Building a WebSphere sMash application to access IMS applications

The IMS Web 2.0 solution for IBM Mashup Center provides a graphical user interface for converting IMS transactions and data into RESTful services. IBM WebSphere sMash provides greater flexibility to extend or alter the service through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs).

In this document, we will use the IMS Enterprise Suite Connect API for Java to build a Web 2.0 application on the WebSphere sMash platform to access an IMS application.

IMS Enterprise Suite Connect API for Java

IMS Connect is an optional IMS Transaction Manager (TM) network component that provides high performance communication between one or more TCP/IP clients and one or more IMS systems. The Connect API for Java simplifies the process of developing Java applications that interact with IMS through IMS Connect.

The Connect API for Java provides simple interfaces for developing custom IMS Connect TCP/IP client applications that are written in Java.

The key features of the Connect API for Java include:

• Opens connections to IMS connect on behalf of the client application
• Provides client applications with programmatic control of connections
• Assembles messages to send to IMS Connect, including the IMS request message (IRM) header
• Manages the IMS Connect message protocol by sending and receiving the appropriate messages for interactions with IMS Connect

WebSphere sMash

WebSphere sMash is an agile Web application platform and environment for developing and running modern Web applications based on popular Web technologies. The environment includes:

• An agile dynamic scripting environment that allows developers to build and run REST-style components by using visual tooling and scripting languages such as PHP and Groovy
• Java as a system programming language
• Application programming interfaces optimized for producing REST services
• Rich AJAX-based Web user interfaces
• Integration mash-ups and feeds

Scripting developers can use WebSphere sMash to quickly create widgets. The widgets can be assembled into new Web applications by using IBM Mashup Center.

WebSphere sMash has a community-based Developer Edition that is free for anyone to download at http://www-01.ibm.com/software/webservers/smash/.

WebSphere sMash has two application development environments:

• App Builder is a Web-based development tool for building WebSphere sMash applications. App Builder includes visual editors (for example, for HTML pages, forms, and flows) along with source editors tailored for script development. App Builder also provides simple debug support for Groovy scripts and Java classes.
• Plug-ins for Eclipse are available for Java/Groovy and PHP developers. These plug-ins are intended for platform developers (that is, developers creating extensions for the WebSphere sMash platform). The plug-ins integrate common operations into the Eclipse workspace, including creating and running WebSphere sMash applications; editing dependencies; automatic resolves; and managing your local repository.

Prerequisites

To use the samples provided with this document, you must have the following software properly installed and set up:

• WebSphere sMash: A free Developer’s Edition can be downloaded from the WebSphere sMash Web site. You need the following components:
  • The command line interface (CLI)
  • Eclipse SDK 3.2.2 or later, installed with the following components:
    • The WebSphere sMash plug-in for Java and Groovy
    • (Optional) The WebSphere sMash plug-in for PHP The plug-in for PHP also requires the PHP debugger. Follow the WebSphere sMash documentation for the plug-in for PHP to download the Eclipse PHP Development Tools.
• The IMS Enterprise Suite Connect API for Java:
  • Download the IMS Enterprise Suite component from the IMS Enterprise Suite Web site.
  • Store the downloaded JAR file in a location that is in the Java class path.
• IMS Version 11 is up and running

The following knowledge is required:

• Basic knowledge of the Connect API for Java. Information about the Connect API for Java is available in the Information Management Software for z/OS® Solutions Information Center at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/dzichelp/v2r2/topic/com.ibm.ims.iconapi.doc/icon_home.htm. The download Web site also provides samples and instructions.
• Basic knowledge of WebSphere sMash application development

Detailed information and samples for Java, Groovy, and PHP are provided in the attached PDF file.