TN5250j

TN5250j is a Telnet emulator developed in Java that comes packed with advanced features for the 5250 datastream.

There are three modes available for working with the emulator, Basic that most emulators have implemented, Enhanced (it integrates masked edit fields, cursor progression fields and other handy features), as well as GUI mode for turning the bland green-screen into a Windows GUI. Plus, you can make use of command-line options.

It comes with a set of notable features for revealing non-displayable characters (a correct format for data that looks like 5250 stream commands) and working with a character counter (so you can check out the number of characters for a bounded area).

You can make use of several features, such message notifications when a task is ended, hot spots, keyboard shortcuts, attribute settings for screen/session, file transfer from host, as well as script writing capabilities for the Python language.

TN5250j gives you the possibility to check out a list with all default key bindings for performing different actions, such as connect or disconnect the terminal, print data, display attributes, copy/paste data, reveal messages, enable a new session, transfer files, as well as go to the next or previous session.

There’s also support for right-click options on sessions, namely copy/paste data, print the information, work with macros, export data, manage connections and close the current session.

You are allowed to issue a system request to the AS400 system, display a HEX map of ASCII characters that can be inserted in the current filed, remap the keys of the emulator, alter the font, colors, cursor size and column separator, and select the spool file to export.

TN5250j doesn’t let you down when it comes to the multitude of parameters that you can experiment with. It includes an applet that can be embedded in the web browser and lets you send the screen via email and export the file from the AS400 host to HTML, Open Office, Excel, or KSpread KDE spreadsheet files.

Last but not least, you can record and execute macros, tweak proxy parameters, and allow scripting using the Python language (via the Jython library).

TN5250j proves to be a handy emulator that integrates a powerful suite of features, and is suitable especially for power users. If you want to skip the installation steps, you can download the portable version of the program.