HP3000
Bus ness
Servers
6
SNA IMF/iX Interactive
Mainframe Facility
The SNA Interactive Mainframe Facility/iX (SNA IMF/iX)
product provides IBM 3270 device emulation for
Hewlett-Packard terminals, printers, and HP 3000 Series
900 systems. (SNA IMF/V, P/N 30247A, provides similar
functionality for MPE V systems.)
SNA IMF/iX on an HP 3000 Series 900 allows interactive
communications between the HP 3000 and an IBM
System/ 370-compatible mainframe using SNA 3270
protocols. SNA IMF/iX emulates the base function set of
an IBM 3270 control unit using SNA Physical Unit Type
2 (PU2 or 2.1), Logical Unit Types 1,2,3 (LU1, 2,3)
protocols. HP terminals, printers, and applications on
the HP 3000 running SNA IMF/iX emulate IBM terminal
and printer functions.
SNA IMF/iX allows access to 3270 subsystems on the
mainframe (such as TSO, CICS, and IMS) through a set
of high-level intrinsics. There are two modes of
operation. In programmatic mode, customer-written
application programs on the HP 3000 emulate IBM 3270
terminals and printers, exchanging data with the host
Features
•
SNA IMF/iX and an SNA Link product
allow the HP 3000 to emulate the base
function set of an IBM 3270 control unit
using SNA (PU2 or 2.1, LU1, 2, 3)
protocols.
•
Other HP SNA service products can all
be supported simultaneously over one
SNA/SDLC Link/iX or SNA/X.25 Link/iX.
The maximum datacomm line speed is
64 KB/s.
•
SNA IMF/iX supports up to 127 devices
(terminals, printers, and application
programs) concurrently. With MPE/iX
Release 4.0 or later, SNA IMF/iX
supports up to 127 devices per SNA Link.
•
The Pass Thru capability of SNA IMF/iX
allows HP 3000-attached printers and
terminals to emulate the base function
set of IBM 3270 printers and terminals.
•
SNA IMF/iX Pass Thru takes advantage
of the Modified Data Tag feature of
selected HP terminals (such as the HP
700/94) and supports a write
optimization feature that limits screen
updating to modified rows only. These
features significantly reduce response
time.
•
SNA IMF/iX provides a “rolling softkeys”
feature that allows the user to define
and label multiple levels of terminal
function keys to be their most
frequently used IBM 3270 program
function keys. Users can also define
various “menus” of function keys that
are clearly displayed in the terminal
screen. The SNA IMF Programmer’s
Reference Manual documents the
terminals supporting this feature, some
of which provide up to 16 softkeys on
the screen at a time.
•
Terminals/printers being used in the
PassThru mode do not have to be
dedicated. The user may access either
the HP 3000 or the remote host from
the same terminal.
IBM Mainframe
Processor
Communications
Controller
SNA Link(s)
SNA
IMF/iX
Other HP
SNA Services
HP 3000/iX
IBM 3274
Control Unit
Up to 127 SNA IMF/iX Devices
– HP Terminals
– HP 3000 Programs
– HP 3000 Printers
Up to 32 IBM Devices
– IBM Terminals
– IBM Printers
ACF/VTAM
ACF/NCP
