Aion BRE Adds Support for XPLINK

Products

• Aion Business Rules Expert

Issue/Introduction

Aion BRE Adds Support for XPLINK

 

 

Environment

Release: AIOCBV05900-10-Aion-Business Rules-Advanced Builder Option
Component:

Resolution

Aion BRE r10 for Mainframe supports XPLINK for Aion components running in both the batch and online environments. XPLINK (eXtra Performance LINKage) is an alternative module linkage convention that results in smaller, faster DLLs. To enhance the performance of XPLINK-enabled Aion user applications, Aion provides an XPLINK version of many of its system DLLs. These DLLs are automatically utilized by user applications built with the XPLINK option. Application DLLs built without the XPLINK option continue to use the traditional z/OS linkage.

There are a number of performance-related advantages to building Aion applications with the XPLINK option. XPLINK-enabled applications support higher transaction volumes, provide improved response times and reduce CPU utilization.

XPLINK-enabling an Aion application is a simple process. Batch Aion applications invoked via the generated driver program can be XPLINK-enabled by simply rebuilding the application with the XPLINK option. Since the generated driver program is also XPLINK-enabled, the Language Environment (LE) runtimes will automatically provide the required XPLINK support. For additional information on building XPLINK applications, see the section titled Build an XPLINK Application in Chapter 3 of the CleverPath Aion BRE r10 Mainframe User Guide.

Component DLLs directly invoked by batch COBOL, PL/1 or C programs can be XPLINK-enabled by rebuilding the application with the XPLINK option and invoking the calling program with the LE runtime parameter XPLINK(ON) (For information on specifying XPLINK(ON) and other LE runtime parameters when invoking the calling program, see the z/OS Language Environment Programming Reference available at www.ibm.com). There are no coding changes required to the calling program to access an XPLINK-enabled component DLL. For additional information on executing Aion components from batch COBOL programs, see the section titled Run Aion Components from Batch COBOL Programs in Chapter 3 of the CleverPath Aion BRE r10 Mainframe User Guide.

Component DLLs invoked by online COBOL, PL/1 or C programs can be XPLINK-enabled by rebuilding the application with the XPLINK option and adding an entry to the MAESAPRM file specifying the LE runtime parameter XPLINK(ON). For information on specifying XPLINK(ON) and other LE runtime parameters in the MAESAPRM file, see the section titled Specify MAES DD Statements in Chapter 5 of the CleverPath Aion BRE r10 Mainframe User Guide. For additional information on using XPLINK components in MAES, see the section titled XPLINK MAES Components in Chapter 5 of the CleverPath Aion BRE r10 Mainframe User Guide.

Several new XPLINK JCL procedures are provided to help users build XPLINK applications. The XPLINK procedures can be used in JCL constructed and submitted manually on the mainframe or automatically by the Remote Build option of the Windows development environment. These procedures and their purposes are described in the Batch Build Procedures section in Chapter 3 of the CleverPath Aion BRE r10 Mainframe User Guide. Information on the Remote Build options is available in the built-in help facility of the Windows development environment. Numerous examples demonstrating use of the XPLINK procedures are distributed with the mainframe product in file AIONHLQ.SAMPLES.JCL.BATCHBLD and explained in AIONHLQ.SAMPLES.README(BATCHBLD).