CICS

From Free net encyclopedia

CICS® (Customer Information Control System) is a transaction server that runs primarily on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS or z/VSE. CICS is available for other operating systems, notably i5/OS, OS/2, and as the closely related IBM TXSeries software on AIX, Windows, and Linux, among others. The z/OS implementation is by far the most popular and significant.

CICS is a transaction processing system (like TCAM) designed for both online and batch activity. On large IBM zSeries and System z9 servers, CICS easily supports thousands of transactions per second, making it a mainstay of enterprise computing. CICS applications can be written in numerous programming languages, including COBOL, PL/I, C, [[C++]], Assembler, REXX, and Java.

Each CICS program is initiated using a transaction id. CICS screens are sent as maps using a programming language such as COBOL. The end user inputs data which is made accessible to the program by receiving a map. CICS screens may contain text that is highlighted, having different colors or blinking. An example of how a map can be sent through COBOL is given below.

EXEC CICS
    SEND MAPSET(MPS1) MAP(MP1)
END-EXEC.

CICS is one of the world's most durable software products thanks to its ever-expanding capabilities, continuous and aggressive vendor support, large installed base, exceptional reliability, high performance, and huge variety of applications and tools. It is also a very secure system and functions at a high speed. (Many of these attributes depend on the zSeries platform.) CICS is used in bank teller applications, airline reservation systems, ATM systems etc. CICS first went on sale on July 8, 1969, not long after IMS. Originally developed in the United States, CICS development shifted to IBM's programming labs in Hursley, United Kingdom, where work continues today.

While CICS has its highest profile among financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, over 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies are reported to rely on CICS (running on z/OS) for their core business functions. Most state and national governments do as well.

Recent CICS enhancements include support for Web services and Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs). IBM began shipping the latest release, CICS Transaction Server Version 3.1 for z/OS, in early 2005.

Part of CICS was formalized using the Z notation in the 1980s and 90s in collaboration with the Oxford University Computing Laboratory, under the leadership of Sir Tony Hoare. This work won a Queen's Award for Technological Achievement.

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Pronunciation

In Britain, Canada, Australia, and some other countries, CICS is pronounced the same as the word kicks. In the US, it is more usually pronounced by reciting each letter (C-I-C-S). Both pronunciations are popular.
In Germany, it is pronounced zicks
In Italy, it is pronounced chicks.
In Spain it is pronounced thicks.
In Brazil and Mexico, it is pronounced sicks.

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