Frequently Asked Questions
As we discuss our products and product plans with prospects and customers, we take note of questions people ask. The list isn’t exhaustive, so feel free to email us questions that you’d like to see answered.
- What is “screen scraping?”
- Does HostBridge do “screen scraping” under the covers?
- With HostBridge, how and when are field names “bound” to values?
- What does HostBridge provide that is not already in CICS TS 1.3?
- What does HostBridge use to generate its XML output?
- What does HostBridge’s XML output look like?
- How can I route requests to HostBridge running in different regions?
- Does HostBridge execute in the CICS TOR or AOR?
- How does CICS user authentication work with HostBridge?
- What is the maximum number of sessions I can use with HostBridge?
- If I have CICS TS 1.3, how do I request a particular bridge facility for use with my CICS application?
- Can I use InterTest/CICS (from Computer Associates) or XPEDITER (from Compuware) to debug a transaction invoked through HostBridge?
- Can a CICS application programmer tell, in his application code, that a transaction has been invoked via HostBridge?
- What is the “3270 bridge”?
- How does HostBridge handle the shortcomings of the “3270 Bridge”, such as not supporting dynamic modification of field attributes from CICS programs?
- Have you overcome the 3270 Bridge “problem” when the 3270 application performs and EXEC CICS START?
Use of Basic Mapping Support (BMS)
- Is HostBridge sensitive to changes in the location of fields, or the value of literals, on a BMS map?
- What happens if I add a new field to a BMS map?
- What happens if I remove a field from the BMS map?
- Do the BMS maps still exist?
- Does HostBridge require that we re-compile our applications?
- Does HostBridge support the PAGE and ACCUM parameters used by BMS applications?
- Does HostBridge support SDF2-generated BMS maps?
- Can I access the same application using both HostBridge and 3270 terminals (real or emulated)?
- Can HostBridge be used to automate access to a sequence of CICS transactions?
Application Servers and Integration Platforms
- How does HostBridge fit into a web services architecture?
- Can HostBridge be used with Novell eXtend (formerly SilverStream eXtend)?
- Does HostBridge work with application servers like WebSphere and WebLogic?
- Does HostBridge compete with Microsoft’s COMTI?
- Can a .NET application communicate with HostBridge?
- Does IBM offer anything like HostBridge?
- Is IBM planning on including any XML capabilities within CICS?
- Which HTTP server should I use on the mainframe?
- Does the OS/390 Web Server include functionality that CICS Web Services does not?
- If I have MQSeries for OS/390, do I still need HostBridge?
- How does HostBridge compare to the XML support in new versions of COBOL?
- How does HostBridge compare to opening and extending legacy applications by “wrapping” COBOL apps in Java?
- What is CTG and how does it compare to HostBridge?
- How does HostBridge fit in with IBM’s connector “generations”?
- What is an “API-based connection”?
- What is “CWS with 3270 Bridge and Templates” and why is it a first generation connector?
- Would anything that relies upon 3270 Bridge be considered a first generation connector?
- Using IBM’s definitions, is HostBridge a first, second or third generation connector?
- How does TIBCO connect to Hostbridge?
- Does HostBridge return Data to TIBCO in XML format when using the LINK/ECI interface?
- Can HostBridge still invoke a terminal-oriented transaction via the 3720 Bridge when using the LINK/ECI interface between TIBCO and HostBridge?
- Is the size of the COMMAREA still limited to 32K when using the LINK/ECI interface between TIBCO and HostBridge?
- Can TIBCO use HTTP to connect to HostBridge from a middle tier server or from Substation on OS/390?
- Do I own HostBridge if I own TIBCO’s CICS Subsystem product?
- Is TIBCO necessary to retrieve XML from CICS?