Macros

The Macros tab shows information about the Connect macro, the Disconnect macro, and the checkin screen. Both macros are optional. This information is on a separate tab from the pooling information because these macros can still be applied even if pooling is disabled.

Select the connect and disconnect macros from the Connect macro and Disconnect macro drop-down lists.

A Connect macro is run automatically when the connection is initially created. The only prompts allowed in a connect macro are those that can be satisfied by a user list or by using Web Express Logon. If pooling is enabled, the connect macro will be run when the ZIETrans server initializes, otherwise the connect macro will be run when a user makes the first request to the ZIETrans application (typically in the Connect event).
Note: If you need to have an automatic sign-on macro run using the user's credentials, you can add a play macro action to the connect event instead of using a connect macro here. Macros run using the play macro action can satisfy prompts interactively or with global variables initialized during the start event, for example.

A Disconnect macro is run automatically when the connection is destroyed. No prompts are allowed in a disconnect macro. If pooling is enabled, the disconnect macro will be run when the ZIETrans server is shut down, otherwise the disconnect macro will be run when the ZIETrans application releases the connection back to the system (typically in the Disconnect event).

A Checkin screen describes the screen a connection must be on to be placed into the pool. It is only enabled if pooling is enabled. Typically, the checkin screen is the same as the exit screen of the connect macro, and this also matches the entry screen of the disconnect macro.

The checkin screen section will be available only if you have enabled pooling on the Pooling tab. If you have enabled pooling, the checkin screen section has three options:
  • Use first exit screen of Connect macro. This is the recommended option.
  • Use a specific screen of Connect macro where you have the option of selecting a screen macro from the drop-down list.
  • Use different screen recognition criteria based on a previously captured screen allows you to use different screen recognition criteria for the checkin screen based on a previously captured screen which you select from the drop-down list.
You can also specify recognition criteria for the checkin screen. For instructions on how to define screen recognition criteria, see Screen Recognition Criteria or Begin Screen.
Note: A poorly-defined checkin screen will render your pool useless. Adding definitive recognition criteria is highly recommended.

For more information about macros, see Macros and host terminal. If you use a connect macro, you can set up a user list to specify the list of users who can use the connection.