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This chapter introduces the features of the 3270 emulation program and 3179G emulation program provided by SNAP-IX TN3270.
The 3270 emulation program gives you access to most of the standard features of an IBM 3270 Information Display System (IDS) terminal, such as extended attribute byte (EAB) support for color and extended highlighting. Some of these features are available only if your Solaris computer and your terminal support them. For more information about required hardware and software, refer to the SNAP-IX TN3270 Administrator's Guide.
In addition, the 3270 emulation program provides file transfer, local copy, and keystroke record/replay capabilities and enables you to develop and run High-Level Language Application Programming Interface (HLLAPI) programs.
The 3179G emulation program gives you access to most of the standard features of an IBM 3179G graphics display terminal. It is based on the Motif 3270 emulation program and provides the same features as that program.
You can think of the 3179G display as consisting of two layers: an alphanumeric layer that contains text-based data, and a graphics layer that contains graphics data. The alphanumeric layer is similar to the 3270 display; you can use features such as HLLAPI and local copy printing with the data in this layer.
The SNAP-IX TN3270 product supports both the standard TN3270 features and the extended TN3270E features that are described in the Internet Request for Comments (RFCs) listed in Related Publications. TN3270E supports all the standard TN3270 features and the following additional features:
LU type 1 and LU type 3 printing
Access to specific display and printer LUs
Access to printer LUs associated with display LUs
Access to the SSCP-LU session
Support for the ATTN and SYSREQ keys
Negotiation of which enhancements to use on each connection.
The SNAP-IX TN3270 product does not support the features described in Internet RFC 1205: Telnet 5250.
The SNAP-IX TN3270 product can connect directly to either a host computer that supports TN3270 access over TCP/IP or to a communications product that provides the TN server function. The standard SNAP-IX product includes TN server, enabling TN3270 programs to access a host over the SNA communications links provided by SNAP-IX.
TN3270E features are supported only if both of the following conditions are true.
The SNAP-IX TN3270 configuration file specifies that TN3270E is supported for the host session you are using (see the SNAP-IX TN3270 Administrator's Guide for more information).
Both the host and any intermediate communications product also support TN3270E.
When a session starts, the TN3270 product and the host, or the intermediate communications product, negotiate which protocols to support. The Status field in the Control Display Sessions dialog box indicates which protocol is supported on the active session. For more information, see Controlling Display Sessions. If TN3270E protocols are not being used, you will not be able to use the following features of the product:
Printer sessions (including associated printer sessions for display sessions)
The 3270 keys ATTN and SYSREQ
Unless specifically noted, TN3270 is used in this book to mean both the standard TN3270 features and the extended TN3270E features.
The following functions included in Internet RFC 1647: TN3270 Enhancements are not supported:
The device type
The SNAP-IX TN3270 product responds to keep-alive messages, but it does not generate them. Keep-alive messages are generated to prevent a lost TCP connection from being left open indefinitely. However, if a TCP connection is lost, the SNAP-IX TN3270 product detects a failure when a user presses a key that should cause data to be sent to the host.
Depending on your configuration, you may have as many as ten concurrent 3270 sessions.
These sessions can consist of any combination of the following:
Different sessions can be connected to the same host or to different hosts. (For more information, refer to the SNAP-IX TN3270 Administrator's Guide.)
You can also use 3270 display sessions to access 3179G graphical display applications at the host by using the 3179G emulation program instead of the 3270 emulation program. For more information, see Starting the 3179G Emulation Program.
The 3270 emulation program supports the 3270 display models shown in 3270 Display Models.
You can display screen models other than Model 2 only if your Solaris computer and your terminal's screen hardware can support them. However, you can activate sessions that use any screen model and use HLLAPI application programs to access them, even if you cannot access these sessions directly. Refer to the SNAP-IX HLLAPI Programmer's Guide for more information.
The 3179G emulation program does not support these different screen models. The screen size for a 3179G application is always either 24 x 80 or 32 x 80 (determined by the host application).
The 3270 emulation program supports file transfer using the IBM host file transfer program IND$FILE, enabling you to transfer files between your local computer and MVS/TSO, VM/CMS, and CICS host systems. You can transfer multiple files, with multiple hosts, at the same time. Each file transfer uses a separate active 3270 display session.
You can perform the following file transfer operations:
Transfer both text and binary files, and sequential and partitioned data sets with fixed- or variable-length records. As a file is transferred, it can be translated from ASCII to EBCDIC or vice versa.
Choose to insert or strip away carriage-return and line-feed characters.
Send multiple Solaris files to a host.
Append a transferred file to an existing file on a host or on the Solaris computer.
Print the contents of any Solaris file on a host-connected printer by transferring the Solaris file to a host file or data set and then printing that file on the host printer.
Issue the file transfer commands by using the 3270 emulation program's menus and dialog boxes or transfer files from the Solaris command prompt. For step-by-step instructions, see Transferring Files.
You can use a command-line operation to run the character-based 3270 emulation program in the background. In this case, you cannot directly view the 3270 display or use the keyboard, but you can run HLLAPI applications or command-line file transfers that access 3270 display sessions. For more information about running the 3270 emulation program in the background, see Getting Started with 3270 Emulation.
The 3179G emulation program cannot be run in the background.
