What's new in Version 5.3

The new and enhanced capabilities available in IBM® CICS Explorer® Version 5.3 are described.

Table 1. New function
New Function Description
New version of z/OS® Explorer CICS Explorer runs on IBM Explorer for z/OS Aqua 3.0.0.0 (z/OS Explorer). For details, see Overview of IBM Explorer for z/OS.

The name of the default workspace is changed to .zosexplorer.

CICS Explorer on OS X operating system CICS Explorer Version 5.3 is available for the OS X Yosemite (10.10) and later operating system.
Support for CICS® VSE CICS Explorer now provides the ability to connect to a CICS TS for z/VSE® 2.1 system to browse and process supported resources. For more information, see CICS TS for z/VSE Enhancements Guide in CICS Transaction Server for z/VSE product documentation.
Support for Liberty application development and EBA format. When you install the IBM CICS SDK for Java EE and Liberty support in CICS Explorer, installation includes a subset of the WebSphere® Developer Tools, to support Liberty application development and enable export of OSGi application projects in EBA format.
Setting a default connection In the Host Connections view, you can set one connection in each connection category as the default. You can connect to the default connection for a category, or use these default connections for automatic connection when you start CICS Explorer.

For more information, see Connecting to a system from the Host Connections view and Connecting automatically at startup.

Automatic connection at startup A new Automatically connect to defaults on startup icon is provided in the toolbar of the Host Connections view. You can use this icon to set whether to connect automatically to the default connections when you start CICS Explorer.

For more information, see Connecting automatically at startup.

Creating a CICS resource table view A new Create table view wizard is provided to create a table view for a specified resource type. You can use this wizard to create a view for further customization. A new Create new table view option to access the wizard is provided on the Operations and Definitions menus in the main menu for the workbench.

For more information, see Creating a CICS resource table view.

Customizing a CICS resource table view For most CICS resource table views, a new Customize View dialog is provided to specify the columns, filtering and sorting to use for a view. You can specify which resource attributes are displayed as columns, and the order of those columns. You can filter the resources in the view by one or more resource attributes, and sort the content by one or more resource attributes.

You can save those settings as the default, or reset to the previous defaults. You can apply your changes to the current view, save your changes to a new view, or rename the current view.

Any new views are listed on the Operations or Definitions menus on the main menu for the workbench.

Customizing the Operations and Definitions menus When you create a new CICS resource table view, an option for the new view is automatically added to the Operations or Definitions menu, as appropriate. When you delete a CICS resource table view, the corresponding option is removed from the menu. In this way, you can customize these menus to show only the views that you require.

For more information, see Customizing the Operations or Definitions menu.

Equalizing column widths in a CICS resource table view For most CICS resource table views, a new Equalize Column Widths icon is provided in the toolbar of the view to set the columns to equal widths.

For more information, see Moving columns in a view.

Defining a TRANSACTION resource as an application entry point You can now define a TRANSACTION resource as an application entry point, in addition to the PROGRAM and URIMAP resources that can be used as application entry points.

For more information, see Defining application entry points.

Phasing in a new version of an OSGi bundle In the Bundles view, when you right-click a BUNDLE resource, a new Phase In option is provided on the menu. You can use this option to phase in a new version of an OSGi bundle.

For more information, see Updating OSGi bundles in an OSGi JVM server in the CICS TS V5.4.0 product documentation.

Defining a PACKAGESET resource in a CICS bundle project You can now define a DB2® Package Set in a CICS bundle as part of an application, application binding, or platform.

A new Create DB2 Package Set Definition icon is provided in the toolbar of the CICS Cloud perspective. A new DB2 Package Set Definition option is provided when you right-click a bundle then click New, or when you click New in the Defined Resources section of the Bundle Manifest Editor. You can use these options to define a PACKAGESET resource, which represents a DB2 collection. You can use the PACKAGESET resource as part of an application, typically as part of the application binding, to specify different collection identifiers across different environments.

A new DB2 Package Sets tab is provided on the Private Resources tab in the online application editor. You can use this tab to view the PACKAGESET resource that is associated with an application.

For more information, see Working with bundles, The online application descriptor editor and Private resources for application versions in the CICS TS V5.4.0 product documentation.

Querying PACKAGESET resources by platform, region type or application. In the Cloud Explorer view, when you right-click a platform, region type, or application, then click Search, one of the corresponding new options are provided in the menu:
  • DB2 Package Set for platform
  • DB2 Package Set for region type
  • DB2 Package Set for application

You can use these options to query PACKAGESET resources by platform, region type or application. For more information, see Querying package sets.

Table 2. Changed function
Changed Function Description
Name of the executable file If you install the CICS Explorer direct download, the name of the executable file is changed to zosexplorer.exe (Windows) or zosexplorer (Linux or OS X).
Exporting connections When you export connections, you can now select which connections to export from the list of locally created and statically imported connections. To do this, you use the Export Connections to File icon in the Host Connections view.

