Service Execution Process (SEP)

An Enterprise Server instance can run a number of SEPs, depending on the functionality it provides. When a SEP has finished processing a request, it becomes available to process other requests as they are generated. A SEP contains the following components:

• Application container

  The COBOL run-time system adapted to operate in the Enterprise Server environment. Within a SEP, application runs inside an application container.

• Transaction management component

  Manages transactions for container-managed services, that is, it coordinates COMMITs and ROLLBACKs.

• Request handler

  Decodes requests that are received. There is a Micro Focus request handler for each type of client request that Enterprise Server can handle. The request handler maps the output parameters into a form the client will understand.

  There are request handlers for the SOAP protocol and for the Micro Focus binary protocol. You can configure user exits to customize the request provided for the SOAP protocol.

• Resource manager interface

  Handles requests for resources such as database and file access.

The processing of a request proceeds as follows:

1. An Enterprise Server instance's communications manager receives a client request. The request is queued within the shared memory area and is scheduled for execution.
2. When a SEP becomes available, it starts processing the request: it calls the application container.
3. The application container then calls a request handler to decode the received request.

   The request handler uses the mapping information created by the Interface Mapping Toolkit to map the request parameters into the call interface of the COBOL application.

4. Once the transaction or application has finished processing the request, the application container calls the request handler to map the output parameters into a form the client will understand.
5. The application container then passes the response to the communications manager, which sends it back to the client.