Host Access Solutions: Terminal Emulation Software and Host Integration

IBM® 5250 Terminal Emulation

PASSPORT provides powerful and cost-effective IBM 5250 terminal emulation for AS/400 access

PASSPORT for IBM 5250 Terminal Emulation: Trial Download

PASSPORT is designed specifically for TCP/IP IBM 5250 terminal emulation. Both basic TN5250 terminal emulation and enhanced TN5250E emulation are both provided. PASSPORT can be used for IBM 5250 terminal emulation from Windows Vista® desktops.

PASSPORT is extremely cost effective for IBM 5250 terminal emulation. Zephyr provides a subscription based licensing program that reduces your 5250 emulator acquisition cost and maintenance costs significantly. This makes upgrading from an older version of Attachmate EXTRA!®, IBM AS/400 Client Access®, NetManage Rumba® or WRQ® Reflection® a very attractive proposition.

PASSPORT Major Features

• 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
• PASSPORT PC TO HOST® is certified for Windows Vista®
• Supports Windows XP and 2000
• 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 EXTRA! Objects API to reuse existing EXTRA! screen scraping applications
• VBScript 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

Deploying PASSPORT for IBM 5250 Terminal Emulation

There are actually two IBM 5250 terminal emulation client suites. Each product uses a different method of deployment.

PASSPORT PC TO HOST® is desktop based IBM 5250 terminal emulation. 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, Citrix or Microsoft Terminal Server. PASSPORT PC TO HOST® and IBM AS/400 Client Access are both desktop based products.

PASSPORT WEB TO HOST® is web-based IBM 5250 terminal emulation deployed from a web server. PASSPORT is installed on a web server and provides an administrator program for centralized configuration and administration. All software and configuration files reside on the web server. When the software is run, an ActiveX applet is downloaded from the web server to the client desktop and run inside Internet Explorer. The ActiveX IBM 5250 terminal emulation running inside Internet Explorer makes a direct TN5250 or TN5250E connection to the IBM AS/400 (iSeries) host system.

IBM 5250 Terminal Emulation Host Connections

PASSPORT 5250 terminal emulation supports all telnet host access features defined in the IETF 1205 ( 5250 Telnet Interface) and IETF 2877 ( 5250 Telnet Enhancements) specifications. Telnet is terminal emulation that uses the TCP/IP Internet protocol for communication between a telnet client and a telnet server. PASSPORT is compatible with all TN5250 and TN5250E telnet servers that support these IETF specifications.

These TN5250 telnet servers include the IBM AS/400 Communication Server that is provided with the OS/400 operating system and the IBM Communication Server for NT.

PASSPORT 5250 terminal emulation provides connection to generic, dedicated and specific LU pools. Auto-reconnect is configured to automatically re-establish the 5250 emulator session after a telnet logoff is performed. Hot back up for connection to alternate IP host names is also provided.

IBM 5250 Terminal Emulation Host Sessions

PASSPORT supports TN5250 display and TN5250E host printer sessions. Up to 26 sessions can be active at one time on one workstation. New sessions can be easily created, opened and saved. A layout of multiple sessions can be saved as a desktop icon. When this icon is activated, multiple 5250 emulator sessions are started at one time. A menu security feature allows an administrator to decide what features are allowed and which are not.

TN5250E SSL Support

PASSPORT implements advanced security features using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Version 3 server authentication and encryption providing secure data access across TCP/IP networks. With the built-in security of SSL, your 5250 host sessions are now protected from eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery over TCP/IP. This feature can be critical for those organizations that use 5250 host access remotely across the Internet to access sensitive data on AS/400 midrange systems.

File Transfer

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) file transfer is the method used to transfer files between a PC and an IBM AS/400 5250 host system. This protocol does not use the host session. Instead, an FTP server must be present on the AS/400 host system. The FTP file transfer is actually a separate PC program and can be launched from the menu command or from the Windows Start->Programs menu. Transferring of files can be initiated in multiple ways, including drag and drop and cut/copy/paste. The FTP client has the look and feel of Windows Explorer with a menu bar, toolbar, status bar, three window panes (PC directory structure and file list, host directory structure and file list, connection log and error messages) that can be interactively resized and displayed as icons, details or list. The PASSPORT FTP client program adheres to full compliance with the IETF RFC 959 (File Transfer Protocol) specifications.

Macro Scripting and API Programming

The macro scripting language, provided with PASSPORT program is based on the Microsoft Visual Basic scripting language. Macro scripts are used to automate common repetitive tasks. A macro script can be assigned to a key on the keyboard, keypad, toolbar, button bar or mouse button. A macro script can be run when hotspot text is clicked on with the mouse. A start-up logon macro can be configured to automatically run after connection when the host session is established.

When a macro command is executed, PASSPORT runs a separate program that is actually a HLLAPI application. This HLLAPI application utilizes both the Microsoft VB Script and the PASSPORT HLLAPI module to run the macro.

Attachmate EXTRA!® macros can be converted to work with PASSPORT for IBM 5250 terminal emulation. Attachmate EXTRA!® macros use Visual Basic syntax similar to VB Script and can be easily converted to PASSPORT macros.

HLLAPI (High Level Language Application Program Interface) is an industry standard method for writing PC based programs that need to communicate with an IBM AS/400 (iSeries) system. 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. PASSPORT supports 32-bit application programs, but does not support 16-bit HLLAPI or DOS HLLAPI programs.

PASSPORT provides an API (Application Programming Interface) compatible with the object oriented Attachmate EXTRA!® OLE automation support API. This interface exposes terminal emulation objects such as the entire group of sessions, a single session, screen, keypad, etc.

This object oriented API can be used by C++, Visual Basic, VB Script, Java Script and other applications that require host access and/or need to control multiple host sessions. This API is also used when running Attachmate EXTRA!® macros that have been converted to run as PASSPORT macros.

Quicktrial or Download Options

There are two ways to evaluate PASSPORT for IBM 5250 terminal emulation: 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.

Founded in 1985, Zephyr has a long history of developing IBM terminal emulation software and innovative host access solutions. Zephyr is a Microsoft Certified Solution Partner, Citrix Premier Alliance Partner member, a member of IBM PartnerWorld for Developers, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), Cisco Enterprise Associates Program (EAP), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) TN3270/TN5250 Working Group.