Changes to CICS API

This section summarizes the changes to the CICS® application interface of EXEC CICS commands across supported CICS releases. Use this information to plan the impact on applications of upgrading from one release to another.

If you are upgrading from an end-of-service release, you can find information about the changes that are relevant to those releases in Summary of changes from end-of-service releases.

Highlights of changes across supported releases of CICS TS

Table 1 lists new and changed CICS API commands and macros in each supported CICS TS release.

The links provided for new commands take you to their reference information in the product documentation.

The links provided for changed commands and macros take you to the relevant tables below where brief descriptions of the changes are provided.

Tag Service indicates external changes introduced by service APARs.

Table 1. Highlights of CICS API changes across supported releases of CICS TS
5.6 6.1 6.2 CICS TS 6.3
NEW:
None
NEW:
None
NEW:
None
NEW:
None
CHANGED:
CHANGED:
CHANGED:
CHANGED:
DEPRECATED:
None
DEPRECATED:
  • WEB OPEN: CIPHERS and NUMCIPHERS options
DEPRECATED:
None
DISCONTINUED:
  • WEB OPEN: CIPHERS and NUMCIPHERS options

ASSIGN

Related reference: ASSIGN

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
New option GMEXITOPT returns the terminal session behavior option set for the SIT parameter GMTRAN.

CHANGE PASSWORD

Related reference: CHANGE PASSWORD

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
  • New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32.
  • New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the user ID's password or password phrase.
6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PASSWORD field, the NEWPASSWORD field, or both are blank.
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH51378:
New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH59547:
New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the user ID's password or password phrase.
5.6 CICS TS 5.6
Service CHANGED with APAR PH23078:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PASSWORD field, the NEWPASSWORD field, or both are blank.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH31270:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH51378:
New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32., indicating that the user ID field contains a blank character in an invalid position.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH59546:
New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the sign-on user ID and password.

CHANGE PHRASE

Related reference: CHANGE PHRASE

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
  • New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32.
  • New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the user ID's password or password phrase.
6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PHRASE field, the NEWPHRASE field, or both are blank.
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH51378:
New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32., indicating that the user ID field contains a blank character in an invalid position.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH59547:
New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the user ID's password or password phrase.
5.6 CICS TS 5.6
CHANGED with APAR PH23078:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PHRASE field, the NEWPHRASE field, or both are blank.
CHANGED with APAR PH31270:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
CHANGED with APAR PH51378:
New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 32., indicating that the user ID field contains a blank character in an invalid position.
CHANGED with APAR PH59546:
New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the sign-on user ID and password.

DEFINE TIMER

Related reference: DEFINE TIMER

6.3 CICS TS 6.3
CHANGED:
New upper limit of 2110 for YEAR option.

ENDBR

Related reference: ENDBR

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table.

GETMAIN

Related reference: GETMAIN

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
New option EXECUTABLE in support of Instruction Execution Protection.

GETMAIN64

Related reference: GETMAIN64

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
New option EXECUTABLE in support of Instruction Execution Protection.

INVOKE SERVICE

Related reference: INVOKE SERVICE

6.3 CICS TS 6.3
CHANGED:
It is possible to automatically redirect the HTTP response to the information contained in DFHWS-LOCATION.
6.2 CICS TS 6.2
Service CHANGED with APAR PH63742:
It is possible to automatically redirect the HTTP response to the information contained in DFHWS-LOCATION.
6.1 CICS TS 6.1
Service CHANGED with APAR PH63742:
It is possible to automatically redirect the HTTP response to the information contained in DFHWS-LOCATION.
5.6 CICS TS 5.6
Service CHANGED with APAR PH61670:
It is possible to automatically redirect the HTTP response to the information contained in DFHWS-LOCATION.

PUT CONTAINER (CHANNEL)

Related reference: PUT CONTAINER (CHANNEL)

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New option PREPEND requests that the data passed is prepended to the existing data in the container.

PUT CONTAINER (EXCI)

Related reference: PUT CONTAINER (EXCI)

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New option PREPEND requests that the data passed is prepended to the existing data in the container.

PUT64 CONTAINER

Related reference: PUT64 CONTAINER

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New option PREPEND requests that the data passed is prepended to the existing data in the container.

QUERY SECURITY

Related reference: QUERY SECURITY

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
  • Enhanced protection. Monitoring and statistics are recorded for this command, even when logging is disabled.
  • New INVREQ with RESP2 value of 13.

READ

Related reference: READ

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table and the UPDATE option is not specified.

READNEXT

Related reference: READNEXT

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table and the UPDATE option is not specified.

