This section explains what hardware and software you need to use the CICS/ESA Front End Programming Interface (FEPI), what MVS™ system integrity is involved, what resources you need, and what to consider when installing FEPI and customizing your system.
There are different requirements for the front-end and the back-end.
For front-end systems, FEPI is an integral part of CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® (and of all CICS/ESA releases after Version 3 Release 3).
Other hardware and software requirements are the same as for CICS Transaction Server for z/OS.
Extra 37x5 controllers and network control programs (NCPs) may be needed to provide the necessary intersystem connections.
Applications running on the following, and subsequent compatible releases, are supported:
FEPI provides simulation for two very common classes of terminals on these systems:
All application programs that use FEPI run in problem-program mode in user-key storage. No part of FEPI needs to be authorized to run.
IBM® accepts authorized program analysis reports (APARs) where the installation of the FEPI function introduces an exposure to the system integrity of MVS. Refer to the MVS Integrity Programming Announcement dated 21 October 1981.
Some storage below the 16MB line is required, but the bulk resides above the 16MB line in storage managed by CICS. For details, see Planning FEPI storage.
There are no inherent resource limits in FEPI. It is limited only by what is configured and the available system storage.
FEPI is distributed through normal
IBM Program Library channels. It is a part of CICS and cannot be ordered separately.
See Getting started with FEPI for more information.
You need to configure your system specifically for CICS FEPI, for new application programs, and possibly for existing applications. See Planning for FEPI and Configuring FEPI for more information.
You may need to adapt your VTAM® setup, your CICS system, and CICS FEPI to use the interface effectively.
The CICS system initialization parameter and override, FEPI=YES|NO (default NO), controls whether FEPI is available or not. If it is, it runs as a system transaction that is started automatically when CICS starts; it does not need to be started (or stopped) independently.
FEPI itself is configured with the resources that it can use, by issuing commands from a front-end application program; FEPI does not use a configuration file or CICS RDO. The system programmer should provide a setup program to configure FEPI using these requests; the program can get the configuration data from a file or from whatever source it identifies.
CICS FEPI applications must be defined to CICS in the normal way.
It may be necessary to define simulated terminals for FEPI to use.
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