Understanding ZIETrans key concepts and objects
This section explains key concepts and objects of ZIETrans, some of which are described in Understanding ZIETrans application processing. Many key objects in ZIETrans are created using a wizard, but are viewed or modified after creation using an editor.
- Project
- A collection of ZIETrans resources (also called artifacts) that are created using ZIETrans Toolkit wizards and customized using ZIETrans Toolkit editors. These resources are exported as a ZIETrans application. There are five types of ZIETrans projects: Web, EJB and for purposes of administering ZIETrans Web (including and EJB) applications, ZIETrans administrative console projects. For more information see Developing and deploying ZIETrans Web applications.
- Event
- A ZIETrans resource that performs a set of actions based on a certain state being reached. There are two types of ZIETrans events, application events and screen events.
- Application event
- A ZIETrans event that is triggered by state changes in the application's life cycle. Examples of application events include a user first accessing a ZIETrans application (a Start event), or an application encountering an unrecognized screen (an Unmatched Screen event). For more information see Application events.
- Screen event
- A ZIETrans event that is triggered when a host screen is recognized by matching specific screen recognition criteria. There are two types of screen events, screen customizations and screen combinations.
- Screen customization
- A ZIETrans screen event designed to perform a set of actions when a host screen is recognized. Examples of screen customizations include recognizing a screen and transforming it into a GUI for the user or playing a macro to skip the screen. The screen customization definition includes a set of screen recognition criteria and a list of actions to be taken when a host screen matches the screen recognition criteria. Screen-level global rules and text replacement settings are also included. For more information see Working with screen events.
- Screen combination
- A ZIETrans screen event designed to gather output data from consecutive, similar host screens, combine it, and display it in a single output page. An example of a screen combination includes recognizing a screen that contains only partial data and navigating through all subsequent screens to gather all of the remaining data to display for the user. The screen combination definition includes a set of screen recognition criteria for both the beginning and ending screens to be combined, how to navigate from screen to screen, and the component and widget to use to recognize and render the data gathered from each screen. Also, it includes a list actions to be performed one or more times, screen-level global rules and text replacement settings. For more information see Working with screen events.
- Screen recognition criteria
- When you
create a screen event, you set screen recognition criteria that ZIETrans uses to match one or more
screens. Host screens can be recognized by any combination of criteria including how
many fields or input fields are on the screen, the coordinates of the cursor's position,
and text strings on the screen within a defined rectangle or anywhere on the screen. You
can also use global variables, color, compare region to value and compare region to
region criteria for screen recognition criteria.
When a host displays a screen, ZIETrans determines whether the current host screen matches any of the screen recognition criteria you set in any screen event in your project. If ZIETrans finds a match, the defined actions for the screen event are performed.
For more information about setting screen recognition criteria, see Screen Recognition Criteria or Begin Screen.
- Action
- A step that is taken when an event occurs, such as when a host screen is encountered that matches the screen recognition criteria that is specified for a screen event. A list of actions is part of the definition of each application event and screen event.
- Transformation
- A JavaServer Pages (JSP) file
(for Web projects) that defines how host components should be extracted and displayed
using widgets in a GUI. Applying a transformation is one of the possible actions
of a screen event. You can edit transformations in a WYSIWYG fashion, dragging ZIETrans
components from the palette, and modifying settings from the ZIETrans Properties view.
For more information about creating transformations, see Working with transformations.
- Host components
- Host components are ZIETrans objects that are
responsible for recognizing elements of the host screen (such as command lines,
function keys, and so on) that you present to the user of the ZIETrans application. You can use
the set of host components that
ZIETrans supplies, or you
can create your own.
For more information about selecting host components to use with your ZIETrans project, see Insert Host Component.
For more information about using the wizard to create custom components and widgets, see the Creating custom components and widgets.
- Widgets
- Widgets are ZIETrans objects that are
responsible for creating the GUI output for host components in the ZIETrans presentation. For example,
you can convert function key host components into button widgets allowing the user to see the
function keys as push buttons in the ZIETrans application. You can use
the widgets that come with
ZIETrans, or you can create
your own.
For more information about selecting widgets to use with your ZIETrans project, see Insert Host Component.
For more information about using the wizard to create custom components and widgets, see the Creating custom components and widgets.
- Connection
- A set of parameters used by ZIETrans to connect to host applications. There are two types of connections in ZIETrans, default (also referred to as transformation) and background. Each ZIETrans application has one default connection for the host application whose screens ZIETrans will transform. Background connections are any connections in a ZIETrans application other than the default connection. ZIETrans does not transform screens from background connections. It is possible, however, to dynamically choose which connection will be treated as the default connection. For more information, see Managing connections.
- Global rules
- Rules specifying the screen-level or project-level replacement of a certain type of host
input field with a particular widget using transformation fragments. The transformation
fragment contains the content you want to use to replace all
occurrences of a pattern in any given transformation. Note: Global rules can be turned off for a particular usage of a transformation by editing the transformation action of a screen event.
For more information, see Rendering.
- Default rendering
- The method used by ZIETrans to render a host screen for which no specific screen event exists. Default rendering can also be used in a specific transformation to apply to a defined area of a host screen. For more information, see Rendering.
- Text replacement
- Text replacement is used at the project level or the screen level to transform text on your host screens into images, HTML (Web-only), or other text on your GUI transformation. For more information, see Text replacement.
