HTTP client requests from a CICS application
CICS® can act as an HTTP client and communicate with an HTTP server on the Internet. A user-written application program sends requests through CICS to the HTTP server and receives the responses from it.
- Interact with hardware or software using the HTTP protocol; for example, printers can often be controlled in this way.
- Access HTTP applications that provide items of information (for example, share prices) and retrieve this information for use in the application.
The HTTP client facility of CICS web support is not designed for use as a web browser. User application programs can make requests for individual, known resources that are available from a server, but they cannot be expected to browse the Internet generally. The range of responses that you might receive from a server, and the actions that you need to take to handle them, relate only to your preselected resources and the error responses that might be associated with those resources and with the type of requests that you are making.
Before writing an application program that makes an HTTP client request, make sure that you understand the processing stages for these requests, because most of the stages are initiated by the application program itself. Refer to HTTP request and response processing for CICS as an HTTP client. TCPIPSERVICE resource definitions, which are used for CICS as an HTTP server, do not apply to CICS as an HTTP client.
Code page conversion is carried out for the requests CICS makes and the responses it receives. Refer to Code page conversion for CICS as an HTTP client.