Attila might have cracked the code, but I want to highlight something Seymour mentioned and expand on it.
The presence or absence -- and the configuration -- of a 3270 session manager might have some impact on how "special" keys are handled, so that's another possible variable. IBM's CL/SUPERSESSION, CA's TPX, Macro 4's Tubes, and many others are out there. Also, and especially if you're not using TLS-encrypted TN3270E that terminates at/within z/OS itself (you should be!), there are some possible "intermediaries" that can occasionally affect the datastream. I've seen some cases where a customer has installed a "man in the middle" server that intercepts TN3270E traffic and adds an initial signon screen that requires entering a perishable key of some kind. (No, that doesn't make much sense if the traffic is unencrypted, but what can I say?) There could even be different, alternative, often ancient TN3270E servers in lieu of Communications Server for z/OS, usually as some vestige of a network design and deployment that probably ought to be updated. And, in years past (long ago now), there were a couple bugs that needed swatting in clients and in Communications Server for z/OS, and there are still some configuration settings that might be impactful. I recently worked with a z/VSE customer that has TCP/IP for z/VSE (not IPv6/VSE). TCP/IP for z/VSE includes a reasonable TN3270E server, but that particular server implementation doesn't support 3270 printer sessions specifically. And they need one 3270 printer session for what they're doing. IPv6/VSE and its TN3270E server is a good solution to address that particular requirement. Or they could have set up a "classic" non-IP 3270 printer session in VTAM for z/VSE, and that still works as long as you're "close enough" to the machine and haven't got anything in the network that'd balk at classic protocols. Or they could move to a newer and better virtual/electronic printing path using, for example, VSE2PDF. However, every IBM Z machine that has an OSA-Express 1000BASE-T adapter has the OSA-Integrated Console Controller (ICC) function, and OSA-ICC includes a TN3270E server, built into the firmware. And yes, that TN3270E server supports 3270 printer sessions, with TLS encryption too. So they're able to run the one 3270 printer session they need via the OSA-ICC's TN3270E server (could be more than one, but they only need one), while their 3270 terminal connections still run through the TCP/IP for z/VSE TN3270E server. My point here is that somebody, maybe, is running your 3270 sessions via the OSA-ICC. That's possible, depending on what you're doing and how you're configured. And it's also possible that certain behaviors are different when you're coming in through that particular path. As a general rule the OSA-ICC should be reserved for a very few consoles, just as advertised, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. IBM cautions that this particular corner of OSA-ICC function hasn't been exhaustively performance tested, but the z/VSE customer I worked with is happy with their printing performance once they got it set up correctly. And I suspect IBM's caution is much less meaningful with newer OSA-Express 1000BASE-T features. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timothy Sipples IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM Z & LinuxONE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
