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CICS

Show me everything on IBM System z and mainframe systems

- CICS (Customer Information Control System) is an online transaction processing (OLTP) program from IBM that, together with the COBOL programming language, has formed over the past several decades the most common set of tools for building customer transaction applications in the world of large enterprise mainframe computing. A great number of the legacy applications still in use are COBOL/CICS applications. Using the application programming interface (API) provided by CICS, a programmer can write programs that communicate with online users and read from or write to customer and other records (orders, inventory figures, customer data, and so forth) in a database (usually referred to as "data sets") using CICS facilities rather than IBM's access methods directly. Like other transaction managers, CICS can ensure that transactions are completed and, if not, undo partly completed transactions so that the integrity of data records is maintained.

IBM markets or supports a CICS product for OS/390, Unix, and Intel PC operating systems. Some of IBM's customers use IBM's Transaction Server to handle e-business transactions from Internet users and forward these to a mainframe server that accesses an existing CICS order and inventory database.

Learn more about IBM System z and mainframe systems

Mainframe Management: The modern mainframe: This isn't your gramps' Big Iron. Mainframe management has evolved dramatically over the past few years.
Roadmap to mainframe application modernization: This tip outlines a modernization path for business-critical applications in an existing mainframe environment.
Top five mainframe tips: Data center pros are asking questions about the expanding role mainframes play in the business.
Mainframe Management: The modern mainframe: This isn't your gramps' Big Iron. Mainframe management has evolved dramatically over the past few years.
Using CICS dump tables to manage problems in online systems: The CICS dump table feature can be useful for diagnosing and managing problems in online systems when the information you need isn't available through default channels.
High mainframe software costs may lead to platform's demise: Are mainframe software costs too high or does software productivity and reduced labor costs lead to lower mainframe total cost of ownership (TCO)?
Manage CICS workloads with transaction classes: Using transaction classes is a great way to manage CICS workloads that come in unpredictable increments. Learn how to use transaction classes and get examples in this tip.
Run CICS in batch to beat a shrinking batch window: As batch windows are getting shorter, it becomes harder to run traditional VSAM-based CICS systems. Try running CICS in batch as a low-cost solution.

CONTRIBUTORS:	Cassandra Gaisford, Angie D. Graves, Jay Owens, and David Paulsen
LAST UPDATED:	01 Nov 2005

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More resources from around the web:

-	IBM offers a product overview of CICS.
-	The SHARE organization has a section for CICS users.

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