The most common type of Java™ application that uses the IMS TM resource adapter is one that runs a non-conversational IMS transaction. To run a non-conversational transaction, the Java application interacts with the IMS Transaction Manager (IMS TM), via IMS Connect, passing the transaction input message to IMS TM and accepting the transaction output message from IMS TM in return. In the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) this is done using an instance of the Interaction object. The Java application interacts with IMS by invoking the execute method of an Interaction class, providing the input message of the IMS transaction and an IMSInteractionSpec object. The IMSInteractionSpec object describes the properties of the interaction.
The properties of IMSInteractionSpec determine the type of interaction that a Java application has with IMS TM. Interactions take place in a transaction pipe (TPIPE), which is a logical connection between a client, such as IMS Connect, and the server, such as IMS OTMA. The following sections present the properties of IMSInteractionSpec, as well as descriptions of the different types of interactions and how an IMSInteractionSpec object is configured for the type of interaction. A Java application can configure an IMSInteractionSpec object and invoke the execute method of an Interaction object a number of ways: