Managing remote API clients on Windows

CS/AIX enables machines running Microsoft Windows to act as clients in the CS/AIX domain. The CS/AIX client software includes API libraries that are compatible with Microsoft Host Integration Server, the Windows Open Systems Architecture (WOSA), and the interfaces provided by IBM Personal Communications and Communications Server for Windows. This enables applications written for these implementations to run unchanged on the Remote API Client on Windows.

The Remote API Client on Windows supports the following WOSA APIs:

  • Windows APPC
  • Windows CPI-C
  • Windows LUA
  • Windows CSV

For more information about Windows SNA APIs, see the documentation provided with Microsoft Host Integration Server.

SNA network information, and other information required by the Remote API Client on Windows, is held in the Windows Registry.

The client must be enabled before you can use CS/AIX applications or emulation programs on the client. For more information, see Enabling a remote API client on Windows. When the client is enabled, it contacts a server running CS/AIX over the TCP/IP network in order to access CS/AIX features.

The operation of the client is also controlled by the information in the Windows Registry. The Windows Registry contains information about the following:

  • Configuration information specific to Remote API Clients on Windows
  • Servers that the client can access
  • Logging and tracing options for applications running on the client
  • Additional options for CPI-C and CSV applications running on the client
  • Invokable TPs (APPC or CPI-C) that can run on the client

The most commonly used parameters can also be modified using the Client Configuration Utility, which is the preferred method for modifying them. For more information, see Remote API client on Windows.

Note: If the client uses HTTPS to access its servers, you will need to modify the client configuration to specify the names of these servers and the WebSphere server providing HTTPS access to them before you can use the client. See Remote API client on Windows for more information.

Some legacy SLI applications on Windows were written to handle a full SNA stack implementation where a return code a COMM_SUBSYSTEM_XXX indicates that the SNA stack is no longer running or available. When migrating to a Remote API client/server implementation this message can occur when there is a TCP/IP connection outage, but recovery of the socket is possible. To prevent such applications treating this condition as fatal, it is possible to configure the Remote API Client to map these three return codes to LUA_SESSION_FAILURE. To configure this, create a file slicommmap in the Remote API client install directory (typically c:\ibmcs\w64cli).