J2EE Connector (J2C) tools, resource adapters, and file
importers allow you to create J2C artifacts, which you can use to
create enterprise applications that connect to enterprise information
systems (EIS).
Java™ EE application development
for enterprise information systems
The J2EE Connector tools enable you to create Java EE applications running on WebSphere® Application Server to access
operations and data on enterprise information systems (EIS) such as CICS® or IMS™. The key technology used to provide this
type of access is resource adapters implemented according to the J2EE
Connector Architecture. The purpose of the J2EE Connector Architecture
is to connect enterprise information Systems, such as CICS, IMS, Sap, Siebel, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Oracle into the Java EE platform; J2C tools offer
a number of qualities of service that can be provided by an application
server:
- security credential management
- connection pooling
- transaction management
These qualities of service are provided by system-level contracts
between a resource adapter provided by the connector (CICS Transaction Gateway or IMS Connect, for example), and the application
server. There is no need for any extra program code to be provided
by the user. Thus the programmer is free to concentrate on writing
the business code and need not be concerned with providing quality
of service. The J2EE Connector Architecture defines a programming
interface called the Common Client Interface (CCI). This interface
can be used, with minor changes, to communicate with any EIS.
Restriction: J2C applications are supported
to run only on the WebSphere Application Server.
Important: J2C beans are formally
supported and tested on WebSphere Application Servers. Use in other Java environments should work, but are not tested extensively.
If there are issues with the generated code and it can be isolated
as such within a WebSphere Application Server environment, then it will be supported.
The following diagram illustrates the architecture of the J2EE
connector tools within the development environment:
Resource adapters
In order for your application to communicate with an enterprise
information system, a resource adapter is required to create a communication
link between your application and the EIS. J2C tools include a number
of resource adapters that allow you to create and test J2C enterprise
applications on an application server. These resource adapters (RAR
files) can be imported into the workbench and used to create enterprise
applications.
These resource adapters are shipped with
the product:
- CICS ECI adapter 9.0.0.x
- CICS ECI adapter 8.0.0.x
- CICS ECI XA adapter 8.0.0.x
- IMS TM Resource Adapter 11.3.x
- IMS TM Resource Adapter 12.1.x
- IBM® WebSphere Adapter for JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
7.5.0.x
- IBM WebSphere Adapter for Oracle E-Business
Suite 7.5.0.x
- IBM WebSphere Adapter for PeopleSoft Enterprise
7.5.0.x
- IBM WebSphere Adapter for SAP Software 7.5.0.x
- IBM WebSphere Adapter for SAP Software with
transaction support 7.5.0.x
- IBM WebSphere Adapter for Siebel Business Applications
7.5.0.x
- WebSphere Optimized
Local Adapters 2
Importers
In order for your application to process source files from the CICS or IMS information system, the data needs to be
imported and mapped to Java data
structures. Three importers are available for you to use in your application:
C Importer, COBOL Importer, and PL/I Importer.
These tools allow you to import COBOL, C, or PL/I programs into
your application through a process of data type transformation. The
importers map the data types contained within the source file so that
your application can access the source material. In other words, if
you are coding Java™ applications to access transaction programs
written in COBOL, C, or PL/I in CICS or IMS using J2C resource
adapters, the Java applications
must handle two tasks:
- Serialize values from Java to the COBOL, C, or PL/I byte buffer that the IMS or CICS program expects
- Deserialize the returned value from the COBOL, C, or PL/I buffer
for processing in the Java application.
Note: The PL/I importer is not supported on Linux.
For more information, see COBOL Importer; for more information, see C Importer; for more information. see Setting PL/I Importer Preferences
J2C wizards
The J2C wizards enable you to create J2C applications, either as
stand-alone programs or as added function to existing applications.
The wizards
- Dynamically import your selected resource adapter
- Allow you to set the connection properties to connect to the EIS
servers
- Guide you through the file importing and data mapping steps
- Facilitate the creation of Java classes and methods to access the transformed source data.
A typical J2C application consists of a J2C bean with one or more
methods that call EIS functions. For CICS and IMS, the input
and outputs to these functions are data binding classes that are created
by the CICS/IMS Java Data Binding
wizard. When you have created a J2C bean, you then can create Web
pages, an EJB, or a Web Service for your J2C bean.
The following diagram illustrates the flow of the J2C bean wizard
through the creation of a J2C bean, a data bean, and an optional deployment
artifact: