IBM Personal Communications Version 12.0 for Windows operating systems
This document contains information supplementary to the online help and the publications, including newly added functions, hints, tips, restrictions, and corrections. Visit IBM Documentation for other considerations when using Personal Communications Version 12.0, and for complete product documentation.
For information on installing IBM Personal Communications for Windows, refer to the Installation Guide. Refer to the Quick Beginnings for information about the new features and functionality of Version 12.0.
Names and license terms for third-party components are referenced in license.txt, which is located in the Personal Communications installation directory or in the product installation image.
Thank you for choosing Personal Communications Version 12.0.
Support for Server Name Indication (TLS extension)
Enhancement to Bypass Sign-on using Password Substitute
Removal of "Classic Private" application data location
IBM Remote API Client
IBM Stand-Alone Host On-Demand
JRE Upgrade
Print preview support for Print Screen Collection
Enhancement to the Edit -> Paste functionality
FTP client: Enhanced support for z/OS datasets
Enhancement to the Trace Facility
Bidi enablement of AutoReverse and AutoPush
Bidi - Special Copy/Paste Treatment
New splash screen
Host Integration License Manager
Subscribing to Support News
IBM SupportAssistant
Updating PCOMM V12.0 with fix packs
Updating PCOMM V12.0.4.0 with fix packs
Updating PCOMM V12.0.4.0 with fix packs
Personal Communications Version 12.0 is based on the popular Personal Communications Version 6.0. If you are familiar with Personal Communications Version 6.0, you might want to review the following new functions and enhancements.
Server name indication extension of TLS allows the client to specify the server name during the "Client Hello" request so that the server can provide a certificate corresponding to that server name, assuming there are more than one servers sharing a single IP address. This feature is now supported by IBM Personal Communications V12.0.
IBM Personal Communications has been enhanced to detect password change on an IBM System i host and prompt the user to update to the new password. This provides the capability to allow the 5250 end users to update the password in the Windows registry, when the host logon password changes or expires.
Keeping in line with Microsoft strategy to keep application data out of application installation path ("Program Files" path), the "Classic Private" application data location is removed from IBM Personal Communications V12.0. Now, in order to change the emulator profile file path using the User Preferences utility, you need to install IBM Personal Communications with "All Users' common application data" location.
On a Windows 64-bit client, no SNA stack is available for IBM Personal Communications. However, the Remote API Client and Personal Communications can be used to start SNA sessions in Personal Communications on 64-bit clients.
IBM Remote API Client is now bundled with IBM Personal Communications V12.0.
IBM Stand-Alone Host On-Demand is a stand-alone counterpart of IBM Host-On-Demand. It provides cost effective and secure host access to users in intranet-based and extranet-based environments. Unlike IBM Host-On-Demand, it has no dependency on Web server and browsers. It supports emulation for terminal types, communication protocols, communication gateways and printers.
IBM Stand-Alone Host-On-Demand is now bundled with IBM Personal Communications V12.0.
IBM Personal Communications end users can now use this application on Windows (32-bit or 64-bit), Linux and Mac OS X platforms.
IBM Runtime Environment Java Technology Edition (JRE) has been upgraded to version 1.8.
IBM Personal Communications V12.0 is now supported on Windows 10 operating system.
With IBM Personal Communications V12.0, end users can now preview the emulator screens collected for printing. The following operations can be selectively performed on the collected screens:
With IBM Personal Communications V12.0, it is now possible to let the cursor position move to the end of pasted area. This requires the following keyword to be added to the "pcswin.ini" file. This increases users' productivity when pasting line after line to green screen.
[Edit]MoveCursorToEndOfPastedData=YIBM Personal Communications V12.0 now supports file transfer to MVS file systems, apart from existing support for hierarchical file systems (HFS). File transfer to an MVS file system might result in change to the file name as per MVS naming conventions. This is applicable to both MVS sequential data set (also called physical sequential / PS) and MVS partitioned data set (PDS).
For more information on MVS naming conventions, refer to MVS naming conventions on IBM Documentation.
With IBM Personal Communications V12.0, tracing can be restarted without having the existing trace files overwritten, when using Write Data to Multiple Files option.
IBM Personal Communications V12.0 now supports all four runtime Bidi specific input method parameters:
IBM Personal Communications V12.0 now supports copy/paste of Bidirectional characters from/to advanced text editors. BiDi end users can now paste the copied text in TXT, RTF, or HTML format based on the configured settings.
