tcACCESS
Using tcACCESS, the bidirectional exchange of information between an IBM Mainframe and MS-Windows, UNIX, LINUX, etc. is simpler, faster and can be implemented with little programming effort. It is not relevant whether the system integration should take place at the data-, application- or presentation level.
tcACCESS – MS-Windows applications and ODBC
tcACCESS ODBC-Server and –driver for MS-Windows
ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) is an industry standard protocol. System wide utilization of data will be greatly simplified with ODBC.
tcACCESS contains an ODBC Server component and an ODBC driver. They can be used to access Mainframe data sources (i.e. VSAM, DLI, IMS/DB, ADABAS, CA-Datacom etc.) using standard SQL with no programming effort. Access can be performed by any Client/Server- or Web- application and data can be retrieved or updated if the application requires this. As an alternative to SQL commands, access can also be performed using individual user logic. Using tcACCESS, the development of Client/Server- or Web-applications with direct access to mainframe data sources has been simplified, because no mainframe knowledge is required. Company specific security policies remain effective and they are even carried forward to the new platforms; tcACCESS uses the SAF interface and can be fully integrated into standard security packages like RACF, ACF/2 or TOP/SECRET.
ODBC-Support for Source Data-Type
One of the tcACCESS benefits is, that the source- and the target- data-type for a data transfer can be any data format that uses ODBC. An example would be to upload data from an MS-ACCESS database directly into a VSAM Cluster. Record- and field-selection for the transfer can be interactively defined.
ODBC-Support for Target Data-Type
Using an ODBC data source as the target file enables the user to directly download mainframe data sources into ODBC targets. The physical location of the target database is not relevant. A typical example would be to download the result of an SQL query that joins an IMS/DB database and a VSAM file, directly into an SQL Server table or an EXCEL spreadsheet. There is no need for intermediate steps or files. Particularly in the area of Data Warehousing or Data Mining, this functionality greatly enhances the capability to gather data and make it available for further processing: quickly and efficiently.
Most applications running under MS Windows support ODBC (i.e. MS Office, LOTUS, Seagate Info etc.). Accessing mainframe data sources from these applications is easy, straightforward and does not require any programming. tcACCESS provides the required ODBC Server or local ODBC driver to perform the direct access to mainframe data sources.
Features:
Direct access to mainframe data from ODBC-eligible applications Integration mainframe programs into MS-WINDOWS applications via ODBC ODBC-access through local ODBC-driver as well as ODBC-Server Bi-directional data-transfer between mainframe files and ODBC-sources with no intermediate steps or media Support of all common ODBC-standards Direct SQL access to mainframe data using the tcACCESS API for applications that do NOT support ODBC
tcACCESS – JAVA-applications
JDBC/J2EE component - Platform independent access to Mainframe data - SQL access via TCP/IP The tcACCESS JDBC/J2EE component provides a platform independent implementation for accessing mainframe data sources via TCP/IP. The JDBC/J2EE component can be used on any machine that hosts a “JAVA Virtual Machine” . JAVA-based applications can use the JDBC/J2EE component to execute SQL commands on the mainframe. Again, the SQL commands can be executed against relational and non-relational mainframe data sources. No additional third party JAVA packages (such as com.ms, swing etc.) are required.
JDBC standards of Version 2.0 or 3.0 are supported.
The tcACCESS Java-components can be used with an SSL-based secured connection.
Accessing the JDBC component from JAVA-applications enable these applications to directly access mainframe data sources using SQL. With the extensive SQL support of the tcACCESS mainframe component as well as the automatic analysis of mainframe data (data mapping), applications can be developed in a fraction of time.
Features: Direct SQL access to mainframe data from JAVA-applications Integration of mainframe programs into JAVA-applications with JDBC/J2EE Support of all common JDBC-standards Mainframe programs can initiate JAVA-processes on WINDOWS- or UNIX/LINUX-platforms
tcACCESS – UNIX/LINUX Applications
UNIX/LINUX component - Batch utilities - API access to mainframe data - UNIX ODBC driver The tcACCESS UNIX/LINUX component acts as an alternative to the tcACCESS JDBC/J2EE component and does not require the presence of a JAVA Virtual Machine. The tcACCESS component consists of Batch utilities to access mainframe data sources using SQL commands, and to Upload and Download data to and from the mainframe.
An API (Application Programming Interface) is also available for UNIX/LINUX Clients and Servers. This API contains functions needed for communicating with the mainframe, configuring tcACCESS, uploading and downloading mainframe resources, and utilizing the SQL interface. The API allows easy deployment of processes to automate data transmission between the UNIX/LINUX machine and the IBM Mainframe.
The tcACCESS UNIX/LINUX component also contains an ODBC driver. The driver can be used in conjunction with ODBC managers like iODBC and unixODBC to directly access mainframe data-sources and to exchange data between the mainframe and the UNIX/LINUX systems.
Users of ODBC-capable databases like ORACLE under UNIX can now easily exchange data with the mainframe without any programming effort.
Features: Direct SQL access to mainframe data from UNIX/LINUX applications using ODBC using an ODBC independent tcACCESS interface using a tcACCESS API Integration of mainframe programs into UNIX/LINUX- applications using ODBC using an ODBC independent tcACCESS interface using a tcACCESS API Bi-directional data-transfer between mainframe and UNIX/LINUX systems Mainframe applications can initiate processes on UNIX/LINUX systems