The CICS DA external API

During a discovery operation, CICS® DA gathers a vast amount of sysplex and topology information. The external API provides a way to extract this valuable data by using standard mechanisms that are available in web and mobile technologies. The CICS DA API follows the RESTful principles. The read-only API provides access to all the discovered data elements.

From a fixed root URI, all available actions that a client can take are discoverable, by following links in resource representations that are returned by the server. Relationships between the resources that CICS DA discovers are represented as links. For example, a managed CICS Region resource contains a link to the CICSplex it is part of, and vice-versa. Clients can traverse the API to obtain the data required by making a series of chained requests using the relationships and URIs that are returned.

A CICS DA API request takes the form of an HTTP method followed by a URI (Universal Resource Identifier).

The header incorporates the following HTTP method:
GET
To retrieve information about the requested resources in the CICS DA model.
POST
  • To clone a CICS TS region and to add the relevant resources to the CICS DA model.
  • To request the discovery function.
DELETE
To deprovision a CICS TS region and remove the relevant resources from the CICS DA model.

The URI includes the name of a CICS DA resource, and specifies a series of parameters that refine the scope, and format of the response.

For more information about the linking of resources, run an internet search for "HATEOAS".



api_intro.html | Timestamp icon Last updated: Friday, 11 December 2015