What was New in Version 9.12

This document covers the following topics:


Increased Platform Support

EntireX now also supports the following additional platform:

  • AIX 7.2

Installation Changes

Under z/OS, the broker stub executables are distributed prelinked with unresolved references to z/OS components. To resolve these external references, relink them in your environment. See Step 3: Install the Broker Stubs and Bind the Broker Stub Executables.

Workbench Enhancements

Enhanced COBOL MPO Support

The COBOL Mapping Editor of the IDL Extractor for COBOL - together with the EntireX Adapter or EntireX RPC servers - supports the COBOL MPO feature (multiple possible output). In previous EntireX versions, for MPO groups based on a REDEFINE declaration, the MPO selector definition had to be placed before the MPO group in a COBOL server program. Now the MPO selector definition can be anywhere in the DATA DIVISION of the COBOL source: before, inside or after the MPO group.

IMS MPP Message Interface (IMS Connect): You can now determine the position of an MPO selector using a fixed offset starting from the end of the message. You can also use an offset from the beginning of the message as in earlier versions.

For more information and an example of a COBOL server using the DFHCOMMAREA calling convention (the most commonly used interface type), see Set Multiple Possible Output (MPO) Structures. For other interface types, see COBOL Mapping Editor.

IDL Extractor for Natural Supports Arabic Shaping and Multibyte Character Sets

The IDL Extractor for Natural supports Arabic shaping as well as multibyte character sets. For those scenarios you need the correct setup in the Designer, Natural RPC Server and EntireX Broker.

Example for arabic shaping:

  • Natural RPC Server used for extraction is set up with the Arabic codepage CRPC=IBM-420.

  • Designer is set up with Arabic encoding: file.encoding=windows-1256.

  • ICU conversion for RPC is used in the broker: CONVERSION=SAGTRPC. See also Configuring ICU Conversion under z/OS | UNIX | Windows | z/VSE.

Prerequisites for Natural RPC Server:

  • z/OS: Fix 02 (cumulative) for Natural Mainframe 8.2.6 or above.

  • UNIX and Windows: Natural 8.3.8 or above.

Alternative Mapping of IDL Data Types to Integration Server Data Types

IDL data types can now be mapped to non-String Integration Server data types. See Using the Integration Server Wrapper.

[Provided with Fix 1 for EntireX Adapter version 9.12, requires Fix 1 of EntireX Workbench 9.12]

Brainstorm Ideas

Brainstorm is a one-stop portal for all Software AG customers to submit feature requests, vote on ideas that have been posted by other customers and get your voice heard. All product categories are moderated by product managers, and ideas get responded to and updated on a regular basis. The number in square brackets is the Brainstorm ID.

  • Date and Time support for EntireX Adapter [02848]. The EntireX Adapter now supports user-defined formats for mapping the IDL data types Date and Time. See Software AG IDL to Integration Server Mapping.

  • Trace Utility enhancement [03277]. The EntireX Trace Utility has been enhanced: a date field has been added to the generated CSV file. See Output Field Options under UNIX | Windows.

Command Central

Increased Scope

EntireX supports Command Central for EntireX Broker instances running under UNIX or Windows. This support has been enhanced. You can now perform the following operations on EntireX Broker in addition to the operations supported in EntireX version 9.10:

  • Display Services

  • Stop Service

  • Display Server Instances of a Service

  • Stop Server Instance

  • Create new EntireX Brokers

  • Delete existing EntireX Brokers

See Administering EntireX Components with Command Central for full list of operations supported by EntireX. General information for all supported products is provided in the separate Command Central documentation and the Command Central Online Help.

Command-line Mode

When using the Command Central command line to get information from or administer EntireX, the data representation for input and output of some commands has changed. See Administering EntireX Broker using the Command Central Command Line. General information for all supported products is provided in the separate Command Central documentation and Command Central Online Help.

Authorization Rules

Authorization rules for UNIX and Windows are no longer managed with System Management Hub. Instead, rules can be stored in an LDAP repository (as in earlier versions of EntireX) or in a new section of the Broker attribute file, DEFAULTS=AUTHORIZATION-RULES. See Authorization Rules.

EntireX RPC Server Enhancements

EntireX Adapter Enhancements

  • User-defined Date and Time Formats
    The EntireX Adapter now supports user-defined formats for mapping the IDL data types Date and Time. See Software AG IDL to Integration Server Mapping.

  • Mixed-case Passwords for CICS ECI Connections
    You can now use mixed-case passwords for CICS ECI connections in EntireX Adapter. See Connection Parameters for CICS ECI Connections.

