3270 APL support on Linux

m...@privacy.net

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Dec 22, 2009, 4:02:08 PM12/22/09

to

I am attempting to get APl x3270 to work on Linux Mint x64 release 8 and
am getting errors when I start x3270 which mostly complain about the font.
I have installed the Apl385.ttf font on the system and I can use it in
Open Office 3.1.1, so the font is available. Yet when I start x3270 with
the -apl option I see:

'invalid display Charset specification' and
'No fonts for host character set "apl"'

If I add a -efont option pointing to the Apl385.ttf I also get:

'font /home/dhdurgee/Downloads/Apl385.ttf not found'

I am currently using Personal Communications/3270 for OS/2, could I
perhaps copy a font file from this over? Is there another font I can use
that will get this working? Will I be able to get x3270 to work as well
as PC/3270? I have done some custom keyboard mapping on the OS/2 release,
will I be able to do the same with x3270 on mint?

Alternatively, I recall IBM having a portable 3270 emulator available at
one point. I believe it was called "host on demand" and was done using
Java if my memory is correct. If this included APL support I seem to
recall it looking much like PC/3270 and of course I have Java available on
mint. If this is still available it might do the job.

Of course if anyone has other recommendations for APL 3270 support on
linux I will take a look. I would prefer something as similar to the
PC/3270 emulator as possible.

-- Dave
-----------------------------------------------------------
dhdurgee<at>verizon<dot>net
-----------------------------------------------------------

phil chastney

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Dec 24, 2009, 6:54:32 AM12/24/09

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m...@privacy.net wrote:
> I am attempting to get APl x3270 to work on Linux Mint x64 release 8 and
> am getting errors when I start x3270 which mostly complain about the font.
> I have installed the Apl385.ttf font on the system and I can use it in
> Open Office 3.1.1, so the font is available. Yet when I start x3270 with
> the -apl option I see:
>
> 'invalid display Charset specification' and
> 'No fonts for host character set "apl"'
>
> If I add a -efont option pointing to the Apl385.ttf I also get:
>
> 'font /home/dhdurgee/Downloads/Apl385.ttf not found'
>
> I am currently using Personal Communications/3270 for OS/2, could I
> perhaps copy a font file from this over? Is there another font I can use
> that will get this working? Will I be able to get x3270 to work as well
> as PC/3270? I have done some custom keyboard mapping on the OS/2 release,
> will I be able to do the same with x3270 on mint?
>
> Alternatively, I recall IBM having a portable 3270 emulator available at
> one point. I believe it was called "host on demand" and was done using
> Java if my memory is correct. If this included APL support I seem to
> recall it looking much like PC/3270 and of course I have Java available on
> mint. If this is still available it might do the job.

for the first time in my life, everything is wrapped before 12 noon,
Christmas Eve, so there's time to spare for more important topics

I know nothing about Linux Mint x64, and I gave up on IBM character sets
a long time ago, but I have spent a lot of time on 3270 terminals -- in
fact, I'm using a 3270 keyboard right now (but not a Series M)

that 'invalid display Charset specification' msg intrigues me

interfacing ASCII machines to EBCDIC environments is always a bit tricky
-- there has to be a conversion somewhere, and we need to know if that
conversion occurs before or after the font is used

to put it another way, just swap in every font you've got from PC-based
3270 emulators, and see if one of them works

have you any idea what character set the software is looking for? if you
can find an identifier for that charset (or, I suppose, a table of hex
values and corresponding characters), and font swapping fails to solve
the problem, then it may be possible to edit APL385 so that the software
recognises APL385 as adequate to the task

if font swapping does work, I'd be very grateful for a copy of the font
that works, in the interests of furthering my education

this, of course, is based on the assumption that the error msg correctly
diagnoses the problem, but HTH . . . /phil

P.S: > Yet when I start x3270 with the -apl option I see:
>
> 'invalid display Charset specification'

and if you start x3270 without the -apl option? does everything function
OK then? any idea what font is being used then? and are the letters A-Z
encoded as per ASCII? or as per EBCDIC?

phil chastney

unread,

Dec 24, 2009, 6:55:02 AM12/24/09

to

m...@privacy.net wrote:
> I am attempting to get APl x3270 to work on Linux Mint x64 release 8 and
> am getting errors when I start x3270 which mostly complain about the font.
> I have installed the Apl385.ttf font on the system and I can use it in
> Open Office 3.1.1, so the font is available. Yet when I start x3270 with
> the -apl option I see:
>
> 'invalid display Charset specification' and
> 'No fonts for host character set "apl"'
>
> If I add a -efont option pointing to the Apl385.ttf I also get:
>
> 'font /home/dhdurgee/Downloads/Apl385.ttf not found'
>
> I am currently using Personal Communications/3270 for OS/2, could I
> perhaps copy a font file from this over? Is there another font I can use
> that will get this working? Will I be able to get x3270 to work as well
> as PC/3270? I have done some custom keyboard mapping on the OS/2 release,
> will I be able to do the same with x3270 on mint?
>
> Alternatively, I recall IBM having a portable 3270 emulator available at
> one point. I believe it was called "host on demand" and was done using
> Java if my memory is correct. If this included APL support I seem to
> recall it looking much like PC/3270 and of course I have Java available on
> mint. If this is still available it might do the job.

for the first time in my life, everything is wrapped before 12 noon,

Christmas Eve, so there's time to spare for more important topics