MTCS (Minimum Teleprocessing Communications System) was a
transaction processor that ran on
IBM mainframe
IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the large computer market. Current mainframe computers in IBM's line of business computers are developments of the basic design of th ...
systems under
OS/VS1
Operating System/Virtual Storage 1, or OS/VS1, is a discontinued IBM mainframe computer operating system designed to be run on IBM System/370 hardware. It was the successor to the OS/360 and successors#MFT, Multiprogramming with a Fixed number of ...
and
DOS/VS
Disk Operating System/360, also DOS/360, or simply DOS, is the discontinued first member of a sequence of operating systems for IBM System/360, System/370 and later mainframes. It was announced by IBM on the last day of 1964, and it was first d ...
.
MTCS was available from
IBM and designed for rapid, low to medium volume online processing. This process was entirely interactive (screen-oriented using
3270
The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971
and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ...
display terminals).
The 'official' version of MTCS was
single thread only and was a forerunner of
CICS
IBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a family of mixed-language application servers that provide online transaction management and connectivity for applications on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS and z/VSE.
CICS family products ...
before it was released.
An unofficial and multi-threaded version of MTCS was developed by
Littlewoods Pools,
UK at the same time as a multi-threaded "MTCS bridge" (
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement co ...
MTCS simulator) became available for running MTCS transactions directly under CICS. This version was also used by other customers including
Granada Productions
ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...
under a license agreement.
Transactions
An MTCS transaction is a set of operations which together perform a task. Usually, the majority of transactions are relatively simple tasks such as updating the balance of an account.
MTCS applications comprise transactions which were written in IBM
Basic Assembly Language and interfaced with
3270
The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971
and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ...
terminals.
Each MTCS program was initiated using a transaction identifier. MTCS screens were sent as native
3270
The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971
and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ...
datastreams to the terminal.
History
The first release of MTCS was made available prior to the first release of
CICS
IBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a family of mixed-language application servers that provide online transaction management and connectivity for applications on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS and z/VSE.
CICS family products ...
in the late 1960s.
A forerunner of MTCS was known as "
FASTER" and was a higher level
BTAM based product that controlled
IBM 2260
The text-only monochrome IBM 2260 cathode-ray tube (CRT) video display terminal (Display Station) plus keyboard was a 1964 predecessor to the more-powerful IBM 3270 terminal line which eventually was extended to support color text and graphics ...
display terminals
Further reading
According to IBM System/360 and System/370 Bibliography of September 1974 (GA22-6822-21, File No. S360/S370-00),
MTCS is described by the following manuals:
* GB21-0061, MINIMUM TELEPROCESSING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (DOS) - FDP AVAILABILITY NOTICE, PROG. NO. 5798-AAY
* SB21-0062, MINIMUM TELEPROCESSING COMMUNICATIONS, SYSTEM MANUAL PROGRAM NUMBER 5798-AAY
* LB21-0063, MINIMUM TELEPROCESSING COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM: FDP SYSTEMS GUIDE, PROG. NO. 5798-AAY. FEATURE NO. 8021
See also
*
IBM 3270
The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971
and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ...
*
CICS
IBM CICS (Customer Information Control System) is a family of mixed-language application servers that provide online transaction management and connectivity for applications on IBM mainframe systems under z/OS and z/VSE.
CICS family products ...
: a later teleprocessing monitor from
IBM
References
{{Reflist
MTCS
Transaction processing
IBM mainframe software