Adding a project to a CICS bundle project

When you create a CICS® bundle project a manifest file is created in the META-INF directory. You can edit the manifest file to include one or more of the following types of projects; Dynamic Web Project, Enterprise Application Project, OSGi Application Project, or OSGi Bundle Project. The included projects can be source or pre-built. When you export the CICS bundle project, all included projects are contained in the CICS bundle on zFS.

Before you begin

This task describes how to add details of a project to a CICS bundle. If you have not created a CICS bundle project, see Creating a CICS bundle project in the CICS Explorer product documentation.

About this task

You can add details of a project to a CICS bundle by using one of the following wizards; Dynamic Web Project Include, Enterprise Application Project Include, OSGi Application Project Include, or OSGi Bundle Project Include. The wizards update the bundle manifest file to include details of the project that is being added, and creates a resource file with a file extension of .warbundle , .earbundle , .ebabundle , or .osgibundle that points to the project.
Note: To add OSGi bundles that are not included in an OSGi application project to a CICS bundle project, you must have a build.properties file that includes the location of the output folder. For example, the build.properties file might have the following content: 
source.. = src/
output.. = bin/
bin.includes = META-INF/

Procedure

  1. In the Package Explorer view, right-click the bundle project that you want to update, and click New > Other to open the New wizard.
  2. Expand the CICS Resources folder and click Dynamic Web Project Include, Enterprise Application Project Include, OSGi Application Project Include, or OSGi Bundle Project Include. Click Next.
    The wizard opens and displays the projects of that type in your workspace. The wizard also displays any built projects (for example, JAR, EAR, EBA, and WAR files) that are contained within the selected bundle project.
  3. Click the project to include in the bundle.
    When you click the project, the wizard displays the symbolic name, and the version when applicable. You can hover over the project to identify whether it is a built project or a source project.
  4. Optional: For an OSGi project, specify the version or version range to include:
    • Select Use this version to include the specific version of the selected OSGi project, as shown in the Version field.
    • Select Use version range to include the highest version in a defined version range of the selected OSGi project when you export that OSGi project. By default, the version range is from the version of the selected OSGi project to the next highest major version. You can use the fields and the buttons to specify a different range.
  5. In the JVM server field, enter the name of the JVM server where the application component is going to run.
  6. Optional: The name of the resource file that is created is generated from the project name and is displayed in the wizard. You can use the Back button to change the file name.
  7. Click Finish.

Results

A project resource file is added to the bundle project and the manifest file is updated. You can repeat these steps to add more projects to the CICS bundle project.

What to do next

You can add resources to the CICS bundle project for your application. For example, you can create a program to make your Java™ application available to other applications in CICS.

You can deploy your CICS bundle to a z/OS® UNIX file system, as described in Deploying a CICS bundle in the CICS Explorer product documentation. When the CICS bundle project is exported to zFS, all the files and artifacts needed for the application are compiled and exported.

Alternatively, you can package your CICS bundle project in a cloud-style application project for deployment into a CICS platform. By using an application project, you can group together all the CICS bundle projects that comprise your application and deploy and install them in a single step. For more information, see Creating a CICS Application Binding project in the CICS Explorer product documentation.