Working with applications

To deploy an application on a platform, create an application project and an application binding project to package the application for deployment, and use an application definition to install the application. You can troubleshoot, update, and discard installed applications.

About this task

Use the CICS® Cloud perspective to create, view, and administer your applications.
  • The Project Explorer view in the CICS Cloud perspective shows the application projects in your CICS Explorer® workspace. Use this view for creating new application projects, or updating your existing applications.
  • The Cloud Explorer view in the CICS Cloud perspective shows the platforms that you have created and installed in a CICSplex, and the application versions that are installed on each platform. The view displays the status of each installed platform, application, and CICS bundle, and the status of the CICS regions that are part of the platform. The view also shows the definitions for platform and application resources that exist but are not currently installed in your CICSplex.
  • To see more details about an installed application version, in the Cloud Explorer view, double-click the name of the application to open it in the online application editor. To find the private resources that have been installed in your CICS regions for the application, select the Resources tab in the editor. You can view the private resources by the CICS region where they are installed, or by the CICS bundle where they are defined. You can also view the DD names that z/OS has generated for the LIBRARY concatenation of data sets for private LIBRARY resources
  • Creating a CICS Application project
    A CICS Application project defines an application bundle. An application bundle is a type of management bundle that describes a CICS application, including the application name, description, and version. The application bundle references the CICS bundles that contain the application resources, application entry points, dependencies, and any CICS policies relating to the application.
  • The application editor
    Use the application editor to work with your application projects.
  • Creating a CICS Application Binding project
    A CICS Application Binding project defines an application binding. An application binding is a type of management bundle that maps, or binds, the CICS bundles specified in an application bundle to the region types in the target platform.
  • The application binding editor
    Use the application binding editor to work with your application binding projects.
  • Deploying a CICS Application project
    Export the CICS Application project, the Application Binding project, and the associated CICS bundles to z/OS® UNIX, and create an application definition in the CICSPlex® SM data repository.
  • Installing, enabling, and making available applications
    To provide an application to users of a platform, you install an application definition, enable the application, then make the application available.
  • Checking the status of an application
    The status information for an application shows whether the CICS bundles for the application are present, enabled, and available in the CICS regions associated with the region type in the platform.
  • The online application editor
    Use the online application editor to work with applications that are installed on a platform.
  • Diagnosing application errors
    If an application version that is deployed on a platform does not have the expected status, follow this troubleshooting procedure to take appropriate action.
  • Making unavailable, disabling, and discarding applications
    To temporarily remove platform users' access to a version of an application, make the application version unavailable. If you do not plan to give users access to the application version again soon, but you want to keep it installed, disable it. If you no longer require the application version, discard it.
  • Updating applications
    When you make changes to the CICS bundles for the components of an application, update the versions of the CICS bundles, the application, and the application binding, and deploy the new versions on the platform.
Parent topic: Working with platforms, applications, and policies