What are CICS web services?

[utkarsh]

Hi,

I have a very basic question on CICS web-services, what are CICS Web Services? What is that thing which we could not do if they were not available to us?

I looked at documentation but that does not seem to answer this question specifically or I seem not to understand this.

Would appreciate if you can help with some example too.

[Anuj Dhawan]

CICS Web Services act as a bridge between your existing CICS programs and the modern web world. They allow you to expose functionalities of your CICS applications as web services, following standard protocols like SOAP or JSON. Imagine CICS applications as islands of functionality. Traditionally, these islands could only be accessed by other CICS programs directly. With CICS Web Services, you build bridges allowing them to be accessed by any application that understands web services, opening them up to a wider range of clients.

Here's what you couldn't do without CICS Web Services:

• Interact with CICS programs from mobile apps or web applications: These applications typically don't understand the inner workings of CICS. CICS Web Services provide a standardized way for them to communicate and request data or functionalities.
• Easily integrate CICS with other services: CICS Web Services allow your CICS programs to act as web service clients as well. This means they can interact with other services following web service protocols, enabling better integration within your IT infrastructure.

Example:

• You have a CICS program that manages customer accounts. Traditionally, a custom program would be needed to access this functionality from a web application. With CICS Web Services, you can expose this program as a web service. The web application can then use standard protocols (like SOAP) to call the service and retrieve customer information or update accounts.

Hope this helps,