Readme for IBM CICS Explorer version 1.0.0.4

ProductCICS Explorer
Version1.0.0.4
Build ID200912091747
APARs IncludedIZ66786
Date Published18 Dec 2009

Abstract

Readme documentation for IBM CICS Explorer version 1.0.0.4 including installation instructions; prerequisites and co-requisites; and a list of fixes included.

Table of Contents

Additional Information

Additional information can be found included with the CICS Explorer. From within the CICS Explorer, click Help -> Help Contents to display the help for CICS Explorer.

Additional information on the CICS Explorer can also be found online at: CICS Explorer homepage. There are several links on there to extra information about the CICS Explorer including a link to video tutorials and podcasts on the CICS Explorer and CICS TS: System z Videos/Podcasts

See also the forums for the CICS Explorer and CICS Tools plug-ins for the CICS Explorer where information is posted, and questions can be posted.

About this Update

This update contains the following APAR fixes: IZ66786
More information on these APARs is displayed below:

APAR IZ66786
Problem Description

Release of CICS Explorer v1.0.0.4

Problem Summary

This APAR tracks the release of CICS Explorer version 1.0.0.4.

This update provides the following new functionality:

* Ability to copy and paste resource definitions between different regions/plexes
  More Information: Search for "Copying and pasting resource definitions" in the CICS Explorer Help.
* Ability to add a GROUP to a LIST
  Right-click on a group and select 'Add to List' from the context menu.
* New Perform Operation dialog
  More Information: Search for "Performing actions against a resource" in the CICS Explorer Help.
* The actions dialogs have been improved so that if an action is issued against multiple resources it displays the results of the action for each resource and stops if an update to a particular resource fails.
  More Information: Search for "Performing actions against a resource" in the CICS Explorer Help.

For more information on all these, search for "What's new in version 1.0.0.4" section in the CICS Explorer Help.

The following defects have also been fixed as part of this update:

1253: Connection Preferences changes lost after changing Connection Type
1486: SM CreateWizards EJCODEF. Error Message miss-match TCPIP Service
7909: Help missing for some dialogs
7874: CICSAttribute.validFrom not enough for N/A detection
7582: Filter text wrongly being marked as invalid
7399: Some attributes are not filtering properly
7182: Filters disabled for new 410 attributes e.g. CSDGroup
7019: Field Level Help
7016: Help: Explorer & Repositories views icons not same as product
7014: CICSplex Repositories Help is not consistent with the product
6995: Program name mandatory in TRANDEF create wizard
6993: Rows remain selected after DELETE
6992: Action confirmation dialogs do not indicate action variants
6968: Batched Repository Updates view doesn't work & why have it ?
6961: Conn status shared when same name
6958: Deleting the current SM connection -> wrong trim widget hover.
6741: Delete action appears when there is no selection which causes a NullPointerException
6732: Explorer DB2 Transaction Definition (DB2T) window entry error labels dont match the invalid field names
6269: Event Specification names in the specifications tree don't get updated when edited.
6252: RESDESC not displayed in the CICSplex Repositories view
6152: RESDESC Editor view needs simplification of layout
6151: Help for CICS resource definitions needs to allow for CSD based definitions
6146: CNX0106E needs to be more 'helpful' esp. for SMSS users - CMVC 26748
6062: Library Definitions view - LIBRARY should be uppercase
6061: WLM and RTA menus do not appear in Show View
6033: Rename connection w/o connect causes connection to disappear
2194: MQ Connection definition tab doesn't match Admin pull-dwon or wizards
2188: truncated error message for maxlength in URI Map editor
1908: Remove leading / from path in define statements in cics.xml
7994: "New" menus in Resource Group Definitions and CSDGROUP & CSDLIST
8014: Link to v3r2 boulder doc, in help for editor
8107: Targets appear multiple times in Install wizard
8238: Error message not recorded in error log for Create
8300: Creating a connection name with a / in it doesn't work, and connects to another connection
8303: When CSD Install fails, the RESP2 error value is not displayed in the dialog
8304: No text separation in Perform Operation dialog when Delete selected
8306: Perform messages are not reflected on the status bar
8441: Eclipse 3.4.2 may need patching under windows 7
8514: Switching into an 'empty' perspective from none causes a NullPointer Exception.
8516: NPE opening custom perspective
8547: Perspective banner blanked when a copy is saved
8693: CICS Explorer: Missing helps in About IBM CICS Explorer
8698: CICS Explorer: Missing help for Perform INSTALL Operation
8747: Editor area remains open when running in a customised perspective
8768: Select Connection popup menu has inconsistent ordering

More InformationMore information on APAR IZ66786 can be found here

Prerequisites

None.

Co-requisites

None.

