The JSON web services assistant

The JSON web services assistant creates a mapping between JSON Schemas and language structures.

Before you create a JSON web service, you must have either:
  • copybooks, header files and/or channel description documents which describe the interface to the CICS® program, or
  • JSON Schema files describing the interface to the JSON web service.

The JSON web services assistant is a supplied utility that helps you to create the necessary artifacts for a new JSON web service. These artifacts include WSBind files, language structures and JSON schemas.

A WSBind file describes which CICS program to call when a JSON web service is invoked and how JSON is converted to a channel or COMMAREA payload.

There are two versions of the CICS TG JSON web services assistant:
  • A JCL based assistant for running on IBM® z/OS®.
  • An executable script ctgassist for running on distributed systems.
Both versions of the assistant generate the same output.

Choose the version of the assistant that is supported for the platform you want to run it on. The distributed version of the assistant is located in the CICS TG SDK directory cicstgsdk/webservices/assistant. Both versions require Java™ 7 or later, ctgassist requires Java to be available.

The JSON web services assistant can create a JSON Schema from a high-level language structure, or a high-level language structure from an existing JSON Schema. It supports COBOL, C/C++, and PL/I. It also generates information to enable runtime transformation of the JSON data to containers and COMMAREAs, and vice versa.

CICS TG is compatible with WSBind files generated by the CICS Transaction Server or IBM Rational® Application Developer for IBM z Systems® versions of the JSON web services assistant. See their documentation for guidance on how to use those interfaces. WSBind files that are generated by the CICS Transaction Gateway JSON web services assistant are compatible with CICS Transaction Server versions that support CICS JSON assistant MINIMUM-RUNTIME-LEVEL=4.0. However, if the CCSID parameter is specified with a non-EBCDIC value, then the WSBind file cannot be used in CICS Transaction Server.