For customers using WebSphere MQ with CICS (and who isn’t), this is what we’ve been waiting for. The MQ Adapter is now ‘owned’ and shipped with CICS – much the same way that the DB2 Adapter was changed to be part of CICS. Now that the MQ Adapter, the MQ bridge and the MQ trigger monitor are shipped with CICS, they’ve been enhanced to take advantage of many CICS features. One of these is the ability for MQ calls to be ‘Threadsafe’. Portions of MQ calls can now run under the CICS Open TCB in an ‘open’ environment. For multiple WebSphere MQ requests, TCB switching can be avoided, resulting in a savings of CPU and an increase in overall throughput, because applications can now run on multiple open TCBs and avoid bottlenecking.
In addition, since the CICS-MQ Adapter is shipped with CICS, it becomes another component with standard CICS naming conventions. The programs (except for MQ stubs and exits) are DFH* modules and are in SDFHLOAD, so the MQ LOADLIB is no longer necessary. All MQ messages will now be in the format DFHMQ*** as are all other CICS components. New statistics exist for the MQCONN connection and new trace entries are written to the AP trace domain. Customers that currently have User Trace turned on for MQ may now benefit from removing that application trace overhead. Reference the complete announcement letter and CICS TS 3.2 Release Guide for details on this significant enhancement.
CICS 64-bit Containers have been enhanced in V3.2. Customers have been limited to 32K COMMAREAs until V3.1, when containers and channels were introduced and widely accepted. They use storage ‘above the bar’ – or storage above the 2GB limit for z/OS storage. A number of new capabilities are introduced to CICS commands and messages to provide information about the availability and usage of 64-bit storage. In order to run CICS TS V3.2, a minimum of 2GB of 64-bit storage for the region is recommended. The Storage Manager Domain has been changed to accommodate new storage conditions and notify if the allocation is not adequate.
Just when we thought ‘Above the Line’ was enough storage, now we have storage ‘Above the Bar’. Isn’t that progress?
In the same category of channels and containers, V3.2 now allows the use of containers and channels on the WEB API commands, for CICS as either a server or client. This will further CICS’s role in the SOA environment.
In the area of CICS and connectivity, CICS can now securely connect to another CICS via TCP/IP. A new resource definition, IPCONN, specifies the outbound attributes of the TCP/IP connection while the existing definition TCPIPSERVICE has been changed to specify the attributes of the inbound connection. DPL (Distributed Program Links) are now able to utilize CICS TCP/IP connections for communications between regions. A plus is that these IPCONN resources can be AUTOINSTALLed rather than specifically defined in each region.
The good news/bad news about CPSM (CICSPlex/SM) is that the installation has been totally changed, hopefully for the better. The bad news is that the TSO EUI (End User Interface) is gone. It is not part of the product at all. All customers will have to use the WUI (Web User Interface), and the installation jobs have been changed and simplified to reflect that. Previously created installation jobs/scenarios will probably NOT work, so the process to install CPSM will be a new challenge in this release.
Good news! CICS TS V3.2 now allows customers to create, activate and manage dynamically defined load libraries. How long have we been waiting for this! Any changes to the CICS library concatentation (DFHRPL) have previously required a complete recycle of the region. Now, the existing DFHRPL can be modified while CICS is still up and running. New RDO (Resource Definition Online) definitions will allow libraries to be defined, installed, discarded, etc. Another inhibitor to total 24/7 availability has been removed.
There is even an enhancement for those customers still using VSAM files. CICS File Control has been enhanced to allow Threadsafe API commands. While not all VSAM commands are Threadsafe, several of the most commonly used ones are. It’s even available if the file is defined as LOCAL or RLS (Record Level Sharing). Data Tables are not supported yet, but we can only imagine that’s coming soon. Thanks again Hursley to those customers that can’t convert all their data to DB2.
Included in the announcement is a great opportunity for customers that want to get an early start on this release. Hurlsey is offering an ‘Open BETA’ to anyone who wants V3.2 before it goes GA in June. Go to the CICS website:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/tserver/v32/openbeta/
Register for the offer and get an early shipment. The only request is that you give IBM feedback during the trial before the GA date.
In addition, Hurlsey is offering special attention to customers that want it. This offer lets IBM come to YOU! According to IBM:
‘There is an initiative where CICS Technical specialists will visit customer locations for a day at no cost to the customer and deliver a customized agenda, agreed upon with the customer by the Account Team. The intention is that a set of mixed skills will attend and hear the benefits of moving to CICS TS V3. There are no travel or lodging costs incurred by the customer so it is hoped that more of their staff to take this opportunity to listen to CICS technical specialists explaining the capabilities of CICS. The initiative is called the CICS on demand Seminars and customers should contact their Account team to be nominated. If they are unable to contact their Account rep then they should request a nomination form from the following userID cicssem@uk.ibm.com asking for a nomination form for a CICS on demand Seminar.’
What an offer!
Summary
If these highlights haven’t given you enough reason to consider the migration to CICS TS V3.2, I don’t know what would. I’ve just scratched the surface of the enhancements, so please read all the details by visiting the V3.2 website at:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/tserver/v32/
IBM is totally committed to CICS and it’s role in the legacy environment plus as a major player in SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture). It will be GA (Generally Available) in June of this year, so put it in your plans for migration.
