InfoConnect Desktop Help & How To

Welcome to Micro Focus InfoConnect Desktop, a full-featured desktop application that allows you to run host applications, transfer files, and integrate host data into the latest Microsoft Windows and Office software applications. The navigational, scripting, and scheduling tools simplify interaction with host applications and streamline user tasks.

If you've previously used InfoConnect and EXTRA! for product emulation, you'll find many new features in Micro Focus InfoConnect Desktop. These features combine the best emulation features of InfoConnect, EXTRA! and Reflection into a single solution, optimized for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Microsoft Office.

What’s New?

InfoConnect Desktop v16.2 includes several major new features and enhancements:

IT Administration Features

This release supports the latest Windows 10 “Windows as a Service” update and includes a number of new features that allow IT administrators to:

  • Use Automated Sign-On with the Micro Focus Host Access Management and Security Server (MSS) to authenticate InfoConnect Desktop sessions even when they are not centrally managed and controlled. In previous releases of InfoConnect Desktop, this feature was available only for sessions that were centrally controlled and managed with MSS. Automated Sign-On allows users to log on to IBM z/OS mainframe applications using a modern authentication method instead of using traditional, less secure methods typically required for those applications.

  • Leverage two different approaches to centrally control and manage InfoConnect Desktop IBM and VT VBA macros:

    Save VBA macros in special SharedMacros files. When a session opens, it automatically loads the macros from the file (SharedMacros.rd3x, SharedMacros.rd5x, or SharedMacros.rdox) that corresponds to its file type.

    Reference remote macros: Save VBA macros in session document files that reside on a network share or other location and then configure local session documents to reference these shared documents. When the local session documents open, they load the macros from the documents that they reference.

  • Change and deploy specific workspace settings without changing other settings on users’ desktops. This allows you to change a global setting after you deploy InfoConnect without the risk of overwriting other settings that users have configured.

Security Enhancements

Security enhancements allow IT administrators to:

  • Encrypt TLS connections with elliptical curve cryptography with 3270, 5250, VT, UTS, T27, and FTP sessions.

  • Minimize access to the insecure SSL 3.0 encryption standard.

End-user Experience Improvements:

Several improvements allow you to:

  • Capture a list of host screens and then specify how many screens to print on a page via the Multiple Print Screens utility.

  • Set up custom templates that you can use to print from an IBM host screen or from an IBM printer emulation session to a form.

  • Set up a look and feel that is similar to Microsoft Office 2016.

  • View status on a progress bar indicator when starting sessions and importing legacy session files.

  • Use several enhancements in the Classic mode UI, including the ability to save session layouts and search the active session document.

  • Authenticate using Windows credentials to IBM i Systems (AS/400) with FTP.

  • Modernize IBM green screens using the Micro Focus “Plus” drag and drop development tool.