Installation Instructions

To install updates for the CICS Explorer, there are two options:

  1. Update the CICS Explorer from within the CICS Explorer, using the built in update-site.
    (http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/htp/cics/updates/explorer/).
  2. Or alternatively download a zipped version of the update-site and install it locally.
    (Known as an archive update-site).

An advantage of using the IBM-hosted update-site is that it is kept up-to-date with the latest version. Users can search for any available updates to the CICS Explorer periodically from within the CICS Explorer. They can choose if and when to install them at their convenience. Alternatively the user can choose to get the CICS Explorer to automatically search for updates and inform the user when they become available.

Otherwise updates can be downloaded on demand from Fix Central, but users will need to check the Fix Central website for any further updates available, and download them as appropriate. Fix Central: http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

Installation via the Update-Site

To update the CICS Explorer using the IBM-hosted update-site follow the instructions below:

  1. Launch the CICS Explorer
  2. Click Help on the CICS Explorer menu bar and click Software Updates in the drop-down menu. The Software Updates and Add-ons window is displayed.
  3. Click the Available Software tab.
  4. A link to the CICS Explorer update-site is included with the product by default, but to check if the update-site is present:
  5. If the update site is present as it should be, the following step can be skipped:
  6. To update the CICS Explorer select the Installed Software tab, and then click Update...
  7. If an update is available, an Update dialog box will appear to confirm the installation of the update. Click Finish.
  8. The CICS Explorer is then updated, and you'll be asked to restart to apply the changes. Click Yes to restart the CICS Explorer, once it has restarted it will now be up-to-date.

Installation via Fix Central

To update the CICS Performance Analyzer plug-in from Fix Central follow the instructions below:

  1. Launch the CICS Explorer
  2. Click Help on the CICS Explorer menu bar and click Software Updates in the drop-down menu. The Software Updates and Add-ons window is displayed.
  3. Click the Available Software tab.
  4. Click the Add Site button and in the Add Site dialog click the Archive button. The Repository archive dialog box is displayed.
  5. Locate and select the CICS Explorer zipped update-site file you downloaded previously, and click Open.
  6. Click OK in the Add Site dialog box. The dialog box closes and the tool is displayed in the Software Updates and Add-ons dialog box.
  7. To update the CICS Explorer select the Installed Software tab, and then click Update...
  8. If the CICS Explorer's version is earlier than the version of the CICS Explorer in the zip being downloaded, an Update dialog box will appear to confirm the installation of the update. Click Finish.
  9. The CICS Explorer is then updated, and you'll be asked to restart to apply the changes. Click Yes to restart the CICS Explorer, once it has restarted it will now be up-to-date.

Known Issues of this update

None.

Known Limitations of this update

Please read the known limitations with this update below to understand what is covered by this update.

Installing Remote Resources

You can not install remote resources using the CICS Explorer.

Column Sorting

The column sorting function is not enabled in the CICS Explorer.

Secured Eclipse Update-Sites

The Eclipse software update function does not fully support Eclipse Update-Sites secured with HTTP Basic Authentication. If you are connecting to an Eclipse update site that prompts for a username and password, you should not select the option to save your password when prompted, because CICS Explorer does not provide a method for changing your password once set. If the password is not saved, then it must be entered each time the CICS Explorer connects to the update site. If a password is saved and subsequently needs changing, manual editing of configuration files would be required.

Problems on Ubuntu 9.10 and Fedora 12

A problem has been identified when running the CICS Explorer on the Linux platforms Ubuntu 9.10 and Fedora 12. These platforms are NOT supported by the IBM CICS Explorer, however there is a workaround that you can use if you want to use these unsupported platforms.

The problem relates to issues between the GTK and Mozilla releases and the SWT implementation in Eclipse 3.4.2 on which the CICS Explorer is currently based. The issue you might experience is that buttons in the CICS Explorer might not respond to mouse clicks, but will work from the keyboard.

The workaround is to launch the cicsexplorer executable from the shell script below:

#!/bin/bash
export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1
./cicsexplorer $*

As previously stated, the Linux platforms Ubuntu 9.10 and Fedora 12 are unsupported.

Change History

Below describes the changes made to the CICS Explorer since the beginning of the release.

1.0.0.4Fixed APAR(s): IZ66786
IZ66786Release of CICS Explorer v1.0.0.4
 More Information: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IZ66786
1.0.0.3Fixed APAR(s): IZ65446
IZ65446Deleting a CICS TS Queue in the CICS Explorer deletes all TS Queues
 More Information: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IZ65446
1.0.0.2Fixed APAR(s): IZ62254
IZ62254Release of CICS Explorer v1.0.0.2
 More Information: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IZ62254
1.0.0.1Fixed APAR(s): IZ62213
IZ62213Release of CICS Explorer v1.0.0.1
 More Information: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1IZ62213
1.0.0.0General Release

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Document Change History

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