A2019 MainFrame Automation | How to use mainframe automation | Automation Anywhere

 RPA | A2019 Terminal Emulator Package| Automation Anywhere - Part-42

A2019 Terminal Emulator Package  - In this blog we will explore about the another useful concept i.e. terminal emulator package and the various actions that are present under the terminal emulator package.

What is Terminal Emulator?

Automation Anywhere provides terminal emulator package and under this package we have the various set of actions that can be used to perform various operations in the mainframe. To use the terminal emulator package we need to install this package from the packages list available. 

Now we will discuss the various sets of actions that are available under this package and how to use these actions using A2019 Automation Anywhere. The various sets of actions are as follows:

• Connect Command - This command is used to connect to mainframe that we are going to use in our process. In the properties section we need to give the session name that we will be using, then give the host name and the port number and in the terminal type select which terminal you want to use i.e. ANSI, VT series, TN3270E or TN5270E. In the connection type we have two options available with us i.e. Telnet and SSH2. If we want to show the terminal window then check the "Show terminal window" checkbox and last but not the least give in the wait time out i.e. how much time you want to give after which the connection timeout error will be displayed.
• Send Text Command - The send text command is used to send the text to the terminal i.e. to the mainframe. In the properties section pass in the session name that we gave during the connect command, then give the text that you want to send to the mainframe and if you want to send in the key after passing in the text then check "send a key after sending the text" checkbox and then select which key you want to send from the drop down. If necessary pass in the delay time after sending the key command to the mainframe.
• Send Key Command - This command is used to send the key to the mainframe or terminal. In the properties section pass the session name then select the key from the drop down that needs to be send to the mainframe and if required pass the delay time after sending the key to the mainframe or the terminal.
• Set Cursor position - This command is used to set the cursor to the required position in the mainframe or the terminal. In the properties section pass in the session name then give the row number and the column number which will set the cursor at that position in the mainframe.
• Search Field - This command is used to search for the required field either by index or name in the mainframe. In the properties section pass in the session name that we have given in the connect command then set the text that needs to be searched. In the select field by default "Field Index" is selected you can select "Field Name" by checking the "Field Name" button and store the output of any data type.
• Disconnect Command - This command is used to disconnect from the mainframe or the terminal. In the properties section pass in the same session name given in the connect command.

Next we will see the code snippet as to how we can build the bot for automating the mainframe. Below is the screenshot for the code snippet that we have built for using the terminal emulator package to perform mainframe automation.

So with that we have come to the end of our blog where we discussed about the terminal emulator package and how we can use various actions that are present under this package to perform mainframe automation using A2019 Automation Anywhere also known as Automation 360.

If you have any queries regarding this article or blog then you can raise your queries in the comment section and I will be more than happy to answer all your queries. After going through the article please provide your valuable feedback as the feedback you provide really matters the most to me.