LOCAL COPY PLUS
Key features:
- Copies or prints IMS/ESA screen images to one or more IMS/ESA terminals
- Provides initial IMS/ESA signon or application format, making access easier for users
- Provides a news facility through a read-only bulletin board for the local IMS/ESA user community
- Provides a broadcast news facility to electronically send news items to all or selected end users
Overview
Many types of printers and terminals exist in the IMS/ESA enterprise for IMS, creating communication problems for printing. Hardware costs are high because a 3270 printer is needed on every control unit. The hardware-provided print function has limited usefulness with controller-attached local printers, which increases application printer programming efforts.
In addition, inexperienced users may have a hard time remembering complicated IMS/ESA transaction codes to access their applications.
The Challenge
Users of IMS/ESA installations need to easily copy IMS/ESA images to an IMS/ESA or JES printer or another IMS/ESA terminal, regardless of model type. Simpler access to IMS/ESA is needed to decrease user learning curves and increase productivity.
Solution – Local Copy Plus
The LOCAL COPY PLUS product for IMS from BMC Software enhances communication compatibility of IMS/ESA broadcast messages to printers and terminals, while providing features that simplify user access.
LOCAL COPY PLUS reduces costs by eliminating the need for a 3270 printer on every control unit.
LOCAL COPY PLUS also provides an easy method of sending screen images anywhere within the IMS network and lowers programming efforts for hard copy output.
To increase information to end users, online news information is created and maintained by the installation. Broadcast news can be created, edited and sent to all or selected users.
LOCAL COPY PLUS provides important benefits for IMS/ESA users, including:
- Directs 3270 VTAM screen images to one or more IMS printers, JES spool, VM users or IMS display stations
- Automatically presents an installation-defined signon or application format, making access to IMS/ESA easier for most users
- Presents a news facility that can present items of interest to end users via user access at any time during an IMS/ESA session, or by automatically displaying them during the IMS/ESA logon/signon procedure
- Provides an editable broadcast news facility to send urgent news items to all or selected users
Copy/print benefits
The copy/print feature includes an installation-defined copy key. When pressed by users, this copy key processes the copy request.
Copy requests can be initiated from and to terminals regardless of type. The requests can be initiated from model 2, 3, 4 or 5 terminals and sent to IMS/ESA or JES printers or terminals. LOCAL COPY PLUS automatically formats the copy for the receiving terminal.
Screen images sent to printers or terminals can be preceded with a header page that identifies the sender, and can provide the sender's room number as well as the date and time the copy was sent.
Individual users may control their own print options. They can specify whether there should be a header page or response with copy requests, or whether the header page or copy should be preceded by a page eject when sent to a printer. Users can enable or disable the PF key assigned as the copy key if it is required for another application.
All copy requests are examined by the LOCAL COPY PLUS user exit, which will prevent the copying of formats considered to be confidential.
First-time users will automatically be prompted to provide individual copy options when they press the copy key. This automatic prompt is specified only by the system administrator.
Other features
- Format Feature – LOCAL COPY PLUS can optionally provide an initial IMS/ESA format for 3270 VTAM end users as they log on. The format can include an IMS/ESA signon format or, if signon is not required by your installation, the LOCAL COPY PLUS news facility or an application format.
- News Facility – can be used to create and maintain an information resource for the local user community. When the news facility is selected from the primary menu, users are presented with a selection of general and group news items, and can select one to read in a manner similar to browsing a PDS under ISPF. News items are created by the system administrator and are limited in length only by space available in the LOCAL COPY PLUS PDX data set. Items can be edited and imported from other data sets.
- Broadcast News Facility – works with the LOCAL COPY PLUS news facility to present users with information of urgent importance. News items up to 14 lines in length can be broadcast to one user, a group of selected users, all active users or all users. Messages can be created and edited outside the IMS/ESA environment and sent only when they are correct. This facility allows broadcast to all Virtual Terminals. Specific messages sent with the broadcast command can be suppressed at selected destinations to prevent broadcast messages from interfering with printers containing special forms.