READPREV

Related reference: READPREV

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table and the UPDATE option is not specified.

RESETBR

Related reference: RESETBR

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table.

RUN TRANSID

Related reference: RUN TRANSID

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New condition NOSTART with RESP2 value of 1, which is returned when the PURGETHRESH limit has been reached for the TRANCLASS to which the TRANSID belongs and, based on the PURGEACTION setting, CICS discards any request to start new transactions belonging to the TRANCLASS.

SIGNON

Related reference: SIGNON

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New options CHANGETIME, DAYSLEFT, EXPIRYTIME, INVALIDCOUNT, and LASTUSETIME added to reveal more information about the user ID's password or password phrase.

START ATTACH

Related reference: START ATTACH

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New condition NOSTART with RESP2 value of 1, which is returned when the PURGETHRESH limit has been reached for the TRANCLASS to which the TRANSID belongs and, based on the PURGEACTION setting, CICS discards any request to start new transactions belonging to the TRANCLASS.

START BREXIT

Related reference: START BREXIT

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New condition NOSTART with RESP2 value of 1, which is returned when the PURGETHRESH limit has been reached for the TRANCLASS to which the TRANSID belongs and, based on the PURGEACTION setting, CICS discards any request to start new transactions belonging to the TRANCLASS.

START CHANNEL

Related reference: START CHANNEL

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
New options NOCHECK and PROTECT.

STARTBR

Related reference: STARTBR

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
The command is threadsafe if it refers to a shared data table.

VERIFY PASSWORD

Related reference: VERIFY PASSWORD

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PASSWORD field is blank.
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
5.6 CICS TS 5.6
Service CHANGED with APAR PH23078:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PASSWORD field is blank.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH31270:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.

VERIFY PHRASE

Related reference: VERIFY PHRASE

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PHRASE field is blank.
  • New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.
5.6 CICS TS 5.6
Service CHANGED with APAR PH23078:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the PHRASE field is blank.
Service CHANGED with APAR PH31270:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 17, indicating that the USERID is not authorized to use the application.

VERIFY TOKEN

Related reference: VERIFY TOKEN

5.6 CICS TS 5.6
CHANGED:
Enhanced to support JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) provided by RACF®.

WEB CONVERSE

Related reference: WEB CONVERSE

5.6 CICS TS 5.6
CHANGED:
The PATCH method is supported.

WEB OPEN

Related reference: WEB OPEN

6.3 CICS TS 6.3
DISCONTINUED:
The options for CIPHERS and NUMCIPHERS are no longer supported. The options are ignored and defaultciphers.xml is used instead with a warning message (DHWB0768).
6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
WEB OPEN URIMAP uses the cached IP address and HTTP information obtained with the initial connection, for subsequent outbound web requests using the same URIMAP.
DEPRECATED:
CIPHERS option no longer allowed on new compiles. The CIPHERS option is deprecated for existing programs when MAXTLSLEVEL is TLS12 and ignored for existing programs when MAXTLSLEVEL is TLS13. Use XML cipher suite files as the replacement.

WEB SEND (Client)

Related reference: WEB SEND (Client)

5.6 CICS TS 5.6
CHANGED:
The PATCH method is supported.

WRITE OPERATOR

Related reference: WRITE OPERATOR

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
  • New option CONSNAME, to specify a specific console to which messages are sent.
  • New INVREQs with RESP2 values of 7 and 8, indicating that the specified CONSNAME value is not valid.
  • New ERROR with RESP2 value of 1, indicating that the MVS WTO command issued by CICS for the WRITE OPERATOR request has returned an error.

WRITEQ TD

Related reference: WRITEQ TD

6.2 CICS TS 6.2
CHANGED:
New NOTAUTH with RESP2 value of 103.

DFHEIENT macro

Related reference: DFHEIENT macro

6.1 CICS TS 6.1
CHANGED:
New option DATA_EXECUTABLE to request that dynamic storage is not protected from instruction execution.

Deprecated or removed

6.3 CICS TS 6.3
DISCONTINUED:
WEB OPEN: The options for CIPHERS and NUMCIPHERS are no longer supported. The options are ignored and defaultciphers.xml is used instead with a warning message (DHWB0768).
6.1 CICS TS 6.1
DEPRECATED:
WEB OPEN: CIPHERS option no longer allowed on new compiles. The CIPHERS option is deprecated for existing programs when MAXTLSLEVEL is TLS12 and ignored for existing programs when MAXTLSLEVEL is TLS13. Use XML cipher suite files as the replacement.