Chapter 1 . Introducing BEA Connect TCP for IMS

BEA Connect products offer a set of communication gateways between BEA TUXEDO systems and other online transaction processing environments, including IBM's CICS and IMS. They allow applications to scale in size by providing interoperability between systems. BEA Connect TCP for IMS is a gateway connectivity feature that provides transparent communications between client and server transactions in an IMS system and a BEA TUXEDO domain, a CICS system, or another IMS system. (A BEA TUXEDO domain is a single computer [or network of computers] that shares a single BEA TUXEDO configuration.)

Features/Benefits

• Ensured online integration of business operations through transparent client/server communications among heterogeneous systems

• Truly open distributed applications

• High throughput through TCP/IP for high bandwidth, online request/response for minimized network traffic, encapsulation for processing at the resource

• Ease of integration; modular architecture for flexible on-schedule migration

• High performance open solution

BEA Connect TCP for IMS Architecture

BEA Connect TCP for IMS is a Batch Message Processing program (BMP) that works in the IMS environment. It uses the MVS TCP/IP Sockets API to communicate with a BEA Connect TPS gateway on a remote BEA TUXEDO system, and the IMS Message Queue to communicate with IMS Application transactions. BEA Connect TCP for IMS supports connectivity with remote BEA Connect TPS gateways, BEA Connect TCP for CICS gateways, or other BEA Connect TCP for IMS gateways. Figure 1-1 illustrates connection with a remote BEA Connect TPS gateway.

Figure 1-1 The BEA Connect TCP for IMS Interoperability Solution

The configuration definition of the BEA Connect TPS gateway in the remote BEA TUXEDO system maps BEA TUXEDO local services to remote services provided by the IMS gateway. Each remote service corresponds to an IMS Server transaction. Service requests issued by clients in the BEA TUXEDO system are routed through the BEA Connect TPS gateway to the BEA Connect TCP for IMS gateway for processing by the appropriate IMS Server transaction.

Similarly, the configuration definition in the BEA Connect TCP for IMS gateway maps local service names to remote services provided by the BEA TUXEDO system. Service requests issued by IMS client transactions are routed to the BEA Connect TPS TUXEDO gateway for processing by the appropriate BEA TUXEDO service.

In both cases, access to a remote service is transparent to the client requesting the service.

Minimum Hardware Requirements

• Any S/370 or S/390 processor capable of supporting any of the required software products listed below

• TCP/IP network connectivity

Software Requirements

• IMS 5.1

• IBM Language Environment/370 (LE/370) Version 1.5 or higher

• IBM C/C++ Version 3.11 or higher

• IBM TCP/IP for MVS Version 3.1 or higher or Interlink TCPaccess Version 4.1, Patch Level 9703, or higher

BEA Connect TCP for IMS Components

BEA Connect TCP for IMS is a standard, transaction-oriented Batch Message Processing (BMP) program that works in the IMS environment. It uses the MVS TCP/IP Sockets API to communicate with remote BEA Connect gateways and the IMS Message Queue to communicate with IMS Application transactions.

IBM LE/370 Language Environment

LE/370 is an IBM product that provides a common run-time environment for a number of IBM high-level languages, including C/C++. The BEA Connect TCP for IMS BMP is written in the IBM C programming language and requires the LE/370 run-time environment.

IBM TCP/IP for MVS

TCP/IP for MVS is an IBM product that provides TCP/IP communications support for programs executing in an MVS environment by means of a standard, UNIX-style sockets API. BEA Connect TCP for IMS uses TCP/IP to communicate with remote BEA Connect gateways.

Note: This guide assumes you are using the IBM TCP/IP for MVS product. If you are using another supported TCP/IP product, such as Interlink TCP access, consult the product documentation for equivalent components.

IMS Server Transactions

IMS Server Transactions are user-written programs that process service requests issued by a remote system. Server Transactions are ordinary IMS MPP (Message Processing Program) transactions and can be written in any language supported by IMS.

IMS Client Transactions

IMS Client Transactions are user-written programs that issue requests for services offered by a remote system. Client Transactions are ordinary IMS MPP transactions and can be written in any language supported by IMS.