“did you say mainframe? cics ts v5.5 open beta in … cics explorer which shows you cicsplex and...

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Page 1: “Did You Say Mainframe? CICS TS V5.5 open beta in … CICS Explorer which shows you CICSPlex and the regions underneath it and system groups their memberships. In Explorer, we have

“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

Page 2: “Did You Say Mainframe? CICS TS V5.5 open beta in … CICS Explorer which shows you CICSPlex and the regions underneath it and system groups their memberships. In Explorer, we have

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.