BlueZone Visual Basic Help

Embedding the Seagull ActiveX Control in a Visual Basic Form

The Seagull Web to Host Control Module (sglw2hcm.ocx) can be used to embed a BlueZone terminal emulation session in a Visual Basic form.  This is useful when integrating terminal emulation along with other functionality in a Visual Basic application.  Once the BlueZone session is running in the form, it can be controlled by your Visual Basic application via the BlueZone Host Automation Object.

SEE  BlueZone Host Automation Object Help for more information.

The following is a block diagram showing the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module embedded in a Visual Basic Form using the BlueZone Host Automation Object  (HAO) to communicate with the Visual Basic code.

Requirements

• Microsoft Visual Basic Editor installed

• BlueZone Desktop or BlueZone Web-to-Host Installed

Getting Started

This feature is new in BlueZone 4.0.  Simply install BlueZone using the setup program or BlueZone Web to Host.  Once installed, the Seagull Web to Host Control Module component will be available to Visual Basic.

NOTE  During the BlueZone Desktop installation, the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module file (sglw2hcm.ocx ) is automatically copied to the BlueZone installation folder.

Enabling the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module

The first step is to enable the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module in the Visual Basic IDE.

1. Start a new Microsoft Visual Basic project.

2. From the MenuBar, choose Project:Components.  A list of controls will be displayed.

3. Scroll down and check the box for the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module as shown here:

4. Click the OK button.  Immediately, an icon for the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module control will be added to the bottom of the Components ToolBar in the Visual Basic IDE as shown here:

Placing the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module in a Form

The next step is to place the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module in a form.

1. If you don't already have one, add a form to your project in which to place the control.

2. Size the form to roughly the desired size.  This can always be changed later.

3. Select (single click) the Seagull Web-to-Host Control component button on the Component ToolBar.

4. Place the cross hair cursor on the form, left click and drag the component until the desired dimensions are reached, then release.  The control will display the BlueZone swirl when in design mode as shown here:

Configuring the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module

Once the control has been added to the form, it can be configured to embed the BlueZone session.

1. Right-click anywhere on the control and select Properties from the pop-up menu.  A configuration dialog will be displayed as shown here:

2. The property pages in this dialog are used to configure the control.  Most of the settings can be left at the default values for the majority of applications.

The General tab settings are described in the following table:

3. The Sessions tab contains settings for all of the session types supported by the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module.  Only the settings for the session type specified in the Sessions: edit box need to be completed.

The Sessions tab settings are described in the following table:

4. The Launch Pad tab enables or disables the Launch Pad feature.  The Launch Pad is only used in Web-to-Host mode.

SEE  The BlueZone Web-to-Host Administrator’s Guide for more information.

The Launch Pad tab settings are described in the following table:

5. The Options tab is used to configure HTTP and Proxy settings.  Unless you are using a proxy server to connect to the Internet, you probably not have to change any of these settings.

The Options tab settings are described in the following table:

6. When you are finished, click the OK button.  The Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module is now configured.

Communicating with BlueZone using the Host Automation Object

When BlueZone is running in the Visual Basic application, it can be controlled using a COM object called the BlueZone Host Automation Object.  It is instantiated using the CreateObject method.  Once created, any of the BlueZone Host Automation Object's methods and properties may be called by your Visual Basic application.

The following "sample code" shows the correct way to instantiate the BlueZone Host Automation Object and launch a BlueZone session.

Sample Code:

Option Explicit

Dim bzhao As Object

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)

bzhao.Disconnect

End Sub

Private Sub Sglw2hcm1_AfterConnect(ByVal Success As Long)

   Set bzhao = CreateObject("BZWhll.WhllObj")

   bzhao.Connect "A"

   bzhao.WaitForText "Choice:", 23, 7, 10

   bzhao.SendKey "3"

   bzhao.WaitReady 0, 100

   bzhao.SendKey "@E"

   bzhao.WaitReady 0, 100

   bzhao.SendKey "3"

   bzhao.WaitReady 0, 100

   bzhao.SendKey "@E"

End Sub

Once a BlueZone session is launched successfully, simply configure it and save the setting to the Profile specified in the Sessions tab.  

Using The Sample Code

The above sample code is designed to work with BlueZone VT.  To use it as a test, follow these steps:

1. Use BlueZone Desktop or BlueZone Web-to-Host to launch a BlueZone VT emulation session.

2. Configure the session to automatically connect to the Library of Congress host using the following host address: locis.loc.gov on port 23.

3. In addition to host IP address and port, make any additional configuration changes at this time.  All BlueZone features including the keyboard map, display colors, display font, ToolBar settings, etc. are contained in the BlueZone configuration file.

4. Save the BlueZone VT configuration and give it the name "test.zvt".

5. Follow the steps above for creating a Visual Basic Project, inserting the Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module in a form, and making sure that your Seagull Web-to-Host Control Module is configured exactly the same way as the above screen shots.

6. Insert the above "sample code" into your Visual Basic project.

7. Run the application by clicking the Start button located on the Visual Basic IDE ToolBar.

8. BlueZone VT should launch in the form, connect to the Library of Congress host and select menu item number 3, Federal Legislation, then select item number 2, Congress, 1983-84.

The above sample code demonstrates the ability for BlueZone VT to automatically connect to a host, "wait for" a specific string of characters to appear on the screen, and navigate to a specific location on the host.

SEE  BlueZone Host Automation Object Help for more information.

Related Topics:

BlueZone ActiveX Events

Related BlueZone Host Automation Object Methods

Web Page Script Example