Test that the JSON request can be successfully performed

To test the JSON request, use the command-line tool cURL. It is an open source tool that can be downloaded from the following website:

http://curl.haxx.se/

To complete this scenario, you make three JSON requests to the GENAPP using cURL. Use the following steps to complete this procedure:

1. Send a request to create a customer record. The syntax for cURL to send a test JSON request is composed of the following options:

– The curl option, to run the cURL executable file

– The -v option, for verbose (useful for debugging purposes)

– The -H option, to specify the header (use "Content-Type: application/json") – The -d option, the JSON data to send

– The URI to send the data to

For the Create Customer request, send some JSON data to the create customer URI. The data to be sent can be gathered from the JSON schema produced by the assistant. You do not need to send all of the fields in the request, because CICS will populate the fields with blank data where values are not supplied. Then, it is up to the application to handle uninitialized values.

The GENAPP does this and initializes the numeric fields on input. Care must be taken, because failing to handle uninitialized values, and passing this data back, might cause a conversion error on the response. In this scenario, shorten the JSON to just send in the

Note: For more information about alternative tools to perform this check, see the following

website:

The data this scenario sent in JSON format is shown in Example 9-6. Example 9-6 JSON customer create data

{"LGACUS01Operation":{ "ca" : { "ca_request_id" : "02ACUS", "ca_first_name" :"anew", "ca_last_name": "customer", "ca_dob" :"1970-01-01", "ca_house_num" :"22", "ca_postcode" : "ZP1 1EX", "ca_email_address" : "[email protected]", } } }

This example will need flattening out on the command line, and the quotations escaped. The command line then looks as per Example 9-7. Change the URI to your CICS JSON customer create URI.

Example 9-7 cURL command line request for create customer request

curl -v -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d

{\"LGACUS01Operation\":{\"ca\":{\"ca_request_id\":\"02ACUS\",\"ca_first_name\": \"anew\",\"ca_last_name\":\"customer\",\"ca_dob\":\"1970-01-01\",\"ca_house_num \":\"22\",\"ca_postcode\":\"ZP11EX\",,\"ca_email_address\":\"example@example. com\",}}} http://your.cics.region:30661/GENAPP/LSJSCUSC

Running the cURL command sends the request, of your JSON request, to the PIPELINE resource. There the data will be transformed to the COBOL program. It processes and creates a new customer record in the DB2 database. Having completed the new customer record task, it will then send a response back to the cURL tool with the status of its request and a new customer number. In addition, it includes all of the other customer data described in the JSON responses schema that is produced by the assistant.

Assuming your request was successful, cURL should receive an HTTP 200 OK response, application headers, and data (as shown in Example 9-8).

Example 9-8 Example HTTP 200 OK Success Response with headers returned to cURL

* About to connect() to your.cics.region:3066 (#0) * Trying 256.256.256.256... connected

> POST /GENAPP/LSJSCUSC HTTP/1.1

> User-Agent: curl/7.23.1 (x86_64-pc-win32) libcurl/7.23.1 OpenSSL/0.9.8r zlib/1 .2.5 > Host: winmvs.host.ibm.com:30610 > Accept: */* > Content-Type: application/json > Content-Length: 253 >

* upload completely sent off: 253 out of 253 bytes < HTTP/1.1 200 OK

< content-type: application/json < Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:43:31 GMT

< Server: IBM_CICS_Transaction_Server/5.1.0(zOS) < Content-Length: 000000000000360

{"LGACUS01OperationResponse":{"ca":{"ca_request_id":"02ACUS","ca_return_code":0 , "ca_customer_num":1000106,"ca_first_name":"anew","ca_last_name":"customer","ca_ dob":"1970-01-01","ca_house_name":"","ca_house_num":22,"ca_postcode":"ZP11EX"," ca_num_policies":0,"ca_phone_mobile":"","ca_phone_home":"","ca_email_address":" [email protected]","ca_policy_data":""}}}

After the headers, the JSON data is returned. This should include a return code of 0, and the new customer number created by your request.

