To connect to a CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® application, create a
message flow that contains a CICSRequest node.
Complete the following steps to develop
a message flow with a CICSRequest node.
- Create a message flow.
- Add a CICSRequest node
to the message flow.
- Configure the following properties on the CICSRequest node.
- CICS server: The CICS server property can be defined
either as a configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection,
or as a URL.
You can either connect to CICS by using the two-tier
connection model; for example, by making a direct connection from WebSphere® Message
Broker to CICS, or by using the three-tier
connection model; for example, by connecting to CICS through CICS Transaction
Gateway for Multiplatforms. For more information about
the two-tier and three-tier connection models, see CICS Transaction Server for z/OS overview for a high-level overview, or CICS Transaction Server for z/OS two-tier connectivity and CICS Transaction Server for z/OS three-tier connectivity for
detailed conceptual information.
- Using the two-tier connection model:
- If you are making a direct two-tier connection from WebSphere Message
Broker to CICS, you can define the CICS server property either as a
configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection,
or as a URL.
For more information about defining this property as
a configurable service, see Changing connection information for the CICSRequest node.
To
define a URL, specify the protocol and the
CICS host name and port number.
The format of this value is
protocol://hostname:port.
Where:
- protocol can be tcp or ssl.
- hostname is the TCP/IP address of the CICS host.
- port is the port number of the TCPIPSERVICE
listener in CICS that is
listening for IPIC requests over TCP/IP or SSL.
For example:
tcp://mycicsregion.com:12345 or
ssl://mycicsregion.com:56789.
You can obtain the
hostname and
port values
from the IPIC TCPIPSERVICE definition in the target
CICS region.
- Using the three-tier connection model:
- If you are making a three-tier connection to CICS through CICS Transaction
Gateway for Multiplatforms, the CICS server CICSRequest node property must
be defined as a configurable service name, for example myCICSConnection.
For
more information about defining this property as a configurable service,
see Changing connection information for the CICSRequest node.
To make a three-tier
connection to CICS through CICS Transaction
Gateway for Multiplatforms, you must configure the cicsServer and gatewayURL CICSConnection configurable
service properties. For more information about configuring the cicsServer and gatewayURL CICSConnection configurable
service properties to make a three-tier connection, see Configurable services properties.
- Program name: Specify
the name of the program that you want to run in the target CICS region.
You can override
this property in the local environment by specifying a value in the
following location:
$LocalEnvironment/Destination/CICS/CICSProgramName
- Data structure:
Specify whether to use a COMMAREA or a channel data structure. The
default for this property is Commarea.
The decision depends on the targeted CICS program, for example;
whether the target program is channel-based or not.
- Commarea length:
This property is not configurable if a value of Channel is selected for the Data structure property.
The Commarea length property is the
size, in bytes, of the COMMAREA that is used by the CICS program. The byte size
value is sent to CICS,
and before the program is started, an area of memory is created to
match that number. For example, if you send a Commarea length value of 100, 100 bytes are allocated.
The program accesses this area as the DFHCOMMAREA.
Ensure that the Commarea
length property value is large enough to contain the input
request data, or the output response data, but that it does not exceed
the maximum value of 32767 bytes.
If the Commarea length value
is not large enough to be used for the response data, or the request
data, a memory leak occurs in CICS.
The size of the COMMAREA cannot be changed by the CICS program.
If
the serialized request data is larger than the Commarea length, the data is truncated
to the Commarea length.
You can obtain the Commarea
length value from the CICS administrator
or developer.
You can override this property
in the local environment by specifying a value in the following location:
$LocalEnvironment/Destination/CICS/CICSCommareaLen
- Transaction mode: Specify whether
requests to the CICSRequest node
are to managed as transactional or non-transactional.
- If you select Yes,
the CICSRequest node takes
part in the local transaction that is started by the message flow's
input node.
- If you select No,
the CICSRequest node does
not take part in the local transaction that is started by the message
flow's input node.
- If you select Automatic,
the message transactionality is inherited from the Transaction mode setting on the Input
node at the start of the message flow. For example, if the message
flow is driven by an MQInput node,
the CICSRequest node assumes
the Transaction mode that is set on the MQInput node. By default, the
Transaction mode property of the CICSRequest node is set to Automatic.
For more information about transactionality, see Message flow transactions.
- Save the message flow.
- Deploy the message flow.
Next: When you have created
and configured the message flow, build a message by following the
steps in
Building a message for the CICSRequest node.