Host Access Class Library Automation Objects

The Host Access Class Library Automation Objects allow the Personal Communications product to support Microsoft COM-based automation technology (formerly known as OLE automation). The ECL Automation Objects are a series of automation servers that allow automation controllers, for example, Microsoft Visual Basic, to programmatically access Personal Communications data and functionality.

An example of this would be sending keys to Personal Communications presentation space. This can be accomplished by manually typing keys in the Personal Communications window, but it can also be automated through the appropriate Personal Communications automation server (autECLPS in this case). Using Visual Basic you can create the autECLPS object and then call the SendKeys method in that object with the string that is to be placed in the presentation space.

In other words, applications that are enabled for controlling the automation protocol (automation controller) can control some Personal Communications operations (automation server). Personal Communications supports Visual Basic Script, which uses ECL Automation objects. Refer to the Personal Communications Macro/Script support for more details.

Personal Communications offers several automation servers to accomplish this. These servers are implemented as real-world, intuitive objects with methods and properties that control Personal Communications operability. Each object begins with autECL, for automation Host Access Class Library. The objects are as follows:
  • autECLConnList, Connection List, on page autECLConnList Class, contains a list of Personal Communications connections for a given system. This is contained by autECLConnMgr, but may be created independently of autECLConnMgr.
  • autECLConnMgr, Connection Manager, on page autECLConnMgr Class, provides methods and properties to manage Personal Communications connections for a given system. A connection in this context is a Personal Communications window.
  • autECLFieldList, Field List, on page autECLFieldList Class, performs operations on fields in an emulator presentation space.
  • autECLOIA, Operator Information Area, on page autECLOIA Class, provides methods and properties to query and manipulate the Operator Information Area. This is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLSession.
  • autECLPS, Presentation Space, on page autECLPS Class, provides methods and properties to query and manipulate the presentation space for the related Personal Communications connection. This contains a list of all the fields in the presentation space. It is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLSession.
  • autECLScreenDesc, Screen Description, on page autECLScreenDesc Class, provides methods and properties to describe a screen. This may be used to wait for screens on the autECLPS object or the autECLScreenReco object.
  • autECLScreenReco, Screen Recognition, on page autECLScreenReco Class, provides the engine of the HACL screen recognition system.
  • autECLSession, Session, on page autECLSession Class, provides general session-related functionality and information. For convenience, it contains the autECLPS, autECLOIA, autECLXfer, autECLWinMetrics, autECLPageSettings, and autECLPrinterSettings objects.
  • autECLWinMetrics, Window Metrics, on page autECLWinMetrics Class, provides methods to query the window metrics of the Personal Communications session associated with this object. For example, use this object to minimize or maximize a Personal Communications window. This is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLSession.
  • autECLXfer, File Transfer, on page autECLXfer Class, provides methods and properties to transfer files between the host and the workstation over the Personal Communications connection associated with this file transfer object. This is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLsession.
  • autECLPageSettings, Page Settings, on page autECLPageSettings Class, provides methods and properties to query and manipulate commonly used settings such as CPI, LPI, and Face Name of the session Page Setup dialog. This is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLSession.
  • autECLPrinterSettings, Printer Settings, on page autECLPrinterSettings Class, provides methods and properties to query and manipulate settings such as the Printer and PDT modes of the session Printer Setup dialog. This is contained by autECLSession, but may be created independently of autECLSession.

Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the autECL objects:

Figure 1. Host Access Class Library Automation Objects

This chapter describes each object's methods and properties in detail and is intended to cover all potential users of the automation object. Because the most common way to use the object is through a scripting application such as Visual Basic, all examples are shown using a Visual Basic format.