For the purposes of this scenario, the customer number returned was 1000106. You can then use the customer number in a follow-up request to perform an inquiry on this newly created customer.

2. Send a request to inquire on a customer record.

As before, you can shorten the JSON request, and in this case just supply the two integer fields in the request.

In a more readable format of the JSON, the request this scenario sent is as shown in Example 9-9. Note that the operation field (LGICUS01Operation) has changed to the operation field in the generated customer inquiry JSON schema generated by the assistant.

Example 9-9 JSON Customer Inquire data

{"LGICUS01Operation":{ "ca" : { "ca_customer_num" : "1000106", }

} }

The command line then looks as shown in Example 9-10. Again, change the URI to your CICS JSON customer inquiry URI.

Example 9-10 The cURL command-line request for inquire customer request.

curl -v -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d

{\"LGICUS01Operation\":{\"ca\":{\"ca_customer_num\":\"1000106\"}}} http://your.cics.region:30661/GENAPP/LSJSCUSI

On a successful request, the data to be returned will look as shown in Example 9-11. Again, the request returns all of the required fields in the JSON response schema. Example 9-11 The JSON data returned by the Inquire Request

{"LGICUS01OperationResponse":{"ca":{"ca_request_id":"","ca_return_code":0,"ca_ customer_num":1000106,"ca_first_name":"anew","ca_last_name":"customer","ca_dob" :"1970-01-01","ca_house_name":"","ca_house_num":22,"ca_postcode":"ZP1 1EX","ca_num_ policies":0,"ca_phone_mobile":"","ca_phone_home":"","ca_email_address":"example @example.com","ca_policy_data":""}}}

3. Send a request to update a customer record.

Finally, you send a request to update the customer record. In this example, the customer’s house number will be changed from 22 to 42.

You need to send all of the fields back that are populated in the database, because sending blank strings will put a blank string into the customer record on the host database. So the JSON request looks as shown in Example 9-12.

Example 9-12 Customer Update JSON data

{"LGUCUS01Operation":{ "ca" : { "ca_request_id" : "01UCUS", "ca_customer_num" : "1000106", "ca_first_name" :"anew", "ca_last_name": "customer", "ca_dob" :"01-01-1970", "ca_house_name": "", "ca_house_num" :"42", "ca_postcode" : "ZP11EX", "ca_phone_mobile" : "", "ca_phone_home" : "", "ca_email_address" : "[email protected]", "ca_policy_data" : "" } } }

Change the URI to match your configuration, using cURL command-line format, as shown in Example 9-13.

Example 9-13 The cURL command-line request for update customer request

curl -v -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d

{\"LGUCUS01Operation\":{\"ca\":{\"ca_request_id\":\"01UCUS\",\"ca_customer_num\ ":\"0001000106\",\"ca_first_name\":\"anew\",\"ca_last_name\":\"customer\",\"ca_ dob\":\"1970-01-01\",\"ca_house_name\":\"\",\"ca_house_num\":\"42\",\"ca_ postcode\":\"ZP11EX\",\"ca_phone_mobile\":\"\",\"ca_phone_home\":\"\",\"ca_ email_address\":\"[email protected]\",\"ca_policy_data\":\"\"}}} http://your.cics.region:30661/GENAPP/LSJSCUSU

A successful request results in the customer’s house number being updated to 42, and the updated record being returned to you.

As can be seen from the JSON that is used in the examples in this chapter, the input structure contains some output-only fields. The reverse might also be true, in that some output data contains input-only data. In addition, the data names are based on the language structure’s original names. These names might not be meaningful to the JSON developer.

To make the JSON schema more meaningful to a JSON application developer, it could be modified to suit the service for which it is being used. If the JSON schema is modified, the WSBIND file and the COBOL structures would need regenerating using DFHJS2LS. This would necessitate the creation of a wrapper application to use this new COBOL interface with the existing COBOL applications. This is described in detail in the scenario in Chapter 10, “JSON schema to language structure scenarios” on page 105.