Chicago - The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) next week will meet in the Windy City to hammer out Web-to-host connectivity standards, among other things.
The IETF tn3270 working group will consider a draft standard submitted by IBM and Attachmate called Open Host Interface Objects (OHIO).
OHIO will define a standard set of interfaces for linking legacy servers such as the AS/400 and S/390 to the Internet. Big Blue and Attachmate have been working on this set of APIs, which are based on tn3270 and tn5250 protocols, for the past year. OHIO will also work with Web graphical user interfaces and business applications, such as CICS, that need access to legacy data.
The OHIO submission is part of IBM's push to be the e-business company. The standard, it believes, will ease compatibility concerns from users with disparate nets who want to write programs for remote access and Internet commerce, but are blocked because of heterogeneous hardware and platforms.
RELATED LINKS
Users can follow
the progress of the
tn3270 working group on its Web site at the IETF Web site.
Apply for your free subscription to Network World. Click here. Or get Network World delivered in PDF each week.
Request a reprint or permission to use this article.
