The IMTK enables you to create an interface between a COBOL application running on an enterprise server instance as a service, such as a Web service or Java service, and a client, such as a Web service client or a JSP client. The interface you create is called a service interface.
In addition, you can use the IMTK to create service interfaces for several mainframe-based technologies. For details, see Interface Mapping Toolkit (IMTK) under Mainframe Programming.
You can create the following types of service interfaces for COBOL programs:
For service interfaces created from a new or existing COBOL application, you can expose as much or as little of the application functionality as you choose. Because COBOL applications often perform a wide variety of functions, the creation of a service interface enables you to limit your end users to access only the functions they need.
You can also use a WSDL or JSON file provided by a third party to generate both a service interface that supports the described Web service, and a skeleton COBOL program containing the data structures needed to support the Web service. You can then further enhance the COBOL program to contain the logic necessary to return the required output.
The process of creating a working service interface to run on Enterprise Server includes the following: