Features

Customers have been the primary source for developing the current HostBridge feature set. Their stories led to the founding of the company and they provided feedback on how the product could be further enhanced to meet their needs. The result is an integration product that solves real business problems quickly and easily.

The following table reflects some of HostBridge's current features. Are you looking for a particular feature, support for a specific type of transaction, or anything else not listed here? Let us know what you need and we will let you know if we support it.

Feature	Description	Benefit
Automatic XML generation	Once installed, HostBridge immediately makes all CICS BMS transactions XML-enabled.	Most solutions require that each screen of a CICS application have either a custom template, which becomes time-consuming and expensive when integrating applications with large numbers of screens.
HTTP interface	Most integration efforts use HTTP to communicate with a web application running on a Windows or UNIX server. Applications can invoke CICS transactions using HTTP requests over TCP/IP.	Any application that is capable of sending a URL and receiving and XML document can access CICS data. All application servers and integration servers support HTTP and XML.
LINK interface	Mainframe applications often use COMMAREAs to communicate with each other. This interface allows you to integrate CICS with other mainframe applications or with middle-tier applications that use COMMAREAs.	Mainframe applications with existing COMMAREA interfaces can take advantage of HostBridge's XML output capabilities. Middle-tier applications that use COMMAREAs (such as CTG or Microsoft's COMTI) can use this interface.
SOAP support	HostBridge includes SOAP support that allows companies to integrate CICS applications as web services.	Web services use XML to communicate using a common format that conforms to the SOAP specification. As web services become the standard for integration, your CICS applications will be ready.
Fixed-format XML	Output from HostBridge conforms to a defined, predictable document structure.	Web developers know what to expect in return from each data request sent to HostBridge. A documented, fixed-format makes it easier for developers to pull data out of the XML results.
Standards-based	HostBridge uses HTTP and XML to allow remote applications to access CICS transactions.	Developers can use their existing knowledge of tools and technologies to integrate CICS transactions in to eBusiness applications. Standards-based solutions lower the costs associated with development and maintenance.