IBM® CICS® Transaction Server Feature Pack for Dynamic Scripting embeds and integrates technology from WebSphere® sMash into the CICS TS V4.1 run time, helping to reduce the time and cost of CICS application development. The Feature Pack provides a robust, managed environment for a wide range of situational applications allowing PHP and Groovy developers to create reports, dashboards, and widgets, and integrate CICS assets into mash-ups, and much more. The CICS Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack combines the benefits of scripted, Web 2.0 applications with easy and secure access to CICS application and data resources. The Feature Pack includes a PHP 5.2 run time implemented in JavaTM and with Groovy language support, support for native Java code and access to many additional libraries and connectors to enhance the development and user experience of rich Internet applications. Access to CICS resources is achieved by using the JCICS APIs. In this IBM Redbooks® publication, we introduce the Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack, show how to install and customize it, and provide examples for using it.

In this IBM® Redbooks® publication, we discuss CICS®, which stands for Customer Information Control System. It is a general-purpose transaction processing subsystem for the z/OS® operating system. CICS provides services for running an application online where, users submit requests to run applications simultaneously. CICS manages sharing resources, the integrity of data, and prioritizes execution with fast response. CICS authorizes users, allocates resources (real storage and cycles), and passes on database requests by the application to the appropriate database manager, such as DB2®. We review the history of CICS and why it was created. We review the CICS architecture and discuss how to create an application in CICS. CICS provides a secure, transactional environment for applications that are written in several languages. We discuss the CICS-supported languages and each language's advantages in this Redbooks publication. We analyze situations from a system programmer's viewpoint, including how the systems programmer can use CICS facilities and services to customize the system, design CICS for recovery, and manage performance. CICS Data access and where the data is stored, including Temporary storage queues, VSAM RLS, DB2, IMSTM, and many others are also discussed.

The service-oriented architecture (SOA) style of integration involves breaking an application down into common, repeatable services that can be used by other applications (both internal and external) in an organization, independent of the computing platforms on which the business and its partners rely. In recent years CICS® has added a variety of support for SOA and now provides near seamless connectivity with other IT environments. This IBM® Redbooks® publication helps IT architects to select, plan, and design solutions that integrate CICS applications as service providers and requesters. First, we provide an introduction to CICS service enablement and introduce the architectural choices and technologies on which a CICS SOA solution can be based. We continue with an in-depth analysis of how to meet functional and non-functional requirements in the areas of application interface, security, transactional scope, high availability, and scalability. Finally, we document three integration scenarios to illustrate how these technologies have been used by customers to build robust CICS integration solutions.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication focuses on developing Web service applications in IBM CICS®. It takes the broad view of developing and modernizing CICS applications for XML, Web services, SOAP, and SOA support, and lays out a reference architecture for developing these kinds of applications. We start by discussing Web services in general, then review how CICS implements Web services. We offer an overview of different development approaches: bottom-up, top-down, and meet-in-the-middle. We then look at how you would go about exposing a CICS application as a Web service provider, again looking at the different approaches. The book then steps through the process of creating a CICS Web service requester. We follow this by looking at CICS application aggregation (including 3270 applications) with IBM Rational® Application Developer for IBM System z® and how to implement CICS Web Services using CICS Cloud technology. The first part is concluded with hints and tips to help you when implementing this technology. Part two of this publication provides performance figures for a basic Web service. We investigate some common variables and examine their effects on the performance of CICS as both a requester and provider of Web services.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides information about the new Java virtual machine (JVM) server technology in IBM CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® V4.2. We begin by outlining the many advantages of its multi-threaded operation over the pooled JVM function of earlier releases. The Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi) is described and we highlight the benefits OSGi brings to both development and deployment. Details are then provided about how to configure and use the new JVM server environment. Examples are included of the deployment process, which takes a Java application from the workstation Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE) with the IBM CICS Explorer® software development kit (SDK) plug-in, through the various stages up to execution in a stand-alone CICS region and an IBM CICSPlex® environment. The book continues with a comparison between traditional CICS programming, and CICS programming from Java. As a result, the main functional areas of the Java class library for CICS (JCICS) application programming interface (API) are extensively reviewed. Further chapters are provided to demonstrate interaction with structured data such as copybooks, and how to access relational databases by using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and Structured Query Language for Java (SQLJ). Finally, we devote a chapter to the migration of applications from the pooled JVM model to the new JVM server run time.

This IBM® Redbooks® publication, intended for architects, application developers, and system programmers, describes how to design and implement Java web-based applications in an IBM CICS® Liberty JVM server. This book is based on IBM CICS Transaction Server V5.3 (CICS TS) using the embedded IBM WebSphere® Application Server Liberty V8.5.5 technology. Liberty is an asset to your organization, whether you intend to extend existing enterprise services hosted in CICS, or develop new web-based applications supporting new lines of business. Fundamentally, Liberty is a composable, dynamic profile of IBM WebSphere Application Server that enables you to provision Java EE technology on a feature-by-feature basis. Liberty can be provisioned with as little as the HTTP transport and a servlet web container, or with the entire Java EE 6 Web Profile feature set depending on your application requirements. This publication includes a Technology Essentials section for architects and application developers to help understand the underlying technology, an Up-and-Running section for system programmers implementing the Liberty JVM server for the first time, and a set of real-life application development scenarios.