Talk:IBM 3270

On the Read Modified

On the Read Modified technique: Modern users however, sometimes find this system extremely bizarre, since it is very different to any user interface encountered in the consumer market. Isn't this just the form-submission paradigm every web user is intimately familiar with? grendel|khan 18:19, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

Yes, exactly. In many ways the 3270 worked very similarly to the way we do forms with a web browser: a screen of text was sent to the terminal, the user interacted with the text in some fashion, and a special key on the terminal was used to submit the page back to the mainframe. Actually, in the mid-1980s this seemed stranger than it does now--at least to people used to working with Unix, because all terminal interactions were character-I/O oriented.

It's also easy to see how this process cleanly integrated into a batch processing mainframe environment, because each submission was a single batch operation. (Editing text files was a bit funny, because you could only see one page at a time and there was no line-by-line scrolling.... at least on Wylbur.)--12.103.251.203 22:25, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

I added a description of attribute bits, and included a sentence on this technique. Yes - the first time I how the web browsers were operating it took me back to my CICS days. Peter Flass (talk) 12:56, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

LU's? What's that?

I often read about LUs in the TN3270 context. What are LUs? Perhaps that means Logical Unit? But what does that mean really in this context? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.245.11.134 (talk) 21:24, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Logical Units. In the Mainframe side, Communications Server (VTAM) must have defined every unit that can connect to the system. LUs and PUs (yes, Physical Units) are SNA concepts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.76.110.50 (talk) 02:37, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Unfair external link removal

Has no sense to remove an useful external link like the one i added when other links of the competence can be present in the list. It is not only unfair, it is more than that. If you are going to remove a link to a product, remove them all, which is the difference Femto? In fact, i saw that one of the people that had removed some links is a kwnon member of one of the competence companies. I repeat, has no sense to remove ONE link, or you let me add my link, or you remove all external links, but be fair. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.61.172.5 (talk) 15:31, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Next time, don't try to add the link to 9 different articles in 10 minutes and maybe you won't be accused of spamming. RossPatterson 00:14, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Your concerns are covered at WP:EL and WP:SPAM.-- I already forgot  talk  22:36, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

3277 GA information is incorrect

The 3277 GA (Graphics Attachment) was an add-in card for a 3277 that drove a Tektronix 4015 directly in vector mode, not via RS232. The resolution of the graphics device was 4096x4096, not 1024x768. In fact, the resolution was so high that the GA could be used to display 512x512 gray-scale images by stroking a special "font" that displayed each "pixel" of the image as a character. Light pixels had lots of strokes, dark pixels had relatively few strokes. Zen3d (talk) 00:54, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Actually it was bit more than "an add-in card", it was whole gate full. A new gate was installed on the other side of the CRT neck from the regular gate. I know, I converted a regular 3277 to a 3277 GA once. Terry (Ex-IBM CE). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.136.24.229 (talk) 14:45, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

The resolution of the Tektronix screen was actually 4k x 3k with the added ability to display limited dynamic vector graphics (in orange) on top of the green static image. The 3277-GA workstation was used extensively to design the 3090 series of IBM mainframes. We were able to project a full page of a chip logic diagram on the screen or an image of a 100 chip TCM and its connections. The "rubber band mode" was used to visualize inter-chip connections as part of a placement analysis tool.

Picture should be of the real thing

A picture of a real terminal would be better than a screenshot of an emulator. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ljosa (talk • contribs) 17:41, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Added a 3279 photo. Will try to shoot a 3270 with stock keyboard next month. Shieldforyoureyes (talk) 14:34, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

I just (Oct., 2010) renamed that picture because it isn't a 3279, it is a console. (It has Stop Start keys) Regards, Terry — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.48.193 (talk) 18:22, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

I'd like to find a picture of an "original" 3270 (3275 or 3277). Peter Flass (talk) 12:58, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Brazilian manufacture

I have restored that contribution, as it appears to be both pertinent and, according to anecdotal evidence, correct.

--ClickRick (talk) 09:23, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Physical description

When I added the 3277 photo I wanted to include the dimensions, and especially the weight, which I thought would be a surprise to people today. Unfortunately I couldn't find a manual or announcement that has this information. Bitsavers only has the 3278. If anyone has the info, please include it. Peter Flass (talk) 12:36, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Data Stream Example

I added a short example of a data stream sent to the 3270. Unfortunately I no longer have access to a 3270 to verify it, Likewise I'd like to include what the terminal would send back to the host on a read, but I'd rather just not wing it. If anyone could verify this example, or substitute your own, it would be nice. Peter Flass (talk) 00:12, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

3472 Infowindow

Added a placeholder for this. Anyone able to beef it up a little? Such as the announce date? You'd think I'd remember. :-) Martin Packer (talk) 17:02, 20 July 2013 (UTC)