CICS Fundamentals and System Programmers

This intensive course combines CICS Fundamentals and CICS for System Programmers into a 5-day program, and it does so by removing topics overlaps.

This course is aimed at:

• Trainee Programmers moving to online
• Anyone wanting a detailed overview of CICS Facilities
• CICS Systems Programmers
• Technical CICS Programmers needing a better understanding of CICS

Attendees should be comfortable working with TSO/ISPF, our z/OS TSO/ISPF Workshop is one way to gain this knowledge.

This course provides an introduction to CICS/TS for version 6.1 and its Facilities and Functions.

The following are covered; Operator Interface, Intersystem Communication and how Resources are defined and managed. The course introduces the CICS RACF Security interface, Startup/Shutdown and Recovery, the CICS Explorer, CICS Web Services, CICS Utilities and Threadsafe. The course also covers how CICS is installed and how CICS supports Storage Management. CICS support of external Databases such as DB2 and VSAM and the need for Data Integrity is also covered. In addition, the Attendee will learn how CICS Applications are designed and how CICS supplied Transactions assist the Programmer in Testing and Debugging. Upon completion, attendees will have gained a good understanding of the role of CICS and be able to describe and support its basic architecture and its many services.

A CICS/TS 6.1 system will be available for Workshops and to reinforce the topics covered.

CICS Functions and Terminology

• Introduction to CICS Functions and Terminology
• How Transactions are created and processed

CICS Application Interface and Designing Applications

• Understanding the different types of CICS Application Design
• COMMAREAS and Channels and Containers
• Basic Mapping Support - 3270 Support
• Supplied CICS Transactions to handle Testing and Debugging
• Recovery and Restart and Handling Exceptional Conditions

CICS Installation and Customization

• Understanding how z/OSMF installs CICS/TS
• Understanding the customization of CICS/TS using DFHISTAR
• Defining the CICS Datasets - DFHCOMDS & DFHDEFDS
• How to define CICS to z/OS
• How to define CICS to VTAM and TCPIP
• Understanding the CICS Startup JCL

CICS/TS Internal Structure

• The Role of the Domains
• The Role of the Kernel Domain
• The Role of the Transaction Manager Domain
• The Role of the Application Domain
• The Role of the Dispatcher Domain
• The Major Control Blocks

CICS/TS Storage Managery

• The Storage Manager Facilities
• Storage Protection
• The Dynamic Storage Areas
• The Transaction Isolation facility

CThe CICS Tables

• The Program List Table Post Initialization
• The Program List Table Shutdown
• The System Initialization Table
• The System Recovery Table

Resource Definition Online

• The DFHCSD dataset
• The CEDA transaction
  • CEDB
  • CEDC
• The Components of RDO
• Building the Definitions for CICS
• The Batch Facility
  • DFHCSDUP
• The CICSLOG destinations
  • Audit trailing

CICS/VTAM/TCPIP Interface

• The major VTAM control blocks
  • ACB
  • NIB
  • RPL
  • Bind
• The Terminal Control Table
• Sequential Terminals
• Controlling the VTAM Interface
• Defining the TCPIP interface
  • The TCPIPSERVICE definition
  • The Listener Transaction
  • Defining Sockets and Ports
  • Incoming Transactions

CICS to MQ Connectivity

• CICS / MQ Relationship
• SIT Implications
• CSD Definitions
• The role of the CKTI Transaction
• Using the CKQC Transaction

CICS Security Requirements

• Sources of threat
• What can be secured
• Identifying CICS datasets
• The RACF Class Descriptors for CICS
• How to define the CICS Resources to RACF
• Converting CICS and build RACF security

File Control and DB2

• Defining the FCT
• The VSAM environment
• Displaying the FCT online
• DB2 components and DB2Conn
• The Attachment facility
• The DSNC transaction
• Defining the CICS/DB2 resources
• Preparing a Program - Bind

CICS Operations

• The Master Terminal Operation
  • CEMT
  • CESN
  • CESF
• Different options to Start CICS
  • INITIAL
  • COLD
  • AUTO
• The role of the Global Catalog Warm/Emer start
  • Shutting Down the CICS system
  • CICS Supplied Transactions
  • CEBR
  • CECI
  • CEDF and CEDX
  • CETR
  • CMAC

Defining and Controlling MRO & LUTYPE6.2 & IPIC

• The MRO environment
• Defining MRO/XCF
• The Online options needed to define MRO
• Connections/Sessions
• The LUTYPE6.2 environment
• The Online options needed to define LUTYPE6.2
• How to Define the TOR, AOR, FOR
• What is the CICS Relay
• Dynamic Transaction Routing
• What is the Mirror
• Defining TCPIP IPIC Links
• Defining IPCONN and TCPIPSERVICE

CICS Explorer

• Establishing/Defining the CICS Explorer TCPIP Connection
• TCPIPSERVICE
• URIMAP
• Connecting to CICS Explorer
• Signing on
• Choosing Perspectives
• The CMCI - CICS Management Client Interface
• Understanding the CICSPLEX SM Eclipse/Screen Layout
• The Operations View
• The Definitions View

Understanding CICS/TS Logging

• Defining the System Logger
• CEDA Defining the Journal Models
• Specifying the Journal name and the Stream name
• IXCMIAPU – The XCF Admin Utility
• Defining the Structures
• The role of DFHLOG and DFHSHUNT
• Error Situations
• Security and Operations

Recovery and Restart

• Dynamic Transaction Backout
• Emergency Restart
• Exclusive control - Syncpoint
• Defining Recoverable Resources
• Considerations for Backout

CICS Utilities

• DFHSTUP - Tuning and Statistics
• DFH0STAT and the STAT Transaction
• DFHEISUP
• DFHJUP
• DFHMNDUP
• DFHRMUTL
• DFHDUP
• DFHTUP

CICS/TS Web Services

• Web support overview
• Sit implications and definitions
• Using TCPIPSERVICE definition
• Using DOCTEMPLATE definition
• Using URIMAP definition
• PIPELINE definition described
• Pipeline message handlers
• Understanding the Assistant Utilities
• Converting the Language Structure to XML/SOAP
• Converting the Language Structure to JSON
• Building WSDL and WSBIND

Understanding CICS/TS Threadsafe

• OTE Overview
• Why the need for Threadsafe
• Defining Threadsafe programs
• Researching which programs can be Threadsafe
• System Programmers Tasks
• SIT Options that affect Threadsafe
• Tracing Threadsafe