Create a Session From a Microsoft Excel Macro
Quick Start > Create a Session From a Microsoft Excel Macro

You can create an InfoConnect session from another application that supports VBA.

Visual Basic uses a standard set of protocols called Automation (or OLE Automation) that allows one application to communicate with other applications. Any application that supports Automation can communicate with any other application. This means that an InfoConnect session can communicate with other InfoConnect sessions, Microsoft Office products, stand-alone Visual Basic, or any other product that supports Automation.

This example shows how to create an InfoConnect session from an Excel macro.

Open InfoConnect from an Excel Macro

  1. In a Microsoft Excel worksheet, open the Visual Basic Editor and insert a new code module. 
  2. On the Excel VBA Editor Tools menu, select References and then select the following InfoConnect Libraries:
    • Attachmate_Reflection_Objects
    • Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Emulation_IbmHosts (if you want to create an IBM session)
    • Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Emulation_OpenSystems (if you want to create an Open Systems session)
    • Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Framework
                     
  3. Copy the following code into your new code module.
    Open a InfoConnect Session from Excel
    Copy Code 
    Private Sub CreateReflectionIBMSession()
    'Declare an object variable for the InfoConnect application object:
    Dim app As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Framework.ApplicationObject
     
    'Declare frame, terminal, and view object variables:
    Dim frame As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects.frame
    Dim terminal As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Emulation_IbmHosts.IbmTerminal
    Dim view As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects.view
       
    'If InfoConnect is already open, get a handle to it
    On Error Resume Next
    Set app = GetObject("InfoConnect Workspace")
       
    'Otherwise, create a new instance of InfoConnect     On Error GoTo 0
    If IsEmpty(app) Or (app Is Nothing) Then
        Set app = New Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Framework.ApplicationObject
    End If
   
    With app
        'Wait until InfoConnect is initalized
        Do While .IsInitialized = False
            .Wait 200
        Loop
       
        'Get a handle to the frame
        Set frame = .GetObject("Frame")
       
        'Make the frame visible so we can view the workspace
        frame.Visible = True
    End With
   
    'Create an Ibm3270 control and set the host address
    Set terminal = app.CreateControl2("{09E5A1B4-0BA6-4546-A27D-FE4762B7ACE1}")
    terminal.HostAddress = "demo:ibm3270.sim"
    terminal.Port = "623"
   
    'For a 5250 ibmterminal control, use the following Guid:
    'Set terminal = app.CreateControl2("{AF03A446-F278-4624-B9EF-C896DF2CA1CA}" )

    'Create a view to display the session
    Set view = frame.CreateView(terminal)
End Sub
    Open a InfoConnect Session from Excel
    Copy Code 
    Private Sub CreateReflectionOpenSystemsSession()
    'Declare an object variable for the InfoConnect object:
    Dim app As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Framework.ApplicationObject
      
    'Declare frame, terminal, and view object variables:
    Dim frame As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects.frame
    Dim terminal As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Emulation_OpenSystems.terminal
    Dim view As Attachmate_Reflection_Objects.view
        
    'If InfoConnect is already open, get a handle to it
    On Error Resume Next
    Set app = GetObject("InfoConnect Workspace")
                                   
    'Otherwise, create a new instance of InfoConnect     On Error GoTo 0
    If IsEmpty(app) Or (app Is Nothing) Then
        Set app = New Attachmate_Reflection_Objects_Framework.ApplicationObject
    End If
   
    With app
       'wait until InfoConnect is initialized
        Do While .IsInitialized = False
            .Wait 200
        Loop

        'Get a handle to the frame object.
        Set frame = .GetObject("Frame")
       
        'Make the frame visible so we can view the workspace
        frame.Visible = True
   
    End With
   
    'Create a terminal control and set the host address
    Set terminal = app.CreateControl2("{BE835A80-CAB2-40d2-AFC0-6848E486BF58}")
   
    'Create a Telnet connection and set the host address
    terminal.ConnectionSettingsTelnet.HostAddress = "yourHostName"

    'Create a view so that we can display the session
    Set view = frame.CreateView(terminal)

End Sub
                                   
  4. If you are using the Open Systems sample, change the placeholder on the line of code that specifies the HostAddress to your host name or IP address.
  5. Place the cursor in the code window and then press F5 to run the macro.

Concepts

To create a session from another application, you'll need to use the InfoConnect ApplicationObject, Frame, View, and terminal objects.

  • ApplicationObject is the InfoConnect application.
  • The Frame object is the top-level user interface component for the workspace and it can be used to control the display of the workspace and to create views for the terminal controls running in the workspace.
  • The IbmTerminal (or Terminal) object is the top level control for the new session.
  • The View object represents the user interface aspect of the new session. To display the session, we need to create a View Object for the terminal.

For more about these objects, see Using the InfoConnect Object Model.

This sample uses the CreateControl2 method to create the terminal control for the session. This method returns the appropriate terminal control for the GUID value that you pass to it. Each type of terminal supported by InfoConnect has a unique GUID, as shown below:

Terminal Control GUID
Ibm 3270 {09E5A1B4-0BA6-4546-A27D-FE4762B7ACE1}
Ibm 5250 {AF03A446-F278-4624-B9EF-C896DF2CA1CA} 
VT (Open Systems) {BE835A80-CAB2-40d2-AFC0-6848E486BF58}
Web {F1F058B1-0472-4095-A782-3D7333813AD0}

 

The terminal control is used to set the host address. For IBM sessions, you can also use it to set the port.

terminal.HostAddress = "demo:ibm3270.sim"
terminal.Port = "623"


For Open Systems sessions, you will need to set the type of connection you want to use and then specify the host address. InfoConnect supports a number of connection types, including Telnet and SSH.

'Create a Telnet connection and set the host address
terminal.ConnectionSettingsTelnet.HostAddress = "yourHostName"


 

See Also