Product overview

Related resources

CICS®Transaction Server is a powerful mixed language application server. For business critical services, it provides online transaction management and connectivity. It can process incredibly high workloads in a scalable and secure environment, and in a way that is both performant and cost-efficient.

CICS Transaction Server provides the following features and benefits:

An environment for running transactions; CICS Transaction Server manages concurrency, sharing of resources, integrity of data, and prioritization of work.
Support for business applications written in COBOL, C, C++, PL/I, Java™, and Assembler, providing an application programming interface to access CICS services.
Access by applications to data stored in DB2® and DL/I databases and in VSAM and BDAM data sets.
Connectivity with WebSphere® MQ and access to the Message Queue Interface from CICS application programs.
Distribution of work between multiple CICS regions in a z/OS® sysplex.
Connectivity with other systems in client/server and peer-to-peer configurations.
Interfaces for configuring and managing your CICS regions.
Aids for debugging application programs, and for diagnosing problems in your system.

Transaction processing
Transaction processing is a style of computing, typically performed by large server computers, that supports interactive applications. In transaction processing, work is divided into individual, indivisible operations, called transactions. By contrast, batch processing is a style of computing in which one or more programs processes a series of records (a batch) with little or no action from the user or operator.
CICS applications
An application is a collection of programs that together perform a business operation. Each program runs as part of a transaction under CICS control using CICS services and interfaces to access resources. You can write CICS application programs in COBOL, C, C++ , PL/I, Java, and Assembler language.
Resource definition
Every resource is defined with a set of attributes. The attributes are the properties of the resource, telling CICS, for example, whether a file can be updated, what security level should be given to a transaction, or the remote systems with which CICS can communicate.
Access to external data
CICS supports access to external data in DB2 and DL/I databases and in VSAM and BDAM data sets.
Access to external resource managers
CICS applications can include commands that are processed by resource managers that are external to CICS. CICS uses an adapter to provide the connection between the application program and the resource manager.
Cloud enablement with platforms
Use platforms, applications, and policies to increase your service agility, and move towards a service delivery platform for cloud computing.
CICS policies
The behavior of CICS can be controlled during run time, based on predefined policies. CICS performs the action that is defined in the policy when all the conditions that are specified in the policy are met.
CICS topology
You can distribute CICS applications and the resources they use between interconnected CICS regions. You can group CICS regions into CICS system groups and CICSplexes, and distribute regions across the z/OS systems in a sysplex.
Connectivity with non-CICS systems
CICS applications can communicate with non-CICS systems in peer-to-peer and client/server configurations, using industry-standard networking protocols.
CICS and the web
An overview of Internet, HTTP, TCP/IP and CICS web support concepts, and information about the structure and behavior of CICS web support.
CICS configuration interfaces
You can configure your CICS region and control its behavior by specifying system initialization parameters, by creating and installing resource definitions, and by writing user exits and user-replaceable programs.
The IBM CICS Explorer
The CICS Explorer® is a system management tool that is designed to provide a simple, easy to use way of managing one or more CICS systems. Based on an Eclipse platform, it provides functions to view and manage CICS Transaction Server regions and a platform for the integration of CICS Tools. CICS Explorer also provides an intuitive and secure way to view and edit z/OS data sets and zFS files, submit JCL, and view output and job logs.
Systems management
You can use CICSPlex SM to manage your CICS systems.
Security
CICS uses the services provided by an external security manager, such as RACF, to control access to application and system resources.
Aids for debugging and troubleshooting
CICS provides a number of aids for debugging your application programs, and for diagnosing problems in the system. These aids include support for workstation-based debugging tools, the execution diagnostic facility (EDF), messages, trace, and dump.
Accessibility of CICS Transaction Server
Accessibility features help a user who has a physical disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision, to use software products successfully.

ProductOverview.html | Timestamp icon

Last updated: Thursday, 27 June 2019