[comp.sys.mac] Info about YTERM requested.

gupthaba@nunki.usc.edu (Suresha Guptha B. A) (06/12/90)

Hello everyone,
	I need to access some information system running on a mainframe.  For
this purpose I was advised to use an IBM compatible with a serial port.  The
communication package used for this purpose is YTERM developed at Yale Univer-
sity. Communication is achieved through direct link.  My questions are

  i) Is it possible to use a Macintosh for the same purpose ?

  ii) If so how can this be done ?


Thanks in advance for the help provided.

Suresha Guptha B.A.
Ph: 818 -356-4574.
email: gupthaba@aludra.usc.edu
       gsb@bach.caltech.edu

JAH4@psuvm.psu.edu (JEFFREY A. HAMMAN) (06/12/90)

In article <10142@chaph.usc.edu>, gupthaba@nunki.usc.edu (Suresha Guptha B. A)
says:
>
>Hello everyone,
>        I need to access some information system running on a mainframe.  For
>this purpose I was advised to use an IBM compatible with a serial port.  The
>communication package used for this purpose is YTERM developed at Yale Univer-
>sity. Communication is achieved through direct link.  My questions are
>
>  i) Is it possible to use a Macintosh for the same purpose ?

      Yes, "TinCan" is Yale's Macintosh equivalent of YTERM. It uses
      a VT100 terminal emulation.  You did not specify which kind of
      mainframe you are using, but I would guess it is an IBM series
      by your previous recommendation of YTERM, so TinCan should be
      fine for your purposes.  You may obtain faster results, however,
      if you have support for FTP.  Large files can take a while at
      19.2 or 9600.

>  ii) If so how can this be done ?

      You need a dataswitch or modem connected to the modem port.
      Uploading and downloading is fairly intuitive, there are
      menu choices for "Text Down" and "Text Up".

>Suresha Guptha B.A.

                                      Jeffrey A. Hamman    jah4@psuvm.bitnet
                                      Microcomputer Systems Consultant
                                      Penn State University

JS05STAF@MIAMIU.BITNET (Joe Simpson) (06/13/90)

The Macintosh version of YTERM is called TINCAN.  It was written at
Yale University by George Furnival and is very professionaly supported.
 
As usual it is a superset of MS-DOS capability.  The only problem
you will have is that the host (VM/CMS I assume) code needs to be
up to date.  It sounds like your support staff may be unaware of later
developments in the YTERM communications field.
 
There is a TINCAN-L  listserve list at YALEVM.