Data events for z/TPFDF allows you to automatically capture changes to your z/TPFDF databases, add context to the captured data, and send the data event to one or more remote systems for processing - all without making any changes to your applications. To help you understand how data event processing works and how to define and enable data events for your z/TPFDF files, the z/TPF Data Event Starter Kit is now available for download from the z/TPF drivers download site.
The z/TPF data event starter kit demonstrates how an example data event is defined and deployed on your z/TPF system and how z/TPF can automatically create data events as an application updates a sample z/TPFDF database. To complete the end-to-end example, the starter kit also contains a sample event consumer that receives data events created by your z/TPF system and processes the data events on a remote system.
The starter kit contains all of the specifications, DFDL schema files, and custom user programs required to define and deploy an example data event on your z/TPF system. Once the data event is deployed, the DEVT driver that is provided with the starter kit can be used to easily create data events. The DEVT driver represents the application and updates the sample z/TPFDF Credit database based on DEVT driver commands that are entered on the z/TPF command line. When the credit database (the z/TPFDF DR12ED file) is updated, the z/TPF system automatically captures the changed z/TPFDF logical records (LRECs). The captured LRECs are packaged as a data event named Credit_Trxns where each data event represents the changed LRECS in a single z/TPFDF subfile. An application enrichment program adds event user context to the data event and a custom adapter program sends the resulting data event to the event consumer over a TCP/IP connection.
The DFDLtoXMLSample sample Java application represents the event consumer, reads data events from the TCP/IP connection, and creates an XML document for each data event that is received from the z/TPF system. To create the XML document, the DFDLtoXMLSample application uses DFDL schema files and the IBM DFDL parser included with the IBM Integration Bus to parse the binary data event that is received from z/TPF. By using the schema files and the IBM DFDL parser, the DFDLtoXMLSample application can identify and format all of the structures and fields in the binary data event and create an XML document based on the data event.