IBM Integration Bus, Version 9.0.0.8 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-Itanium, Linux, Solaris, Windows, z/OS

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Developing a message flow with a CICSRequest node

To connect to a CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® application, create a message flow that contains a CICSRequest node.

Before you start:

Ensure that you have completed the following tasks:

Define the COMMAREA or channel data structure, as described in Defining a CICS Transaction Server for z/OS data structure.
Optional: If you are using a channel data structure, create a message collection to represent the channel data structure, as described in Creating a message collection by using ESQL.
Configure IP InterCommunications (IPIC) protocol on CICS, as described in Preparing the environment for the CICSRequest node.
Optional: Configure the CICSRequest node to communicate with CICS Transaction Server for z/OS over the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, as described in Securing the connection to CICS Transaction Server for z/OS by using SSL.

Complete the following steps to develop a message flow with a CICSRequest node.

Create a message flow.
Add a CICSRequest node to the message flow.
Configure the following properties on the CICSRequest node.
- CICS server: The CICS server property can be defined either as a configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection, or as a URL.
  You can either connect to CICS by using the two-tier connection model; for example, by making a direct connection from IBM® Integration Bus to CICS, or by using the three-tier connection model; for example, by connecting to CICS through CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms. For more information about the two-tier and three-tier connection models, see CICS Transaction Server for z/OS overview for a high-level overview, or CICS Transaction Server for z/OS two-tier connectivity and CICS Transaction Server for z/OS three-tier connectivity for detailed conceptual information.
  Using the two-tier connection model:
  If you are making a direct two-tier connection from IBM Integration Bus to CICS, you can define the CICS server property either as a configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection, or as a URL.
  For more information about defining this property as a configurable service, see Changing connection information for the CICSRequest node.
  
  To define a URL, specify the protocol and the CICS host name and port number. The format of this value is protocol://hostname:port. Where:
  protocol can be tcp or ssl.
  
  hostname is the TCP/IP address of the CICS host.
  
  port is the port number of the TCPIPSERVICE listener in CICS that is listening for IPIC requests over TCP/IP or SSL.
  
  For example: tcp://mycicsregion.com:12345 or ssl://mycicsregion.com:56789. You can obtain the hostname and port values from the IPIC TCPIPSERVICE definition in the target CICS region.
  Using the three-tier connection model:
  
  If you are making a three-tier connection to CICS through CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms, the CICS server CICSRequest node property must be defined as a configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection.
  For more information about defining this property as a configurable service, see Changing connection information for the CICSRequest node.
  
  To make a three-tier connection to CICS through CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms, you must configure the cicsServer and gatewayURL CICSConnection configurable service properties. For more information about configuring the cicsServer and gatewayURL CICSConnection configurable service properties to make a three-tier connection, see Configurable services properties.
- Program name: Specify the name of the program that you want to run in the target CICS region.
  You can override this property in the local environment by specifying a value in the following location:
```
$LocalEnvironment/Destination/CICS/CICSProgramName
```
- Data structure: Specify whether to use a COMMAREA or a channel data structure. The default for this property is Commarea. The decision depends on the targeted CICS program, for example; whether the target program is channel-based or not.
- Commarea length:
  This property is not configurable if a value of Channel is selected for the Data structure property.
  
  The Commarea length property is the size, in bytes, of the COMMAREA that is used by the CICS program. The byte size value is sent to CICS, and before the program is started, an area of memory is created to match that number. For example, if you send a Commarea length value of 100, 100 bytes are allocated. The program accesses this area as the DFHCOMMAREA.
  
  Ensure that the Commarea length property value is large enough to contain the input request data, or the output response data, but that it does not exceed the maximum value of 32767 bytes. If the Commarea length value is not large enough to be used for the response data, or the request data, a memory leak occurs in CICS.
  
  The size of the COMMAREA cannot be changed by the CICS program.
  
  If the serialized request data is larger than the Commarea length, the data is truncated to the Commarea length.
  
  You can obtain the Commarea length value from the CICS administrator or developer.
  You can override this property in the local environment by specifying a value in the following location:
```
$LocalEnvironment/Destination/CICS/CICSCommareaLen
```
- Transaction mode: Specify whether requests to the CICSRequest node are to managed as transactional or non-transactional.
  - If you select Yes, the CICSRequest node takes part in the local transaction that is started by the message flow's input node.
  - If you select No, the CICSRequest node does not take part in the local transaction that is started by the message flow's input node.
  - If you select Automatic, the message transactionality is inherited from the Transaction mode setting on the Input node at the start of the message flow. For example, if the message flow is driven by an MQInput node, the CICSRequest node assumes the Transaction mode that is set on the MQInput node. By default, the Transaction mode property of the CICSRequest node is set to Automatic.
  For more information about transactionality, see Message flow transactions.
Save the message flow.
Deploy the message flow.

Next: When you have created and configured the message flow, build a message by following the steps in Building a message for the CICSRequest node.

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Last updated Friday, 21 July 2017