Chapter 14 Further Reading

IBM Official Documentation

CICS Web Services

  • CICS TS 5.6 Web Services Guide (SC34-7392) — The authoritative reference for CICS web services. Covers provider and requester mode, pipeline configuration, data transformation, and security. Start with Part 1 (Concepts) before diving into Part 2 (Configuration) and Part 3 (Programming).

  • URL: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cics-ts/5.6?topic=services-web

  • CICS TS 5.6 Internet Guide (SC34-7379) — Covers CICS HTTP support, TCPIPSERVICE configuration, URIMAP definitions, and the EXEC CICS WEB API. The programming reference for requester-mode COBOL programs that make outbound HTTP calls.

  • CICS JSON Guide — Part of the CICS TS 5.6 documentation. Covers the JSON assistant (DFHJS2LS, DFHLS2JS), JSON transformation configuration, and JSON schema generation from COBOL copybooks. The examples are directly applicable to REST service development.

  • CICS TS 5.6 SOAP Guide — Covers SOAP pipeline configuration, WSDL processing, DFHWS2LS/DFHLS2WS utilities, and WS-Security integration. Essential reading for implementing SOAP services with WS-Security.

Data Transformation Utilities

  • DFHLS2JS Reference — Detailed parameter documentation for the Language Structure to JSON Schema utility. Covers MAPPING-LEVEL options, field name mapping, and OCCURS DEPENDING ON handling.

  • URL: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cics-ts/5.6?topic=services-dfhls2js

  • DFHJS2LS Reference — Detailed parameter documentation for the JSON Schema to Language Structure utility. Covers JSON schema interpretation, COBOL type mapping, and WSBIND generation.

  • DFHWS2LS Reference — Detailed parameter documentation for the WSDL to Language Structure utility. Covers WSDL interpretation, complex type mapping, and namespace handling.

  • DFHLS2WS Reference — Detailed parameter documentation for the Language Structure to WSDL utility. Covers bottom-up WSDL generation from COBOL copybooks.

CICS Liberty

  • CICS TS 5.6 Java Applications in Liberty — Covers deploying Java applications in the CICS Liberty JVM server, including JAX-RS REST endpoints, JCICS API for COBOL invocation, and security configuration.

  • Liberty Features for CICS — Reference for Liberty features available in CICS: cicsts:link-1.0 (COBOL invocation), cicsts:security-1.0 (RACF integration), and cicsts:jndi-1.0 (resource lookup).

z/OS Connect

  • z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition Documentation — Covers installation, configuration, API creation, and management of z/OS Connect EE. The "Creating APIs from CICS Services" section is directly relevant to this chapter.

  • URL: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos-connect

  • z/OS Connect EE API Toolkit — Eclipse-based tooling for creating REST APIs from COBOL copybooks. Includes a graphical data mapping editor that generates the z/OS Connect service archive.

IBM Redbooks

  • Developing RESTful Web Services on CICS (SG24-8398) — Step-by-step guide to implementing REST services on CICS TS. Covers JSON transformation, pipeline configuration, and URIMAP setup with complete worked examples. Despite being for CICS TS 5.3, the patterns apply to 5.6.

  • CICS and the Liberty JVM Server (SG24-8418) — Covers integrating Liberty into CICS for REST API hosting. Includes performance benchmarks comparing Liberty-hosted REST endpoints versus native CICS pipeline endpoints. The chapter on JCICS programming is particularly useful for Java developers calling COBOL.

  • Building APIs with z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition (SG24-8430) — Practical guide to z/OS Connect EE deployment. Includes CICS integration patterns, OpenAPI generation from COBOL, and API lifecycle management. The case studies show real-world deployment architectures.

  • CICS Web Services: SOA for the Enterprise (SG24-7126) — Older but still relevant guide to SOAP web services in CICS. Covers WSDL processing, SOAP pipeline configuration, and WS-Security. The architectural patterns remain applicable even though some implementation details have changed in CICS TS 5.6.

  • z/OS and Cloud: Extending z/OS Applications to the Cloud (SG24-8347) — Covers cloud integration patterns for z/OS applications, including REST API exposure from CICS, hybrid cloud architectures, and API management. The section on API gateway integration with CICS is directly relevant.

Technical Articles

  • "JSON Transformation Performance in CICS TS 5.6" — IBM Developer. Benchmark data for DFHJSON transformation at various payload sizes. Includes tuning recommendations for high-volume JSON services.

  • "Migrating from SOAP to REST in CICS" — IBM CICS Blog. Practical guide to running SOAP and REST services side-by-side during migration. Covers the dual-protocol pipeline pattern where both JSON and XML are supported for the same COBOL program.

  • "Securing CICS Web Services with OAuth 2.0" — IBM Developer. Integration pattern for OAuth2 token validation in CICS web service pipelines. Covers both API gateway-mediated validation (recommended) and direct CICS validation via Liberty.

