This chapter describes how to start the 3270 Emulator and use various emulator functions on an IRIS graphics terminal. It also describes the basic emulator functions, including:
starting and stopping the emulator
displaying the IBM Keyboard Map
reading the 3270 status line
saving screen images
If you want to use the emulator on an ASCII terminal, or in ASCII terminal mode from a window shell, refer to Chapter 3, “Using the IRIS 3270 Emulator with an ASCII Terminal.” To use the emulator in ASCII terminal mode, you enter keyboard commands that do not use the pull-down emulator menus.
Within the 3270 emulator window, you can:
use applications and data files on the IBM host
transfer text or binary files between the IRIS and the IBM host
run IRIS applications that use the High-Level Language Application Program Interface (HLLAPI) to interact with host applications
The emulator software changes the meanings of some of the keys on an IRIS workstation keyboard to match the key meanings found on an IBM 3278 or 3279 keyboard. For example, the <Esc> key on the IRIS keyboard becomes the <Attn> key on an IBM keyboard, and the right <Ctrl> key becomes <Enter>. These keyboard mappings enable you to use the IRIS workstation keyboard as if it were an IBM 3278 or 3279 keyboard. The keyboard mapping can be displayed on-line. See the section, “Displaying the IBM Keyboard Map,” later in this chapter.
Before you start the emulator for the first time, there are several functions that you must configure. These are:
Character set
Available character sets are French, German, Italian, Katakana, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and U.S. and U.K. English.
Link type
Supported link types are SNA, TCP, and 5080.
Link-Specific options
Depending upon which link type you choose, you may have to set particular link-specific options. Depending upon the link type, these can include the name of the IBM host system, the names and number of gateways, the channel address, and the model of IBM terminal to emulate.
All of these configuration items are described in Chapter 1, “Configuring the IRIS 3270 Emulator.” If you have not done so already, turn to that chapter and read the section “Configuring the Emulator for the First Time.”
You can start the emulator from the Toolchest or the command line (in ASCII terminal mode).
To start the emulator from the Toolchest, you must first install the Toolchest menus by typing
/opt/3270/bin/inst_3270chestrc |
The Toolchest menus disappear briefly. When they return, the 3270 menu bar is added to the rest of the menus. For more information about the inst_i3270chestrc command, see the inst_i3270chestrc(1) man page.
To start the emulator, click once on the 3270 menu bar. You see the 3270 Emulator menu, as shown in Figure 2-1:
Use one of the first three menu items to start the emulator for TCP, 5080, and SNA. When you select one of the first three menu items, you see an additional menu that provides options for starting the emulator. For example, when you choose Start 3270 for TCP, you see a cascading menu similar to the one shown in Figure 2-2:
In this example menu, you can start the emulator for TCP using "sgimvs1", "sgivm1", or one of the "tcp_host" selections. Use "Set Up 3270" to add additional selections or remove existing ones. See Chapter 1, “Configuring the IRIS 3270 Emulator,” for more information about using "Set Up 3270".
To start the emulator immediately, click on the Actions pull-down menu using the left mouse button. In the Actions pull-down menu, select "Save" and "Start 3270 Emulator".
If you want to start a different emulator session than the one currently configured, change the appropriate settings in the "Set Up 3270" menu. When you have set up the desired emulator type, select Save and Start Emulator from the "Actions" menu. For information about configuring the emulator, see Chapter 1, “Configuring the IRIS 3270 Emulator.”
You can run the emulator in ASCII mode using one of three terminal types:
VT100
iris-ansi
xterm window
ASCII mode is useful not only for running the emulator on a character-based, VT100 terminal, but also for using the emulator in a standard window shell (wsh or xwsh) and while dialed into your workstation using a modem.
To start the emulator in ASCII mode, enter this command at a shell prompt:
/opt/3270/bin/t3278
With an ASCII terminal, the IRIS 3270 Emulator supports only IBM 3278 Model 2 terminal emulation.
Once you start the emulator, the 3270 terminal emulator window appears. Often, this window displays a VTAM, or host login screen, similar to the one shown in Figure 2-4. The identifier in the top bar of the window, for example TCP - sgivm1, reflects the terminal mode. The format of your login screen depends on your particular host configuration.
To log in, use the appropriate login procedure for your host environment. Then, use the IRIS workstation as though it were an IBM 3270 class terminal. To see how to use IBM-specific keytrokes, such as PA1 and PrintScreen,
with your IRIS keyboard, you can display the IBM keyboard map using the "Display Keyboard Map" menu. This menu item is available from the Toolchest menu. See the upcoming section, “Displaying the IBM Keyboard Map.”
Once you have opened a 3270 session, you can display the 3270 Emulator menu by pressing the right mouse button anywhere in the 3270 terminal emulator window. When you press the right mouse button, you see this pop-up menu:
These functions are available from the pop-up menu:
| Pop | Raises the emulator window in a stack of open windows on your IRIS screen. | |
| Options | Use this menu item to open a cascading menu that contains these options:
| |
| IRISXFR | Use this menu item to set up and transfer files with IRISXFR. When you are finished transferring files, use the right mouse button to return to the emulator window. | |
| IND$FILE | Use this menu item to set up and transfer files with IND$FILE. When you are finished transferring files, use the use the right mouse button to return to the emulator window. | |
| Quit | Exit from the emulator and close the emulator window. |
To close a host session, press the right mouse button in the session window to display the 3270 Emulator Pop-Up menu, then select "Quit". To quit an emulator session in ASCII mode, press <ctrl-d>.
The emulator maps keys on your IRIS keyboard so that they behave like certain keys on an IBM keyboard. For example, the Page Up key on the IRIS may be used as the PA1 key on an IBM keyboard. To see how your particular keyboard is configured, use the "Display Keyboard Map" menu command.
To display the keyboard map, select the main 3270 Emulator menu from the Toolchest (see Figure 2-1). Select the menu item "Display Keyboard Map".
In ASCII mode, refer to Chapter 3, “Using the IRIS 3270 Emulator with an ASCII Terminal,” to see how the IBM keyboard is mapped to ASCII terminals.
To print the contents of your current 3270 terminal emulation window during a host session, press the <Print Screen> key on the IRIS keyboard.
When you press <Print Screen>, the emulator saves the current screen as a file in the /var/opt/3270/spool directory and displays the following message in a new 3270 message window:
Saving screen image - file name is SCRNPRT.PID.NNN |
where PID is the t3279 process ID and NNN represents the number (from 001 to 999) of the file containing the display data. This number is increased every time you press the <Print Screen> key.
 | Note: For Katakana, Kana characters are not displayed as they appear on the host. |
The IRIS 3270 terminal status line displays operational status information from the host and the 3270 system about the validity of session-specific operations. Figure 2-6 illustrates the status line:
To see what messages appear in each area of the status line, refer to Appendix B, “Editing the Emulator Configuration File.”