While using the 3270 emulation program, you can perform a temporary exit to one of the Solaris shells while leaving the 3270 emulation program running. Use the temporary exit, for example, to list the contents of a directory or to run a HLLAPI application or a command-line file transfer. For more information about the temporary exit feature, see Temporary Exit from 3270 Emulation.
The TEMPEXIT keystroke is not supported in the Motif 3270 emulation program. Instead, you move to a new terminal window using the mouse as usual.
While waiting for the host to respond during 3270 emulation, you can enter the keystrokes that will be required after the host has responded; these can be data characters, cursor control keys, or keys such as ENTER that send information to the host.
You can perform a local copy of your 3270 emulation display in the following ways:
Print a paper copy of your current 3270 emulation display on any printer shared by the Solaris server
Store a copy of the current display to a local file
The host application can also request a local copy print, which it sends to a printer or file in the same way.
Local copy printing from the 3179G emulation program includes only the data from the alphanumeric layer of the display; the graphics layer is not printed. Alternatively, you can use standard Motif utilities to capture the contents of the display window (including both the graphics and alphanumeric data). For more information, refer to your operating system's Motif documentation.
The keyboard remapping facility gives you flexibility in customizing your keyboard. You can view, swap, and disable key assignments. You can also change 3270 key assignments to a key or key combination (or more than one key or key combination) on your terminal. The following are examples of keyboard remapping:
You can map PA1 to any key on your terminal's keyboard, such as Ctrl +A.
If you use two different keyboards and one of the two does not have a complete set of function keys, you can map PF12 to both F12 and Esc Esc F2. You must have a separate style file for each keyboard, and you must start the emulation program with the style file appropriate for the keyboard you are using.
You can record up to 24 sequences of keystrokes that you need to use regularly during 3270 emulation (for example, the key sequence required to start up a host application, log on, and perform any standard initialization), and then replay these sequences later, instead of having to type all the keystrokes again. The keystroke sequences can include any of the following:
Data characters
Cursor control keys
Program function or program access keys
Keys, such as ENTER, that send information to the host
Pauses to enable you to type in variable data
For more information about keystroke recording and replay, see Getting Started with 3270 Emulation.
The 3270 emulation program provides the facility to communicate with hosts using international language variants of EBCDIC. This facility enables you to send and receive all the characters associated with a selected host language, including those specific to that language.
As an alternative to using the standard language translations provided by the 3270 emulation program, you can specify your own translation table to be used for character conversion. For more information about this option, see Getting Started with 3270 Emulation.
Whether your terminal displays international characters depends on the support for these characters provided by your Solaris computer and its terminals.
During a 3270 session, the bottom line of your screen contains a status line that shows messages. These messages give the same information as those on an IBM 3278 or 3279 display terminal; they provide real-time information about the characteristics and activities of the session.
The way in which this status line information is displayed on the screen depends on your terminal's hardware and software and on your 3270 customization. The status line information can be displayed in one of the following ways:
Written to the terminal's status line (if the terminal supports this)
Written to a spare line at the bottom of the screen (if the screen has more lines than your 3270 screen model requires)
Shared with the last line of the 3270 display (in which case you press a key to switch between the status line and the last display line)
For more information, see Status Line Information.
You can also press a key to display a screen of help information about the status line. This screen explains the value that appears in each field on the status line of the current session.
The 3270 emulation program lets your Solaris computer's printer emulate an IBM 3287 host printer. It provides the following print options:
LU type 1 printing using a printer session
LU type 3 printing using a printer session
User-initiated local copy (printing the current contents of the 3270 display at the request of the user)
Host-initiated local copy (printing the current contents of the 3270 display at the request of the host application)
Directing print output to a local Solaris file instead of to a printer
The 3270 emulation program provides pull-down menus to customize and control 3270 emulation. To assist you, the 3270 emulation program also provides detailed help screens, accessible by pressing F1 while in any menu or dialog box.
You can run the character-based 3270 emulation program without these menus to save Solaris memory. For more information, see Fast Path to 3270 Terminal Emulation.
You can use the File pull-down menu to do the following:
Open a style file, which contains the parameters (specified using the Customize menu) that control the appearance and behavior of your terminal in 3270 emulation
Create a new style file
Save changes to a style file
Move from the menu interface to 3270 display sessions
Exit the 3270 emulation program
For more information, see Customizing 3270 Emulation.
You can customize the following features by selecting options under the Customize menu:
Session characteristics
Output devices or files
Display colors
Host language (the language variant of EBCDIC used at the host)
Key definitions (the mapping between 3270 functions and keys on your terminal's keyboard)
Use the File menu to save customized parameters in a style file. You can set up more than one style file, each with its own set of definitions.
For more information, see Customizing 3270 Emulation.
You can control 3270 emulation by using the Control menu to do the following:
Control display and printer sessions
Transfer files between the Solaris computer and the host
View host response times
You can write application programs that use the HLLAPI programming interface to communicate with the host 3270 application. Application programs that use the functions provided by HLLAPI require an active 3270 emulation session.
For example, you can use HLLAPI programs to automate procedures for communicating with a host application, to provide a different user interface without modifying the host application, or to access host applications that require large screen models not supported by your terminal.
Refer to the SNAP-IX HLLAPI Programmer's Guide for more information.
You can access the alphanumeric layer of a 3179G display session using HLLAPI in the same way you access a standard 3270 display session. However, you cannot access the graphics layer using HLLAPI.
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