RE: Webfacing issues (was: Who's doing Web work on iSeries? (was: ASP on AS/400 Apache))

> From: Buck Calabro
>
> One headbanger is the back button (which can be disabled) and the "back"
> keystroke sequence (Alt + left arrow).  Anybody who uses the web uses this
> button a lot, and that's a surefire way to kill the
> synchronisation between
> the browser and the iSeries program waiting for input.

Actually, you can not only disable the button, but you should also be able
to trap the key sequence.  That's still not the best solution; a secure
environment will use a session ID and frame sequence to ensure that the
system doesn't get out of sync.  If the browser session goes out of sync,
the servlet can redisplay the correct information.


> Another is that you can tab or mouse from a popup window into the
> background
> (main) window.

Rather than pop up a secondary window, a good way to deal with this issue is
to use an absolutely positioned table.  It shows up within the parent
window, and acts just like a popup window for a 5250 display.


> It's very clear that there is no perfect solution, only a series of
> acceptable trade-off's

But research and proper architecture can significantly reduce the adverse
effects of those tradeoffs.  I find very little that cannot be done with
HTML, if you take the time to do it correctly.