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Troubleshooting the Zend 5250 Bridge

Problem

Solution

The Zend 5250 Bridge environment is occasionally 'overloaded'.

In the Zend 5250 Management Menu (accessed by running the command "GO ZENDSVR/ZSMENU" in your IBM i emulation screen) select Option 4 - Reset 5250 Bridge environment.
End the ZBRDG5250 job in the ZENDSVR Subsystem.
Clear your Cookies.

The 5250 Bridge does not get the correct screen information.

Increase the Server Time-Out in the Server Setup ->5250 Bridge Tab (http://i_server:10088/ZendServer/, Integration menu)
Open your 5250 Bridge Configuration file (Brdg5250.ini - located in /usr/local/ZendSrv/5250/etc/Brdg5250.ini) and increase your system timeout in the 'ReadTimeoutMicro' directive.

FAQ

What is the 5250 Bridge?	The 5250 Bridge is a set of APIs for creating interactive IBM i based applications that run through a browser.
Does the 5250 Bridge generate HTML?	The 5250 Bridge does not generate HTML. The 5250 Bridge API offers a number of functions/classes for PHP developers to grab fields and strings from an interactive (5250) program and wrap them into real web applications. This way you can seamlessly integrate output of green screen applications into your PHP Web application without the need to rewrite the business logic and directly access the database. Alternatively, you can use the 5250 Bridge API to directly access the database and create completely new Web applications.
What product do I need to install in order to get the 5250 Bridge API?	The 5520 Bridge API is an integrated part of Zend Server for IBM i
What IBM i Version does the 5250 Bridge Support?	The 5250 Bridge runs on V5R4, or later and utilizes 5250 CPW interactive processes.
How does the 5250 Bridge API work from the PHP script?	The basic process is as follows: 1. PHP sends a 'start session' request to the 5250 Program using the 5250 Bridge API. 2. The 5250 Bridge API returns a confirmation to PHP that the interactive program session has started. 3. The 5250 Bridge API sends current screen information in XML format to PHP (e.g. input and output fields, their attributes and cursor position). 4. PHP sends input values and function key actions to the 5250 Bridge API.
How many concurrent (5250) sessions does the 5250 Bridge allow to open?	The 5250 Bridge can handle an unlimited amount of concurrent 5250 sessions. Only when using an unlicensed version or trial license expires will the number of concurrent connections be limited to one. This single connection is enough for a developer to be able to create a Web application utilizing the 5250 Bridge API.
Are 5250 sessions opened by the 5250 Bridge using IBM i interactive feature?	The 5250 Bridge uses the IBM WebFace server that allows the running of interactive (5250) programs in batch mode.
Does the 5250 Bridge support Workstation IDs?	The 5250 Bridge utilizes the IBM WebFace server APIs, which do not support Workstation IDs. The display device starting with QQF is created and used by the WebFace APIs.
Is there support for IBM i function keys such as F3, F12, etc? (Bridge API)	The 5250 Bridge installation includes two Javascript files, which allow the catching of function key clicks. You can find more information about function keys in the Zend installation folder /usr/local/ZendSVR/5250/demos/JSfunctionKeyListener on your IBM i server.
Why are the demo applications slow?	The demo applications run on default settings. There are several optimizations that can be done to improve performance: Decrease the server time-out in the 5250 Tab. This change allows the increase of PHP script overall performance. This setting is set to 0 in V5R4. Set the "Persistent Connection" to "Yes" in the 5250 Tab. The Persistent connections allow the increasing of 5250 Bridge server connection-time performance.
Do I need to know OO programming?	The 5250 Bridge API has two types of interfaces: classes and procedural. RPG developers who are not familiar with OO can utilize the 5250 Bridge procedural functions (similar to RPG/CL). Java developers who are familiar with OO can utilize 5250 Bridge classes.
Can I incorporate style sheets into demo program screens and turn fields into selection lists or radio buttons?	You can use the demo application code as a base to create Web applications utilizing the 5250 Bridge API. You can enrich your browser applications with Web features such as Rich-text, sound and images, AJAX and Mashups.