Product Overview

This software provides host based presentation services for you legacy CICS application to work in a web based format.  The software described herein links with your application to allow it to work XHTML pages you design.   Using industry standard web page design tools you can add the features you want for your mainframe CICS applications - mouse select, dropdown lists, photos, backgrounds, check boxes, radio buttons, and AV.

Standardized Page Design

Using GreenFusion3270 Host Support your application’s data is embedded into your page design and the resulting hypertext is transmitted to the user.  When this data stream reaches a GreenFusion3270 emulator it is displayed as a web browser style page within the same terminal session.  Returned user data is reformatted by GreenFusion3270 Host Support for application use.

Host Support Features

Field types

Box input
Drop down (spinner)
Radio
Checkbox

The mainframe application can output to all of the above field types to create default values.

Extended field attributes

Photo support

The application controls which photo(s) will appear on the emulator screen.

Embeds

If an works in an Internet Explorer browser on a computer it will likely also work in an emulator session.  We do not warrant HTML embed capabilities but we have examples that work fine.  Any required plug-ins need to be installed first in Internet Explorer before testing to have a good outcome.

All of the field features listed above are under host control but they are embedded into an XHTML template you design with a regular commercial web page tool such as Adobe Dreamweaver®.  Replace the sea of green on every page with page backgrounds that are interesting and pertinent to your enterprise.  Embed audio or video play and embed your host data in the same page.

Host System Requirements

GreenFusion3270 works over your existing IBM 3270 mainframe networking infrastructure without the need to write API’s, synchronize screen scrapers, or pass pages through complicated server staging systems.  This software product can live in a pool of improved and unimproved applications in a single CICS region or even within a partially enhanced application.

 Your host system requirements:

 Desktop Requirements

GreenFusion3270 emulator:

GreenFusion3270 extends the capability of our standard 3270 emulator (Quick 3270) to also emulate an XHTML browser within a 3270 session.  This browser extension causes the emulator to except and interpret data it receives over the 3270 connection as XHTML on command. 

Implementation

Integration with Legacy Systems

This product can live in a pool of improved and unimproved applications in a single CICS region.   It doesn’t interfere with the use of TSO or any other mainframe applications in the same connect session.  Therefore, upgrades can occur in small increments. (Technically you could convert even one application screen at a time although that might be a bit jarring for the user). 

On the host, you re-interface your application to communicate through our GreenFusion3270 Host Support presentation services instead of using IBM BMS® or equivalent.  Design your new GUI pages with a commercial web tool and upload them.  Also deploy the Quick 3270 + emulator and you are converted. 

GreenFusion3270 Host Support can also detect which kind of emulator is in use mid session and give your application a flag indicator if you want to deploy in a pool of mixed emulator capability. 

When the GreenFusion3270 Emulator deactivates GUI in mid session the 3270 emulator reverts to green screen mode by default.  With the ability to switch modes in mid session, GUI upgrades can occur in small increments (even screen by screen).   Large scale high impact mass upgrade releases are completely avoidable. Host generated errors punch through and display in native 3270.  At this time GreenFusion3270 Host Support is limited to IBM CICS applications for GUI mode. 

GreenFusion3270 Host Support:

Since very few mainframe applications are capable of communicating in browser speak we have developed an interface library GreenFusion3270 Host Support to issue entire XHTML pages from your mainframe host to your existing terminal network with your legacy application data embedded in each page. 

XHTML pages are created just as you would create a web page, with a design tool like Adobe Dreamworks®.    Support Pak makes it easy to store these pages as VSAM (key access) template records using FTP or IND$FILE.   GreenFusion3270, under control of the host application, reads screen a record and embeds the application data into a memory copy of the record using a fast special purpose editor.    Then it transmits the result out to the terminal.  The emulator renders the page just as a web browser would.  Support Pak extracts return data from the XHTML post return and places it in a Cobol table of names and values for easy application access. 

This approach keeps the application that creates the data logically insulated from the XHTML pages and layouts that display your data. 

 GreenFusion3270 Host Support also includes a working example of a test you can issue from the application at the start of a session to determine if the emulator of the session is one that supports GreenFusion3270 Emulator for implementation in a mixed environment. 

Images and Embeds:

We do not pass photo images through the 3270 network.  However, you can put photos on the emulator screen under mainframe control by supplying a url to GreenFusion3270 Host Support from your CICS application.  You can also embed audio and/or video embed players into your pages as well.  GreenFusion3270 Emulator invokes the Windows Internet Explorer® (IE) rendering engine to render XHTML so embeds that work with IE will likely work with the IE engine in GreenFusion3270 Emulator. 

Security:

In production all field information is transmitted through 3270 channels which can be encrypted with the Quick 3270 Secure + version  or with an external VPN link or both. You may also which to place a hidden field in your XHTML page and verify its presence and position on post data return as an added check.  If you are concerned about unauthorized access to supporting VSAM files allocated to CICS you may wish to disable the TERMFILE feature described below.