Using an ActiveX Display Session

Version 8.0.0

This section describes the ActiveX Display features and controls that are related to the Arabic language support. it lists the additional information related to Arabic language support for each section in the main help file.

Please note that controls have been added to the toolbar in support of the Arabic language to make switching between languages easy.

ActiveX Display Control Features

The ActiveX Display control includes all the standard features of an IBM 5250 terminal plus additional ones that are only possible within a PC environment. In addition to the features that apply to all languages, the Arabic language has the following keys on the toolbar.

Switching Between Languages

HostFront offers true Arabic language support whether it is installed in a PC with Arabic Windows or standard Windows.

These buttons perform the same functions that are assigned to keys on your keyboard offered with IBM 5250 terminals. You can also access these Arabic-related functions from the default keyboard.

Reverse

Click this button if you want to enter the data in the opposite direction of the screen orientation (right to left). You would normally use this function to enter bilingual (Arabic/Latin) text.

The way that Reverse mode behaves depends on the current mode.

In RTE mode, the cursor does not change place as you toggle the Reverse function.

In RDE mode, the cursor appears automatically at the end of the current field or line.

Close

The Close button allows you eliminate any large gaps between text if you've changed the screen orientation. When you click this button, the text entry direction does not change, but the gap between text closes. You can still use the Reverse button to change the text's direction.

The Close function only works in RDE mode.

To activate the Close function, you can also press the [*] on the numeric keypad on the default keyboard.

Arabic

Click this button to shift the language to Arabic. You can also toggle between languages by pressing [Alt][Right-Shift] on the default keyboard.

This key changes the entry language only; it does not change your entire display to Arabic font.

Latin

Click this button to shift the language to Latin. You can also toggle between languages by pressing [Alt][Left-Shift] on the default keyboard.

This key changes the entry language only; it does not change your entire display to Latin font.

Starting an ActiveX Display Control

Once you start your ActiveX Display control, you can customize it to suit your needs. The Display control allows you to:

• change the orientation of the text in support of the Arabic language

Modifying Your Language Properties

1. Click the Language tab to see the language settings of the ActiveX Display session.

2. The Preferred Language box is for notification purposes only. This box is inaccessible to the user. This setting reflects the language that the administrator chose for this particular user.

3. In the Local Configuration File, enter the path and file name to which you would like to save these settings or click on the Browse button to select a current configuration file to which to save these settings.
   • If you leave this field blank, your modifications will be saved to the default ActiveX configuration file (hfdsp.cfg).

4. When the language of the HostFront Server session is Arabic, the following window opens.

5. The Arabic Settings panel only appears when HostFront Server has been configured to use the Arabic language. In the Arabic Settings panel
   • select Flipped Screen to create a mirror image of the display screen.
   • select RDE vs RTE mode to enable RDE mode. Leave unchecked to enable RTE mode.

RDE (Reverse Data Entry) mode allows the user to enter data in a direction that is opposed to the screen orientation by using the Reverse button on the toolbar.

In RDE mode, the cursor appears automatically at the end of the current field or line.

RTE (Reverse Text Entry) mode allows the user to enter data in a direction that is opposed to the screen orientation by using the Reverse button on the toolbar.

In RTE mode, the cursor does not change place as you toggle the Reverse function.

• Select Numeric Distinction to convert Arabic numbers to Latin numbers (Hindi for the Arabic language layer, Arabic for the Latin language layer) when the language mode changes.
• Select Enable Numeric Copy/Paste so that the true value of a host field is retained when it is copied and pasted into a separate application. If you do not select this option, the true value of the host field won't be retained when it is copied and pasted into a separate application.

HostFront Specific Macro Commands

Below is a list of all the HostFront Arabic language specific macro commands. In addition to these, you can use standard VBScript commands. A reference for the latter can be downloaded from Microsoft's web site.

IsFlippedField

The IsFlippedField() method checks whether the field specified by row/column position is flipped or not for the purpose of entering Arabic data in the correct direction.

Function Prototype

boolean IsFlippedField(short nRow, short nColumn)

Example

bRtn = HFDISPLAY.IsFlippedField (7, 53);

PushKey

The PushKey() method simulates a key input.

Function Prototype

BOOL PushKey(int nKey)

The PushKey() method is used to simulate a single key input to the host. A key is referred to by name. This method returns one of the following:

1. TRUE if the operation is successful
2. FALSE if the operation is not successful

The available keys are listed below (for both 5250 and 3270 together):

Example

HFDISPLAY.PutField 6, 53, UserName

HFDISPLAY.PutField 7, 53, Password

HFDISPLAY.PushKey [ENTER]

In this example, the PushKey() method sends the [Enter] key to the host after the user provides a user name and password. An alternative to PushKey [ENTER] is as follows:

HFDISPLAY.PushKey 32778

The numeric code for the [Enter] key is 0x800A in hexadecimal or 32778 in decimal.

PushKeyStream

The PushKeyStream method simulates keystrokes on the keyboard with letters, numbers and function keys used on one screen all listed one after the other.

Function Prototype

HFDISPLAY.PushKeyStream "string<special key>"

Special keys should always be enclosed between <>. Normal text is typed as is. The whole stream will be enclosed between two double quotes.

This is the list of supported special keys that can be used by name:

Example

HFDISPLAY.PushKeyStream “GUEST<TAB>FARABI<ENTER>”

This macro assumes the cursor is at the correct position where the username should be entered and that the password field is one TAB move away.  In this example we used values directly. In order to use variables, you need to separate the variables from the other keys using simple concatenation as in the following example:

HFDISPLAY.PushKeyStream Username+”<TAB>”+Password+”<ENTER>”