  • COBOL MPO Support
    The EntireX Adapter - together with the IDL Extractor for COBOL - provides enhanced support of the COBOL MPO feature (multiple possible output). For details see Workbench Enhancements.

  • Significant Change to Mapping of MPO Groups to IS Structures
    The mapping of MPO groups to Integration Server data structures and to the signature has been changed with this version to simplify the usage of the MPO construct in the Integration Server.

    Previously the alternatives of an MPO group (groups in the IDL file with the attribute CHOICE) were mapped to arrays with either zero array elements (unselected alternative) or one array element (selected alternative). This has been changed such that arrays are no longer used. Unselected alternatives are suppressed and thus not visible in the output pipeline. The selected alternative is directly represented in the output pipeline without the enclosing array.

    However, this enhancement means the new output signature is not compatible with existing Adapter services. This also affects the runtime behavior. If you use MPO groups, regenerate these Adapter services from the Designer and adapt the services that are using the new Adapter service to the changed output signature.

    Note:
    This change does not apply to the RPC Connection types if the server mapping data is created as an SVM file.

    [Provided with Fix 3 for EntireX version 9.9 and Fix 2 of EntireX version 9.10]

  • Alternative Mapping of IDL Data Types to Integration Server Data Types
    IDL data types can now be mapped to non-String Integration Server data types. The main use case is to support JSON document types in Integration Server. See Integration Server Data Types to IDL Mapping in the EntireX Adapter documentation and Mapping IDL Data Types to IS Data Types in the Integration Server Wrapper documentation.

    [Provided with Fix 1 for EntireX Adapter version 9.12, requires Fix 1 of EntireX Workbench 9.12]

Documentation Enhancements

  • Command Central
    The separate Command Central documentation has been reorganized; product-specific information is now provided with the product itself. See Administering EntireX Components with Command Central in this documentation set. The command-line documentation has been enhanced, and a new section describing the graphical user interface is provided.

  • RPC Server Enhancements
  • Extracting a Natural Server
    A new example has been added to the IDL Extractor for Natural documentation. See Extracting a Natural Server with User-defined Mapping. This example is also used in the Scenario Calling Natural from Integration Server.

  • Application Monitoring MashApp
    As in earlier versions, a sample Application Monitoring MashApp is provided in Empower under Products & Documentation > Download Components > EntireX - Application Monitoring MashApp. This MashApp is no longer described in the main EntireX documentation. Separate documentation (PDF) and a readme file are also provided for download from Empower.

  • IDL Extractor Messages
    IDL Extractor messages have been reworked. See error classes 2005 (generic), 2006 (COBOL), and 2007 (PL/I) in the Error Messages and Codes documentation.

Other Changes and Enhancements

  • Broker Attribute File Validation
    The validation of the broker attribute file has been thoroughly reworked. Inconsistent definitions may result in an unexpected error when you start your broker. The individual attributes are described in detail under Broker Attributes.

  • Microsoft Visual Studio
    The following EntireX components support Microsoft Visual Studio version 2015:

    • C Wrapper

    • DCOM Wrapper

    • Microsoft Visual Studio Wizard for EntireX .NET Wrapper

    Older versions of Microsoft Visual Studio (2010, 2012 or 2013) are no longer supported.

  • Terminology Changes
    IBM's WebSphere MQ is now called "IBM® MQ". To reflect this rebranding, the following EntireX components have also been renamed:

    • webSphere MQ RPC Server is now called "EntireX RPC Server for IBM® MQ" graphics/toc_closed.png More info

    • webSphere MQ RPC Listener is now called "EntireX Listener for IBM® MQ" graphics/toc_closed.png More info

  • Listener for XML/SOAP and High Availability
    The Listener for XML/SOAP now supports persistent sockets, socket reconnect and security handling. This means it can now be used in high-availability scenarios where the EntireX Broker is load-balanced. See Matrix of Supported Features under Introduction to High Availability.

  • ICU Custom Conversion under z/OS
    Custom conversion using ICU is now available under z/OS in addition to the support already provided under UNIX and Windows. See Installing the EntireX ICU Custom Converter Build Environment under z/OS UNIX in the z/OS Installation documentation and Building and Installing ICU Custom Converters in the z/OS Administration documentation.

  • DIV Persistent Store Parameter Handling
    Defining a DIV persistent store has been streamlined. New broker attributes have been introduced to replace format parameters. See DIV-specific Attributes under Broker Attributes in the platform-independent administration documentation.

  • COBOL RPC Client and Server
    The sources generated by the Designer component COBOL Wrapper can be compiled by any compiler supported by the COBOL Wrapper: standard COBOL compiler, for example IBM Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 4.2, 5.1 or 6.1.