EXTRA! Personal Client 6.3

Mainframe interfaces in a GUI world

Attachmate's EXTRA! Personal Client 6.3 has everything you need to attach Windows clients to IBM systems (mainframe and AS/400), UNIX systems, and more. In PC circles, mainframe computers and minicomputers are ancient relics, but IBM recorded $76 billion in 1996 sales, and these sales weren't only from OS/2. I tested EXTRA! Personal Client to see how it handles mainframe connectivity.

Many big iron systems exist as legacies of the heyday of mainframecomputing, but successful business tends to stay with what works. EXTRA!Personal Client addresses this reality within the context of the PC revolution, especially the GUI revolution, by offering not just host connectivity--a modern day TTY--but real ease-of-use features. For instance, using the Hot Spot feature lets you transform all the function (PF) keys that host applications use into hot spots: A double-click of the mouse makes navigating the software easy and intuitive.

Installing EXTRA! Personal Client was easy. The CD-ROM has anautorun file, and after I inserted it, the InstallShield-driveninstallation program came up. The only significant question was whether I wasinstalling for a workstation or for a server. I selected server installation toinstall additional EXTRA! Personal Clients without using the CD-ROM.

I then used NT Explorer to run the setup utility in my server directory.EXTRA! Personal Client installation is straightforward, with many defaultsettings. If you don't want users to make decisions during install, you can useNetWizard, a utility that sets up custom installations that you can access fromthe network or from floppies. EXTRA! Personal Client comes with both 16-bit and32-bit software, and setup detects which version you need for properinstallation.

Emboldened by the easy installation, I started to work with EXTRA!Personal Client. The central structure is a session, which encapsulates theconnection and application information for dealing with a host. The softwaresupplies several demonstration sessions--I started with the Mainframe DemoSession. A selection on the opening menu leads to a Professional Office System(PROFS) menu and reminds you that you are attached to a host. But after Iselected the Open the mail option from the PROFS menu, EXTRA! PersonalClient really got to work. First, the color and font scheme of this menu is morepleasant to the eye than the naked-terminal presentation of the software. Thisscheme can also make screens visually distinctive so that you can tell at aglance where you are.

Next, I found my favorite feature of EXTRA! Personal Client: hot spots. Host applications make generous use of PF keys--some host terminals have 24 or more. One of the biggest problems in the PC host connectivity arena is mapping these keys onto the PC's 10 or 12 function keys. You can map these keys with combination keystrokes, but mastering these combinations is taxing for users.

Hot spots transform PF keys into screen buttons that users can access with their mouse. EXTRA! Personal Client looks for PF key text, such as press PF2 to open your mail, as shown in Screen 1. The software raises PF2 to look like a button, and when you double-click it, EXTRA! Personal Client sends a PF2 to the host application. Alternatively, you can still use the keyboard. Anotherfeature I liked was bookmarking. Using this feature, you can return directly toa host page (screen) without traversing the menu structure. Bookmarking makesusing common applications, such as PROFS Mail, much easier.

EXTRA! Personal Client comes with a veritable alphabet soup ofconnection and host types. I cannot think of a host connection path that thesoftware does not support. EXTRA! Personal Client also supports all theindustry-standard transfer protocols.

Any good mechanic will tell you that having the right tool for the job iscritical. EXTRA! Personal Client is the equivalent of a full host connectivitytoolkit and has every tool you need to connect PCs to hosts. EXTRA! PersonalClient is easy and intuitive to use. Attachmate takes the pain out of bridgingthe gap between minicomputers and mainframe computers and today's popular PCs.