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Non X11 Based 3270 Emulation?

Posted by Cliff on from the why-GUI-when-curses-will-do? dept.

Chanc_Gorkon asks: "I am in need of a 3270 emulation program for telnetting to a 3270 host. So far the only thing I have found that works well is x3270, but I need a terminal mode emulator that doesn't need X11. Mostly I need this so we can have a S/390 Linux box be able to talk to another VM guest running DOS/VSE, but if it doesn't compile on S/390 it's no big deal either. I tried tn3270, but it's incredibly old and once compiled it segfaults when I press a key after trying to connect to the host. I have also tried 32704.1 and it just plain doesn't work. Anyone know of other options that I haven't tried??"

10 comments

  1. Check the x3270 home page by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    at http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/7814/ . There seems to be a new c3270 curses-based version of x3270. I have never tried it, but x3270 works great, so hopefully c3270 is just as good.

    1. Re:Check the x3270 home page by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 2

      Thanks dude! c3270 rocks ass! I was able to get it compiled and everything. Still have to investigate the keymap issue, but I was able to get it going with a nometa keymap (c3270 -keymap nometa) which substitutes the escape key for the meta key. Worked like a charm. Even looks pretty good too! Although NOTHING beats IBM's Personal Communications in windows, or a dumb terminal in looks (fonts look much better on both...). Maybe IBM will port Personal Communications to Linux? I love the scripting feature. Works like a recorder for getting the general script down, then you can edit it with a text editor to change it. I use that to submit a job on the mainframe that requires me to enter the same crap every time I run it( date, expiration date and other info ). Once I had the script created, when the dates change I edit the script, run it again. I think x3270 and c3270 have scripting, but I haven't used either long enough to do it. Anyway thanks guys for the suggestions! I found my answer!

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      Gorkman

  2. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Grond · · Score: 1

    terribly offtopic, but it was sunsite, then metalab, now ibiblio, so he was more or less right.

  3. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 2

    Not quite. nee' sunsite.unc.edu

  4. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 2

    nee' means born. so nee' metalab was incorrect. I didn't mean it was never metalab.

  5. Found two TN3270 clients by Lew+Pitcher · · Score: 2
    ibiblio.org (nee' metalab.unc.edu) lists two console-mode TN3270 clients.
    --

    "values of beta will give rise to dom!"

    1. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 2

      I know of the first one. It's been abandoned and does compile, but it segfaults when you try to connect to a system (it seems to connect, then you press a key and it segfaults. Sometimes it segfaults out of the box). I will try the second one mentioned in your post. I was able to connect with 3270v4.1, but either I didn't know the keymap, or it was not working because I could enter data, and press what I thought was enter (according to the keymap I thought it used) and it didn't work.

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      Gorkman

    2. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 2

      Wow. That's like Personal Communications in java. Pretty cool. Never seen that product before but it looks pretty cool. Would not have been useful for my situation. Actually, it's our consultant who does mainframe systems programming is trying to learn/switch to Linux for his business. They are paying him to go to Linux classes and he's planning on putting a Linux vm guest up on our machine so we can use it to learn UNIX for a our new project (new client server UNIX based system running Oracle for the DB for administrative use at the college I work at). We may end up keeping the mainframe for web hosting (figure we could keep the existing student machine and eliminate the admin and test stuff and use Linux for hosting student web pages on the machine....full use of the webserver including cgi stuff. They could even use it for a web development class....). It seems like an awful shame to get rid of our mf considering we just bought it (Multiprise 2000 system....not top end, but pretty good non the less.). Heck we are doing interesting stuff now. We have some consultants programming a web based registration system and fee payment system to interface with our existing registration and fee payment programs. They are using, yes you are going to hear me right, COBOL for doing CGI. Imagine that! Works pretty well too.

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      Gorkman

    3. Re:Found two TN3270 clients by Cogline · · Score: 2
      Yep. My school uses a java version for allowing students to access some of thier records.

      look at: this location.

      don't know that it will help, but it does exist.

  6. 3270 Emulator C-Kermit by The_Dougster · · Score: 2
    Penn State used to use Kermit as a 3270 emulator. That was a long time ago, so I forget the exact details as to how it worked. Take a look at the C-Kermit website.

    http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/newfaq.html

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    Clickety Click ...