- Template
- A JSP file (for Web projects) that enables you
to enhance the appearance of your project. When creating a ZIETrans project, you select a template to
use as the default template for your project. The template can contain company logos and
information and links to other pages. You can select your default from the sample
templates that are provided with ZIETrans, or you can design custom
templates for your projects using the template wizard and editor in the
ZIETrans Toolkit. You can also create a
template prefilled from an existing file, or for Web projects,
prefilled from a URL.
In the GUI, the template surrounds the area where the transformation appears. You can apply a template other than the default template as a result of a screen event. For more information about associating a template with a transformation, see Using templates.
- Business logic
- Any Java™ code that is
invoked as an action in an event, such as a screen customization. Business logic is
specific to the application.
For more information about business logic, see the Adding or Integrating business logic.
- Global variable
- A
variable that is used to store a value that can be used throughout the lifetime of a ZIETrans application instance. The value of a global variable can be
extracted from a host screen or defined by the developer. Global variables can be used
in templates, transformations, screen event actions, or recognition
criteria. They can also be shared among Web applications in an
enterprise archive (.ear) file. Global variables can be indexed and can also be
used in macros, business logic, and Integration Objects.
For more information about global variables, see Interacting with global variables.
- Macro
- An XML script that defines a set
of screens and certain actions that should be taken on those screens. Use macros to
automate user interactions with the host. You can record and play macros to skip
screens, loop, prompt users for data input (or insert data yourself or with global
variables), and extract host screen information. Macros can be used in different ways in a ZIETrans application:
- A macro can be played on the default connection as part of a Play macro action of a ZIETrans event. It must be the last action that is defined for a screen event.
- A macro can be played on a background connection as part of a Perform macro transaction action of a ZIETrans event.
- A macro can be played by adding Macro buttons to a transformation. This enables a user to control whether the macro is played or not.
- A macro can be played by an Integration Object.
- A connect macro can be used to prime a connection.
- A disconnect macro can be used to clean up a connection.
- Integration Objects
- Java objects that are created
from a macro that can be used as building blocks for WebSphere® applications. Integration Objects
are Java beans that encapsulate interactions with
host data
sources. These data sources include terminal-oriented applications that use 3270,
5250, and video terminal (VT) data.
Integration Objects sharing the same connection can be grouped together to achieve a single major task within your ZIETrans application. This is called Integration Object chaining. For more information, see Using Integration Objects.
- Host terminal
- A connection in the ZIETrans Toolkit to a live host. Using the host terminal, you can capture screens, create screen events and transformations, and record and edit macros. You can also play previously recorded or imported macros. The host terminal also allows you to preview your screen as a GUI.
- Display terminal
- A terminal window that displays host screens you can use while testing and debugging to observe interactions between a ZIETrans application and a host application at runtime. You can also interact with the host application using host screens in the terminal window. For more information about the display terminal, see Using display terminal for testing and debugging.
- Screen capture
- An XML representation of a host screen, stored in a .hsc file,
used to create or customize a screen customization, screen combination,
transformation, global rule, or macro. Screen
captures are useful because they enable you to develop
a ZIETrans project even when not connected to the host. They are also useful in creating macros which are the
core of ZIETrans Integration Object and Web services support.
Screen captures of video terminal (VT) host screens can be used to create or customize a macro using the Visual Macro Editor and as the check-in screen when configuring pooling. They cannot be used to create screen customizations, screen combinations, transformations, default rendering, or global rules.
- Run on Server (Web-only)
- A function in Eclipse that enables you to test your ZIETrans Web projects in a WebSphere Application Server or WebSphere Portal instance, as appropriate. In this mode you can modify and test the runtime settings, defined in the runtime.properties file, that are deployed to the runtime environment. Be aware that any changes made to the runtime settings while testing in this mode are retained and become effective when you deploy the ZIETrans application to a runtime environment. For more information about changing runtime settings, see Administering problem determination components.
- Debug on Server (Web-only)
- Same as Run on Server, and in addition enables you to:
- Use the display terminal to see host screens as they are navigated while testing your project.
- See debug messages in the Eclipse console.
- See changes you make to your project, for example changing the template or a transformation, without having to restart your application on the test server.
- Modify and test runtime settings, defined in the runtime-debug.properties file, without modifying the settings, defined in the runtime.properties file, that are deployed to the runtime environment.
- Step through Java code, such as ZIETrans business logic.
- Profile on Server (Web-only)
- Same as Run on Server, and in addition enables you to locate the operations that require the most time, and identify actions that are repeated, to eliminate redundancy. You can use this function for performance analysis, helping you to get a better understanding of your application.
- Print support
- The ability for a developer to specify a printer session to
be associated with a host session, and enable the user to view host
application print jobs, send them to a printer, or save them to disk. Print
support is available only for the default connection.
For more information about print support, see Enabling print support.
- Keyboard support
- The ability for a developer to enable a user to use a physical
keyboard to interact with the host when the application is run in
a GUI. The developer also decides whether to
include a host keypad, an application keypad, or both, in a project.
If the keypads are included, the developer decides which keys are
included and how those keys and the keypad appear in the GUI.
For more information about keyboard support, see Enabling keyboard support.
- Keypad support
- The host keypad is a table of buttons or links that enable users
to interact with the host as if they pressed the physical keys on
a keyboard. However, the users can still use the physical keys on
the keyboard instead of the buttons or links on the host keypad. For
more information about host keypad, see Host keypad
The application keypad is a table of buttons or links that enable users to perform tasks that are related to the ZIETrans application, such as viewing their print jobs or refreshing the screen. For more information about application keypad, see Application keypad.