The following CICS® resources support Web services in CICS:
- PIPELINE
- A PIPELINE resource definition is required in every case. It provides
information about the message handler programs that act on a service request
and on the response. Typically, a single PIPELINE definition defines an infrastructure
that can be used by many applications. The information about the message
handlers is supplied indirectly: the PIPELINE specifies the name of an HFS
file which contains an XML description of the handlers and their configuration.
A
PIPELINE resource that is created for a service requester cannot be used for
a service provider, and vice versa. The two sorts of PIPELINE are distinguished
by the contents of the pipeline configuration file that is specified in the
CONFIGFILE attribute: for a service provider, the top level element is <provider_pipeline>;
for a service requester it is <requester_pipeline>.
- WEBSERVICE
- A WEBSERVICE resource definition is required only when the mapping between
application data structure and SOAP messages has been generated using the CICS Web
services assistant. It defines aspects of the run time environment for a CICS application
program deployed in a Web services setting.
Although CICS provides
the usual resource definition mechanisms for WEBSERVICE resources, they are
typically created automatically from a Web service binding file when the PIPELINE's
pickup directory is scanned. This happens when the PIPELINE resource is installed,
or as a result of a PERFORM PIPELINE SCAN command. The attributes applied
to the WEBSERVICE resource in this case come from a Web services binding file,
which is created by the Web services assistant; information in the binding
file comes from the Web service description, or is supplied as a parameter
of the Web services assistant.
A WEBSERVICE resource that is created
for a service requester cannot be used for a service provider, and vice versa.
The two sorts of WEBSERVICE are distinguished by the PROGRAM attribute: for
a service provider, the attribute must be specified; for a service requester
it must be omitted.
- URIMAP
- A URIMAP definition is required only in a service provider, and contains
information that maps the URI of an inbound Web service request to the other
resources (such as the PIPELINE) that will service the request.
Although CICS provides
the usual resource definition mechanisms, for service providers deployed using
the CICS Web
services assistant the URIMAP resources are typically created automatically
from a Web service binding file when the PIPELINE's pickup directory is scanned.
This happens when the PIPELINE resource is installed, or as a result of a
PERFORM PIPELINE SCAN command. The attributes applied to the URIMAP resource
in this case come from a Web services binding file, which is created by the
Web services assistant; information in the binding file comes from the Web
service description, or is supplied as a parameter of the Web services assistant.
- TCPIPSERVICE
- A TCPIPSERVICE definition is required in a service provider that uses
the HTTP transport, and contains information about the port on which inbound
requests are received.
The resources that are required to support a particular application
program depends upon the following:
- Whether the application program is a service provide or a service requester.
- Whether the application is deployed with the CICS Web services assistant.
Service requester or provider |
CICS Web services assistant used |
PIPELINE required |
WEBSERVICE required |
URIMAP required |
TCPIPSERVICE required |
Provider |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes (but see note 1) |
Yes (but see note 1) |
See note 2 |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
See note 2 |
Requester |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Notes: - When the CICS Web service assistant is used to deploy an application
program, the WEBSERVICE and URIMAP resources can be created automatically
when the PIPELINE's pickup directory is scanned. This happens when the PIPELINE
resource is installed, or as a result of a PERFORM PIPELINE SCAN command.
- A TCPIPSERVICE resource is required when the HTTP
transport is used. When the WebSphere® MQ transport is used, a TCPIPSERVICE
resource is not required.
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Typically, when you deploy many Web services applications are deployed
in a CICS system,
you will have more than one of each type of resource. In this case, you can
share some resources between applications.
For each ... |
You can have ... |
Pipeline configuration file |
- More than one PIPELINE resource that refers to the file
|
PIPELINE resource |
- More than one URIMAP resource that refers to the PIPELINE
- More than one WEBSERVICE resource that refers to the PIPELINE
- More than one Web service binding file in the PIPELINE's pickup directory
|
Web service binding file |
- Just one URIMAP resource that is automatically generated from the binding
file. But you can define further URIMAPs using RDO.
- Just one WEBSERVICE resource that is automatically generated from the
binding file. But you can define further WEBSERVICEs using RDO.
|
WEBSERVICE |
- More than one URIMAP resource. If the WEBSERVICE resource is automatically
generated from the binding file, there is just one corresponding URIMAP resource.
But you can define further URIMAP resources using RDO.
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URIMAP |
- Just one TCPIPSERVICE when it is explicitly named in the URIMAP resource.
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TCPIPSERVICE |
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