Re: Green-screen versus browser -- MIDRANGE-L

The question was about Green-screen versus browser, but many of the responses have been about how to create a GUI based solution which really only becomes relevant if and when a decision has been made to create a GUI.

I have always favoured green screen, but users, particularly the younger ones brought up on Windows, perceive green screen as out of the Ark. They accept that Windows falls over all day long and believe that that is how all computing is. I have found that explaining that an iSeries cannot be brought down by a rogue program and is generally re-booted very rarely is often a waste of time - they know all there is to know, have lots of experience and I (and probably quite a few others on this list) are just old folks who are years behind the times.

If you have only green screen solutions, many will complain about them, however efficient and reliable they are, and they will associate iSeries with green screen. So they will want to ditch iSeries. They would much prefer a GUI. They do not understand that movng their hands from keyboard to mouse and back and aligning the pointer so that they can click may keep them very busy but it is very inefficient, even if the response times are the same.

I don't believe that you can fight against this - the reaction to green screen is not based on logic. In addition, as we all know, browsers do have some good points.

The best answer in my view is to create a browser solution which looks modern where they can point and click and where they can also operate just like a green screen application, with function keys operating as on 5250. This is what I have done. My belief is that the pointers and clickers will eventually discover that there are these cool things called short cut keys and they will start to operate using function keys. They will believe that they are operating a modern system in a cool way. What they are really doing is using a 5250 interface in modern clothes. On those occasions where clicking is the only choice, such as working with images, they can use their mouse and it is the best tool for that job.

Having created this new browser interface did not mean that I actually used it myself. My new rules didn't apply to me! Recently however, I have stopped using 5250 for a lot of my work, although I still use it for development. I am even getting used to and perhaps even liking the new interface, and it also means that I can click on mailto: links in my AS/400 database to send emails and I can click on callto: links to make VOIP calls (using Skype) so I don't have to put email adresses or telephone numbers into my PC packages for emails or telephony. Whatever PC I use to sign on, I have access to that info. I also store URLs in my AS/400 database and they can click on those at any time. All of this info is stored centrally and shared, without redundancy as when stored on each user's PC.

HTH

Rob Dixon