Usage Scenarios
Because it is built on cross-platform technology such as Java and Web Services, ZMF for Eclipse has the flexibility to support a wide range of use cases and installation scenarios.
The following are just two examples:
Enterprise e-Commerce Development in Java
The Challenge
The sheer scale and complexity of enterprise e-commerce applications require robust build management and cross-platform software deployment capabilities at the level of the software repository. Moreover, many industries are highly regulated and face specific compliance requirements for software change control. ChangeMan ZMF has long satisfied these requirements for traditional enterprise software repositories.
However, traditional enterprise programming languages and tools are not ideally suited to the development of e-commerce applications. Java has established itself as the preferred language for large-scale e-commerce development. In part, this is because the Java open-source community offers prebuilt software development toolkits (SDKs), software libraries, code generators, debuggers, test tools, automated documentation tools, and other development tools for multiple operating system platforms. This makes Java a highly productive language for cross-platform and Web-enabled application development. Mainframe e-commerce applications could be developed more quickly and cost-effectively by deploying Java components wherever appropriate.
The Solution
For enterprise-scale e-commerce applications, ChangeMan ZMF and ZMF for Eclipse support the z/OS Unix Hierarchical File System (zFS) as personal development libraries and for baseline, staging, promotion, and production libraries. zFS libraries provide native support for long file names and Java classpaths.
Complementing the z/OS File System on the mainframe is the ZMF for Eclipse client for the open-source Eclipse Workbench and IBM’s Developer for z Systems (IDz). ZMF for Eclipse uses web services technology to integrate these popular and productive, Javaoriented IDEs with the enterprise repository management capabilities of ChangeMan ZMF. Eclipse integration is important because the Java developer community has largely adopted the open-source Eclipse Workbench IDE as its development platform of choice.
Implementation Use Case
The diagram below illustrates a usage scenario in which Java code for enterprise ecommerce is developed in a desktop workspace managed by the open-source Eclipse Workbench on Windows. Open-source development toolkits, code libraries, and plug-ins for Java can all be leveraged within the workbench, and unit testing occurs against the Java Virtual Machine running on the desktop.
Enterprise e-Commerce Development in Java
For ZMF Web Services connectivity to ChangeMan ZMF, Apache Tomcat is chosen as the Web application server.
Using ZMF Web Services under the covers, the new, one-click application download feature of ZMF for Eclipse copies an entire ZMF application to the desktop at once. When a downloaded component is changed, ZMF for Eclipse automatically checks it out of baseline, stages it to development, and locks it in the ZMF change package automatically. The ZMF for Eclipse mass checkin feature uploads the entire application and checks in all components automatically to a newly created change package.
Mapping between ZMF libraries and application file types and directories on the workbench is automated. Library synchronization is supported by ZMF for Eclipse between local workspace projects and ZMF baseline or staging libraries. Side-by-side difference comparison and merge are supported in the workbench.
System testing and deployment into production are managed by ChangeMan ZMF.
Enterprise COBOL Application Maintenance
Enterprise Development Requirements
For the maintenance of enterprise COBOL applications, including applications built over the DB2 relational database, IBM’s Rational Developer for z Systems (RDz) workbench provides a powerful and wide-ranging set of development, debugging, and testing tools with GUI ease-of-use. Built on an Eclipse base, IDz’s development tools complement the robust, enterprise-scale software change control, build management, and deployment features of ChangeMan ZMF.
Implementation Use Case
In this use case, COBOL code, JCL, and associated DB2 plans and artifacts are checked out of a ZMF repository baseline into an RDz development project. Each IDz project maps to a personal development library in the native z/OS file system on the mainframe.
Keeping development libraries on the mainframe under IDz project management maintains control of corporate software assets. The diagram below illustrates the basic features of this usage scenario.
Enterprise COBOL Application maintenance
For ZMF Web Services connectivity to ChangeMan ZMF, IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is chosen as the Web application server.
The Serena perspective and the Serena Explorer view provide a unified and configurable view of software resources in all personal development libraries on the mainframe, as well as baseline, staging, and promotion libraries in the ZMF repository. Compressed output listings can be read on the desktop in the Serena perspective thanks to a Micro Focus provided editor installed with the plug-in. The z/OS Explorer view of IDz provides access to project resources. Job output in the JES job queue can be accessed in either view.