Host Connect Ex

This Host Interface tool creates a connection to a host and returns a connection handle. If enabled to do so, this tool will also return a resource along with the connection handle.

Inputs

Host Profile

The name of the Host Profile to use when establishing this connection. This profile contains the connection settings.

Use cached connection if available

Once an open connection is cached, other Host Connect steps in other instances of this handler can quickly access the host over this same connection. This enables other handlers to run faster because they do not have to connect to the host.

Screen Name

The optional name of a screen defined in the host profile. This is ignored if "Use cached connection if available" is unchecked. Only those cached connections with matching screen names and matching profile names will be eligible to be selected from the cache. If the screen name is empty, then any cached connection with a matching profile will be selected. If a (non-empty) matching screen name is found, then a VerifyScreen is performed internally. If the VerifyScreen fails, the connection will be physically disconnected and purged from the cache and the search for an eligible connection will repeat until one is found or until there are no more connections to check, in which case a new connection is physically created.

Retry Count

The number of times the tool will attempt to create the connection before taking the Failure exit path.

Retry Delay (seconds)

The number of seconds the tool will wait between each attempt to create a connection.

Resource pool name

If this option is selected, the tool will return a resource along with the connection handle once the connection is established.

Outputs

Host Connection

The handle for the connection to the host mainframe. Other host tools can use this handle when sending commands to the Host Server.

Resource

If "Associate a resource with this connection" is selected, this field will contain the resource associated with the host connection.

Exit Paths

Success

This step takes the Success exit path if a connection with the host is established and no cached connection was available.

Cache

This step takes the Cache exit path if a cached connection was established.

Failure

This step takes the Failure exit path if a normal or cached connection was not established.