PASSPORT 3270 Mainframe Access

PASSPORT is also extremely cost effective. Zephyr provides a subscription-based licensing program that significantly reduces your acquisition and maintenance costs. This makes upgrading from older 3270 mainframe access programs a very attractive proposition.

As one of the market's very first IP-based connectivity solutions, the mature, feature-rich package is an ideal alternative to older desktop-based emulators, including Attachmate® EXTRA!® or Reflection®, IBM Personal Communications or NetManage® Rumba®.

Zephyr has a long history of developing its 3270 mainframe access and innovative host access solutions. Founded in 1985, Zephyr is a Microsoft Certified Solution Partner, Citrix Premier Alliance Partner, a member of IBM PartnerWorld for Developers, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), Cisco Enterprise Associates Program (EAP), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) TN3270E/TN5250E Working Group.

PASSPORT Terminal Emulator Highlights

• Provides access to IBM mainframe, AS/400 and UNIX host applications
• TN3270, TN3270E, TN5250, TN5250E, VT420, VT220, VT100, SCO ANSI and Wyse 60 terminal emulation
• Standalone FTP client and integrated FTP file transfer within terminal emulation session
• Windows 7 compatible
• PASSPORT PC to Host® is Certified for Windows Vista® and PASSPORT Web to Host® has received the "Works with Vista" designation from Microsoft
• Advanced SSL security available for each host session
• Advanced SSH security available for each UNIX host session
• Secure FTP file transfer using SSL and SSH security
• IND$FILE file transfer to IBM mainframe
• Supports Citrix Password Manager
• HLLAPI available to reuse existing screen scraping applications
• Attachmate-compatible Object API that lets you reuse existing screen-scraping applications written for Attachmate EXTRA!®
• VB Script to record, edit and run productivity enhancing macros
• Host printing supported through the TN3270E or TN5250E client
• Pass-through printing available for VT or SCO ANSI client
• Ability to open multiple host sessions, uniquely configure each session
• Customizable keyboard layout, mouse buttons, keypads, toolbars, hotspots, colors, fonts, cursor and more

3270 Mainframe Access Deployment

There are actually two versions of PASSPORT. Each product uses a different method of deployment.

PASSPORT PC to Host® is desktop-based 3270 mainframe access. This product is similar to other desktop Windows programs. PASSPORT is installed with a Windows setup program. It can also be deployed using SMS, MSI or deployed from a Citrix terminal server.

PASSPORT Web to Host® is web-based 3270 emulation deployed from a web server. The 3270 emulation is installed on a web server, generally a Microsoft IIS Server or IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS), and provides an administrator program for centralized configuration and administration. All software and configuration files reside on the web server.

When the 3270 emulation is run, an ActiveX applet is downloaded from the web server to the client desktop and run inside of Internet Explorer. For organizations or users with strict IE security settings, PASSPORT Web to Host offers the ability to use MSI to download and install the PASSPORT Web to Host client.

The ActiveX component is only downloaded the first time a session is launched, or whenever the server version of the ActiveX component changes to a newer version. The ActiveX 3270 terminal emulator running inside Internet Explorer makes a direct TN3270 or TN3270E connection to the IBM zSeries (S/390) mainframe.

3270 Telnet Host Connection Support

PASSPORT supports all telnet features defined in the IETF 1576 (TN3270 Current Practices) and IETF 2355 (TN3270 Enhancements) specifications. Telnet is basically terminal emulation that uses the TCP/IP Internet protocol for communication between a telnet client and server. PASSPORT is compatible with all TN3270 and TN3270E servers that support these IETF specifications.

These TN3270 telnet servers include the IBM Communication Server that is provided with IBM zOS, OS/390, MVS TCP/IP and VM TCP/IP. For IBM VSE, the Telnet TN3270 servers from Connectivity Systems and Barnard Systems are supported. The Cisco CIP and CPA TN3270 servers, Microsoft SNA server and Microsoft Host Integration Server are also supported.

PASSPORT provides connection to generic, dedicated and specific LU pools. Full support for NVT, SSCP-LU and LU-LU sessions is provided. Auto-reconnect is configured to automatically re-establish the session after a logoff is performed. Hot back up for connection to alternate IP host names is also provided.

3270 APIs for Screen Scraping Applications

PASSPORT includes 2 APIs for screen-based legacy integration: PASSPORT HLLAPI (High Level Language Application Program Interface) and PASSPORT Object API.

HLLAPI is an older industry standard method for writing PC based programs that need to communicate with an IBM S/390 (zSeries) mainframe system using a 3270 terminal emulation program. Typical HLLAPI applications can present users with a more friendly user interface to host applications and can be used to automate routine functions such as file transfer. The PASSPORT 3270 emulation program supports 32-bit application programs, but does not support 16-bit HLLAPI or DOS HLLAPI programs.

PASSPORT also provides an Object API (Application Programming Interface) for new screen scraping projects. Both Zephyr PASSPORT PC to Host® and PASSPORT Web to Host® include the Attachmate-compatible Object API that lets you reuse existing screen-scraping applications written for Attachmate EXTRA!®. In most cases, the Attachmate EXTRA! screen-scraping applications can be used 'as-is' with the Zephyr PASSPORT alternative terminal emulation software.

The PASSPORT Object Interface provides compatibility with the Attachmate EXTRA! OLE automation support and exposes terminal emulation objects such as the entire group of sessions, a single session, screen, area, OIA, keypad, etc. Applications that require host access and need to control multiple host sessions can use the Object API.

C++, Visual Basic, VB Script, Java Script or any language that can use the Microsoft COM object interface can be used for development. Developer assistance is provided to customers and opportunities with 100 or more units of the PASSPORT terminal emulation. The PASSPORT Object Toolkit, a time-saving developer resource, is available to no charge for customers or prospects with 500 or more units of the PASSPORT software.

Quicktrial or Download Options

There are two ways to evaluate PASSPORT for 3270 mainframe access: either download a copy of the software or do a Quicktrial of the PASSPORT Web to Host® application. With Quicktrial, there is no server installation, you simply download the client from our web server. This is a fast and easy way to look at the PASSPORT Web to Host® software. For those that want to install the PASSPORT Web to Host® software on their own web server, you can download the full working copy of the software and complete a full evaluation.