With the predominance of Microsoft Windows and the popularity of Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft technology touches nearly every area of the enterprise computing environment. For companies that rely on other systems for their back-end operations, compatibility with Microsoft technology is critical.
Reflection products connect Windows desktops with IBM, HP, UNIX, and OpenVMS systems. Reflection integrates well with Windows and takes advantage of other Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft Active Directory, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and ActiveX. This article describes how you can take advantage of these technologies to get the most out of your Microsoft investment.
Designed for Windows XP
Reflection products have earned the Microsoft "Designed for Windows XP—Optimized" logo. To earn this logo, Reflection had to meet the most stringent requirements for compatibility with Windows XP. These requirements include support for key Windows XP features, including Active Directory, Microsoft Windows Installer, multiple monitor support, power management, fast user switching, and Windows XP visual styles. For companies migrating to Windows XP, having host-access software that fully supports these productivity features helps to maximize ROI and ensure uninterrupted access to critical systems.
Related Information
Host Access from Windows XP: WRQ Reflection as a Migration Tool
Optimized for Windows XP
Faster deployments with Active Directory
All Reflection products, including Reflection for the Web, work with Microsoft Active Directory to expedite deployment. Windows-based Reflection products include Reflection Links, a snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console that lets you deploy and manage Reflection sessions, macros, and other files to users and groups defined in Active Directory.
Similarly, with Reflection for the Web, you can view data from your Active Directory server and deploy web-based terminal sessions to predefined users and groups—all from within the Administrative WebStation, included with Reflection for the Web. Moreover, Reflection for the Web requires only Read access to the directory server, so there is no risk of accidentally damaging your Active Directory data during deployment.
Related Information
Reflection Software and Microsoft Windows 2000
Demo: Windows and Web-based Reflection (Requires Flash Player 6)
View the Management Tools section to learn about Active Directory support.
Familiar programming with VBA and ActiveX
Windows-based Reflection emulators come with built-in Visual Basic for Applications 6.4—the same version found in Microsoft Office products. A familiar programming environment, VBA lets you leverage programming knowledge you already have to customize access to your back-end systems and integrate data from back-end systems with business applications, such as Microsoft Excel or Access.
As Microsoft continues to enhance VBA, Reflection customers can take advantage of new features right away—for example, with Microsoft's Web Service Reference Tool 2.0, Reflection users can use VBA to tap into web services and enhance functionality in Reflection terminal sessions.
Reflection products include a macro recorder to make it easy to automate routine tasks. You can edit the macros you create in the Visual Basic Editor, a complete development environment. In addition, Reflection products can be used as ActiveX objects in a VB form, web page, or other application.
Related Information
Creating Solutions with Reflection and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications
Demo: Windows-based Reflection (Requires Flash Player 6)
View the Management Tools section to learn about Active Directory support.
Easy data exchange with XML
With the release of Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Excel and Access can now import and export data in XML format. Windows-based Reflection emulators support XML as well. You can export or import settings files using XML, or capture terminal screens and save them in XML format. This means you can now export host data in XML format and share it with other XML-enabled applications.
Related Information
XML: The De Facto Standard for E-Business Integration
Conclusion
For organizations looking to standardize on Microsoft Technologies, Reflection products offer reliable access to back-end systems coupled with integrated support for the latest Microsoft technologies. After all, Microsoft's not going away—and neither is Attachmate.