Welcome to the Screensurfer "Classic" Product Guide. Screensurfer "Classic" is the original Version 3 of Screensurfer as it was prior to being altered and adapted to Teamstudio's Express Editor. Inventu is considering the re-introduction of Screensurfer Classic during 2004 as a low-cost web-to-host product that still has the robust capabilities of the original as well as the ability for customers to upgrade to the full Screensurfer Version 4 product should they so choose.

Screensurfer is a general purpose Web Gateway for screen-based host applications. Using Screensurfer, organizations can easily provide access to their 3270 or 5250-based screens and information from any standard Web Browser. Also, new to Version 3, this includes access to Unix-based VT screen based applications (VT100/220 display types). This can be accomplished directly between the browser and Screensurfer, or through a supported "co-server". Screensurfer supports Allaire ColdFusion, Microsoft Active Server Pages, and Java Server Pages as co-application servers.
By reducing PC terminal emulation software costs and delivering access to new groups of users, Screensurfer offers new capabilities that few organizations can afford to ignore.

Adapting to the Web Browser
Since there are many differences between the user interface presented by a 3270/5250 terminal and a Web Browser, Screensurfer provides a variety of easily implemented enhancement features as well as many automatic protocol and user interface adaptations.

Exploiting the Web Browser
As a user department or organization implements a Screensurfer solution, new opportunities for enhancing both usability and user productivity present themselves.
The same customization features that provide rapid adaptation of 3270/5250 applications to the browser environment can then be leveraged to provide substantial improvements. Standard HTML development tools coupled with Screensurfer's simple approach to HTML integration can vastly improve the user interface of existing host applications.

It's Simple
The Screensurfer approach to implementing a 3270/5250 Web Gateway is based on simple, easy-to-understand ASCII files. Developers familiar with editing HTML and creating new web pages with standard HTML tools will find Screensurfer development natural and easily understood.
In the process of converting an old, stale host application into an exciting and easy-to-use Web application, all of the work a developer performs may be contained in a single directory of files. This makes development work easy to back-up, manageable with a standard source library system and easy to copy to another Screensurfer server for simple deployment or redundancy.

Replacing Terminal Emulators
With Screensurfer's ability to emulate terminal sessions in HTML browsers coupled with the incremental ability to upgrade the user interface selectively, there is little justification for a traditional terminal emulator for most users.

Full Administration System
Screensurfer comes with a full administration system accessible from any standard web browser. Systems configuration, session status and error diagnostic information are all available to the systems administrator.