X3270IF(1)						      General Commands Manual							X3270IF(1)

NAME

       x3270if - command interface to x3270, c3270 and s3270

SYNOPSIS

       x3270if [ -v ] action [ ( param [ ,... ] ) ]
       x3270if [ -v ] -s field
       x3270if -i

DESCRIPTION

       x3270if provides an interface between scripts and the 3270 emulators x3270, c3270, and s3270.

       x3270if	performs  one of three functions.  In action mode (the default), it passes a single action and optional parameters to the emulator
       for execution; the result of the command is written to standard output.	In status mode, it reports to standard output the value of one	of
       the emulator's status fields.  In iterative mode, it forms a continuous conduit between a script and the emulator.

OPTIONS

       -v     Turns on verbose debug messages, showing the literal data that is passed between the emulator and x3270if.

       -s field
	      Puts  x3270if in status mode: it outputs the value of an emulator status field.  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.

       -i     Puts  x3270if  in iterative mode.  Data from x3270if's standard input is copied to the emulator's script input; data from the emula-
	      tor's script output is copied to x3270if's standard output.  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 bidi-
	      rectional pipes.)

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 iter-
       ative  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 environment variable, or an unexpectedly closed pipe, x3270if exits with status 2.

ENVIRONMENT

       x3270, c3270, and s3270 use a pair of pipes for communication 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 process.

       X3270INPUT
	      Input to the emulator, output from the child process.

SEE ALSO

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

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 1999, 2000 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.

								    01 May 2002 							X3270IF(1)