leveraging their existing business applications running on TXSeries. This functionality enables IBM TXSeries to be a source of events to WebSphere® Business Events (WBE), and to participate in event processing solutions, such as identifying patterns between events from TXSeries and from other sources. Sample use cases for this functionality include:

• Identifying potential compliance issues by detecting suspicious patterns of events; for example, an order for a new credit card placed shortly after a change of address request.
• Responding quickly to business opportunities by identifying interaction sets in WebSphere Business Events, that react to promising events; for example, activating a new offer when a customer places two orders within a week.
• Gaining visibility into TXSeries processing by displaying the events on a dashboard, such as the dashboard provided by WebSphere Business Events, or using WebSphere Business Monitor.

For more information on this SupportPac, please visit the website: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=9&uid=swg24025837

SHARE Summer 2010 – find out what’s new in Enterprise IT

Join us at SHARE Summer 2010 in Boston MA at the Hynes Convention Center and hear about the latest technology and function that the CICS Development Team have delivered. This will be the first US based conference to feature the GA versions of the CICS Dynamic Scripting and CICS Transaction Gateway V8. For more details of what else is on offer at SHARE and how to register click here (link resides outside of ibm.com)

WebSphere (link resides outside of ibm.com) Technical Conference EMEA – Featuring SOA, Cloud Computing, BPM, CICS and Messaging, yes it used to be called Transaction and Messaging or T&M

Put a date in your diary for October 11th – 15th in Düsseldorf, Germany. This conference, which combines the WebSphere (link resides outside of ibm.com) and Transaction & Messaging Conferences of previous years into one seamless agenda, has earned the reputation for delivering deep technical content targeted at architects, developers, integrators and administrators by offering lectures and hands-on labs that focus on the best practices and practical skills required to run today’s enterprises. This year will be no exception.

Attend the WebSphere (link resides outside of ibm.com) Technical Conference and expand your knowledge of BPM, CICS, Messaging , WebSphere (link resides outside of ibm.com) Application Servers and Infrastructure, including a focus on SOA and Cloud Computing topics. You will also gain insight into current IT trends and learn how to keep pace in todays rapidly changing business climate.

Enroll to the IBM European WebSphere (link resides outside of ibm.com) Technical Conference before July 10th and receive an Early Bird discount of 100 € off the conference fee! For more details please click here (link resides outside of ibm.com)

IBM ITSO - CICS Technical Workshops in Europe - Java and Web Services

You can expect the same excellent quality you find in IBM Redbooks - the most up-to-date technical content based on the latest software and hardware releases, information based on best practices in the industry, relevant and focused topics. Learn from our experienced ITSO (International Technical Support Organization) instructors

Brussels, July 27-29 : CICS and Web Services
Course Code WRB032BE http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/workshops/GR0240?Open

Article: CICS and PHP – DON’T PANIC

Lustratus Analyst Steve Craggs came into the Hursley lab recently to hear about our new CICS Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack. At first his reaction was one of surprise, but as you can read in his latest Lustratus Research blog, we managed to change his opinion. To see what he had to say, just follow this link: http://www.lustratusrepama.com/litebytes/vendor-news/cics-and-php-dont-panic/?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+lustratusrepama%2Fzmpr+%28LiteBytes+-+The+Lustratus+Research+Blog%29 (link resides outside of ibm.com)

Article: z Journal feature 5 CICS articles

The latest edition of the influential System z magazine features five articles on CICS. The learn more about (CICS and Web 2.0; Integrating mainframe-based legacy applications using mashups and web 2.0; CICS as a web service provider; An implementation fast path for CICSPlex SM and using the CICSPlex SM API and z/OS named tokens to load balance CICS TG/CICS servers) . link to the online version of the magazine here (link resides outside of ibm.com) (link resides outside of ibm.com) or subscribe to the hardcopy here (link resides outside of ibm.com) (link resides outside of ibm.com) .

CICS TS V4 support

We have compiled a list of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) who have indicated that they support CICS TS V4.1 . That list is available from the CICS TS web page, or directly by following this link http://www.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/partners.html. If you plan to upgrade to CICS TS V4 and are reliant on vendor products which are not shown, please communicate that directly to your ISV or contact your local IBM representative. ISVs who have software that supports CICS TS V4 who would like to be added to this list should contact us (CICSETP@uk.ibm.com).

July 1^st 2010

Delayed: CICS Explorer V1.0.0.7 and updated CICS Tools plug-ins

I'm sorry to say that there will be a short delay before CICS Explorer V1.0.0.7 and the updated CICS Tools plug-ins will be available. I'll send another flash when they are available, hopefully (but no guarantees) by the end of next week. Once again, apologies to all of you who tried to download the new version.

Feedback

To provide feedback and comments on CICS portfolio e-news please email the editor at Knutson@uk.ibm.com