Launching Programs on the Internet

The ACUCOBOL-GT Thin Client works in an Internet environment as well as a local-area or wide-area network environment. When end users invoke the thin client in an Internet environment, they simply enter the server name and, optionally, the port number of the server they are accessing over the Internet.

For example:

acuthin myserver.microfocus.com:5633 myprog1 10 20 30

Note that clients must have a live Internet connection when they execute this command, and the server name that they enter must be resolvable by the Internet name server used by their service provider. (The Internet name server then resolves the name with its IP address.)

If the server name is not exposed to Internet name servers, end users can enter the explicit IP address on the acuthin command line, as in the following example:

acuthin 128.110.121.42:5633 myprog1 10 20 30
Note: If using IPv6 addresses, you must enclose the IP address in brackets when appending the port number or any additional notation; see AGS_USE_IPV6 for more information.

If the server is in a Virtual Private Network (VPN), the user must connect to the network before entering the acuthin command.

If you include your application on a Web site, end users can launch your program from their browsers rather than typing command-line syntax. When they visit your Web site and click a link, the thin client is automatically invoked on their machine, initiating thin client communication with the server. See Launching Thin Client Applications from a Web Page for more information.