Configuration profiles and profile schemes

Profile schemes are used in conjunction with the dialog-level configuration profiles. It is important to understand the difference between the top- and dialog-level configuration profiles and how they work with profile schemes.

Top-level configuration profiles

The main BlueZone configuration profile if referred to as the top-level configuration profile. Top-level configuration profiles store information describing every aspect of a BlueZone session including the host connection settings, keyboard mappings, color settings, font settings, emulator screen position and size, toolbar settings, and so on. Having all of these settings in a single file provides a simple way to deploy preconfigured BlueZone sessions to your users. Each BlueZone emulator has its own top-level configuration profile file extension. For example, the top-level Mainframe Display extension is .ZMD.

Refer Top-level configuration profile extensions for a complete list of the top-level configuration profile file extensions.

Dialog-level configuration profiles

BlueZone dialog-level configuration profiles are subconfiguration files that are created from configuration windows in a session. Depending on the BlueZone emulator type, there can be as many as nine dialog-level configuration profiles. The dialog-level configuration profiles are grouped by function. The functions for Mainframe Display are session, Telnet, display, keyboard, transfer, toolbar, power pad, and status bar settings. Each emulator type has a slightly different list.

If a configuration window contains toolbar icons, as shown in Figure 1, at the bottom of the window, it supports dialog-level configuration profiles.

Figure 1. Dialog-level configuration profiles

From left to right, the toolbar icons are:

Default: Opens the default dialog-level configuration profile.
File Open (Import File): Opens an existing dialog-level configuration profile.
Save: Saves the configuration profile using the same root name as the top-level configuration profile.
File Save As (Export File): Saves the configuration profile as a new name.
Help: Opens the help file to the relevant topic.

Note: When configuring the profile schemes feature in BlueZone Web-to-Host, only use the Save icon. The other icons are used to manually import and export dialog-level configuration profiles and are typically used when deploying and supporting BlueZone Desktop installations.

Any BlueZone dialog that contains a dialog-level configuration profile toolbar can have that dialog's settings exported to a file (as a dialog-level configuration profile) with its own file extension. Dialog-level configuration profiles for each emulator and dialog have unique file extensions.

Refer to Dialog-level configuration profile extensions for a complete list of the dialog-level configuration profile file extensions.

Profile schemes feature

When BlueZone is first deployed from the web server, you do not need to include any dialog-level configuration profiles with the distribution. Only the potential to use dialog-level configuration profiles must be configured by selecting the check box of any dialog configuration profile that you want to control. In the following example, the BlueZone administrator has opted to select only the TN3270 check box. Select all parts of a BlueZone configuration that you want to control.

Figure 2. Profiles Schemes tab

On day one, all users make their initial BlueZone download with the same top-level configuration profile. As time goes by, each user makes and save their own customizations to the parts of the BlueZone configuration that they are allowed to change.

Refer to Locking BlueZone emulator features for more information on how to lock BlueZone features that you don't want your users to be able to change.

When the BlueZone administrator decides that a BlueZone configuration modification is required, the administrator uses the Web-to-Host Wizard to create one or more dialog-level configuration profiles that are placed on the web server and pushed out to your user community. As each dialog-level configuration profile is downloaded, it overrides specific values stored in each user's top-level configuration profile. All other values stay as they were thus, leaving any user configuration customizations intact.