XML and IMS

<BODY text="#000066" link="blue" vlink="purple" alink="red" background=""> <A NAME="pgtop"></A> <A HREF="indexc.htm"><Img Src="flconts.gif" ALT="Table of Contents" WIDTH=24 HEIGHT=24></A> <A HREF="index30.htm"><Img Src="fllarrow.gif" ALT="Previous" WIDTH=24 HEIGHT=24></A> <A HREF="index32.htm"><Img Src="flrarrow.gif" ALT="Next" WIDTH=24 HEIGHT=24></A> <A HREF="#pgbot"><Img Src="flnote.gif" ALT="Speaker Notes" WIDTH=24 HEIGHT=24></A> <BR> <IMG BORDER=0 SRC="index31.gif" WIDTH="443" HEIGHT="342" ALT="Page Image"> <HR ALIGN="left" size=5 WIDTH="65%"> <A NAME="pgbot"></A> <UL><LI>Today, IMS documents can be processed in new IMS Java and C++ Applications, through use of the XML Parser, and/or access existing IMS applications using MQSeries. <LI>We are now enhancing IMS COBOL and PL/I XML Application Capability to provide for sending and receiving XML documents directly from IMS COBOL and PL/I applications. The XML Enabler for COBOL and PL/I can be used to enhance your existing high performance IMS transactions written in COBOL and PL/I in a Business-to-Business environment by receiving and sending XML documents. IMS supports the transmission of XML documents in the data portion of the IMS message. The messages can be placed and retrieved for the IMS messages queue for all messages regions for IMS Message Processing Programs, Fast Path Programs and Batch Message Processing Programs. <LI>Future requirements offer enhanced support for industry tooling, additional languages, transformation, and the use of XML as an IMS Data Definition language. <LI>IBM's IMS E-Commerce Connectors Team at the Silicon Valley Laboratory developed the Common Application Metamodel (CAM). CAM is an IBM open standard initiative for Enterprise Application Integration (EAI). It was submitted as a proposal to the Object Management Group (OMG). OMG is the world's largest software consortium with a membership of over <LI>800 vendors, developers, and end users. See http://www.omg.org. <LI>A good description of CAM is part of a draft document, with diagrams and illustrations, at the web site for the Instituto Tecnologico de Informatica in Spain. Sections 6 (page 13) and 9 (page 79) are of special interest to those who have labored in the Open Transaction Management Access (OTMA) vineyards. <LI>See http://www.iti.upv.es/iti/i+d/mirrors/ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/ad/00-08-12.pdf. <LI>CAM defines and publishes a metadata exchange standard for information about accessing enterprise applications such as CICS and IMS. Anyone who has written COBOL COPYBOOK to XML translators or who has tried to make IMS message contents discernable to Java code, as have I, knows there has just got to be a better way. CAM is that better way! <LI>Because CAM provides physical representation of data types and storage mapping to support data transformation in an EAI environment, it enables Web services for enterprise applications. <LI>IBM has indicated CAM in their statement of direction for IMS. I would expect third party software developers to also adopt CAM, especially if and when it is accepted by OMG. </UL> <HR ALIGN=left size=5 WIDTH=65%> <A HREF="#pgtop"><Img Src="flpage.gif" ALT="Top of Page" WIDTH=24 HEIGHT=24></A> <FONT SIZE="-2">Published by <A HREF="http://www.lotus.com">Lotus</A>® <A HREF="http://www.lotus.com/freelance">Freelance Graphics</A>®</FONT> </BODY>