If you use the SOAP for CICS® feature, you must perform a number
of tasks to migrate applications that use the feature. The support for Web
services provided in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS®, Version 3 Release 1 is
substantially different from that provided in the feature.
The SOAP for CICS feature relies to a considerable extent upon user-written
code, and therefore it is not possible to set out a step-by-step migration
task. However, here are some of the things you will need to think about.
- Consider using the Web services assistant to construct and parse
SOAP messages. If you decide to do so, you are advised to discard
your existing message adapters, and deign new wrapper programs to replace
them, as it is unlikely that you will be able to reuse significant amounts
of code in your adapters.
- If you use SOAP messages, but decide not to use the Web services
assistant, you may be able to reuse your existing code for constructing and
parsing the messages. However, you should consider whether to use
the CICS-provided SOAP message handlers, because they are designed to work
with SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2 messages.
- Review your use of containers. The SOAP for CICS feature
uses BTS containers, whereas CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, Version 3 Release 1 uses
channel containers. You will need to review your programs and change any BTS-related
commands required by the feature. You will also need to review the name and
usage of each container, as most of these have changed.
- Consider how to migrate the function that was provided by your
pipeline programs. The pipeline in the SOAP for CICS feature
has a fixed number of user-written programs, each with a designated purpose.
The function provided by some of these programs is provided in CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, Version 3 Release 1 by
the CICS-provided SOAP message handlers, so you may be able to dispense with
these programs altogether.
On the other hand, CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, Version 3 Release 1 lets
you define as many programs in your pipeline as you need. Therefore, you should
consider whether the function performed by your pipeline programs should be
restructured to take advantage of the new framework.
In any case, the
way that pipeline programs communicate with CICS, and with one another, has changed,
so you will need to review these programs to see if they can be reused in
the new environment.
In the SOAP for CICS feature, you could have just one pipeline
for all your service provider applications, and one for all your service requesters.
In CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, Version 3 Release 1, you
can configure many different pipelines. Therefore, it is possible that the
logic you provided in your pipeline programs to distinguish one application
from another can be replaced by CICS resource definitions. For example,
in a service provider, code that distinguishes between applications based
upon a URI, can be replaced with a suitable set of URIMAP resources