As an application developer I am excited about these two (or are are both of these describing the same feature?): - Channels and containers allow applications to be able to use containers without the need to restructure COMMAREA-based programs. - Channels and containers are enhanced to introduce transaction containers that are created in the DFHTRANSACTION channel. This channel does not go out of scope when the link level changes; it is always accessible in the transaction. This allows all applications to use containers, including those that use COMMAREAs in program links.
Frank >________________________________ > From: Timothy Sipples <sipp...@sg.ibm.com> >To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU >Sent: Monday, February 3, 2014 11:02 PM >Subject: CICS Transaction Server 5.2 Open Beta Program Announced > > >I didn't see anyone else mention it yet, so here's IBM's announcement of >the open beta program for CICS Transaction Server 5.2: > >http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/5/897/ENUS214-015/ENUS214-015.PDF > >You can download the beta version of CICS TS 5.2 starting in late February, >2014, by visiting this Web site: > >http://www.ibm.com/cics/openbeta > >You'll need z/OS 1.13 or higher to run the CICS TS 5.2 beta version(s) -- >and presumably the final release as well. (A single available z/OS 1.13 or >higher LPAR or z/VM guest will do.) There's no charge for using the beta >version. See the announcement letter for details on terms and conditions >(which are simple and few). > >For those of you unfamiliar with CICS Transaction Server, it's one of the >world's premier transaction processing and application hosting environments >-- and that's an understatement, really. And it's probably the world's most >popular mission-critical transaction manager. Here are some of the >highlights in Version 5.2: > >- First class, updated support for the WebSphere Liberty Profile, meaning >you can run all sorts of Java applications based on those popular >Java-related standards in CICS TS. Nothing extra required -- it's ready to >go and very convenient. Yes, if you have CICS TS you have Java and Java >application hosting, standard, at no additional charge. And >anybody/everybody developing Java-based applications -- including open >source developers -- is already a CICS TS developer. It's genuine, 100% >WebSphere Liberty and its rich function set, but with CICS TS service >levels, fast startup, and reduced memory requirements. Great stuff here. >Maybe Kirk (for example) can comment further on this aspect of CICS TS, but >(if you can't tell) I think it's one of the best additions to CICS (and to >z/OS) ever. > >- Integrated JSON and REST support, which will be of particular interest to >those developing and deployment mobile applications. This support is >available as a no charge add-on, but now it's part of the base CICS TS >distribution and thus even more convenient. Likewise, more security >features are integrated in the base distribution, e.g. SAML support. > >- More Unicode-related and COBOL-related support for service mappings (SOAP >and JSON). > >- More exploitation of IP interconnectivity (IPIC) for more high >availability deployment scenarios. > >- Applications which use COMMAREAs can now jump forward to use containers >without application restructuring. So you can standardize on containers (no >32K limit!) and gradually expand those COMMAREAs into container-sized data >structures as/when you see fit. This is really great for application >evolution. > >- More threadsafe support, and less use of 31-bit storage. (CICS TS is >increasingly exploiting 64-bit storage, and those improvements continue.) > >- More cloud-oriented capabilities, such as multiple application versioning >with the lifecycle management of first-class applications and greater >dynamic control over CICS regions/topologies. The basic idea here is you >have lots of capabilities for instantly or near-instantly, dynamically, >automatically provisioning and de-provisioning CICS applications (and >multi-component application topologies which include CICS-hosted >components) and associated runtime environments. > >- CICS Explorer picks up lots of enhancements consistent with improvements >to CICS TS itself, plus CICS Explorer 5.2 will let you define and manage >workloads with CICSPlex System Manager (CPSM) workload management (WLM). I >should editorialize here that CPSM does not require Sysplex or Parallel >Sysplex, and some people get confused by the "Plex" in the name. CPSM is >very useful indeed in many situations, even when you run CICS on a single >LPAR in a monoplex. So don't skip over that CPSM information if you have >previously because you didn't think you qualified. If you have CICS TS, you >have CPSM, and you should strongly consider enabling CPSM if you haven't >already. > >- There are even more features to trigger additional CICS autonomic actions >based on service thresholds. This is very helpful if you have "problem >child" transaction programs that currently require operation attention. Let >CICS handle more of that work (and prevent those problem children from >affecting more than their individual scopes). That lets you then focus on >actually fixing those problem children in a much less urgent, more precise >way. That's a consistent theme in z/OS computing overall, actually. > >Enjoy, and let IBM know what you think through the beta feedback channels. > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Timothy Sipples >GMU VCT Architect Executive (Based in Singapore) >E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
