How to establish Terminal connection for IBM Application running *.hod profiles

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Hi All,
Normally, in the automation of AS/400 Terminals (which is saved as *.ws Profile)
we can establish connection to existing session using Provider = “IBM EHLLAPI”
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With this, we can utilize the functions in the UiPath.Terminal.Activities package,
like get screen area, set field at position, etc

May i know, how to establish the terminal connection, if the application is using the *.HOD profile
I tried to use the UiPath Internal, with given IP address with port and TN5250, and still fail to establish the connection

Thanks in advance

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I am unable to edit my earlier post

Add On some info on the application settings
It is using IBM Client Solutions
Capture001

Protocol : Telnet/SSL

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Hi @sashiraja .
IBM Access Client Solutions is a Java App and EHLL bridge is a native DLL.

IBM supports using it, but it needs be installed from the IBM site and then the terminal needs to be launched with it enabled.
The install should be downloaded from here: https://www-01.ibm.com/marketing/iwm/iwm/web/preLogin.do?source=swg-ia
Should look like so:

image2018-12-10_12-24-45
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By default it should go into " *c:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\EHLLAPI* " after install, note this location.

Then, we need to start Client Solution with the bridge enabled, note the command line and arguments I use and adjust them to your environment:

"C:\Users\cornel.dumitrascu\IBM\ClientSolutions\Start_Programs\Windows_i386-32\ acslaunch_win-32.exe " /PLUGIN=PCS -vm "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_181 "

Let’s break it down:
acslaunch_win-32.exe - ensures we are running Access Client Solutions 32-bit

/PLUGIN=PCS - it’s a parameter that tells Access Client Solutions to turn the Programmable Interface on, in some cases this might be needed, so to be on the safe side start it anyway.

-vm "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_181 " - this argument is one more safety measure to enforce that Access Client Solutions starts with a 32-bit Java Runtime Environment for sure (the path you give within quotes has to be valid on your machine and a true 32-bit Java Runtime must reside there)

The above process runs in background and the Java must be, AFAIK, 32-bit (I don’t think this works on 64, although I heard IBM might’ve added the support for it as well).

You can then start the HOD profile and when making the EHLL connection, use the folder where the bridge was installed (in my example here it was " *c:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\EHLLAPI* ").

Hope this helps.

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@sashiraja,

Here’s IBM recommendation as well, pretty much same deal as what i wrote, but maybe it has other details as well: EHLLAPI With the Access Client Solutions Emulator

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Hi cornel,
Thank you for the steps.
As for the project, i have already completed it using another workaround.

Since my system do not have this IBM application, i am unable to test out your methods as of now.
However, I will try to test, once i resume back that project, or any project that uses HOD

Thanks again

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@sashiraja - what workaround were you using? We used to be using .ws profiles, but have been forced to update to .hod instead and need to update all of our existing workflows to accomodate it.

Would you be able to post an update on how to launch using the uipath terminal connection?

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Hi @Dave,
Indeed yes, it seems that many organizations are migrating from .ws profile to .hod profiles.

As Uipath didn’t have direct integration of HOD profiles, hence the terminal application couldn’t be used as it is with WS, yet… i believe.

As per the workaround, i used or relied on couple of ways

  1. Uipath able to open the application and click identify on the whole window,
    hence i utilize the Send Hotkeys (Tab/Enter) and Type Into text
  2. Also in some instances I capture the text at a specified location, using the OCR text capture to
    identify the messages

This may not be a complete solution, but able to get the process done for the moment.
Until HOD integration is available in UiPath Terminal.

In the meantime, @cornel did gave me a solution for the HOD above
But i am unable to test it out, as the project already completed and i dont have any access with IBM HOD application to test it out.

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I found a stable and efficient alternatives.
In recent Terminal Activities, version 2.01 onwards (if not mistaken)
We can opt for Direct connection to the Terminal Server using IP and Port 23 (Telnet)
It is and tested & deployed in production env.

Only drawback is that, if you need to use UI automation to click any buttons in IBM HOD application, then you need startup the application to do so.
I do recommend for alternative way to perform the button actions, if possible
either use IBM i-Series or etc

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