Wall Data is one of the first companies to offer fully functional ActiveX controls to the Windows NT market. Specifically, ActiveX controls are part of the latest release of Rumba workstation-emulation and data-access products: Rumba 95/NT for the AS/400, Rumba 95/NT for the Mainframe, Rumba Access/400 95/NT, Rumba 95/NT for UNIX, and Rumba Office 95/NT. The core modules of these products use Wall Data's ActiveX controls to deliver display and printer emulation, print queue control, and several data access and presentation functions. You can use these ActiveX controls in ActiveX-enabled browsers (such as version 3 of Microsoft's Internet Explorer), in development languages such as Visual Basic and Visual C++, and in other development environments that support ActiveX controls.
Integrated Functionality
The Wall Data design lets you incorporate most product functions, such as
display emulation, printer management, and data access, into your programs, Web
page, or integrated desktop environment. For example, you can develop a Web page
that incorporates ActiveX controls for workstation emulation to let Web browser
users sign on to one or more of your corporate systems (AS/400, mainframe, VAX,
or UNIX) and access host-based applications. Screen 1 shows the Internet
Explorer view of a Web page containing an AS/400 workstation session and
session-related information generated by Wall Data's ActiveX controls. Listing 1
shows the underlying Web page description that references those controls.
You can also use Wall Data's ActiveX controls as a friendlier, faster alternative to the Emulator High-Level Language API (EHLLAPI) in IBM AS/400 and mainframe environments. EHLLAPI facilitates "screen scraping"--using EHLLAPI, one program sends and receives screen-based information through a second workstation emulation program. Wall Data's ActiveX controls provide the same functionality; however, they operate more efficiently and are easier to incorporate into high-level language programs.
A New Data Organization
The latest series of Rumba products also introduces a new data organization
metaphor to the desktop. All 32-bit Rumba products support a notebook
organization that lets you group host- and desktop-based applications as one
unit. For example, you can create an accounts payable notebook. In it, you can
include a page containing a workstation session that automatically opens on a
host-based accounting program, a page containing a work-in-progress spreadsheet,
and another page containing a form letter. The notebook is a portable object
that you can move from one system to another.
ActiveX and Beyond
Although workstation emulation is a key feature in the Wall Data product
line and ActiveX control set, it is not the only feature. Wall Data provides
host-oriented ActiveX controls, including:
AS/400 workstation (5250) emulation
AS/400 printer emulation
AS/400 print queue control
AS/400 data
queue access
AS/400 submit remote command
Mainframe workstation (3270)
emulation
Mainframe printer emulation
Mainframe file transfer (IND$FILE)
Advanced Program-to-Program Communications (APPC)
EHLLAPI
UNIX terminal (VT) emulation
The Wall Data ActiveX control set also has controls for PC (workstation) print queues, coloring, menu functions, status bar functions, toolbar functions, tracing, and other general controls. Note that only Rumba Office 95/NT contains the full set of ActiveX controls. The host-specific Rumba products (e.g., Rumba 95/NT for the AS/400, Rumba 95/NT for the Mainframe, and Rumba 95/NT for UNIX) include only those ActiveX controls that are relevant to the host type.
Although ActiveX controls provide much of the core technology that the functions in the Rumba products use, some functions do not yet have ActiveX controls. For example, AS/400 Rumba supports file transfer capabilities that have no ActiveX control counterparts. So for now, you can't judge what ActiveX controls are available by looking at the end-user applications. On the flip side, you can't judge the breadth of end-user capabilities based solely on the ActiveX controls.
Information Access
By incorporating ActiveX controls in the Rumba series, Wall Data has taken
one more step in its broad strategy to facilitate access to corporate
information residing on minicomputers, midrange systems, or mainframes, from the
desktop environment or over the Internet. In a related development, Wall Data is
releasing new Web server-based capabilities for its ActiveX controls, including
on-the-fly conversion from ActiveX to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). With
this technology in place, any browser can access data that ActiveX controls
deliver, even if the browser does not support ActiveX.
| Wall Data |
|
(206) 814-9255 Web site: http://www.walldata.com Prices: Rumba Office 95/NT: $500, Rumba 95/NT for the Mainframe: $400, Rumba Access/400 95/NT: $400, Rumba 95/NT for the AS/400: $200, Rumba 95/NT for UNIX: $300 |
