10
IBM 3270 Emulation

This chapter describes features of the IBM 3270 terminal emulation.

Introduction

The IBM 3270 emulator provides emulation of all four models of the IBM 3278 alphanumeric terminal and also supports the IBM 3287-1 printer. The terminal emulation supports Extended Attribute mode which allows different representation of highlighted fields and permits host definition of text colours. (Note that you can modify colours using the Attribute Settings dialog box but they cannot be saved as colours are mapped differently in this mode.) The emulation also includes typeahead capability so that you can continue to enter data without waiting for a prompt from the host.

Session Configuration

WBT Mode

This section describes the basic procedure for creating a session configuration when the terminal is in WBT mode. The options available are described in detail in chapter 2.

1. Click the Configure tab in the Terminal Connection Manager then click the Add button to display the New Connection dialog box.

2. Select Terminal Emulation Client and click OK. The Terminal Emulation Client Connection Wizard - Connection Information dialog box will be displayed.

3. Enter a name which will identify this session configuration for future selection in the Connection Name box.

4. Select the IBM 3270 terminal emulation in the Emulation list box.

5. Select the IBM 3270 Model which determines the size of the display and whether or not extended attributes are supported. One of four display sizes can be selected:

3278/9-2 24 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-3 32 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-4 43 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-5 27 rows by 132 columns

Settings with the E extension provide support for the following extended attributes: 3270 field attributes, extended highlighting (blink, flash and underscore, but not in combination), foreground colour, and query reply inbound structured fields. These attributes are also supported by the 3279.

6. Specify if you want the right or left Control keys to perform the same function as the keypad Enter or Reset keys, respectively.

7. Click Next to display the Host Information dialog box.

You can specify up to four hosts and you can use keyboard commands to switch between the sessions as described later in this chapter. Enter the name or internet address of the host computer(s) in the Host box(es), then click Advanced for Telnet options. Refer to the TCP/IP Connection Settings section in chapter 2 for details.

Make the relevant selections then click OK to return to the Host Information dialog box, then click Next .

8. The following four dialog boxes provide further configuration options which are described in chapter 2. Click Next to advance through the dialog boxes.

Automate Login Process
Printer Port Settings
GUI Overrides
Aux Port Settings

9. When you have made your selections, click Finish to return to the Terminal Connection Manager.

10. In the Terminal Connection Manager, display the Connections list, select the session name you specified earlier in step 3, then click the Connect button.

Non-WBT Mode

This section describes the basic procedure for creating a session configuration when the terminal is not in WBT mode. The options available are described in detail in the Setup Menus chapter.

1. Display the Settings menu from the command bar and select Emulation... to display the Emulation Settings dialog box.

2. Set the Alpha Emulation option to IBM3270, then click OK. The terminal will now be in Network Virtual Terminal mode.

3. Display the IBM 3270 Settings dialog box if you wish to change the setting of the IBM 3270 Model option which determines the size of the display and whether or not extended attributes are supported. One of four display sizes can be selected:

3278/9-2 24 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-3 32 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-4 43 rows by 80 columns
3278/9-5 27 rows by 132 columns

Settings with the E extension provide support for the following extended attributes: 3270 field attributes, extended highlighting (blink, flash and underscore, but not in combination), foreground colour, and query reply inbound structured fields. These attributes are also supported by the 3279. Click OK to close the dialog box.

4. Select Save Session in the File menu.

5. Select New Connection in the File menu to display the New Connection dialog box.

6. Select the type of host connection required in the Type list box.

For a TCP/IP connection, select TCP/IP, enter the name or internet address of the host computer in the Connect To box, then click Configure for additional Telnet options. Refer to the TCP/IP Connection Settings section in chapter 2 for details.

For a serial connection, select Serial, specify the communications port in the Connect To box, then click Configure for additional serial options. Refer to the Serial Connection Settings section in chapter 2 for details.

7. When you have specified the required settings in the New Connection dialog box, click the Connect button to make the connection.

8. If necessary, enter the appropriate information to establish an IBM host session in the Network Virtual Terminal mode screen.

9. When an IBM host session has been established, the screen will switch out of Network Virtual Terminal mode and display the IBM 3270 emulation screen.

Note: You will be returned to the Network Virtual Terminal screen when the connection to the IBM host has been closed.

Network Virtual Terminal Mode

Network Virtual Terminal (NVT) mode allows the operator to communicate with a network gateway (in ASCII) for routing, logon etc, before the full IBM terminal emulation protocol is established. NVT mode is indicated byby the symbol in the status line along the bottom of the window.

