5.9 Productivity Tools

Productivity features accelerate data entry and host navigation, maximizing user productivity, while reducing errors. Features such as Auto Complete, Auto Expand, Spell Check, Scratch Pad, Recent Typing, and Screen History enable users to save thousands of keystrokes throughout the day, freeing up time to serve customers more efficiently, and for more productive, revenue-producing activities.

Office Tools, Screen History, Recent Typing, and the Scratch Pad open task panes in the document window. To reopen the task panes when you open the workspace, save the workspace as a layout.

NOTE:VT sessions support only Office Tools integration, Scratch Pad, and the manual capture function of Screen History. Other productivity features are not available with VT sessions.

Office Tools Integration

The Office Tools feature allows you to integrate host data with Microsoft Office applications, if those applications are installed on your computer. You can create Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, send e-mail, schedule appointments, add notes and tasks, and create new contacts.

Screen History

Screen History creates recordings of IBM 3270 and 5250 host screens as you navigate to them. VT screens can be recorded using manual capture. You can view and/or verify the information from those screens, and send multiple host screens to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook (Email Message and Note only), if they are installed on your computer.

Recent Typing

Using the Recent Typing gallery or task pane, you can quickly view and select from a list of recently typed items, and send the selected string to the active document. This eliminates the need to manually re-enter information, saving time, and reducing errors when entering commonly-typed commands or field data.

Scratch Pad

Use the Scratch Pad to keep notes associated with a session. From the task pane you can print or save the Scratch Pad notes as .RTF or .TXT files.

Spelling

Set criteria for the spelling checker. With Spelling options, you can correct spelling automatically, or specify several ways to check spelling as you type.

NOTE:Spell check is not supported for Japanese.

Auto Complete

The Auto Complete feature recalls what you type, and automatically makes suggestions to help populate fields as it learns common commands that are repeated. By default, typing is saved with the screen location, and suggested when you type at that screen location again.

Auto Expand

Use the Auto Expand feature to add acronyms or shortcuts for long words, phrases, or complex repeat commands. The shortcut, when typed and followed by the Spacebar, automatically expands to the full word or phrase.