x3270if(1)

NAME

x3270if - command interface to x3270, c3270 and s3270

SYNOPSIS

x3270if [option]... [ action ]
x3270if -i

DESCRIPTION

x3270if provides an interface between scripts and the 3270

emulators x3270, c3270, and s3270.

x3270if operates in one of two modes. In action mode, it

passes a single action and parameters to the emulator for execu

tion. The result of the action is written to standard output,

along with the (optional) status of the emulator. (The action is

optional as well, so that x3270if can just reports the emulator

status.) In iterative mode, it forms a continuous conduit be

tween a script and the emulator.

The action takes the form:

action-name(param[,param]...)

The parentheses are manatory, and usually must be quoted

when x3270if is called from a shell script.

If any param contains a space or comma, it must be sur

rounded by double quotes.

OPTIONS

-s field

Causes x3270if to write to stdout the value of one

of the emulator status fields. Field is an integer in the range

0 through 11. The value 0 is a no-op and is used only to return

exit status indicating the state of the emulator. The indices

1-11 and meanings of each field are documented on the

x3270-script(1) manual page. If an action is specified as well,

the status field is written after the output of the action, sepa

rated by a newline. The -s option is mutually exclusive with the

-S and -i options.

-S Causes x3270if to write to stdout the value of all

of the emulator status fields. If an action is specified as

well, the status fields are written after the output of the ac

tion, separated by a newline. The -S option is mutually exclu

sive with the -s and -i options.

-i Puts x3270if in iterative mode. Data from

x3270if's standard input is copied to the emulator's script in

put; data from the emulator's script output is copied to

x3270if's standard output. The -i option is mutually exclusive

with the -s and -S options. x3270if runs until it detects end

of-file on its standard input or on the output from the emulator.

(This mode exists primarily to give expect(1) a process to run,

on systems which do not support bidirectional pipes.)

-v Turns on verbose debug messages, showing on stderr

the literal data that is passed between the emulator and x3270if.

EXIT STATUS

In action mode, if the requested action succeeds, x3270if

exits with status 0. If the action fails, x3270if exits with

status 1. In iterative mode, x3270if exits with status 0 when it

encounters end-of-file. If there is an operational error within

x3270if itself, such as a command-line syntax error, missing en

vironment variable, or an unexpectedly closed pipe, x3270if exits

with status 2.

ENVIRONMENT

x3270, c3270, and s3270 use a pair of pipes for communica

tion with each child process. The values of the file descriptors

for these pipes are encoded as text in two environment variables,

which are required by x3270if:

X3270OUTPUT

Output from the emulator, input to the child pro

cess.

X3270INPUT

Input to the emulator, output from the child pro

cess.

SEE ALSO

x3270(1), c3270(1), s3270(1), x3270-script(1)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 by Paul Mattes.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute

this software and its documentation for any purpose and without

fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice

appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this

permission notice appear in supporting documentation.

10 April 2005

X3270IF(1)