Subject: 5250 Telnet Enhancements Draft

From: Jeffrey Stevens <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 16:53:05 -0500

Hello Jack,

To answer your questions:

1)  DEVNAME is a USERVAR.  You caught an error in the draft!  We will correct
this...

2)  Sequence is actually irrelevant (shades of Borg!).  You are not required to
use this sequence.  We have seen many clients use odd sequences, so this seems
normal to us.   Having said that, I will repeat the answer I made in another
post here for you which explains the need to do attribute negotiation first.

a)  With AS/400 TELNET server, several modes can be negotiated.  Among these
are:  1) VTxxx or 2) 3270 or 3) 5250 device or 4) Network Station.  Now, the
AS/400 TELNET server will create the desired device being negotiated at the
first opportunity it thinks it has all the attributes needed to create the
device.

For example, if you want Transparent mode (5250 device), then the moment
BINARY, EOR and TERMINAL-TYPE are negotiated the TELNET server will go create
the device.  Receiving any NEW-ENVIRON negotiations after that is done will
result in the negotiations having no effect on device attributes, as the device
has already been created.  So, for Transparent mode, NEW-ENVIRON negotiations
are effectively closed once the EOR is negotiated, since EOR is generally done
last.

For the case of the other devices types like VTxxx or 3270, you cannot be sure
when the AS/400 TELNET server will think it has all the attributes to create
the device.  Remember, the NEW-ENVIRON stuff is optional, and the AS/400 server
does not have to wait for them.  So it is in the clients best interest to send
those first, which would be before the TERMINAL-TYPE is negotiated for VTxxx or
3270 case.  That way, you can be sure your attributes got in before the device
was created.

b) Yes, we will be releasing PTF's to support all these enhancements to V3R2,
V3R7 and V4R1 releases.  The supporting clients will be Network Station, Client
Access/400 (out now) and Personal Communications (out later).

AS/400 PTF's Required for TN5250E Enhancements at V3R7M0:

  5716-999 MF18448 (or superseding PTF)
  5716-SS1 SF46693 (or superseding PTF)
  5716-SS1 SF47030 (or superseding PTF)
  5716-TC1 SF46543 (or superseding PTF)
  5716-TC1 SF47007 (or superseding PTF)

Client Requirements

o Personal Communications

  Support is included for 5250 Printer Session and Workstation ID in the
  standalone version of PCOMM in CSD1 for PCOMM 4.2 Win95/NT.  This
  support does not include code page, character set or keyboard exchange.
  This CSD is expected to be available in late 1998.

o Client Access

  Please refer to Information APAR II10918 for more up to date
  information than may be listed here.  New releases and PTF
  numbers will be found there.  You can also visit the Client
  Access internet link for the latest information:

    http://www.as400.ibm.com/clientaccess

3)  Nice catch, we will correct that as well!

Jeffrey Stevens - AS/400 TCP/IP (LPD/WSG/TELNET)
Work: [email-masked]    Personal: [email-masked]

---------------------- Forwarded by Jeffrey Stevens/Endicott/IBM on 03-20-98
03:48 PM ---------------------------

From: Jack Porter <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]'" <[email-masked]>
Subject: 5250 Telnet Enhancements Draft
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 14:21:19 -0500
Sender: [email-masked]

A couple of questions/observations:

1. There seems to be some confusion about whether "DEVNAME" is a VAR or a
USERVAR.  Page 8 does not include it in the list of six standard VAR's, and
page 9 does include it in a list of four USERVAR's.  But, the telnet sequence
on page 7, and the corres
ponding hex dump on page 8, indicate that "DEVNAME" is a VAR.  The telnet
server that I am working with (AS/400 V3R7) accepts either 0x00 (VAR) or 0x03
(USERVAR) before "DEVNAME" in the "NEW-ENVIRON IS" string.  Could someone
clarify ?

2. Page 7 indicates that the server first queries NEW-ENVIRON support, then
terminal type; the client negotiaties terminal type, then NEW-ENVIRON support.
  a.  This sequence seems odd to me; why defer responding to the DO NEW-ENVIRON
?
  b.  The telnet server that I am working with (AS/400 V3R7) queries terminal
type first; then, only if the client responds twice with "IBM-3487-NC", it
queries NEW-ENVIRON support.  Does anyone know whether this will be changed to
comply with the new d
raft, or whether I may be missing a PTF ?

3. On page 11, I believe the tenth byte in the "NEW-ENVIRON IS" hex dump should
be 0x01 (VALUE), not 0x03 (USERVAR).

Thanks very much,
Jack Porter