NVT mode displays an unformatted screen for data entry, allowing most of the keyboard functionality for local editing. However, when the Enter key is pressed, the line that the cursor is positioned on will be sent over Telnet as an ASCII string with CR/LF terminators. The cursor will then be positioned at the start of the next line. ASCII data received over Telnet will also be displayed at the current cursor position. A CR character will be actioned as a 'new line' character, causing the cursor to move to the start of the next line, scrolling the display if necessary. Once the appropriate details have been entered to establish an IBM host session (which may be automatic), the screen is cleared and switched into full IBM 3270 terminal emulation mode, as indicated by the symbol in the status line.

Host Selection

Up to four host connections can be specified using the Connection Wizard. When two or more hosts have been configured you can use the following keyboard commands to launch or switch between each session:

Alt + S Switch to or launch the next session if not already launched. Note that this will cycle through hosts 1 to 4 (if configured) in order.

Ctrl + S Switch to previous session. Note that the session must already be launched as this will not launch a session.

Ctrl + X Exits all sessions. A warning message box will ask if you really want to exit. Click Yes to exit all.

IBM 3287-1 Printer Support

TN3287 printing is supported by setting the IBM 3270 Model option in the IBM 3270 Settings dialog box to 3287-1. When a new Telnet connection is made, the display will show a message box which will indicate the current printer status.

When printing commences a Print Abort box will be displayed enabling you to cancel the print job. Note that this will stop print data being sent but will not disconnect you from the host.

The Status Line

The last line in the window is used to display status information in the form of symbols and alphanumeric characters. A coloured line separates status information from the rest of the display. Information is displayed in any of six regions within the status line as listed below.

1: Readiness & System Connection

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

T Blue 1 Telnet session running
A Blue 2 Online (non-SNA)
Blue 3 Network Virtual Terminal mode
Blue 3 My job (IBM emulation screen)
Blue 3 Host operating system mode

2: Do Not Enter

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

PROGnnn Yellow 10-18 Program check (nnn = error code)
White 10-13 Terminal wait
NUM Red 10-15 Numeric data only
Red 10-14 Go elsewhere
SYSTEM White 10-17 System lock
> Red 10-13 Too much

3: TN3270E Device Name

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

dddddddd White 22-29 TN3270E actual device
name connected as

4: Shift

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

NUM Blue 43-45 Numeric lock on

5: Mode Symbol

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

^ Blue 53 Insert mode on

6: Cursor Position

Symbol Colour Column Meaning

rr/cc or rr/ccc White 75-80 Row/column cursor position

Readiness & System Connection

T This indicates that a Telnet session is running.

A This indicates that the protocol for communication between an application program and the IBM 3270 emulation is not system network architecture (SNA).

This indicates that the current screen is a Network Virtual Terminal screen. This screen is displayed when IBM 3270 mode is entered before a telnet session has been initiated with the remote host. This enables you to enter login text. Note that you will be returned to this screen when you log off.

This indicates that the current screen is an IBM 3270 screen. This screen will be displayed when you have initiated a Telnet session with the host.

This indicates that you are currently communicating with the host operating system, not the application.

Do Not Enter

The Do Not Enter () symbol will appear when input from the keyboard or mouse will not be accepted by the host (except Reset and SysReq). Symbols to the right of this will indicate the reason. Pressing the Reset key will remove some of these symbols from the status line. Note that the emulation includes typeahead capability so that in most cases you can continue to enter data without waiting for the Do Not Enter message to clear as the data will be stored until the host is ready.

PROGnnn Indicates that a programming error in the data from the host has been detected, possibly due to incompatible application software. Press the Reset or SysReq key to remove this indicator and unlock the keyboard.

Indicates that you must wait while the requested function is performed.

NUM Indicates that you tried to enter an invalid character into a numeric field when the numeric-lock feature was active. The keyboard numeric-lock feature can be overridden by using a Shift key. The keyboard can be unlocked and the indicator removed by pressing the Reset key.

Indicates that you tried to enter data in the wrong location. This will occur when you attempt to do any of the following:

Enter, insert, erase, or delete a character when the cursor is in a protected field or at a field attribute location.

Perform a cursor-select operation when the cursor is not in a valid cursor-select field.

The keyboard can be unlocked and the indicator removed by pressing the Reset key.

SYSTEM Indicates that you cannot enter any data because the application program has disabled the keyboard following an entry.

> Indicates that you attempted to insert characters into an unprotected field when the cursor was at the end of the field, or you attempted to word wrap to the next line when there were not enough spaces to enable a word wrap.

The keyboard can be unlocked and the indicator removed by pressing the Reset key.

