Computer Associates International, Inc. is pleased to announce

Advantage CA-Datacom Database Server Option Version 5.0 for z/OS and OS/390

Relational Database Management Solution

Advantage CA-Datacom Database Server Option (Advantage CA-Datacom Server) provides access to Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Database (Advantage CA-Datacom/DB) mainframe databases from "client" applications executing under Microsoft Windows and IBM's z/OS UNIX System Services (USS). These "clients" can access Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Database mainframe databases through:

• Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard
• Sun Microsystems' Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) standard
• A Structured Query Language (SQL) preprocessor for Advantage CA-Realia II Workbench
• A Structured Query Language (SQL) preprocessor for C language compilers
• Advantage CA-Datacom/DB navigational commands

With Version 5.0, open architecture to Advantage CA-Datacom/DB is extended to include JDBC access from the IBM USS platform running under z/OS and SQL preprocessor for C language compilers. Miscellaneous performance improvements (such as reducing the number of client-to-server network "round trips" to implement various ODBC statements) have been incorporated.

Operating Environment
Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option supports mainframe environments running z/OS and OS/390 client applications running on supported releases of Microsoft Windows and IBM z/OS USS.

Minimum Requirements:

• Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Release 9.0 or above
• Advantage CA-Datacom SQL Option Release 9.0 or above
• Microsoft Windows 98 or above, or supported releases of IBM's USS

Highlights:

• Open Database Client/Server Access With ODBC
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option provides database interface "drivers" that meet industry standards for database access and a mainframe server component that interfaces with the Advantage CA-Datacom/DB engine. The driver delivered with Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option supports Microsoft's ODBC application programming interface (API), which allows applications to access data in database management systems using SQL. ODBC is based on the Call Level Interface specification of the SQL Access Group and is a subset of Microsoft's Windows Open Services Architecture. ODBC is vendor neutral, meaning that any vendor can utilize this API to develop client applications or enable existing applications to access their databases. Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option adheres to the ODBC 3.5 Conformance Levels in all core API functions, all level 1 API functions and core SQL grammar.



• Java Language Support via JDBC
  JDBC is an object-oriented, call-level interface from Java that is specified by Sun Microsystems. Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Version 5.0 implements the JDBC 1.2 protocol. Both Type 2 and Type 3 JDBC drivers are implemented. The Type 2 driver supports Java application and Java servlet access from Windows NT/98/2000/XP platforms. The Type 3 driver supports Java applet access from within a web browser and communicates with the Java server component of Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option running on a Windows platform.



• SQL-Based Server Connectivity to Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Mainframe
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option permits access to Advantage CA-Datacom/DB on the mainframe through SQL requests generated by Windows or USS clients. There are many ODBC-enabled products available that use a point-and-click graphical user interface (GUI) to produce dynamic SQL statements that drive database access. While educating the user on SQL, these products do not require that users become SQL experts in order to utilize the power of the GUI application with the information in their server databases.



• Enables GUI Access to Existing Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Data
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option allows GUI client/server query and reporting tools, development tools and user-written applications to access existing Advantage CA-Datacom/DB mainframe data. Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option and SQL make this legacy data access possible without the need to copy the data to a solely relational database management system, and without having to redefine the existing data structures or rewrite existing applications.



• Enables Web Access to Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Data
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option may be used with ODBC and JDBC applications to support web access to existing Advantage CA-Datacom/DB databases. There is no need to move the Advantage CA-Datacom/DB data or redefine the data in order to open it up for use with web applications.



• SQL Preprocessor for Advantage CA-Realia II Workbench
  The Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option supports embedding Advantage CA Datacom SQL Option statements in Advantage CA Realia II Workbench COBOL programs, which are passed through the Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor. The Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor is completely compatible with the mainframe Advantage CA Datacom/DB Version 10.0 COBOL SQL Preprocessor. When you preprocess a COBOL program with the Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor, Advantage CA Datacom/DB creates the plan, which contains the executable form of the SQL statements on the mainframe just as it would if you were preprocessing the program on the mainframe. When the program is executed, the mainframe plan is executed.



• SQL Preprocessor for C Compilers
  The Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option supports embedding Advantage CA Datacom SQL Option statements in C programs, which are passed through the Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor. The Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor is completely compatible with the mainframe Advantage CA Datacom/DB Release 10.0 C SQL Preprocessor. When you preprocess a C program with the Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option Preprocessor, Advantage CA Datacom/DB creates the plan, which contains the executable form of the SQL statements on the mainframe just as it would if you were preprocessing the program on the mainframe. When the program is executed, the mainframe plan is executed.



• Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Navigational Access
  Support is also provided in the Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option for the execution of Advantage CA Datacom/DB navigational commands from programming languages such as Microsoft C/C++. The DBNTRY entry point is supported. The DBNTRY API includes a rich set of navigational commands, including index-only retrieval; indexed row retrieval; update, insert and delete commands; and the Compound Boolean Selection set-at-a-time commands (SELFR, SELNR, SELPR).



• Double-Byte Character (DBCS) Set Support
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option translates character data transferred between the client and the host system. DBCS processing may be enabled. Korean IBM to Shifted JIS and Japanese IBM to Shifted JIS are currently supported.



• Customized Data Translation Options
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option translates character data transferred between the client and the host system. EBCDIC character data on the host is translated to ASCII on the PC using U.S. English code pages. This default language can be overridden by creating a customized translation table that uses the Country Extended Code Pages (CECP) for other languages.



• Multiple Communication Protocols Supported
  Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option uses the services of the CA Common Services component, Computer Associates' Common Communications Interface to support TCP/IP and LU2 communications.



• Multi-Threaded Database Access
  Available Windows and z/OS USS clients support multi-threaded applications. Advantage CA-Datacom Server Option delivers multiple thread support in the ODBC and JDBC drivers as well as the CA Common Communications Interface components of the product. This provides improved performance for client/server and web-enabled applications that utilize multiple threads for database access by supporting concurrent access to Advantage CA Datacom/DB mainframe data for each thread.

Advantage CA-Datacom Database Server Option Version 5.0 for z/OS and OS/390

Currently Available - Generally Available

Major Enhancements:

• Upgrading of ODBC compliance level from ODBC 2.5 to ODBC 3.5 for all core API functions, all level 1 API functions and core SQL grammar.



• Addition of a property page in the ODBC Datasource Configuration panels. The Statements page was added to control statement processing. Performance enhancements to the SQL Select and "update" statements are controlled with these options. These options control the extent to which the statement execution is optimized. These optimizations should be tested with each application for specific application functionality. These enhancements were driven by the increased performance need of web-enabled applications.



• Performance enhancements to streamline statement execution. The number of database requests to satisfy the select statement execution was reduced to improve performance. The "update" statement execution was also improved by a reduction in database requests. The auto commit processing option no longer requires any network traffic to process and is combined with the statement execution. Network traffic is reduced overall.



• Addition of the Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Version 10.0 C Preprocessor. This preprocessor supports the C language. This preprocessor will allow for the creation of plans, compilation and linkage of C source code, and program execution.



• Support for the Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Version 10.0 COBOL preprocessor.



• Support for Advantage CA-Datacom/DB Database Version 10.0 syntax enhancements and functionality, including SQL procedures. SQL procedures, when compiled/built on the mainframe, can be created, maintained and executed utilizing both the ODBC and JDBC drivers.



• Security enhancements added with the encryption of user and password in packets transmitted across the network, and the elimination of security checks for internal databases.



• Addition of a timer Task Control Block to wake up and check for stranded or orphaned tasks in Advantage CA- Datacom Server. This enhancement adds to the task timeout process a timer for checking connections that have exceeded timeout values. Basic shutdown statistics are provided in Advantage CA-Datacom Server output when the job ends. These statistics include request, network, connection and timeout counts.



• Ability to limit the SQL resources used by Advantage CA-Datacom Server. The addition of the SQLMEM=KEEP|FREE Server Startup parameter. This parameter controls the release of SQL resources used by Advantage CA-Datacom Server. The SQLMEM=FREE will free the SQL resources as soon as possible after the statement execution is closed.



• Addition of two ODBC traces. The Network Timing Trace and the Network Statistics Trace aid the tuning and problem solving of Advantage CA-Datacom Server. The Network Timing Trace provides timings and sizes of load packets sent and received by the driver. This trace incurs less overhead and concentrates on the load packet timings. The Network Statistics Trace provides internal information on the protocol execution of Advantage CA-Datacom Server and aids support in diagnosing performance bottlenecks.



• Enhanced Advantage CA-Datacom Server-side tracing allows mainframe tracing of up to five particular users. The utilization of these parameters reduces the tracing scope and resources consumed by tracing.

For more information, please contact your local CA Customer Relationship Manager or visit us at ca.com.