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Working with Z Data Tools
Z Data Tools Service Provider for z/OS® Connect Enterprise Edition
Z Data Tools Service Provider for IBM® z/OS® Connect Enterprise Edition enables client applications to access IBM Z data sources using z/OS Connect.
Using the Build Toolkit plug-in
z/OS® Connect provides a Build Toolkit (zconbt) for creating service archive (SAR) files. SAR files are used during z/OS Connect API creation to associate APIs with service providers such as Z Data Tools Service Provider.

Working with Z Data Tools
- Z Data Tools overview
- Getting started with Z Data Tools
- Viewing and changing data sets
  To view data stored in a supported data set, use the View Utility or the Edit Utility.
- Creating and editing templates
  For many tasks performed with Z Data Tools, you can manipulate your view of a data set by applying a template.
- Working with the Template List
  Display a list of templates and perform actions on them.
- Filtering records with templates
- Managing data sets
- Using Z Data Tools utilities
- Tape Specific Functions
- Disk/VSAM Data Functions
- OAM Functions
- Using UNIX™ System Services and the Hierarchical File System
- Introduction to programming with Z Data Tools functions
- Enhancing Z Data Tools processing
  You can enhance normal processing of a number of Z Data Tools tasks by supplying a procedure that runs in conjunction with the Z Data Tools process.
- Redefines criteria
  Redefines criteria can be specified for a field with a REDEFINES clause, or a field that is the target of a REDEFINES clause.
- Enhanced ISPF: Reference List, Search, Change, and PDSE Workbench
  Z Data Tools provides several enhancements to the basic facilities that are available in an ISPF session: Enhanced Reference List, Enhanced Search, Enhanced Change, and PDSE Workbench.
- Z Data Tools Service Provider for z/OS® Connect Enterprise Edition
  Z Data Tools Service Provider for IBM® z/OS® Connect Enterprise Edition enables client applications to access IBM Z data sources using z/OS Connect.
  - Methods for accessing IBM Z data sources
    Z Data Tools Service Provider supports two methods for accessing data: generic and specific.
  - Single reads versus multiple reads
    Regardless of which method for accessing data is used (generic or specific), the Z Data Tools Service Provider starts a Z Data Tools “view” session to read records from a given data resource.
  - Requests and responses
    The Z Data Tools Service Provider expects JSON payloads from z/OS® Connect-defined APIs representing requests, and passes back JSON payloads as responses to these requests.
  - Creating z/OS® Connect APIs
    Installing the z/OS® Connect EE API Editor into your Eclipse environment adds a perspective that allows you to create a z/OS Connect EE API Project.
  - Using the Build Toolkit plug-in
    z/OS® Connect provides a Build Toolkit (zconbt) for creating service archive (SAR) files. SAR files are used during z/OS Connect API creation to associate APIs with service providers such as Z Data Tools Service Provider.
    - zconbt command line utility
      The zconbt utility expects as input a properties file and generates as output a SAR file.
    - Build Toolkit plug-in properties
      This topic describes the properties expected by the Z Data Tools Build Toolkit plug-in.
    - Deploying SAR files
      Service archives (SAR files) created using the zconbt command-line utility must be deployed to your z/OS® Connect WLP environment.
    - Configuring Z Data Tools SAR files
      Each SAR file that was built using the zconbt command and the Z Data Tools Build Toolkit plug-in identifies a connection ID (connid).
    - Modifying templates
      If you create a SAR file based on a template and later change the template, the response schema of your SAR file might be out of sync with the data returned by Z Data Tools Service Provider.
  - Swagger documentation
    The z/OS® Connect API Editor automatically generates Swagger documentation during API creation. A swagger.json file is created within the API project.
  - Security
    The Z Data Tools Service Provider for z/OS® Connect EE requires an API caller to pass an HTTP Basic Authorization header that identifies the user ID and password of the caller.
  - Troubleshooting
    Use this information to troubleshoot Z Data Tools API request failures.
  - Example scenarios
    The following examples illustrate the sequence of Z Data Tools Service Provider REST API calls used to process some common file types under different scenarios.
- Function and panel reference lists

Using the Build Toolkit plug-in

z/OS® Connect provides a Build Toolkit (zconbt) for creating service archive (SAR) files. SAR files are used during z/OS® Connect API creation to associate APIs with service providers such as Z Data Tools Service Provider.

The z/OS® Connect EE Build Toolkit is bundled with the z/OS® Connect host product. It provides a command line tool, zconbt, that runs in Windows, Linux, and z/OS® environments.

Documentation for the toolkit is provided in IBM® Knowledge Center. Installation of the Z Data Tools Build Toolkit plug-in for use with zconbt is described in the Z Data Tools Customization Guide.

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