Shift

NUM This indicates that the numeric lock function is enabled and the current cursor is in a numeric field. When the numeric lock function is on, the current cursor is in an unprotected field and the keyboard is in lowercase shift, you can only use the 0 to 9, decimal sign (.), minus (-), and Dup keys.

Mode Symbol

^ This symbol indicates that the keyboard is in Insert mode. Already existing characters to the right of the cursor will move to make room for new characters that are entered. Insert mode can be disabled by pressing the Reset or SysReq key, or by performing any action that sends data to the host, such as pressing the Enter, Clear, PA, or PF keys.

Keyboard Mapping

The following illustration shows where IBM 3270 keyboard functions are mapped to keys on the 101/102 key Enhanced AT keyboard layout. Special key functions that are provided on the IBM 3270 keyboard can be mapped to any key on your keyboard by using the IB virtual key names listed in the Define Keyboard Macros dialog box.

Enhanced AT Keyboard Layout

SysReq Key Support

When the SysReq option in the Telnet Options dialog box is selected, the key mapped with the SysReq function enables you to toggle the display and keyboard entries between the host operating system and the application. This enables you to switch to the operating system and issue a LOGOFF command. When communicating with the operating system the status line will display the symbol.

Note: Not all TN3270E servers provide full support of the SysReq key.

Record & Playback Keystrokes Facility

The record/playback keystrokes facility enables you to eliminate repetitive operations by using the Fn keys to store, retrieve and display data. The Fn keys can store a total of 1500 keystrokes. A sequence of recorded keystrokes may be interrupted so that keystrokes can be entered manually before continuing with the recording or playback. Note that local Fn key functions cannot be recorded.

The keys used to initiate recording and playback are shown below together with the equivalent virtual key names which can be used to assign the functions to any key on the keyboard:

101/102 Key Keyboard Virtual Key Names

Record: Alt + F7 IB_RECORD
Pause: Shift + Pause IB_PAUSE
Quit: Alt + Escape IB_QUIT
Play: Alt + F8 IB_PLAY

Recording Keystrokes

1. Press Record to enter Record mode.

The status line will display RECRD and a number from 0-1500 indicating the number of new keystrokes that may be stored. A series of boxes displayed to the right represent the Fn keys. A solid box indicates that the Fn key in that position is currently storing recorded keystrokes.

2. Press the Fn key which will store the keystrokes. (On 101/102 keyboards you can also use Shift + Fn.)

The status line will display R**** F* where R indicates you are in Record mode, **** is the number of keystrokes that may be stored, and F* is the number of the Fn key pressed.

Note: If you press a pre-recorded Fn key, its contents will be replaced with the following keystrokes. You can also remove the contents of the Fn key before recording by pressing the Delete key.

3. Enter the keystrokes to be recorded. You may pause recording at any time to allow keystrokes to be entered manually when played back by pressing Pause. To continue recording, press Pause again.

Note: You can cancel the newly recorded keystrokes by pressing the Quit key. This cancellation does not affect the previously recorded keystrokes.

4. To finish and save the recording, press the Record key.

Playback Keystrokes

1. Position the text cursor where the playback is to start.

2. Press the Play key to enter Play mode.

The status line will display PLAY and a series of boxes representing the Fn keys. A solid box indicates that the Fn key in that position is currently storing recorded keystrokes.

3. Press the Fn key storing the recorded data to play back.

Playback will begin immediately, as indicated by a P on the status line. All the recorded keystrokes will be played back automatically. When playback is completed the P will disappear.

If the recorded keystrokes included Pause, then playback will halt at that point to allow you to enter keystrokes manually. Press Play to resume playback from where you stopped typing.

If you want to cancel during the playback operation, press the Quit key.

Error Codes

The following error codes may appear on the status line if an error occurs during recording or playback.

9001 Exceeded the maximum number of allowed keystrokes.

Remedy: Press the Record key to exit Record mode. To record a new keystroke sequence, either:

a) Press the Record key and the target Fn key that has erasable data, then enter the new data.

b) Press the Record key and the target Fn key that has erasable data, then press the Delete key to erase the recorded data for that key.

9003 You pressed an invalid Fn key while performing the Record or Play function.

Remedy: Press the Reset key.

9007 You pressed an invalid sequence key (e.g. Play) while performing the Record function.

Remedy: Press the Reset key.

9010 While performing the Play function, you pressed an Fn key that does not have a keystroke assigned to it.

Remedy: Press the Reset key.

9015 In communication mode, you pressed either the Quit or Pause key.

Remedy: Press the Reset key.

9019 In Record or Play mode. While the Record/play pause indicator was displayed on the status line you pressed an invalid key (e.g. Play key in Record mode, or Record key in Play mode).

Remedy: Press the Reset key.

Notes