IBM Rational Host Access Transformation Services, Version 7.5.1

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Thank you for choosing Host Access Transformation Services (HATS). For the latest information, visit the Host Access Transformation Services Information Center. For the Resource Library, Discussion Forums, Blogs, and more, visit the HATS HotSpot.

Information about HATS support is found at the HATS Product support Web page.

Release notes

Description

With IBM(R) Rational(R) Host Access Transformation Services (HATS) Version 7.5.1, you can create Web applications, including portlets, and rich client applications that provide an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for your 3270 host applications running on IBM System z(R) platforms and your 5250 host applications running on IBM i platforms. HATS applications can access 5250 applications without requiring Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) capacity. You can also create service-oriented architecture (SOA) assets using Web services that provide standard programming interfaces to business logic and transactions contained within host applications. Data from virtual terminal (VT) emulation screens can also be accessed.

HATS applications can be given a modern appearance. HATS Web applications, including portlets, can be developed with an interface that matches your company's Web or portal pages, and your users can access them through their Web browsers. HATS Web applications can also be developed to provide access to your host applications from mobile devices such as cellular phones, data collection terminals, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

HATS rich client applications can be developed to run in an Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) implementation, in Lotus Notes(R), or in the Lotus(R) Expeditor Client to provide native client applications targeted for a user's desktop.

With the WebFacing Tool as an installable feature of HATS, you can also create Web and portlet applications for your 5250 applications by converting, during development, data description specification (DDS) display file source members into a Web-based user interface. The tool has user-friendly wizards that facilitate selecting your original application's source members, converting the source, and deploying the new browser-based interface to your program as a Web application. HATS and WebFacing applications can be combined into a single Web application using both types of transformations.

This document contains information that became available too late for inclusion in the publications or the help. This document also contains important support information.

Supported hardware and software

Supported hardware and software requirements for HATS are located in the following document: Rational Host Access Transformation Services V7.5 - Supported Platform Summary.

Updates, limitations, and known problems

Updates, limitations, and known problems about HATS are documented in the form of technical notes on the IBM Software Support Web site http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/hats/support/index.html. Technical notes for WebFacing can be found on the IBM Software Support Web site.

As limitations and problems are discovered and resolved, the IBM Software Support team updates the knowledge base. By searching the knowledge base, you can quickly find solutions to problems that you experience. The following link launches a customized query of the live Support knowledge base. To create your own query, go to the Advanced search page on the IBM Software Support Web site:

View all technical notes for Host Access Transformation Services.

The following known problem exists with HATS V7.5.1:

Widgets do not display correctly in the Page Designer.

This problem occurs with HATS V7.5.1 and Rational Application Developer V7.5.5. When adding certain widgets to a HATS transformation, the widgets do not display correctly in the Page Designer's Design and Split views. The widgets display correctly on the Preview tab and during runtime.

Contacting IBM Software Support

Before you submit your problem to IBM Software Support, ensure that your company has an active IBM software maintenance contract, and that you are authorized to submit problems to IBM. The type of software maintenance contract that you need depends on the type of product you have:

If you are not sure what type of software maintenance contract you need, call 1-800-IBMSERV (1-800-426-7378) in the United States. From other countries, go to the "Contacts" page of the IBM Software Support Handbook at http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/handbook/contacts.html and click the name of your geographic region for phone numbers of people who provide support for your location.

To contact IBM Software support, follow these steps:

  1. Determine the business impact of your problem.
  2. Describe your problem and gather background information.
  3. Submit your problem to IBM Software Support.

Determine the business impact of your problem

When you report a problem to IBM, you are asked to supply a severity level. Therefore, you need to understand and assess the business impact of the problem that you are reporting. Use the following criteria:

Severity 1 The problem has a critical business impact: You are unable to use the program, resulting in a critical impact on operations. This condition requires an immediate solution.
Severity 2 This problem has a significant business impact: The program is usable, but it is severely limited.
Severity 3 The problem has some business impact: The program is usable, but less significant features (not critical to operations) are unavailable.
Severity 4 The problem has minimal business impact: The problem causes little impact on operations, or a reasonable circumvention to the problem was implemented.

Describe your problem and gather background information

When describing a problem to IBM, be as specific as possible. Include all relevant background information so that IBM Software Support specialists can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:

Submit your problem

You can submit your problem to IBM Software Support in one of two ways:

If the problem you submit is for a software defect or for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Software Support creates an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Software Support provides a work around that you can implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes resolved APARs on the Software Support Web site daily, so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit from the same resolution.

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