IBM Personal Communications V12.0 now has a new splash screen. The new splash screen displays the product version, along with the product build information.
This centralized license tracking system enables the client to send several client attributes to the license server such as user name, IP address, MAC address, and so on. With this feature, the licenses of both Host On-Demand and Personal Communications can be tracked together.
You can find documentation and links to other resources at the IBM Documentation for Personal Communications 12.0.
The IBM Documentation provides information in English by default.
To receive Personal Communications support news flashes, complete the following steps:
The IBM Support Assistant enables you to easily resolve software questions. The Support Assistant includes the following components:
Help desk personnel and Personal Communications administrators might want to install Support Assistant in order to better support end users. The Support Assistant can be downloaded from the following address:
http://www.ibm.com/software/support/isa/index.html
Staring from PCOMM V12.0, IBM Personal Communications fixes are delivered through fix packs. One fix pack contains the delta of the modules that have been modified. The fourth digit in the version number represents the fix pack. The current fix pack is named 12.0.0.1. You need to have IBM Personal Communications v12.0.0.0 installed on a system before applying the fix pack.
NOTE: This operation creates a backup of the current installation (delta alone) and applies the fix pack modules. For example, if you are applying 12.0.0.1 on top of 12.0.0.0 installation, a folder named backup_12.0.0.0_1 will be created.
With this fix pack, PCOMM has added the ability to disable sending MAC address and machine name information to the Host Integration License Manager. Refer to the For PCOM: section of How to install and configure the License Manager Server for Host On-Demand and Personal Communications for more details.
With this fix pack, a fix has been provided for the security vulnerability reporting possible unauthorized access. For more information, refer to the Security Bulletin.
With this release, following WS keywords have been provided to enable an IBM Personal Communications emulator session to fail over from the Primay host to the Backup 1 and Backup 2 hosts, when Auto-reconnect is configured. Both keywords are part of the Session section, and are valid for the TN3270, TN5250, and VT connections.
[Session]SwitchToNextHostOnAutoReconnect=YThe SwitchToNextHostOnAutoReconnect keyword is effective only when Auto-reconnect is enabled.
The default value is N.
[Session]AutoReconnectRetries=10The AutoReconnectRetries keyword is effective only when the SwitchToNextHostOnAutoReconnect keyword is set to Y.
The default value is 0. Valid range for this keyword is 0 to 99.
If the keyword is set to 0, it indicates that the retry attempt is unlimited, and fail over does not take place.
With this release, IBM Personal Communications (Traditional Chinese installations) supports Host Code Page 1379 - Tranditional Chinese Extended Mixed Host (Growing). The Host Code-Page drop-down in the Session Parameters dialog box has a new entry added - 1379 HongKong-CP1379.
PDT mode printing is not supported under this host code page.
To enable a display session to invoke an associated printer session in hidden mode, set the following keyword in the .WS profile of the display session:
[Session]AssociatedPrinterStartHidden=YThe default value of the keyword is N.
Following INI keywords have been provided to enable or disable IBM Personal Communications emulator sessions from sending the MAC Address and machine name to the HI License Manager Server. The keywords are part of the Licnese section of the PCSWIN.INI file.
[License]enableMacAddress = NenableMachineName = YWhen enableMacAddress is set to N, the license manager server log shows MAC_ADDRESS_DISABLED under the MAC ADDRESS column. The default value of the keyword is N.
When enableMachineName is set to N, the license manager server log shows MACHINE_NAME_DISABLED under the MACHINE NAME column. The default value of the keyword is Y.
For more details on Host Integration License Manager, refer to the technote How to install and configure the License Manager Server for Host On-Demand and Personal Communications.
The IBM Global Security library is upgraded to 8.0.50.66.
With this release, creating a new TN3270 session causes a default keyboard map file, TN3270.KMP. It is generated under the application data directory specified during installation. Users can customize this file to alter the default keyboard mapping.
The IBM Global Security library is upgraded to 8.0.50.77.
The IBM Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is upgraded to version 1.8 SR4-FP1.
With this release, IBM Personal Communications will support both HTTPS and HTTP connections to the License Manager.
