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IBM eNetwork Communications Server for Windows NT
Host Publisher Feature, Version 6.01
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Host Publisher Hints and Tips

Host Access Trouble Shooting

This section explains how to identify a problem when your Host Access integration object is not working as you expect.

Integrator

The Integrator is the best tool for working with your integration object. See the Testing page for some tips. You can display the terminal window, connect, play your connect, data loop, screen, and disconnect macros, and watch what happens.

Error messages

If Host Access error messages appear in your Web page, try to identify the problem from them. The most common error looks like this:
Macro path: c:\HostPublisher\Library\macro.hmf 
Error: Script runtime error (@4);
ps.WaitForScreen(screenDesc,10000);
where the Macro Path is the macro file being played, and the "@4" indicates the approximate line number.

This error means the WaitForScreen timed out without meeting its criteria. Look at the macro and see what the WaitForScreen was expecting. You might need to modify the macro to make it less specific (see Generalizing Recorded Macros), or record it again.

(The line numbers reported in errors for the data loop macro or a screen macro are approximate, because before playing the macro, Host Publisher adds another macro command after each WaitForScreen command. Count each WaitForScreen command in your macro as two lines to find the correct line number. For Connect and Disconnect macros, no additional macro commands are added, so the line number is correct.)

Screen recognition

If no data is returned, the cause might be that a screen is not being recognized. Review the Screen Recognition page. Look at each macro, and ensure that WaitForScreen commands are executed for each screen you need to recognize.

Last resort

If you cannot find any other way to identify your problem, tracing the host session might be your only option. There are several ways to do this, and you can choose the one you're most familiar with, ranging from tracing the session at the host, to a LAN frame-level trace, to tracing at a TN3270 server. Your trace tool need not be able to understand 3270 data flow to be useful; the only real requirement is that your trace facility can format the data in EBCDIC.

Look at the packets flowing and you should be able to identify input from your application and screens being sent back from the host. Follow the sequence and try to find where it deviates from what you expect.


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IBM eNetwork Communications Server for Windows NT
Host Publisher Feature, Version 6.01