BMS map, no BMS map, or both
BMS maps enable the use of map-screen names and field names. Use of host information is as easy as calling the symbolic names of screens and fields. Interaction with the CICS application is based on the use of name/value pairs in the maps instead of row/column positions on the rendered terminal screens. Therefore, movements of fields on host screens do not force changes downstream, and client applications developed against the BMS maps are unaffected.
Access to unmapped host fields
Client applications can interact with every field on a screen, not just the mapped fields. Verastream allows a client application to access the underlying terminal controls available through the Bridge Exit. This is done natively through the Bridge in CICS, not by invoking an external session as other solutions do.
Name/value pairing
Importation of BMS maps is done dynamically and generation of name/value pairs is based on the underlying terminal controls for all unmapped fields on the screen. You can use these unmapped fields by calling the generated name. This not only enables client applications to use name/value pairing, but also allows client applications to work against any screen and field, whether a full map has been generated or not.
Interaction with screens that never had a map
Even if a CICS application does not use BMS maps, a client application can still take advantage of the performance of the CICS Bridge and use CICS without invoking a middle tier-based screen-scraping infrastructure. When Verastream Bridge Integrator encounters unmapped screens and fields, it dynamically creates a map with generated names for all fields. (Verastream Bridge Integrator can also suppress the use of non-mapped information.) Every field is included in this map and you can then either request data from or post data to specific fields.
Support for interactions using row/column/length commands
Verastream Bridge Integrator is not limited to BMS-only interactions. Instead, it allows CICS interaction through the Verastream Bridge Exit in any way (e.g., row/column/length commands) required by the corresponding CICS application.
Bridge vectors
The application developer does not have to understand and manage bridge vectors. Verastream allows the calling application to request just the information it wants via a simple library verb available using a Java class, COM, or .NET object, or as a web service. If only one field is required, the calling application can request one field, either by mapped name, generated name, or row/column/length. When the client application wants all the fields on the screen, Verastream supplies a verb to return them. If extended field information (such as attributes) is required, this can also be returned with the data.
CESN Logon and CESF Logoff procedures
Verastream patent-pending technology allows the use of CESN Logon and CESF Logoff procedures. This is important for many security-enabled CICS applications.