Enterprise Connector for CICS

 

Version 6.0

Release Notes

 

 Updated June 19, 2000

 

 

Summary

These release notes detail the known problems and changes for the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector 6.0 for CICS.

The Enterprise Connector for CICS supports OS/390 MVS 5.22, CICS 3.2, and TCP/IP 3.1 and above with current APARS.

This enterprise connector has the following platform and system requirements:

 

Installation and Configuration

iPlanet Application Server 6.0 components and the Unified Integration Framework (UIF) must already be installed on the server machine. Installation of CICS requires two phases:

1. Install the CICS enterprise connector on the application server     machine.

2. Install mainframe components on the mainframe.

Note: After installation on Windows NT, the machine must be            manually restarted.

 

 Exception Management and Logging

The exception and logging mechanism provides the following functionality:

Only one generic Unified Integration Framework (UIF) exception message is ever thrown. The exception messages that are thrown relate to data object APIs or enterprise connector errors. The programmer does not have to handle exceptions, since the BspException extends java.lang.RuntimeException. The application programmer can safely skip writing special error-handling code.

 

Tracing the Enterprise Connector

The CICS.ini file contains the variable SRVND_DBG=FALSE.

The CICS.ini file must be in the same directory where the services, kcs, kjs, and so on, are started: <root>\iPlanet\server4\ias 

To activate the trace file for the adapter, set the variable SRVND_DBG=TRUE. The file CICS.log is then created. 

 

 Documentation

The Administrator's Guide and Developer's Guide are included with the product.

Adobe Acrobat 4.0 and PostScript printer with PS level 2 fonts are required to print the PDF version.

  

 

Known Problems

CICS Related Problems

Adapter Crash on Solaris

Any iPlanet Application Server kjs process using the CICS datasource is liable to crash under load due to network problems or the relay being down or interrupted. Check if the relay program is up and reachable.

Array Element Type Enforcement

Arrays are used to store elements of the same type; however, homogeneity is only enforced when using the addElem( ) method to add elements to arrays. Use the addElem( ) method and not methods in the IUIFDataObjectList interface, to add elements to arrays.

Correct Conversation Type Value Must Be DIRECT in iAS APPC Protocol.

createInstance( )

The createInstance() method creates an instance of an IBSPDataObject object (not an instance of IBSPDataObjectInfo).

Log File Too Large

The CICS adapter's data source XML file (sample, as well as template) should set the pooling debugLevel=0. The administrator can change this level using kregedit if more information is needed.

Management Console Icon Not Appearing on NT  

If "\" is found at the end of the path in the auto.ext file when typing %PATH%, add a ";" after it.

Management Console Must Be Restarted 

After creating a new data source or editing an existing data source, the CICS Management Console must be restarted.

Solaris Installer

When write access to certain files, which the Solaris installer creates in the /tmp directory is denied, the Solaris installer fails. The files in /tmp are:

To resolve this change user to root and manually remove the files from /tmp.

Solaris Installer Not Recognizing the Application Server

If iAS is not installed under the specified server root directory and only iAS for CICS 6.0 is being installed, the following error message will display: "ERROR: UIF depends on iPlanet Server Family Core Components to be installed. Select iPlanet Server Family Core Components. Press any key to continue." Enter CTRL B twice to go back to two previous screens.

StringMaxLen

Page 118 should read FStringMaxLen, not GetElemStringMaxLen.

Syntax Error Converting Datetime from Character String

The updateRow function does not allow updating date in Java.sql.Date format against a MSSQL server.

TelcoSample Can't Find Starting Page

When running the TelcoSample project from iPlanet Application Builder, the starting page cannot be found. Fix this by adding the following lines to the .gxm file and recompiling the project:

TreeLevel=0

Filename=index.html

IsDir=false

FileType=HTML Page

Source=http

RelToSrcPath=cicsSamples/index.html

Destination=http

RelToDestPath=cicsSamples/index.html

 

UIF (BSP) Related Problems

BSPException: This Service Provider Object Instance Not Valid

The CICS connector couldn't be loaded during installation. To workabout, create a directory:

/local/moti/ias6cics_adaptersdk/lib/uif.

Then copy to it:

your_nas_server_root/ias/APPS/bin/libUIF_ext.so.

For OS2.6 use linker patch version:

-rwxr-xr-x 1bin             bin 166196 Mar 24 1999 ld.so.1.

DataObjects Cannot Be Shared

The Java API must not be used in such a manner that two dataobjects end up sharing the same dataobject (or some such restriction).

DataObject Is Not Thread Safe  

Only sharing of read-only objects, such as DataObjectInfo, is supported.

dumpDataObject Method Only Dumps to Screen

IBSPDataObject.createDumpToOutputStreamVisitor (OutputStream os) has been added to allow dumping to any output stream, including an output stream on a file.

Duplicate Repository Nodes

Duplicate repository nodes are not allowed; however, this restriction is not enforced. Duplicate node  cause unpredictable behavior of the Repository Browser; for example, the browser may not refresh properly. XML files containing a duplicate node may generate errors. Correct the error and reimport.

Directory Server Hostname Prompt in Solaris Installer

While installing on Solaris, the installer prompt: Enter the Directory Server Identifier, should be changed to: Enter the Directory Server Host Name.

Exception Message rc=5

When choosing "DISPLAY" on "To Start PhoneBookDemo" this message indicates the backend not installed properly.

Failed to Create Data Connection with Specified Drivers

Database clients (Sybase /Oracle /Informix)can only be installed by a user with Admin privileges.

Get Remote File

 When converting COBOL to XML from a remote machine these fields must be filled in. Enter host name, name of current user, current system password, starting point of COBOL files, and local directory where files will be saved. Click OK, then select a file or files to convert from the mainframe tree view on the FTP Chooser window. Clicking on a "+" will allow you to view partitioned dataset.

Hierarchy of DataObjectExceptions Has Been Added

HTTP Port Missing in Sample URL

The Program menu link to the Samples page assumes the web server is running on standard http port 80. If this is not the case, the link fails. Manually insert the port number in the URL location on the web browser and the page appears.

IBSPDataObject.equals( )Method Has Been Added

This method allows comparison of two IBSPDataObjects.

UIF Access Interrupted

Running GX.Release( ) on IBSPRuntime object, in 6.0 CICS for iAS, interrupts access to UIF. Do not run GX.Release ( ) on an IBSPRuntime object.

UIF Runtime Connection Pool Exhausted

Applications must call disable( ) on an IBSPServiceProvider before exiting an EJB or servlet. If disable( ) is not called, the CICS transaction stays alive until it is timed out, possibly exhausting the connection pool.

Use GX.Release( ) for Freelist Advantage

For freelists to be effective, the servlet /EJB should do a GX.Release(obj) on any object returned by the UIF API as soon as it finishes with it, and before exiting the EJB /servlet. This will return dataobjects to freelists and avoid unnecessary object creation under peak load. The following programming constructs are not recommended, since they implicitly create wrapped java objects, which can only be gc'd and not GX.Release:method chaining:

((IBSPDataObjectStructure)datablock.getDataObject("X")).getAttrString("Y")

 

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