Keyboard Plugin

Webulator/400 Beta Keyboard Plugin Instructions

This Netscape plugin provides keyboard support for Webulator/400.

These instructions accompany the beta 1 version of the Windows 3.1 zip file and the Windows 95/NT zip file. The instructions are the same for both versions.

Last revision November 25, 1996

Table of Contents

Supported Browsers

Because keyboard support is implemented as a Netscape plugin, it is platform specific and must be tested with each browser. The supported browsers are:

Installing The Plugin

Ensure the Server Code is Up-to-date

You must either be running Webulator 1.1a or install a Webulator PTF. You can check your webulator version by typing: 
DSPDTAARA DTAARA(WWWSERVER/VERSIONWBL)
You can get the PTF at ftp://ftp.inetmi.com/pub/webulate/wbl110001.txt.

Download the Plugin

You will need to download different files for Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. Pick the platform you have below:

Windows 3.1 zip file or Windows 95/NT zip file.

Close Your Browser

You must close your browser before the next step. The plugin will not be recognized until you close your browser and restart it.

Unzip the Plugin

Using pkunzip or WinZip, unzip the file you downloaded. Place the DLL into your plugins directory. The plugins directory exists below the directory where your browser program file (EXE) is. The exact directory depends on which browser you use and how you installed it. Some example directories are: 
"c:\Program Files\Netscape\Navigator\Programs\plugins"
"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Internet\plugins"
c:\netscape\plugins

Make Sure the Browser Recognizes the Plugin

Restart your browser and choose Help|About plugins from the menu. If you are using Netscape Navigator 3.0, you should see an entry that says I/NET Webulator/400 Keyboard plugin. If you are using another browser, you should see an entry that says application/x-webulator400-keys. If you do not see one of these entries, your browser does not recognize the plugin and you may have copied the DLL to the wrong directory.

Configuring Web Server/400

Note that the steps in this section do not apply if you have installed Web Server/400 version 1.3a or Commerce Server/400 1.0b. You can check the version by typing 
DSPDTAARA DTAARA(WWWSERVER/VERSION)
If you have installed Web Server/400 1.3a or Commerce Server/400 1.0b over a previous version, you will still need to migrate your configuration using the steps in this section.

Create plugin.wky

Create a file named plugin.wky in your document root directory on your AS/400. If you have not changed the defaults, this will be /WWWServ/WebDocs. This file can contain any data you like; it must exist, but the contents are not important.

Add a Content Type

Using the WRKWWWCTP or ADDWWWCTP command, add a content type of application/x-webulator400-keys and an extension of wky.

Set the Configuration

Either start the server or make the configuration changes take effect using the SETWWWCFG command.

Using the Plugin

When you enter a URL to send your browser to a webulator session, add the query string KEYBOARD=Y to activate the plugin. An example URL might be host/www5250?KEYBOARD=Y.

For usability, it is recommended that you enable javascript for any webulator urls for which you plan to use the keyboard plugin. This will attempt to automatically set the keyboard focus to the correct form control, reducing your need to use the mouse.

The keys F1 to F24 work as normal (press shift to use F12-F24). To cause the AS/400 to roll up or down, hold the control key while pressing the Page up or Page down key. Also, when in a multiline edit control (text area), you must hold down the control key for the enter key to be recognized. Press the escape key for attention and hold the shift key down while pressing escape for system request.

You will now see a combo box, a push button and the webulator keyboard icon when using the plugin. The combo-box contains the virtual keys you have defined for the current URL. You can still limit the keys available to a user or change descriptions through this mechanism.

TroubleShooting

There are several steps to configure and install this plugin and if any are not correct, it will not work. Fortunately, once you have the plugin correctly installed for a given browser, you should not need to worry about it in the future.
The browser does not show the plugin in Help|About
Make sure you COMPLETELY shut down the browser and restart it. If you leave even one browser window open, it will not recognize the plugin.

Make sure you have the correct version of the DLL. If you are using a 16-bit browser, you must have the plugin for Windows 3.x. If you are using a 32-bit browser, you must have the plugin for Windows 95/NT.

Check to see if your browser is on the list of supported browsers. Because this plugin is platform specific, it will not work with all browsers.

Make sure you copied the DLL into the proper directory. See Installing the Plugin for help with this. Note that we have seen problems with Netscape Navigator 2.0 recognizing any plugin when installed on a network drive. We had to workaround this by installing the browser to a local drive.

The browser says "Plugin Not Loaded"
The browser may not be able to find the plugin.wky file. Make sure it is in the document root and that it is available to the browser. You can check the access log to see if the server was able to successfully send it.

The content type may not have been set correctly. Use WRKWWDIR to check the entry. See Configuring Web Server/400 for more help with this.

Everything looks find, but pressing a key just elicits a beep
You probably have loaded the beta version of the plugin, but are still running against the test version of PTF WBL110001. Get the latest PTF installed on your AS/400. The beta version of the plugin is only compatible with the release version of PTF WBL110001.

Future Work

We are considering some of the following things for future enhancement. Your feedback is welcome.
Assisted Installation
We would like to include an automatic installation that finds the correct directory for the plugin and installs it with minimal user intervention.

More browsers and Platforms
We will evaluate the need for support of additional browsers and platforms according to the work effort and feedback we receive.

User Feedback

Send any feedback related to Webulator/400 keyboard support to npwsky@inetmi.com.

In addition to any bug reports, we are interested comments about the usefulness of the product and the documentation and any enhancements desired!

Revision History

October 3, 1996
Alpha version of the Webulator/400 keyboard plugin released.
October 11, 1996
Fixed a bug in the 32-bit version that caused F13-F24 to be recognized as if they were F1-F12. For instance F13 would be treated as F1. This bug is not present in the 16-bit version of the code.
November 25, 1996
Released the beta version of the plugin. This includes support for a reduced number of push buttons on the screen and a (somewhat) easier PC install.