GCOS TCP/IP Enterprise Access (GTEA) is a library of routines that enables customers to write sockets applications that communicate directly with GCOS programs over standard TCP/IP network infrastructures. Using GTEA, customers will write applications that communicate with TP8, TSS or any other program that executes on GCOS, connecting to GCOS 8 via an FCP8 with the "Netshare" option (RFC1006) configured [GCOS 8 PID 8NX1.0N], or via a MainWay 2000 ONP. Three different APIs are defined: an implementation of X/Open's CPI-C API, and two simpler APIs specific to this implementation, one designed for Java, C, and C++, and the other for Visual Basic.

GTEA architecture

GTEA does not require configuration files. GTEA obtains the IP address of the target system using the standard sockets gethostbyname() interface. To use GTEA, it is only necessary to add the DSA node name for the FCP8 and Mainway to the site Domain Name Server, or to the client system HOSTS file.
GTEA communicates directly with TSS and TP8 applications using the DSA session protocol. There is no need to modify GCOS8 applications, or to write intermediate gateways to convert TCP/IP to DSA on the host. All conversions between TCP/IP and DSA are handled by the FCP8 and Mainway.

GTEA is available as a platform independent Java class, a Unix shared library, and as a Windows-32 DLL.

Examples of ubiquitous uses of GTEA

GTEA exposes an industry standard CPI-C API along with a more simple dsa_x API, and eliminates the need to learn sockets. Applications using GTEA can connect to any GCOS application, send and receive data, send an attention (break) and disconnect. The GTEA API provides functions to determine the maximum size of a message, and to determine whether the application has the "turn" to send a message to the host.
GTEA enables customers to write client applications using open TCP/IP standards, while at the same time, gaining the advantages of DSA protocol. Using GTEA, applications can determine whether the host has passed the "turn" without having to scan messages for application defined text markers. This eliminates the potential for application failures that occur when host applications are modified.
Using GTEA has the additional advantage that applications are free to send and receive 8-bit binary data. Because GTEA uses DSA protocol to determine record sizes, and manage the "turn", there is no reliance on message content.

Reverse GTEA

Reverse GTEA allows communication from GCOS 8 to Unix or Windows servers. Reverse GTEA allows GCOS 8 to initiate DSA sessions to systems running GTEA and a companion component called "DSAD"(DSA Daemon aka "GTEA DSA listener "). DSAD listens to RFC1006 port and accepts the incoming connection and starts a program associated via a configuration file with the incoming mailbox name.
Reverse GTEA is a prerequisite for " Reverse TP Connect " and FlowBus V3.0 products.

Reverse GTEA architecture