The TSO/E Enhanced Connectivity Facility provides a standard way for programs on different systems to share services.

With the TSO/E Enhanced Connectivity Facility, programs on properly-configured IBM® Personal Computers (PCs) can obtain services from programs on IBM host computers running MVS™. The PC programs issue service requests and the host programs issue service replies, which the TSO/E Enhanced Connectivity Facility passes between the systems.

The PC programs that issue service requests are called requesters, and the host programs that issue replies are called servers. Servers and requesters together form Enhanced Connectivity applications.

Because the TSO/E Enhanced Connectivity Facility passes the requests and replies, you can write servers and requesters without concern for communications protocols. The requester simply specifies the server's name, the request input, and a reply buffer. The server receives the input, performs the service, and provides the reply. The TSO/E Enhanced Connectivity Facility passes the requests and replies in a standard, easily-referenced control block.

Host servers can give PC users access to host computer data and resources such as printers and storage. This document explains how to write an MVS host server and includes a sample server that lets a PC requester process MVS data.

For information about PC hardware and software requirements, refer to Enhanced Connectivity Facilities Introduction.