Introduction to Emulator APIs
The IBM® Z and I Emulator for Windows product supplies several application
programming interfaces (APIs). Each interface has a specific set of
functions and may be used for different purposes. Choose the programming
interface that best matches the functional requirements of your application.
Some applications may use more than one interface to achieve the desired
results. The programming interfaces are:
- Emulator High Level Language API (EHLLAPI): This interface provides functions to access emulator
"presentation space" data such as characters on the host screen. It
also provides functions for sending keystrokes to the host, intercepting
user-entered keystrokes, querying the status of the host session,
uploading and downloading files, and other functions. This interface
is often used for automated operator applications
which read host screens and enter keystrokes without direct user intervention.
See EHLLAPI Functions.
- IBM Standard HLLAPI Support: This is a standard programming interface which allows programmatic access to a host emulator session. See Introduction to IBM Standard EHLLAPI, IBM Enhanced EHLLAPI and WinHLLAPI Programming.
- IBM Enhanced HLLAPI Support: This interface is based on the IBM Standard HLLAPI interface. It provides all of the existing functionality but uses modified data structures. See Introduction to IBM Standard EHLLAPI, IBM Enhanced EHLLAPI and WinHLLAPI Programming.
- Windows High Level Language API (WinHLLAPI): This interface provides much of the same functionality of IBM Standard EHLLAPI and adds some extensions that take advantage of the Windows environment. See Introduction to IBM Standard EHLLAPI, IBM Enhanced EHLLAPI and WinHLLAPI Programming.
- Any 32-bit APIs which accept\return Window Handles and pointers
might not work correctly with HCL ZIEWin due to difference in pointer\handle
sizes between x86 and x64 platforms.
For Example:
"Data String" parameter returned in byte numbers (9-12) in API Start Communication Notification (80) might be truncated on x64 platform.
- Z and I Emulator for Windows Session API (PCSAPI):
This interface is used to start, stop, and
control emulator sessions and settings. See PCSAPI Functions.
For Z and I Emulator for Windows Version 1.0, functions have been added to allow control and retrieval of page and printer settings. See Page Setup Functions and Printer Setup Functions.
- HCL Z and I Emulator for Windows Host Access Class Library (ECL): ECL is a set of objects that allow application programmers and scripting language writers to access host applications easily and quickly. Z and I Emulator for Windows supports three different ECL layers (C++ objects, ActiveAutomation (OLE), and LotusScript Extension (LSX)). Refer to Host Access Class Library (HACL) for more details.