Startup for PC5250
The first thing that jumps out as you move to Access for Windows PC5250 is a the new dialog box (see Figure 1) to start and configure PC5250 sessions. This IBM Personal Communications dialog box (aka the PC5250 Session Manager) allows you to do several things:
- Start existing sessions
- Start existing batch files
- Configure new sessions
- Configure new batch session files
Figure 1: The PC5250 Session Manager allows you to start and configure your PC5250 sessions. (Click images to enlarge.)
When you configure a PC5250 session, the icon is always stored in the Session Manager dialog box, so you will no longer be prompted to save sessions as icons on the desktop. You can, however, drag and drop icons from Session Manager onto the desktop.
The Session Manager panel contains existing workstation profiles (.ws) and batch files (.bch). Workstation profiles are yellow; batch files are turquoise. When you right-click on a workstation profile, a pop-up menu allows you to do these things:
- Start the PC5250 session
- Delete the workstation profile
- Hide the icon for the session
When you right-click on a batch file, a pop-up menu allows you to do these things:
- Start the multiple sessions batch file
- Modify the batch file via a multiple sessions editor
- Delete the batch file
- Hide the icon for the batch file
Because this is a dialog panel, a menu bar provides additional functions.
The File Menu
- Change--Allows you to change the directory where the batch files and workstation profiles are stored. The default directory is the emulator private directory.
- Import--Allows workstation profiles and batch files to be copied from a different folder to the PC5250 directory.
- Exit on Start--If selected, this closes the Session Manager dialog panel when a workstation profile or batch file is started or created.
The Edit Menu
- Copy--When a workstation profile or batch file is selected, it will be copied from the Session Manager dialog.
- Paste--Allows you to copy a PC5250 workstation profile or batch file to the Session Manager dialog. An error message will be issued if you attempt to paste another type of file.
The View Menu
- Show or not show workstation profiles
- Show or not show batch files
- Show all files regardless of file extensions, which are either workstation profiles or batch files
- Show workstation profiles and batch files as large or small icons
- Show the details, such as system name, system type (iSeries, of course), file type (i.e., workstation profile or batch file), file name, and description
- Specify the order in which the icons will be displayed
The really cool thing about this dialog box is that you can now use the Windows-type select options. For example, select multiple icons and click on Start to start multiple sessions.
Edit
I'm sure you've all been waiting for easier user interfaces for some of the edit functions that have been delivered over the past couple of releases (initially as workstation parameters only). To set up edit options, go to a PC5250 session from the menu options. Select Edit -> Preferences -> Edit. The Edit Options dialog panel is displayed, a sample of which is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: The Edit Options dialog includes a Paste tab with new functionality.
Many of the problems that you've had in the past with Edit have been with pasting information to a PC5250 screen. The Paste tab of the Edit options menu can help:
- Field Wrap--When pasting, any data that falls into a protected field will be moved to the next unprotected field.
- Line Wrap--In the past, when copying from an editor like Word or WordPro, PC5250 would discard any data that didn't fit on one line. If you check Line Wrap, PC5250 won't throw out what's left in the clipboard when it reaches the end of the line. If you also check Don't Split Words, PC5250 will avoid splitting words when wrapping to the next line.
- Paste to marked area--This will restrict pasting to a marked area. If no area is marked, the paste will occur at the cursor location.
- Stop pasting when protected line encountered--If this option is checked, PC5250 will stop pasting data when it encounters a protected field. If not checked, it will continue to paste.
- Paste data to fields--If you are copying data from a spreadsheet (e.g., Excel or 1-2-3), you might want to have the tabulated text placed in subsequent unprotected fields. By selecting this option, when a tab character is encountered, the following text data will be pasted into the next unprotected field of the emulator session. I recommend, when using this option, to deselect "Field Wrap" option.
Another edit preference, Force Leading +/-, was added under the Cut/Copy tab (see Figure 3). This option will put the plus or minus sign at the front of a signed numeric field. So 25- becomes -25.
Figure 3: The Edit Options dialog Cut/Copy tab also offers new functionality.
I've covered items that make PC5250 easier to use in V5R2. Now, let's look at something that makes it harder--or in this case, prevents users from being able to perform some PC5250 functions.
Policies
When I say "harder," I’m talking about the addition of Microsoft policies that can restrict use of PC5250. For V5R2, PC5250 has added support for three new policies:
- Change Directory--Controls the user's ability to change the Emulator Session Manager directory
- Import--Controls the user's ability to import emulator profiles in the Emulator Session Manager
- Delete Session--Controls the user's ability to delete emulator profiles in the Emulator Session Manager
Session Manager will also honor the following policies:
- Multiple Sessions--Prevents configuration of a multiple sessions batch file
- Start Session--Prevents configuration of workstation profiles
Just a reminder: PC5250 policies are not cleaned up at uninstall of Access for Windows. So PC5250 policies affect current and future installations of PC5250. Also, if you have the IBM Personal Communications (PCOMM) product and have set up policies with PCOMM, these policies will also apply to Access for Windows PC5250.
It's a Wrap!
I've covered the important items of what IBM has been doing to continue to improve Access for Windows PC5250. Hopefully, you'll find one or more of these items useful.
Becky Schmieding is an IBM Certified Senior Project Manager at IBM Rochester. She is a noted speaker and author on PC5250, and iSeries Navigator and iSeries Access Family products. She can be contacted at
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