ChangeMan ZMF 5.3.x (available since 2003) was the first release delivered with a very rich set of functions that allows you to perform many (though not all) tasks in ChangeMan ZMF without using ChangeMan ZMF's ISPF client (to communicate with the ChangeMan ZMF server, aka the CMN started task). This set of functions is commonly referred to as "ChangeMan ZMF's XML services" (for short: the "XML services").

A few more details on these XML services:

• ChangeMan ZMF's XML services are to be considered as the "best that ever happened to ChangeMan ZMF".
• It is a very rich set of available functions (including admin functions).
• They are callable from batch jobs, Rexx, Cobol or ASM (still not from PL1 ...).
• There is quite some documentation available (but contains errors and is incomplete ...).
• SERENA's recommendation: protect the XML services from unauthorized use (why?).

A few statistics on these XML services:

• There are about 456 different XML services (compare to "functions") available.
• All together, there are around 1.100 input tags (compare to "request parameters for the functions").
• All together, there are around 1.100 output tags (compare to "parameters to return values by functions").
• These numbers vary a bit from one release of ChangeMan ZMF to another (typically they go up a bit with each new release).

Each XML service is assigned a color (green, yellow or red). Some details about each of those colors:

• About the green XML services (there are 169 of them in CMN 5.5.2):
  • Allowed for anybody
  • No password protection
• About the yellow XML services (there are 219 of them in CMN 5.5.2):
  • Allowed after certification (cfr. manuals)
  • Access via XMLSERV is protected (only) by a password
  • No protection if used outside XMLSERV (you name it, you got it ...)
• About the red XML services (there are 68 of them in CMN 5.5.2):
  • Only allowed by SERENA - developers and - consultants
  • Access via XMLSERV is protected (only) by a password
  • No protection if used outside XMLSERV (you name it, you got it ...)

Major challenge: “Where (and how) to get started with the XML services”? When we first started using these XML services (back in 2003 using ChangeMan ZMF 5.3.x when the XML services were still a bit buggy, incomplete and without a lot of documentation ...), we spend about 4 man-months to figure out how to get some basic (green) XML services to work (like checkout, checkin, build, freeze, promote and approve).

SERENA recommends you attend a 2 days training class about green and yellow XML services, after which you'll be officially certified by SERENA for using green and yellow XML services. We at Dr.Chgman.com have attended these classes, so yes we are certified by SERENA to use the XML services! And this already back in sept 2004 (when these training classes first became available). And yes it is a good starting point for getting up to speed in using XML services in ChangeMan ZMF, but ... there is so much more to know, explore and learn about ChangeMan ZMF's XML services (not to speak about various missing features in XML).

That's why we have come up with a set of additional training classes about using XML in ChangeMan ZMF. For more details on this, please checkout any of the topics below: