“did you say mainframe? cics ts v5.5 open beta in … cics explorer which shows you cicsplex and...
TRANSCRIPT
“DidYouSayMainframe?CICSTSV5.5openbetainCICSExplorerwithStewartFrancis”TranscriptNick Hiandwelcometoanotherintheseriesof“DidyousayMainframe”podcasts.This
iswherewetalktotechnicalexpertsonsubjectstodowiththemainframebothsoftwareandhardwareandtodayI’mjoinedbyStewartFrancis,fromtheleadarchitectfortheCICSExplorerandheisheretotalktousaboutsystemmanagementinformationthatisinlatestCICSTSopenbeta.So,Stewartthankyouforjoiningustoday.
Stewart Hi.
Nick So,StewartpleaseenlightenusatwhatisinthisopenbetawiththeCICSExplorer.
Stewart So,thisistodowiththefirstCICSTSopenbetafor5.5.WearepublishinganewAPIforsystemmanagementinformationbasedonatechnologycalledGraphQL.WhichisaquerylanguageforRESTfulAPIs.Wearereallyexcitedaboutthis,weareusingittodelivernewcapabilityintheCICSExploreropenbeta,butthisisgoingtobeapublishAPIthatyoucanuseforyourownpurposesaswell.
Nick So,StewartIguessonequestionIwouldhaveis,whatisthevalueofthis?Whatdoesitofferourusers?
Stewart So,thereallyinterestingpartisthetechnologythatisbuiltonisGraphQLandthatallowsyoutomakeamuchmorecomplicatedrequesttoaserverthanyouwouldbeabletomakewithatraditionalRESTAPI.Theideaisthatyoudescribealloftheinformationyouwanttoretrieveintermsofyourresourceyouwanttostartfromandit’srelationshiptootherresourcesandtheirrelationshiptootherresources.So,youdescribeaqueryonthegraphandthentheAPIreturnsastructuredpieceofdatawhichrepresentsthatinformationonthatgraph.WhichisareallyabstractwayoftalkingaboutitbutthenetresultisifyouimaginebuildingtheCICSPlexExplorer,thatwehavetodo.ThetopleftviewinCICSExplorerwhichshowsyouCICSPlexandtheregionsunderneathitandsystemgroupstheirmemberships.InExplorer,wehavetomakeawholebunchofRESTAPIrequeststotheexistingRESTbasedAPI.So,wehavetogorequestalltheCICSPlexesandalltheregions.AndthenallthesystemgroupsandthenthemembershipofthosesystemgroupsandthenoncewehavealltheinformationwecanputitalltogetherandstartdisplayingthingsintheUI.WithournewGraphQLAPIwecanactuallyrequestallofthatinformationinoneHTTPrequest.WesendonerequesttoournewAPIendpointanditsendsback,basicallythedocumentitsendsbacklooksinstructurealotliketheCICSPlexExplorer.Sothatoverheadofgoingbackandforthwiththeserver,whenyouknowwhatquestionyouneedtoaskit,iscompletelyeliminatedandwegetalltheinformationmuchfaster.
Nick Well,so,thatsoundslikeamuchmoreefficientwayofdoingthingsandprobablyalotquicker.
Stewart Yeah,itisfaster.IthinkthereallyinterestingpartifyouconsiderjustthenatureofalotofresourcesintheCICStheyareallkindofinter-related,nothingexistsinisolation.So,oncewehaveanAPIwhereyoucantakeadvantageofhowthoseresourcesarerelatedandwecancodifythatintheAPIthenyoucanstartsay,youcanstartmakingAPIrequestslike“rightgetmemytransaction”,“nowgetmethe
programthattransactionisgoingtoexecute”,“nowgetmethedataset”andyoucanjumpfromresourcetoresourcetoresourceverynaturallyintheUI.
Nick Yeahverylogically.
Stewart Whichisreallycoolandwefindthatprettyexcitingbecausepreviouslyanytimeyouhavetoworkouttheserelationships,it’stheresponsibilityoftheclienttoworkthatoutthemselves.So,wheneverwedoanythinginExplorerlikeworkloadmanagementwhichtriestorepresentalltheseinter-relatedresources,wehavetobuildintoExplorerhowtokindofuntanglethoserelationshipssothatweknowwhatweneedtorequest.WithGraphQLwecanputallthosesmartsintheserver.So,theyareavailabletoExplorerandtheyareavailabletoyourclientsandtheyareavailabletoanythingwemightwanttodointhefutureaswell.Whichkindoflowersthecostofentrytothoseotheroptionstop.
Nick Yeah,Igetthat.Muchmoreintuitivetotheuser.
Stewart Yeah,so,thisisnewtotheCICSTS5.5openbeta.Thereisalittleconfigurationthatyouneedtodotosetitup.Itwon’tstartbydefaultyetbutyoucanlookforwardtothatatsomepointinthefuture.Onceyou’vegotitrunningthereisactuallyanembeddedAPIExplorercalledGraphicIQL,it’sGraph-I-Q-L.Whichisalmostun-detectiblydifferentGraphQLwhenyoulookitonpaper.ButthatwillallowyoutoruntestqueriesagainsttheAPIthathascontentassistandnicethingsthere,allowyouExplorertheAPIandkindofgetafeelforhowitworks.
Nick Andjustforclarificationthishasbeenavailablesincethefirst5.5openbeta,whichcameoutinJanuary2018?
Stewart Yeah,that’sright.
Nick Thanksforthatlittleplugandhopefullypeoplewillgoawayanduseit.
Stewart Yeah,forfurtherinformationIhavewrittenablogpostwhichIpublishedrecently.So,ifyougolookatmyblogonDeveloperWorksyouwillbeabletofindabitmoreinformationthere.AndtherearelinksintheretotheKnowledgeCenterthatwilltellhowtogeteverythingsetup.
Nick That’sgrand,thankyouverymuchStew.
Stewart Brilliant,thanksforhavingme.
Nick Wellthataboutwrapsitupforthistoday,ifyouwanttofindoutmoreinformationaboutthispodcastpleasegotoourwebsiteontheDeveloperCenterthat’shttps://developer.ibm.com/cics/podcasts/.Joinusagainwhenwewilltalkaboutanotherinterestingtopictodowiththemainframebutfornowthatisall.Goodbye.