Before you start

This section tells you what to expect from this tutorial, and how to get the most out of it.

About this tutorial

This tutorial teaches how to create a simple Web page using the combination of Java Server Faces (JSF) and EGL to invoke a COBOL/CICS program using J2EE Connectors (J2C). You will see how this can be done without directly writing Java code, but using EGL to generate the Java code. The Java code created will run on WebSphere Application Server using a Managed Connection Factory.

We will deploy a simple Web application to WebSphere Application Server V5.1 using JavaServer Faces (JSF) technology. This tutorials describes in detail how to code, test, generate, and deploy a three-tier application consisting of a Web interface, business logic that executes on WebSphere Application Server, and a legacy COBOL/CICS server program that performs a DB2® query to access a database. All code will be tested and deployed in the workstation using the CICS Transaction Server and CICS Transaction Gateway (CTG) that are delivered with WebSphere Developer for zSeries. We will implement a simple program using EGL and JSF.

If you wish, you can download the sample program and load it into WebSphere Developer instead of starting from scratch.

This article makes use of animated examples. When you see the symbol , double-click on it, and an animation sequence will demonstrate a specific development task in action.

Objectives

In this tutorial, you learn how to connect COBOL and CICs programs to a Web application, using EGL and JSF. The EGL and JSF architecture is an event-driven model in which each request is handled by a specific page handler. The page handler can act on information submitted with the request, or forward it to another handler for processing. This event-driven model greatly simplifies the building of Web applications. You'll learn about this model and how to use EGL to implement it, which means you won't need Java skills, since all of the Java code will be generated from the EGL code.

Prerequisites

This tutorial is written for CICS and COBOL programmers who need to access legacy applications from a Web interface. You don't need Java skills to take this tutorial.

System requirements

WebSphere Developer for zSeries V6 is required to code and test the example described here, but Rational Application Developer V6 could also be used if you will not execute the COBOL/CICS program.

Since the COBOL/CICS program used in this example accesses DB2 you will need to install DB2 in your workstation. You will need DB2 version 7.1 or later for this tutorial. Refer to the IBM documentation for this installation.

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Table of contents

• Before you start
• Key concepts
• Preparing your workstation for this tutorial
• Build a JSF/EGL application to invoke the COBOL/CICS
• Adding a JSP page for CICS authentication
• Summary
• Downloads
• Resources
• About the author

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