Use this command to change the connection options for the current terminal emulation session. This command displays the Host pane of the Session Setup dialog box. The Host pane has the following options.
| Host Name | Enter the host name of the host computer. You may specify multiple host names separated by commas (e.g. 127.0.0,1,127.0.0.2) If connection to the first host name in the list fails, TN3270 Plus attempts to connect to the second host name in the list and so on throughout the list. |
| Telnet Port | Enter the telnet connection port. This is normally 23. |
| Code Page | (Optional) Enter a host language code page (*.cpg) file. The code page determines the character translations for the keyboard. SDI supplies code pages for many countries (for example, GermAust.cpg and France.cpg). Click the Browse... button to display your current code page in the Code Page Setup dialog box. |
To select a new code page from the Code Page Setup dialog box, select a code page from the drop-down list box or click the Browse... button to display the Select Code Page File dialog box and select a new *.cpg file. If no code page is specified, the default code page is used (Setup, Preferences...).
| Script File | (Optional) Enter a script file name (*.txt). The script begins running as soon as your connection is complete. Use this script to automate your logon. Click the Browse... button to display the Select Script File Name dialog box. |
| Log File | (Optional) Enter a log file name (*.log). The default log file name is your session name appended with ".log." Click the Browse... button to display the Select Log File Name dialog box. You may include one or more of the following variables anywhere in the file name and the variable will be replaced with the associated data. |
| Variable | Case Substitution |
| $COMPUTERNAME | (upper case) Computer name. |
| $DATE | (upper case) Current date in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
| $SESSION | (upper case) Current session name. |
| $USERNAME | (upper case) Current logged on user name. |
For example, a log file name of "$DATE Mainframe.log" creates a new log file each day named "YYYY-MM-DD Mainframe.log". You may also specify Windows environmental variables (e.g. %computername%, %username%, %appdata%, %programfiles%, etc). Check the "Enable logging" check box on this pane to set session activity logging on for this session.
The following commands also use the log file:
Host, Save saves a screen images to the log file.
Host, Enable Logging starts session activity logging.
| Clipboard File | (Optional) Enter a file name (*.txt) for saving clipboard text. You may include one or more of the following variables anywhere in the file name and the variable will be replaced with the associated data. |
| Variable | Case Substitution |
| $COMPUTERNAME | (upper case) Computer name. |
| $DATE | (upper case) Current date in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
| $SESSION | (upper case) Current session name. |
| $USERNAME | (upper case) Current logged on user name. |
For example, a clipboard file name of "$DATE Clipboard.txt" creates a new clipboard file each day named "YYYY-MM-DD Clipboard.txt". You may also specify Windows environmental variables (e.g. %computername%, %username%, %appdata%, %programfiles%, etc). The SaveClipboard... command (Edit, Save Clipboard...) saves clipboard text to this file.
| Preferred Session Number | (Optional) Enter a preferred session number (1-9) for this session. If the session number is available, the session will connect using that session number. If the session number is not available, the session will connect using the first available session number. |
| Keep-alive Interval | (Optional) Specify a keep-alive interval. When set, TN3270 Plus sends a telnet NOP (or an SSH keep-alive if SSH is being used) at the specified interval. The purpose of this option is to simulate activity to keep inactive sessions from being dropped by the host computer. If the keep-alive setting does not work, you may wish to send something other than a telnet NOP (or an SSH keep-alive) at the specified interval, see Changing the Keep-alive String. |
| Connect at startup | Check this item to automatically connect this session each time TN3270 Plus is started. |
| Reconnect if disconnected by host | Check this item to have TN3270 Plus reconnect your session if it is disconnected by the host computer. |
| Delay ?? seconds | Enter the number of seconds TN3270 Plus should wait before attempting to reconnect a disconnected session. |
| Bring to top when host updates screen | Check this item if you wish TN3270 Plus to switch to this session each time the terminal emulation screen is updated by the host computer. |
| Start in a new window | Check this item if you wish TN3270 Plus to start this session in its own window. When this option is checked, a new window is created if the existing window already contains an active session. If this option is not checked, the session is started as an additional session in the existing TN3270 Plus window. If you want all of your sessions started in new windows, check the "Start each session in a new window" box in the Preferences dialog box. (Setup, Preferences, Start each session in a new window) |
| Suppress alarms from host | Check this item to suppress the "beep" when the host sends an alarm bit (3270/5250) or a "bell" control character (VTxxx/ANSI). |
| Enable logging | Check this item to log screen activity to the log file defined in the log file edit box. This log file is cleared each time the session is connected. To prevent the log file from being cleared, check the "Append to existing log file" option. |
| Append to existing log file | Check this item to append data to the exiting log file rather than clearing the log file when the session is connected. |
| WinHLLAPI Session ID | (Optional) Select a short name session id for this session. Choose a letter from A to Z. A short name session id is required for another application to use WinHLLAPI to communication with the session. |
Changing the Keep-alive String
In rare instances, the default keep-alive string setting may not work with your host computer. In this case, you may change the keep-alive command string. By default, TN3270 Plus sends hexadecimal FFF1 at each keep-alive interval. To change the default, add the KeepAliveString parameter to the end of the session profile file:
KeepAliveString=xxxx
Where:
| xxxx | is the hexadecimal string to send or a terminal key. For example, FFF6 will send IAC, AYT (AYT = Are You There) instead of FFF1 (IAC, NOP (NOP = No Operation)). PF12 will send the PF12 key. |
Examples:
KeepAliveString=FFF6
KeepAliveString=PF12
KeepAliveString=PF24
KeepAliveString=F12
Use caution when specifying a terminal key, so that if the keep-alive interval expires and sends that key it does not cause an unintended result in your application.
The session profile file name is the session name with the .tsp extension. For example, if your session name is "IBM Mainframe" the corresponding session profile name is "IBM Mainframe.tsp." To change the keep-alive string to FFF6:
| 1. | Edit the session profile with notepad.exe or another word processor. |
| 2. | Add the following line to the end of the session profile: |
| KeepAliveString=FFF6 |
| 3. | Save the updated session profile and restart TN3270 Plus. |
TN3270 Plus is continually being improved. To learn more about the latest enhancements, please review our Version History web page.