Here's a pic as I remember the 3278 Mod-4 I used:
https://i.redd.it/zhafeucucea11.jpg
Like Peter, I use left-ctrl for Reset because of the old 3278. I modify
other keys too though, such as that little back-apostrophe/tilde key
that I never use on the mainframe - it becomes my Erase-EOF key,
somewhat near where it was on the 3278. For Newline I use my backslash
key which is another key I rarely need on the mainframe. My old joke
was to look for the really dirty keys on your keyboard - those are the
ones you rarely use and can be remapped to something useful.
A typical windows program looks for the WM_CHAR message to receive
characters from the keyboard. But arrow keys are not considered
characters, so the program also needs to look for the WM_KEYDOWN
message. My wild guess is that WM_CHAR works and WM_KEYDOWN is failing,
but then *none* of your non-character keys would be working so skip that
theory.
There are Windows "SPY" programs you can use to display messages passed
to a particular window. With that you could at least tell if the
WM_KEYDOWN arrow messages are getting to HOD at all. But that might be
something for the Windows admins to do.
On 3/14/2022 6:17 PM, Steve Thompson wrote:
Thank you for that picture. I had totally forgotten that was where the
reset key was. I guess my problem is, even though I am a touch typist, I
screw things up enough with a 3270 device that it is faster for me to
right thumb a reset which is why I set it over there. And it may be
because the left CTRL and/or ALT couldn't be remapped with the 3270
emulator software I had been running on early Windows software so I just
got used to the right alt. Which I also made large use of SPF-PC and
similar.
There are fewer and fewer of us that have actually used 3270 devices.
It will be the client's people. It is their laptop, and their software
they push. And I will get told again, we have 16K users and you are the
only one.... Yeah, I'm the only one that is a z/VM capacity planner
too. sigh. (why am I posting here, because I also do TSO/ISPF REXX,
SAS, and believe it or not, COBOL).
Steve Thompson
On 3/14/22 20:38, Farley, Peter x23353 wrote:
Re: "That is not where the original reset key was, was it?"
Yes it was, at least on all the "real iron" 3277/8/9 keyboards that I
remember using. Pictures of a couple of 3278 keyboards that I found:
https://vintagecomputer.ca/ibm-3277-and-3278-terminals/ibm-3278-keyboard/
https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?t=9365
There are lots more around the net.
I also map the Right-Ctrl key to 3270 Enter so I can hit it with my
right thumb (left thumb for space bar, left pinky for "Reset" on
Left-Ctrl), and remap keyboard "Enter" to 3270 "New Line", also
mirroring the original "real iron" keyboards I used.
You have my condolences for your current problem, and the fact that it
is not just HOD having the issue surely means a Windows problem (or
upgrade/patch needed for HOD and that other software to catch up to
the enforced M$ changes).
Good luck, I hope you or your employer's techies figure it out.
Peter
P.S. -- In my employer's PCOMM the "SYS ATTN" function is mapped to
the Esc key, and PA1/2 are mapped to Alt-Insert and Alt-Home (but not
on the numeric pad, just to the ones above the cursor keys). YMMV.
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List<[email protected]> On
Behalf Of Steve Thompson
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2022 8:12 PM
To:[email protected]
Subject: Re: HOD Keyboard weirdness
Ok, I'm going to answer a few questions here:
1) I have been doing this with HOD since 2013. Any time something odd
happens [wait, HOD, odd, hmmmmm], it typically has been some security
software doing something incredibly stupid. Such as mangling the
Outlook Profile because day ends in "y".
2) with #1 above, you can reboot all you want. Outlook stays broken.
You actually have to remove the offending software and build a new
profile (how would I know this? 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count).
3) Reboot? That was what finished the install of the pushed software.
So yes, a re-reboot was done.
Anyone wonder why M/S doesn't create a Windows Z release? Because that
would be the z uptime release. Get it, not zero down time, but no up
time... Ok. Be that way.
Oh, the change to the left control key. Uh no. That is not where the
original reset key was, was it? Anyhow, no, because the control key is
mapped... never mind.
You have to use that one to get PA1, PA2, ATTN.... Those are pre-mapped.
It is starting to look like something in Windows is mangled, because
certain other applications that expect one to use the arrow keys,
aren't working either.
Look, it was Monday right after a time change weekend. I think even
the hardware is tired of Congress's meddling.
But, it isn't the keyboard, because it is on a KVM switch and it works
just fine with my Linux desktop, from which I am doing missives like
this with/to IBM-Main, and other emails. And it worked fine with a
non-client Windows laptop....
Regards,
Steve Thompson
ps. hope you enjoyed the attempts at humor.
On 3/14/22 17:59, Farley, Peter x23353 wrote:
Did you try mapping 3270 Reset to the Left-Ctrl key instead? That
is the mapping I have used for decades as the 3270 Reset key (PCOMM
and Vista). I have never tried to use the Alt keys to map to any
3270 key, as Windows is really funky about use of the Alt key -
sometimes it seems to know it is there and other times not so much.
It depends a whole lot on which Windows core service HOD uses to read
keys. Use the wrong service and Alt-anything may not return anything
at all, or if it does then unexpected values. BTDTGTTS from some
open-source work I once did providing a Windows keyboard interface in
previously linux-only code.
HTH
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List<[email protected]> On
Behalf Of Steve Thompson
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2022 5:37 PM
To:[email protected]
Subject: HOD Keyboard weirdness
Hi all:
A few weeks ago at a client site, they force installed software on end
user computers (owned by the client) and since then I've been having
odd issues with HOD (Host on Demand - 3270 emulator).
Today, arrow keys are not working. And if you get into the keyboard
configuration system, you can click on "Search for a key" and it will
go to the line where that key is defined so you know what HOD thinks
it is for.
Well, the arrow keys stopped working. So these are supposedly cursor
movement keys. And striking one of them gets no response (in HOD).
They do work outside of HOD>
Last time this happened it was the right "Alt" key being ignored
(which I have defined as <Reset>. I remap a keyboard to as much as
possible emulate a true 3270 keyboard. I rebooted, I reloaded, and
didn't make a difference. Someone had me reset the key, and then it
started working. No Joy today.
Right+ALT is behaving today. But not the arrow keys.
This seems to be something going on with Windows.
Any ideas of how to cure this thing (NO, I do not have the option of
running other than HOD).
Regards,
Steve Thompson
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