Calling web services from Mainframe batch programs

Question

We are currently looking at doing a partial migration away from a Main Frame.

Some of the functionality written in Mainframe Cobol is called from Mainframe Batch programs.

We would like to move these cobol programs off the mainframe.

If for example we moved the functionality in the cobol programme to a Java or .Net web service. Is the a way to call this web service from a Mainframe batch programme?

Answer 1

First off, I am not sure if there is a way to call web services directly from Cobol, but we had a similar problem trying to call web services from the iSeries(AS400) using RPG and CL.

In the end, we wrote a simple Socket program in java, running on a server, which we called an WebServiceBridge, and the bridge program simply took the data from the socket program and constructed a webservice call in Java. The results of which we simply piped back through the socket.

If Cobol struggles with web services, then this may be a simple solution. Be aware however that your bridge will need to be monitored, resilient and always available in the same way as you would design your web services.