[WEB4LIB] Re: Replacing Terminals with PCs

[John Geertz-Larson]

>Janus Lindholm wrote:
>Has anybody replaced their dumb terminals for accessing their OPAC with PCs?
>We will be in a transitional phase for some months when we will still be
>using a VAX mainframe as our host for access to our catalog,  but will be
>converting our access machines to PCs (probably).   I am trying to find a
>telnet package that will allow me to script a logon process.   I'm figuring
>that I can use IKiosk to lock the telnet program down once I've got it set
>up.   We'd like to find something cheap, since this is a short term problem.
>I've looked at various telnet applications and none seem to be quite the
>right fit.  Any ideas?

>On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Feng Shan wrote:
>
>> How about McGill's TCP3270 for windows. You can configure it in whatever
>> way you want, I guess. We use it on all of our staff PCs and can make it
>> automatically log into the OPAC.
>

At 09:38 AM 12/17/98 -0800, Bob Rasmussen replied:
>Note that there is a SIGNIFICANT protocol difference between "telnet" and
>"telnet 3270". As the original question involved a VAX, I doubt that it
uses a
>3270 protocol.

McGill University Systems added vt-type terminal emulation (vt-52 up to
vt-420) to its TCP3270 emulator with version 3.something in 1996.  In Dec.
'96 with version 4.0 its name was changed to HostExplorer to reflect the
new capability.  A short time later it was bought by Hummingbird
Communications Ltd.  Check http://www.hummingbird.com for a sales rep. to
contact for current licensing requirements and govt./educational pricing.
It has a scripting capability which more than meets your needs.

A couple of cheap/free alternatives that I had good experiences with a few
years ago were QVT/Term and UWTerm from the University of Washington.

I hope this info. is useful.

--
John Geertz-Larson
Network Administrator
University of Minnesota Libraries