For more information, see Exporting connections.

Customizing columns in specific resource views A new Customize columns icon is provided in the toolbar of the Resource Group Definitions view, Group List Definitions view, and a small number of older-style views. You can use this icon to select which attributes to display as columns in the view. This icon provides the same function as the Customize columns option in the View menu in the toolbar of the resource type views.

When you use the Customize Columns dialog to select which attributes to display as columns in a resource view, you can now filter the attribute names to find the required attributes.

For more information, see Adding or removing columns in specific views.

Filtering resources by expression In the text filter fields in the Resource Group Definitions view, Group List Definitions view, and a small number of older-style views, you can now filter a resource value by using one of the following expressions:
  • == Match the exact value
  • > Greater than
  • >= Greater than or equal to
  • < Less than
  • <= Less than or equal to
  • ! Not

For more information, see Filtering resources in specific views.

Further support for CICS policies CICS Explorer is updated to support the new CICS policy rule types and rule items that are implemented in CICS TS Version 5.3.

For more information, see Policy rule types.

CICS Explorer is updated to support the new policy schema version that is implemented in CICS TS Version 5.3.

For more information, see Policy schema versions.

Separate resource table views for local and remote files The Files view is replaced by the Local Files and Remote Files view, so you can access these resource types directly and display local and remote files at the same time. The following new options are provided on the Operations menu in the main menu for the workbench:
  • Files > Local Files
  • Files > Remote Files
Separate resource table views for local and remote transactions The Transactions view is replaced by the Local Transactions and Remote Transactions view, so you can access these resource types directly and display local and remote transactions at the same time. The following new options are provided on the Operations menu in the main menu for the workbench:
  • Transactions > Local Transactions
  • Transactions > Remote Transactions
Separate resource table views for each type of transient data queue The TD Queues view is replaced by the following views, so you can access these resource types directly and display different types of transient data queue at the same time:
  • Extrapartition TD Queues
  • Indirect TD Queues
  • Intrapartition TD Queues
  • Remote TD Queues
The following new options are provided on the Operations menu in the main menu for the workbench:
  • Queues > Extrapartition TD Queues
  • Queues > Indirect TD Queues
  • Queues > Intrapartition TD Queues
  • Queues > Remote TD Queues
Support for new system initialization (SIT) parameter CICS Explorer is updated to support the new NQRNL SIT parameter that is implemented in CICS TS Version 5.3.
New name for OSGi Bundle Project Reference wizard The name of the OSGi Bundle Project Reference wizard (named the Include OSGi bundle in Project wizard in earlier releases) is changed to the OSGi Bundle Project Include wizard. The menu option to select this wizard is changed to OSGi Bundle Project Include.
New name for OSGi Application Project Reference wizard The name of the OSGi Application Project Reference wizard (named the Include OSGi Application Project in bundle wizard in earlier releases) is changed to the OSGi Application Project Include wizard. The menu option to select this wizard is changed to OSGi Application Project Include.
New name for Dynamic Web Project Reference wizard The name of the Dynamic Web Project Reference wizard (named the Include Dynamic Web Project in bundle wizard in earlier releases) is changed to the Dynamic Web Project Include wizard. The menu option to select this wizard is changed to Dynamic Web Project Include.
New name for Enterprise Application Project Reference wizard The name of the Enterprise Application Project Reference wizard (named the Include Enterprise Application Project in bundle wizard in earlier releases) is changed to the Enterprise Application Project Include wizard. The menu option to select this wizard is changed to Enterprise Application Project Include.
Specifying a version range for an OSGi project When you use the OSGi Bundle Project Include wizard to select an OSGi project to include in a CICS bundle project, you can now specify a version range for the OSGi bundle. When you use the Export Bundle Project to z/OS UNIX File System option to deploy a CICS Bundle project that contains one or more OSGi bundles, the highest available version of the OSGi bundle in the specified version range is deployed.

For more information, see Updating OSGi bundles in an OSGi JVM server in the CICS TS V5.4.0 product documentation.

Remove CICS from resource and event names The following resources, events, and any associated menu options are renamed to remove the word CICS:
  • Atom Configuration File
  • Catalog Manager Event Binding
  • Catalog Manager REWRITE event
  • DB2 CONNECTION STATUS event
  • EP Adapter Configuration
  • EP Adapter Set Configuration
  • Event Binding
  • Event Processing
  • Event Processing Adapter
  • Event Processing Adapter Set
  • FILE ENABLE STATUS event
  • FILE OPEN STATUS event
  • TASK THRESHOLD event
  • TRANCLASS TASK THRESHOLD event
  • TS Queue event processing adapter
  • Unhandled TRANSACTION ABEND event
New location for IBM CICS Event Binding Editor help Information that was in the CICS Event Binding Editor User Guide is now included in this CICS Explorer product documentation. For more information, see the following topics: