What was New in Version 10.1

This document describes major new features and enhancements in EntireX version 10.1:

Increased Platform Support

EntireX now runs under the following additional platforms:

  • Windows Server 2016

  • z/OS version 2.3

See Platform Coverage for full list of supported platforms.

COBOL Integration Enhancements

Command Central Enhancements

  • Installing EntireX using Command Central
    EntireX can now also be installed using Command Central instead of the Software AG Installer. See Installing EntireX using Command Central.

  • Template-based Provisioning

    EntireX now supports template-based provisioning with Command Central. Using templates within Command Central you can install EntireX and - at the same time - add instances such as EntireX Broker and multiple RPC servers on local and remote hosts. Sample templates are provided under Template-based Provisioning in the General Installation documentation.

  • Administering RPC Servers using Command Central
    Multiple EntireX RPC servers can be administered using Command Central. See

  • Administering EntireX Broker using Command Central
    With this version the names of some parameters for configuring and administering EntireX Broker using the Command Central command line have changed. See Administering EntireX Broker using the Command Central Command Line.

Workbench Enhancements

  • Preferences
    The structure of EntireX preference pages in the EntireX Workbench has been simplified. It is now more compact with the most commonly used target environments - COBOL, Integration Server, Natural, PL/I and Web Services - on the first level relative to EntireX preference page. From preference page EntireX > Wrappers you can navigate to all wrappers.

    See newly designed preference pages for COBOL | Integration Server | Natural | PL/I | Web Services.

  • IDL Extractor for Integration Server and Integration Server Wrapper
    When the Extractor or the Wizard either creates a new connection or updates an existing connection, both the list of connection types and connections are now filtered. Connection types that require a license are only shown if a corresponding license file is available. Reliable RPC connections are only shown if all IDL programs contain only IN parameters. Also, if a server mapping file is available, only those connection types that support the interface type specified in the server mapping file are shown.

  • CVM/SVM Handling
    Client-side mapping files (CVM) are now default in the Designer. As server-side mapping files (SVM) will be dropped in a future version, we strongly recommend using client-side mapping files. These are easier to use and do not require any deployment on your server. Support for CVM files for platforms BS2000 and z/VSE will be introduced in a future version.

EntireX RPC Server Enhancements

  • New RPC Server for AS/400
    The new EntireX RPC Server for IBM® AS/400® enables you to remotely call server programs written in all ILE-based languages, for example C, COBOL, RPG. graphics/toc_closed.png More info

    This new RPC server replaces the existing RPC Server for IBM i of EntireX version 7.1.1 running under IBM i (AS/400), which will no longer be supported in the next version of EntireX.

  • RPC Server for CICS Abend Handling
    As of version 10.1, the exit for the CICS RPC abend handling is no longer delivered in the LOAD module of the z/OS installation. The exit is assembled from the CEEWUCHA source delivered with the z/OS LE sample library CEE.SCEESAMP. The install job EXPINSTA delivered on EXX107.JOBS has a step that assembles the CEEWUCHA exit.

  • User Exit for Additional HTTP Headers with RPC Server for XML/SOAP
    A new user exit allows you to add HTTP headers before an RPC call, or to add an HTTP header to an optional retry call. See User Exit to Set Additional HTTP Headers under Locating and Calling the Target Server in the RPC Server for XML/SOAP documentation.

  • Configuration Parameter entirex.server.verbose
    The configuration parameters entirex.server.verbose and entirex.bridge.verbose previously used by multiple servers and listeners are no longer available. Verbose logging is now enabled whenever the configuration parameter entirex.trace has a value greater than 0.

EntireX Adapter Enhancements

  • COBOL Server using Fixed-length Tables in Variable Manner
    The EntireX Adapter - together with the IDL Extractor for COBOL - supports additional approaches of a COBOL server that process a variable number of array elements in a fixed-size COBOL table (array). See also COBOL Integration Enhancements.

  • New Interface Type AS/400 Connection
    The new interface type AS/400 connection enables you to remotely call server programs written in all ILE-based languages, for example C, COBOL, RPG. See Connection Parameters for AS/400 Connections.

  • 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]

  • EntireX Adapter License File Handling
    The license file specified in the Adapter license administration is renamed by the Adapter to 'license.entirex.xml' and copied to the IntegrationServer/instances/<instance_name>/config directory. The name and location of this file can no longer be changed as in earlier EntireX Adapter versions. See License Information in the EntireX Adapter documentation.

Automatic Character Conversion

EntireX Broker has a reworked mechanism for character conversion. Incorrect configurations (e.g. RPC communication without character conversion configured) are detected. In these cases the configuration defined in the broker attribute file is not used and a warning message is written to the broker's log file. Adapt your broker attribute file to avoid the message. For details, see Broker's Mechanism for Choosing the Character Conversion Approach under Introduction to Internationalization.

The mechanism is active if the version of the RPC server component is the following (or later):

  • EntireX RPC Server (z/OS CICS, z/OS Batch, z/OS IMS, Micro Focus, C, .NET) 9.10

  • EntireX RPC Server (Java, CICS ECI, IMS Connect, XML/SOAP, RPC-ACI, IBM MQ) 9.9

  • EntireX Adapter 9.9

  • Natural RPC Server (Mainframe 8.2.7, Open Systems 8.4.1)

Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Support

The C Wrapper and the DCOM Wrapper now support Microsoft Visual Studio 2017.

Documentation Enhancements

Other Changes and Enhancements

  • Unique Message ID
    With ACI version 11 and above, all messages sent to the broker are given a unique message ID. This message ID is useful for tracking individual messages in the trace and log files. See Unique Message ID under Broker ACI Functions.

    Note:
    PSTORE-VERSION=5 is required to save and restore message IDs of persistent data.

  • Postpone Units of Work
    Service-specific attributes POSTPONE-ATTEMPTS and POSTPONE-DELAY have been added to postpone processing of UOWs that have been cancelled by the receiver. The UOWs are moved to the postpone queue instead of being deleted. See Postponing Units of Work under Using Persistence and Units of Work in the platform-independent Administration documentation.

  • New SSL Port Default for Broker Administration Service
    The default SSL port for the Broker Administration Service has changed from 57708 to 57808. See Overview of Executables and Port Numbers and Configuring the Administration Service under UNIX | Windows.

  • Support of 64-bit Time Values on z/OS
    Broker attribute PSTORE-VERSION now has a new version 5 to support 64-bit time values on z/OS. See PSTORE-VERSION.

  • Improved Adabas PSTORE Handling
    Adabas persistent store handling has been enhanced on all platforms. The new PSTORE version 5 offers significant improvement in performance. See PSTORE-VERSION. We strongly recommend you use this version.

  • CIS Version 10
    The new object UOW-STATISTICS supplies important information on units of work per service.

    The CIS command SET-UOW-STATUS has been added to control postponed units of work.

  • Consistent Handling of Duplicates in Broker Attribute File
    With this release, additional checks are performed on service-specific attributes in the broker attribute file. Duplicate entries are now detected and error message 00210035 is given. This applies to the default definitions and the individual definitions in all DEFAULTS=SERVICES sections. This behavior is now consistent for all sections of the attribute file.

  • License File Handling
    Under UNIX and Windows, the license file specified during installation is renamed by the Software AG Installer to "license.xml" and copied to the EntireX/config directory. The name and location of this file can no longer be changed as in earlier EntireX versions. See also EntireX Adapter Enhancements.

  • Enhancement to the Broker Agent
    You can now specify the address of the network interface on which the Broker Agent will listen. See Using the Broker SSL Agent under UNIX | Windows and Using the TCP Agent under UNIX | Windows.

  • Java API Class BrokerService
    The obsolete methods getEnvironment(), setEnvironment(String), useCodePage() and useCodePage(Boolean) of the Java class BrokerService have been deprecated. They will be removed with the next version of EntireX.

  • SSL/TLS Hostname Verification in Java Components
    For all Java-based components that act as an SSL client, the hostname verification has been changed to conform to the RFC 2818 standard. If the server certificate contains a subjectAltName extension of type dNSName, this name is now used as the identity. Otherwise, the Common Name field in the Subject field of the certificate is used. If only the Common Name field should be used as before, the SSL parameter ignore_rfc_2818=yes must be set in the Broker ID.

  • Broker Installation Verification
    The broker verification programs BCOC (client) and BCOS (server) are delivered in executable form (binary, load module) only. For more information see Sample Programs for Client (BCOC) and Server (BCOS) in the z/OS | UNIX | Windows | BS2000 installation documentation.

  • Warning of Connection Shortage
    Broker will issue a message if the defined percentage value of TCP/IP connections (available file descriptors) is exceeded. The default value is 90 percent of available file descriptors. This value can be changed with broker attribute PERCENTAGE-FOR-CONNECTION-SHORTAGE-MESSAGE.