Create a J2C application for a CICS transaction containing multiple possible outputs introduction

This tutorial describes how to use the J2C Java™ Bean wizard to build a simple web application that processes a CICS® transaction with multiple possible outputs.

This tutorial might require some optionally installable components. If you encounter errors or cannot find user interface options when you run the sample, ensure that you installed the appropriate optional components:

IBM® WebSphere® Application Server, version V7.0, V8.0, or V8.5.

To use this sample, you must have an application server installed and configured. To verify that a server runtime environment is available, click Window > Preferences, expand Server, and then click Installed Runtimes. You can use this pane to add, remove, or edit installed server runtime definitions. You can also download and install support for a new server.

This tutorial leads you through the detailed steps to generate a J2C application that interfaces with a CICS transaction using an External Call Interface (ECI). The service is built from a CICS COBOL function, getCustomerInfo, which accepts a customer number. Depending on the classification of the customer – preferred customer, regular customer, or bad customer – the program returns different output information about the customer.

getCustomerInfo diagram

This tutorial is divided into several exercises that must be completed in sequence for the tutorial to work properly. This tutorial teaches you how to use the J2C Java bean wizard to connect to a CICS ECI server. While completing the exercises, you will:

Use the J2C Java bean wizard to create a J2C application that interfaces with a CICS transaction using an External Call Interface (ECI).
Create a Java method, getCustomerInfo, which accepts a customer number. Depending on the classification of the customer – preferred customer, regular customer, or bad customer – the program returns different output information about the customer.
Create a Java class, TestECIMPO.java to test your application.

Learning objectives

In this tutorial, you will:

Use the J2C Java bean wizard to create a J2C application that interfaces with a CICS transaction using an External Call Interface (ECI).
Create a Java method, getCustomerInfo, which accepts a customer number. Depending on the classification of the customer – preferred customer, regular customer, or bad customer – the program returns different output information about the customer
Create a test Java class to test the application.

Time required

This tutorial takes approximately 30 minutes to finish. If you explore other concepts related to this tutorial, it could take longer to complete.

Skill level

Experienced

Audience

This tutorial is intended for users who are familiar with Enterprise Information systems (EIS) and CICS ECI in particular.

System requirements

To complete this tutorial, you need to have the following tools and components installed:

IBM® WebSphere® Application Server, version V7.0, V8.0, or V8.5.
J2EE Connector (J2C) tools installed
Connection to a CICS ECI server: In this tutorial, your application interacts with a CICS program on a server. Specifically, you need to set up a CICS transaction gateway on a machine to access the server. You also need to perform some setup work on the CICS server machine, where you want the CICS to run. These steps are not covered.
A copy of the COBOL file taderc25.cbl. You can locate this file in your product installation directory: <installdir>\IBM\SDP70Shared\plugins\com.ibm.j2c.cheatsheet.content_7.0.0\Samples\CICS\taderc25. If you want to store it locally, you can copy the code from here: taderc25.cbl
A clean workspace.

Prerequisites

In order to complete this tutorial end to end, you should be familiar with:

J2EE and Java programming
COBOL programming language
CICS ECI server technology

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