RESTConnector is an enhancement to tableBASE that exposes data stored in tableBASE tables as RESTful APIs, making it consumable by modern applications such as mobile and cloud-based clients. It runs on IBM z/OS using a CICS Transaction Server and acts as a middleware component, translating incoming REST calls into native tableBASE API calls against local TSRs or VTS-TSRs. This means the API designer does not need to know how to make legacy tableBASE API calls.
It takes a no-code approach: the only change required on the back end is customizing your copybook layout to match the API’s request and response fields. The copybook is then uploaded to IBM z/OS Connect to generate a Service Archive File (.sar). No application code needs to be written or shipped to System Z to add or change an API. When fields are added or removed, only the copybook needs to be updated. z/OS Connect is recommended but isn’t strictly required. CICS’s native web service facility is an alternative way to expose the same data.
If you are an existing tableBASE customer and have your table loaded in a tableBASE TSR, RESTConnector can directly expose them as RESTful APIs without any need for code changes.
Because RESTConnector retrieves data from tableBASE’s in-memory dataspaces (TSRs), API responses avoid disk I/O, improving response time. Data from virtually any existing source — flatfiles, VSAM, or DB2 — can be loaded into tableBASE tables to make it API-ready.