gt0655b@prism.gatech.EDU (gt0655b gt0655b gt0655b HAARBAUER,ERIC STOWE) (04/23/91)
've just gotten an account on a system that primarily uses old (1977) IBM 3278.2 and 3279 terminals. they don't scroll, you must clear the screen as it fills up. it uses 24 pf keys. the 3279 has 8 colors as well as blink and underline modes. and it has allows at-terminal insertion and deletion through line-by-line entry ( separate return and enter keys) is there a program that can emluate these, especially the 3279? many of the programs on the system are set up for these terminals specifically, and i want to be able to use them when my phone line gets installed. help! -- HAARBAUER,ERIC STOWE "Consciousness is an accident." Georgia Institute of Technology, Box 30655, Atlanta, GA 30332 uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt0655b Internet: gt0655b@prism.gatech.edu
WGLP09@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (04/23/91)
The real problem with IBM 327x terminals is that they don't run on a serial (RS-232) line, but on coax. That's nice, because it's fast. It's also a pain because there is no hardware for an Amiga to use the coax line. So it's no use to just "emulate a 327x terminal". So what do people do? First, you can go to a PC (or a Mac?) and buy the appropriate hardware to sit on the coax line. For PC's I believe one such thing is called an IRMA board. You then use the 3270 emulation software that supports such a board. For the Amiga this is currently not an option (as far as I know) unless you have a 2088 or 2286 Bridge card. Secondly, you could connect to the IBM through a protocol (it's spelled protoCOL, folks) converter. Typically these have coax (or something) on one side and RS232 on the other, and plenty of smarts inside. They usually do complete protocol conversion inside the box, and do *not* require you to look like a 327x terminal. In fact they usually support a large number of different terminal types, and with such a thing you could use any terminal emulator on the Amiga you like. Most IBM mainframe installations have at least one of these things, if only for dial-in lines: if you can get to the mainframe by modem, you go by definition through RS232 and therefore through a protocol converter (although there may be "cards" for IBM mainframes that have modems on them and expect something weird, I don't know). Talk to your system manager about this. A lot of IBM installations have done away with 327x coax entirely and use protocol converters with terminal concentrators and multiplexers. Thirdly, you could connect to the mainframe over Ethernet, using the TCP/IP Telnet protocol. This works, but with a "regular" Telnet program on the Amiga you can only log on to the mainframe in "line" mode. In order to be in full page mode, you guessed it, the Telnet program must behave in a certain way and also do a full 327x emulation. For Macs, PC's, VAX's and UNIX such a Telnet (called TN3270 most of the time) exists. For Amigas it don't. Amiga TCP/IP from Commodore does come with a regular Telnet and it works with the IBM in line mode. Of course, it is plain vanilla Telnet, which has none of the features you have come to love in your favorite terminal program. This last objection I have pretty much solved. Some future version of VLT will support Telnet over TCP/IP in one form or another (I have a working intermediate solution which I don't think I will distribute). The TN3270 part is considerably more complicated, and although I intend to support this too, this is not entirely short-term. Willy. ---------- Willy Langeveld - Bitnet: WGLP09 @ SLACVM - BIX: langeveld