3 3270 Emulator Requirements for the terminfo Database

In order to use the screen interface of the character-based 3270 emulation program, Solaris terminals should have certain functions defined in the terminfo database. These functions fall into two categories:

Required

Terminals without these functions cannot be used with the 3270 emulation program. (They can, however, be used for other SNAP-IX functions such as the command-line administration program or application programs using the SNAP-IX APIs.)

Recommended

These functions make the screen interface easier to use, but in all cases the interface can be used without them.

The 3270 emulation program's default keyboard mapping (the mapping between keystrokes on the Solaris terminal and the 3270 keys they represent) assumes that the terminal's keyboard has all the keys included in both the Required and Recommended lists. However, you can always remap a 3270 key to a different keystroke if your terminal does not have the default key. Refer to the SNAP-IX 3270 User's Guide for more information.

Any additional keys on the terminal's keyboard should be included in the terminfo database if you want to use them in the 3270 emulation program to represent 3270 keys. For example, if you have the function keys F13-F24, you will probably want to map the 3270 keys PF13- PF24 to these keys.

In some cases you may need to alter the terminfo database to include the functions shown; for example, if the keyboard has the PageUp and PageDown keys but its terminfo entry does not include them.

To alter the terminfo database, use the tic and infocmp programs provided with your Solaris operating system. Refer to the Programmer's Reference for your operating system for more information about terminfo database, and the tic and infocmp programs.

The required and recommended functions are listed in the following sections, with the termcap names from terminfo entries that refer to them.