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5250 Terminal Mobility Support
TerminalCanvas Control
The Terminal Emulator is treated as a single ASP.NET control in the underlying HTML. This greatly simplifies the process of maintaining seperate versions of the emulator for differing platforms.
Using the ASNA 5250 Terminal Emulator on a Tablet
The 5250 Terminal Emulator is activated on a tablet by opening the tablet's browser to the page in question and then logging in. As soon as the user reaches an unconverted display file, the emulator will display.
New Features
The Emulator's Mobile Support includes a number of features that make interacting with a green screen interface without the traditional IBM keyboard much simpler.
- Touch Cursor-positioning – Touching any non-button space on the 5250 display will instantly move the cursor to the selected location.
- Swipe Scrolling – Swiping (sliding a finger quickly along the screen) up will issue a PgUp command to the emulator, swiping down will issue a PgDn.
- Automatic Keyboard – By pressing and holding down on any typable area, the user can open up the tablet's internal keyboard and begin typing. The cursor will automatically be moved to the first position on that field as well.
- Options Pane – By dragging up the small white bar visbile at the
bottom of the emulator the user can access a small Options
pane. Each item on it can be set to either Yes or No by tapping on the slider to the right of it.
It contains the following items:
- FKey Hotspots – Each Function key command listed in the display file is converted into a button. Clicking the button sends that Function key command to the IBM i.
- Enter/Reset Buttons – Creates an Enter button at the lower right of the display. In circumstances where the Reset key would be activated, a Reset button will appear on the lower left as well
- Autohide Keypad – If Yes is selected, the IBM keypad will hide itself if it's not used for 10 seconds.
Warning – Not all browsers offer full support of the terminal emulator. The default browser for Android 4.0 (Ice cream sandwich) and earlier does not properly support the automatic keyboard.
The IBM Keypad
By tapping on the left or right edge of the screen, or the status bar at the bottom, the user can open the IBM Keypad.
The IBM keypad has three fixed buttons (on the left) and five configurable buttons to the right. Tapping on a fixed button will bring up a list of keystrokes included under that button (Function keys for F1-12 and F13-F22, and IBM keys for Special). From there a user can either slide their finger to the key they wish to use or tap it directly (the list will stay in place until another keystroke moves it).
The five buttons to the right can be activated by tapping on the desired button. They can also be swapped out by pressing and holding the button to be swapped out, which will cause a panel containing all keys on an IBM i terminal to appear. Tap on a key, and it will replace whichever key was in that slot before (tap outside the pane or on the blank area just above the Keypad to go back without making changes).