Getting started with IBM CICS Explorer
Follow the instructions or video tutorials to download and get your CICS Explorer® ready to work.
Downloading and starting CICS Explorer
- Go to Install Eclipse Tools and select as you move through the wizard.
- Download the version of IBM® CICS Explorer that suits your operating system. The compressed file contains an IBM Explorer for z/OS® platform on which CICS Explorer is built, so you don't need to separately download IBM Explorer for z/OS.
- After you extract the compressed file, double-click the zosexplorer.exe file to start CICS Explorer.
in the upper-right corner to go to the workbench. 
The workbench shows a collection of windows that form a certain layout. The windows are called "views" and the overall layout is a "perspective" in CICS Explorer. They display information related to your CICS® regions or CICSplexes.
Connecting CICS Explorer to CICS systems
You must connect CICS Explorer to a CICS region or CICSplex to manage your resources.
You are recommended to connect to CICS regions or CICSplexes through the CICS management client interface (CMCI) connection, which provides more powerful capabilities against CICS resources. To add a CMCI connection, select the CMCI category from the connection list and click Add. In the pop-up window, specify the information, such as the host name and port number, for your connection and click Save and Connect.
In the Signon window, specify your credentials to connect.
Navigating CICS Explorer
The CICS Explorer workbench is a single window that consists of views arranged in a certain way to form a layout known as a perspective, as well as other visual components, as the following screen capture shows.
- Views
-
A view is a display of specific CICS data that relates to the current context or scope. Multiple views can be stacked together into a tab group shown as a pane. For example, the selected views in Fig 1. Example CICS SM perspective are:
- The CICSplex Explorer view, which shows the CICSplex and CICS regions to which CICS Explorer is connected.
- The Programs view, which shows information about currently installed programs in the connected CICS region or CICSplex.
- The Properties view, which shows details about the properties of the selected resource.
- The Help view, which dynamically shows help information for CICS Explorer users based on the context.
Figure 1. Example CICS SM perspective 
Because CICS Explorer is built on top of z/OS Explorer, it provides CICS-specific views, including operation and definition views, besides views that are provided by z/OS Explorer, such as z/OS Jobs and Host Connections views.
Operation views and definition views are both resource views. Operation views display the CICS resources that support day-to-day operation and management of the enterprise, and definition views display details of the CICS and CICSPlex® SM resource definitions. You can customize how the data is shown in a resource view by adding filters, sorting the data, or adjusting the data columns. In the operation view, you can perform actions against a resource, for example, enabling or disabling a resource. In the definition view, you can create or update resource definitions by using the CICS Explorer resource editor.
- Perspectives
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A perspective is a layout of one or more views in the workbench. CICS Explorer has a set of default perspectives, including some that provide CICS functions (CICS Cloud, CICS SM, and SM Administration) and others (Resource, z/OS, and Remote System Explorer) that derive from z/OS Explorer, based on which CICS Explorer is built. Different perspectives offer different sets of views.
Areas 1 - 4 in Fig 1. Example CICS SM perspective form the CICS SM perspective, which is one of the default perspectives provided by CICS Explorer.
To switch to a different perspective, click the Open Perspective icon
on the workbench toolbar and select one perspective. You can customize the perspective to suit your business needs; for example, you can open and close views, or move and resize views by dragging the view tabs or their borders. Changes to the perspective remain after you reopen CICS Explorer.
- Information bar
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The information bar in the bottom of the workbench provides additional information. The status bar (Area 5) displays status messages, error messages, or short descriptions of attributes, depending on the current action. The connection status bar (Area 6) displays the status and the name of the system connection. To choose another connection, click the arrow icon to the left of the connection name.
Viewing and changing resources
- Customize resource views to examine resources
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To view resources in the connected region or CICSplex, select a CICS region or a CICSplex in the CICSplex Explorer view. Each resource view dynamically shows information about a certain type of resource in the selected systems. For example, in the screen capture, the Programs view in Area 2 shows information about programs in the connected IYCWEKKS region.
As with perspectives, you can customize the resource view to examine a specific set of resources to suit your business needs. For example, you can change the view layout by moving or resizing its columns; you can also filter or sort the data in a view. Customization of a view remains after you refresh or reopen a view.
To filter resource data quickly, right-click a resource, and then select Add Quick Filter to specify a filter for that resource attribute. You cannot filter resources by the region attribute.
To sort data by a resource attribute, click the attribute column header, for example, Name
. Click the column header again to change the sorting order. To clear sorting, click the
View Menu icon 
On the toolbar of the view, and then click Clear Sort. 
To perform more actions against a resource, you can right-click it to display a menu of available actions for the selected resource.
- Change resource definitions in an editor
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You can edit existing resource definitions by using the resource editor, which displays the resource definition attributes in one or more pages. You can open the resource editor in a resource definition view or a project view, by double-clicking the resource or right-clicking it and then selecting Open.
If you open a resource in a running CICS region, the changes you can make are limited. However, if you open a resource definition, you can change all editable attributes, just as you can with CEDA.
Getting started video tutorials
- Tutorial 1. Downloading and installing
Note that this video shows the old-style download page. As an alternative, you can go to Install Eclipse Tools and follow the interactive instructions there.
- Tutorial 2. The basics of the interface
Watch the video to familiarize yourself with the three major components of Eclipse (perspectives, views, and editors), which CICS Explorer is based on, and how to use them to your advantage.
- Tutorial 3. Getting connected
Use the Host Connections view to create new connections to CICS, assign credentials to connections, and define a default connection.
- Tutorial 4. Using the CICSplex Explorer view
This key view is essential for navigating the topology of your CICS systems. Watch this video to know the different elements that make up this view, and how to narrow your scope to target specific resources in your system.
- Tutorial 5. Using resource views
Resource views allow you to dig deep into your CICS systems. You’ll see how to filter, sort, aggregate, and choose the columns you need to find information and take action fast.
- Tutorial 6. Configuring your resource views
Resource views are highly configurable to get the information you need. This video shows you how to create a new resource view, then change it by adding filters, aggregation, and adding columns. Finally, you’ll learn how to share this view with a colleague.