  • "ISO 20022 Implementation on CICS" — IBM Systems Magazine archives. Case study of a European bank implementing ISO 20022 payment messaging on CICS with SOAP web services. Directly relevant to Case Study 2.

Standards and Specifications

  • ISO 20022 Financial Messaging Standard — The international standard for financial electronic data interchange. The pain.001 (customer credit transfer) and pacs.008 (interbank credit transfer) message types are referenced in Case Study 2.

  • URL: https://www.iso20022.org

  • OpenAPI Specification 3.0 — The standard for REST API documentation. z/OS Connect EE generates OpenAPI specs from COBOL copybooks. Understanding OpenAPI helps you review and customize generated API documentation.

  • URL: https://spec.openapis.org/oas/v3.0.3

  • WS-Security (OASIS) — The standard for SOAP message-level security. Covers XML digital signatures, encryption, and security token profiles. Referenced in CNB's RPCN implementation.

  • URL: https://www.oasis-open.org/standards#wssv1.1.1

  • WSDL 1.1 Specification (W3C) — The specification for Web Services Description Language. Understanding WSDL structure helps you interpret and customize DFHLS2WS-generated WSDLs.

  • URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wsdl

Books

  • Horswill, Matthew. CICS: A Practical Guide to System Fine Tuning, 2nd Edition. — The performance tuning companion to this chapter. Chapters on web service performance, TCPIPSERVICE tuning, and pipeline optimization provide the detailed metrics and tuning parameters referenced in Section 14.7.

  • Alasdair, Gilchrist. Enterprise Integration with z/OS Connect. — Covers z/OS Connect EE architecture, deployment patterns, and integration with CICS and IMS. Useful for organizations evaluating z/OS Connect EE as their API management solution.

  • Richardson, Leonard, and Sam Ruby. RESTful Web Services. — While not mainframe-specific, this book provides the REST architectural principles that inform CICS REST service design. Understanding REST constraints (statelessness, uniform interface, resource orientation) helps you design better URI schemes and response formats.

Conference Presentations

  • SHARE Conference — CICS Web Services Track — Annual presentations from IBM CICS architects and enterprise customers on web service implementation patterns. Recent sessions have covered JSON transformation optimization, Liberty JVM server deployment, and z/OS Connect EE migration strategies. Archives available at share.org.

  • IBM TechU — API Economy Sessions — IBM's technical conference includes sessions on API exposure from z/OS, including live demonstrations of CICS REST service creation and z/OS Connect EE configuration.

  • GSE (Guide Share Europe) — Integration Working Group — European user group with presentations on CICS web services in banking and insurance contexts. Often includes case studies from institutions implementing ISO 20022 and PSD2 APIs on CICS.

  • Chapter 1: z/OS Ecosystem and Sysplex Architecture — Foundation for understanding TCP/IP networking on z/OS, Communications Server, and how HTTP requests reach CICS.

  • Chapter 3: Language Environment — LE runtime considerations for COBOL programs invoked through web services, including enclave management and storage allocation.

  • Chapter 13: CICS Architecture for Architects — Prerequisite for this chapter. TOR/AOR topology, MRO routing, and CICSPlex SM workload management — all directly impact web service deployment.

  • Chapter 15: Channels and Containers — The modern CICS data-passing mechanism that replaces COMMAREA. Essential for web services with payloads exceeding 32KB and for passing multiple data segments between the pipeline and the COBOL program.

  • Chapter 16: CICS Security — In-depth coverage of RACF integration, identity propagation, and security exits that complement the web service security architecture described in Section 14.7.

  • Chapter 21: API-First COBOL — Takes web services to the next level: designing COBOL programs specifically for API consumption. Covers API versioning, backward compatibility, and API governance for COBOL-backed services.

  • Chapter 33: Strangler Fig Pattern — The architectural strategy for incrementally migrating from monolithic CICS to microservices. Uses web services (from this chapter) as the interception layer for routing between legacy and new components.

Online Resources

  • IBM CICS Developer Center — Code patterns, tutorials, and sample applications for CICS web services. Includes a "Hello World" REST service tutorial and a more complex multi-operation API example.

  • URL: https://developer.ibm.com/components/cics/

  • CICS Explorer — IBM's Eclipse-based graphical interface for CICS. Useful for browsing PIPELINE, WEBSERVICE, and URIMAP resources and viewing their runtime status. Free for CICS TS customers.

  • Zowe CLI — Open-source CLI for z/OS interactions. The CICS plugin allows you to manage web service resources from the command line, which is essential for CI/CD integration (Chapter 36).

  • URL: https://zowe.org

Certification

  • IBM Certified Solution Developer — CICS Transaction Server V5.x — Covers CICS web services, JSON transformation, pipeline configuration, and Liberty JVM server integration. The exam objectives align closely with this chapter's content.

  • IBM Certified System Administrator — z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition — Covers z/OS Connect EE installation, configuration, API creation, and management. Relevant if your organization is deploying z/OS Connect EE for enterprise API management.