Technical Description
Our solution combines the mainframe advantages (reliability, data integrity, scalability, total cost of computing, ...) with the advantages of the browser. Programs run under CICS and are able to access all mainframe data.  A direct access to data on other platforms is supported, too. (success story) Browser applications can be implemented by developers with mainframe programming skills.

There are two alternatives for the hardware:

1. The actual version is 100 % TCP/IP with a Linux-Web Server. With this version, the whole implementation can be mainframe-based using Linux for S/390 (or have a physical middle tier).

2. The initial version developed in 1997 needed a (physical) middle tier with a Windows NT-Box. 


 
Actual Version - Alternative 1:

Actual Version
Direct communication, network in the mainframe
Initial Version - Alternative 2:

Initial Version


    Technical Requirements:

    Actual Version:
     

    • 100 % TCP/IP, with Windows NT or Linux on a middle tier box or    with Linux for S/390 on the mainframe.


    Initial Version:
     

    • Windows NT Server with a TCP/IP or an APPC connection to a CICS partition.


    Mainframe Requirements:
     

    • OSA 2-Adapter or TOKEN Ring or 3172.
    • VTAM 4 or higher
    • CICS Version 2.1 or higher.
    • Token Ring, Ethernet, FDDI or other LAN.
The communication between the workstations is pure TCP/IP. Communication to CICS is realized in a cgi-program, which is part of the product CPG5, via TCP/IP or via APPC.

On the web server on the middle tier (which can be integrated into the mainframe in the actual version),  the HTML site is filled dynamically with the variables coming from the mainframe.

HTML sites are designed in our own HTML editor, NetPage. Through it, buttons and hyperlinks can branch to other HTML sites and also (above all) call programs under CICS. The CICS program automatically transfers all variables to the cgi-program on the web server.

NetPage supports the usual HTML tags of the browsers as special variable types. The use of standard HTML commands is allowed, too.
technical solution





Last updated: 10/04/2007