Technical detail
Application Transformation
CICS Application Transformation capabilities aim to provide facilities that enable enhancements to existing applications and construction of new applications, using contemporary programming languages, constructs and tools.
CICS Transaction Server V3.1 introduces significant enhancements that enable application transformation. These new capabilities extend to:
Enhanced Processing of Structured Application Parameter Data
The need to support the passing of structured parameter data in the form of XML documents between the components of modern applications introduces significant change to the requirements for effective program to program calling. However, parameter data described in XML has very different characteristics from the optimized structured data formats derived from strongly typed programming languages.
CICS applications have traditionally passed parameter data using the EXEC CICS LINK application programming interface specifying a communications area (COMMAREA). Historically, CICS applications were highly optimized to be memory efficient and were easily able to pass the parameter data required within the size constraints imposed by the CICS API on COMMAREA memory size.
Increasingly, today's CICS applications are required to process large quantities of structured parameter data, in both XML and non XML formats, as the integration of CICS applications with the elements of enterprise solutions outside the bounds of the CICS environment becomes the norm. The consequence of effectively extending CICS applications to new enterprise solutions is that the constraints imposed on COMMAREA size by the system become more prominent.
CICS Transaction Server V3.1 introduces a new approach, in the familiar EXEC CICS API style, that provides an easy and more flexible mechanism for exchange of large volumes of structured parameter data between CICS programs. This new approach is provided by two new data passing capabilities known as Channels and Containers.
For a more detailed explanation of the capabilities of Channels and containers, please view the whitepaper:
CICS Service Flow Feature
The CICS Service Flow feature is an optional, no-charge, supported feature of CICS TS V3.
CICS® Service Flow Feature is a business service integration adapter for all CICS applications. It offers both tooling and run-time capability in a single offering. These capabilities enable enterprise solution architects, enterprise integration developers, and CICS application specialists to create CICS business services for integration in Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), business process collaborations, or enterprise solutions that exploit a loose coupling approach by visually composing existing CICS 3270 or COMMAREA applications.
The CICS Service flow feature exploits the WebSphere Developer for Z Series Service flow modeler tooling to provide a graphical modeling integrated development environment that enables the visual composition of CICS applications into a CICS business service flow. The CICS Service Flow implements runtime adapters that provide for access to existing CICS transaction and application interfaces using non-invasive techniques so that the CICS application assets, orchestrated by the service flow, do not have to be altered to support the CICS business service flow. This enables the fast reuse of existing assets while minimizing the risk of the new implementation. Where there is a requirement to integrate information from non-CICS applications into the CICS business service, the CICS Service Flow runtime provides a WebSphere MQ adapter that enables the CICS business service flow to access any MQ-enabled application wherever it may reside in the enterprise solution architecture.
Order the CICS Service Flow Feature now and receive 10 WebSphere Developer for System z V7 restricted licenses for use with the Service Flow Modeler function for free.
Enhancements to the Service Flow feature
CICS Service Flow Announcement Letter
Information on WebSphere Developer for zSeries
Improved language support of C/C++
The implementation of CICS applications in C/C++ is becoming accepted practice for a growing number of CICS enterprise customers and independent software vendors.
A C/C++ developer is often most familiar with the UNIX 'programming style' where application code tends to be more CPU intensive than the typical fined grained transactional programming model for CICS transactions. A C/C++ application developer often has the expectation of an object oriented programming style and either implicit or explicit application control over the threading model used.
CICS Transaction server V3.1 exploits the benefits of Extra Performance Linkage (XPLINK) in its implementation. XPLINK is a z/OS C/C++ compiler feature which provides high performance subroutine call and return mechanisms which results in short and highly optimized execution path lengths. XPLINK can be used as a specified compile option for C/C++ applications. It is optimized for the programming approach of using many, relatively small, methods on objects that is the norm in the C/C++ object oriented programming model. C/C++ application programs of this nature will be the primary beneficiaries of the performance enhancements delivered by XPLINK. Early performance comparisons have indicated a 40% increase in performance could be attained.
In addition CICS Transaction server V3.1 requires that an application using XPLINK be written to be thread safe and eligible as an "Open Transaction Environments" application.
Source Level Debugging of assembler language applications
CICS Transaction Server V3.1 introduces support for Language Environment (LE) enabled application programs in Assembler. This improves the ease of integration of these applications with the LE managed services and enables improved language debugging support for Assembler programs.
