Software enables composition of CICS applications.
Press Release Summary:
Offering tooling and run-time components, CICS® Service Flow Feature enables users to create CICS business services for integration in Service-Oriented Architectures, business process collaborations, or enterprise solutions that exploit loose coupling approach. It features graphical integrated development environment for composing CICS application interactions, and generation capability that transforms composed flow of CICS application interaction to form run-time application.
Original Press Release:
IBM CICS Service Flow Feature Enables Composition of CICS Applications to Create CICS Business Services
CICS Service Flow Feature, comprising a tooling component and a run-time component:
Is a business service integration adapter for CICS applications.
Enables integration developers to create CICS business services by composing a sequence of CICS application interactions. These can be integrated in Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) or business process collaborations.
Delivers a graphical integrated development environment for composing the CICS application interactions, a generation facility for creating a run-time application, and a run-time component that exploits CICS interfaces to support the service flow.
For ordering, contact:
Your IBM representative, an IBM Business Partner, or IBM Americas Call Centers at 800-IBM-CALL (Reference: YE001).
Overview
CICS® Service Flow Feature is a business service integration adapter for all CICS applications. It offers both tooling and run-time components. These components enable enterprise solution architects, enterprise integration developers, and CICS application specialists to create CICS business services for integration in Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA), business process collaborations, or enterprise solutions that exploit a loose coupling approach.
The CICS Service Flow Feature delivers the capability to implement CICS business services by composing a sequence of CICS application interactions. In a single offering, CICS Service Flow Feature delivers:
A graphical modeling integrated development environment that enables the creation of CICS business services by composing a flow of CICS application interactions.
A generation capability that transforms the composed flow of CICS application interactions to form a run-time application, highly optimized for the CICS environment, that retains the inherent qualities of service provided by the existing CICS application implementation.
A run-time component, known as the Service Flow Runtime, that extends the CICS Transaction Server for z/OS® (CICS TS) environment. It offers adapters that exploit CICS interfaces to invoke the CICS terminal-oriented transactions and COMMAREA programs as required by the service flow.
CICS business services built with and hosted in CICS Service Flow Feature expose business function interfaces that can readily be published as Web services in an SOA by exploiting the Web services capabilities of CICS TS V3.1. This approach complements and extends the Web services capabilities offered in CICS for use with composed CICS applications.
Additionally, these business services can be integrated as process steps in a business process orchestrated by a business process engine such as WebSphere® Process Server.
CICS Service Flow Feature preserves the natural modeling style of business integration solutions while shielding the solution implementer from the detail of the CICS application implementation. CICS application interfaces, including 3270 transaction screens and COMMAREAs, can be imported as components into the composition workspace. Imported CICS application components are composed to produce a CICS business service adapter that extends the value of CICS application components with a business service interface.
The CICS Service Flow Runtime adapters allow access to existing CICS transaction and application interfaces using non-invasive techniques, so that the CICS application assets orchestrated by the service flow do not have to be altered to support the CICS business service flow. This enables the fast reuse of existing assets while minimizing the risk of the new implementation.
Key prerequisites
CICS TS for z/OS V3.1
Planned availability date
December 16, 2005