In an intranet environment, when a License Manager Server is configured with local Certificate Authorities, the HTTPS connectivity from PCOMM client to the license manager may fail, due to failure in verifying the certificates received from the license manager. Following pcswin.ini keywords have been introduced to ignore these scenarios arising out of such a situation:
[License]
IgnoreUnknownCA = Y
IgnoreInvalidCertCN = Y
IgnoreCertRevCheck = Y
When IgnoreUnknownCA is set to Y, it allows an invalid certificate authority. This allows PCOMM to send License information even when the License Manager Server sends an untrusted CA. This setting is recommended only under test environments. The default value of the keyword is N
When IgnoreInvalidCertCN is set to Y, it allows an invalid common name in a certificate; that is, the server name specified by the application does not match the common name in the certificate. This setting is recommended only under test environments. The default value of the keyword is N.
When IgnoreCertRevCheck is set to Y, it ignores certificate revocation problems. This allows PCOMM to send License information even when it could not verify whether the host certificate is valid or revoked. This setting is recommended only under test environments. The default value of the keyword is N.
Please note that these keywords are recommended only under test environments.
Updated the readme and for more details on Host Integration License Manager, refer to the technote How to install and configure the License Manager Server for Host On-Demand and Personal Communications.
With this release, IBM Personal Communications (Traditional Chinese installations) supports Host Code Page 1371E - Traditional Chinese Extended Mixed Host. The Host Code-Page drop-down in the Session Parameters dialog box has a new entry added - CP1371E.
This Code-Page also supports UDC (User Defined Characters). Using UDC, users can map their own characters for the user defined range. The UDC implementation for 1371E maps user defined characters to their corresponding range in Unicode PUA (Private Usage Area).
The IBM Global Security library is upgraded to 8.0.50.89.
The IBM Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is upgraded to version 1.8 SR5-FP15.
Starting from PCOMM V12.0, IBM Personal Communications fixes are delivered through fix packs. One fix pack contains the delta of the modules that have been modified. The fourth digit in the version number represents the fix pack. The current fix pack is named 12.0.4.1. You need to have IBM Personal Communications v12.0.4.0 installed on a system before applying the fix pack.
NOTE: This operation creates a backup of the current installation (delta alone) and applies the fix pack modules. For example, if you are applying 12.0.4.1 on top of 12.0.4.0 installation, a folder named backup_12.0.4.0_1 will be created.
Manufacturing fix pack 2 contains fixes for APARS and internal defects.
Starting from PCOMM V12.0, IBM Personal Communications fixes are delivered through fix packs. One fix pack contains the delta of the modules that have been modified. The fourth digit in the version number represents the fix pack. The current fix pack is named 12.0.4.2. You need to have IBM Personal Communications v12.0.4.0 or v12.0.4.1 installed on a system before applying the fix pack.
NOTE:
For example:
NOTE: Fix Pack must be rolled back exactly in the reverse order in which it was applied.
For example, if a user updated 12.0.4.2 after updating 12.0.4.1 on top of 12.0.4.0 installation, rolling back to 12.0.4.0 requires –
Manufacturing fix pack 3 contains fixes for APARS and internal defects.
IBM Personal Communications has been updated to handle the new ligature. Conversion tables to translate between EBCDIC and UNICODE encoding have been updated. The new “Reiwa” ligature is supported by Host Code Pages 1399 and 1390 only.
The code signer certificate used to sign the previous versions of IBM Personal Communications software will expire on Jan 23, 2020. In the current version, the IBM Personal Communications software is signed with a new code signer certificate that is valid up to June 7, 2021.
This certificate is issued to “HCL America Inc.” by “DigiCert SHA2 Assured ID Code Signing CA”. “HCL America Inc.” is the partner of “International Business Machines Corporation” authorized to sign IBM Personal Communications software.
This Refresh Pack contains fixes for APARS and internal defects.
This Refresh Pack contains fixes for APARS and internal defects.
Bundled IBM Java Runtime Environment (JRE) has been upgraded to latest version “JRE 8.0.6.10”.
The code signer certificate used to sign the previous versions of IBM Personal Communications software will expire on June 07, 2021. In the current version, the IBM Personal Communications software is signed with a new code signer certificate that is valid up to April 20, 2024.
This certificate is issued to "HCL America Inc." by "DigiCert SHA2 Assured ID Code Signing CA". "HCL America Inc." is the partner of "International Business Machines Corporation" authorized to sign IBM Personal Communications software.
With this release, IBM Stand-Alone Host On-Demand is no longer bundled with IBM Personal Communications.
This Refresh Pack contains fixes for APARS and internal defects.