Telnet question

Off the top of my head, I'd say try this:

1. Find a Windows based command level TelNet
Terminal Application. (I'm sure they exist.)

2. Open it minimized from within Paradox and include
command line parameters that would log you onto
the UNIX machine and fire up the script.

3. Close the TelNet Terminal.

4. Fire up Rick's FTP stuff from Paradox and check
for the file (via a timer that would time out after a
reasonable period if the file isn't found).


--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Following down the http path, you could use something like lynx or wget to
handle the http side, and fire those off of the command line.

--
Larry DiGiovanni
Digico, Inc
IT Consulting and Staffing Solutions
www.digicoinc.com
Check out www.thedbcommunity.com for Paradox resources
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

 > A scripted telnet session sounds ponderous. For 1, unless this is over an
 > internal LAN only, you want to use ssh, not telnet.
Yes, definintely over an internal lan.

 > I'd drive this from the unix side if possible. Have you thought of using
 > a webserver and cgi-bin to execute your shell script, then pull the coded
 > output? I think Tony or Rick have an http component.
I am an owner of both of their components (both good).
There is no web server on this unix machine.
It is an IBM machine running aix and db2.

Currently, I manually log in using telnet,
cd to proper folder on unix system,
then type in name of shell script to run,
and then wait as it "executes".

The script runs a series of sql that I created against a db2 database
server,
( which creates 15 text files on unix hard disk )
and when it finishes I am at a unix prompt.
I manually log out and go to my pdox application.

I then ftp the files from pdox using crooit ftp,
and ftp them to a windows network folder.

After ftp is done,
I log back into the unix system,
and manually delete the text files.

Not a huge pain,
but a process that could be streamlined,
and I am more than willing to spend some money
on a working telnet solution.


 > Using the same approach, set up a scheduled job on the unix box to
 > periodically check for the existence of a file and execute your process,
 > writing a logfile, when it was found.
Nope.
I can log into the unix box,
but I need to kick off the process upon demand,
and I would like to use pdox to kick it off.


 > For that matter, if your could mount a directory on the unix box via
 > samba, you could handle the whole thing through textstreams.
Not my unix box, it is at a customer site.

 > Just some ideas, which I realize may not be workable. I tried getting a
 > password into ssh a while back and found that it expects to get it from
 > the console only and won't take redirection.
Ok, thanks. Comments appreciated.



Robert Wiltshire<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Can you:

1. Access the DB2 server from Paradox?

or

2. Access the DB2 server from a command-line utility on your workstation?

If so, I would drive this from DB2. Either by fetching the data directly
over ODBC, or by executing a stored procedure that wrote the desired
output to a directory on the AIX box that I could ftp from after the
stored procedure was finished executing.

 > I can log into the unix box,
 > but I need to kick off the process upon demand,
 > and I would like to use pdox to kick it off.

The idea of monitoring for a file that you deliver was intended to provide
on-demand execution. You'd write a daemon process that was monitoring for
this file, perhaps every few seconds, and on finding it, would fire off
your process. You'd invoke it by ftping the "flag" file.

One reason to stay away from telnet on a box you don't own is that it
might just be a matter of time before the sysadmin shuts off telnet and
only allows ssh access to it. I don't know anyone who is still using
telnet.

--
Larry DiGiovanni
Digico, Inc
IT Consulting and Staffing Solutions
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.digicoinc.com" target="_blank">www.digicoinc.com</a>
Check out <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thedbcommunity.com" target="_blank">www.thedbcommunity.com</a> for Paradox resources<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Rather than use telnet, if you already have a Unix script to execute on the
AIX box, why not look at using rsh. I believe this will work if your Windows
client is Windows 2000 or Win XP.

Your only concern will be how to grant/enable access only to this workstation.
About 4 years ago I'd be able to tell you this in a shot, but have clean
forgotten this part of Unix security.

If you want to continue with checking files or uploading new ones then you
can do this via FTP, NFS or Samba.

This will give you on-demand processing, otherwise I would say your best
bet is a cron job running each minute and when a specified file exists it
runs your script, removes the file and when complete places a new/completed
file in the same location for you to check.


Regds
Jonathan
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

 > Rather than use telnet, if you already have a Unix script to execute on
the
 > AIX box, why not look at using rsh. I believe this will work if your
Windows
 > client is Windows 2000 or Win XP.

 > Your only concern will be how to grant/enable access only to this
workstation.
 > About 4 years ago I'd be able to tell you this in a shot, but have clean
 > forgotten this part of Unix security.

I have telnet privileges to log in manually,
but I do believe that rsh requires additional config on the unix system.
So while I dont think that is an option for this particular task,
I research it a little further.

 > If you want to continue with checking files or uploading new ones then you
 > can do this via FTP, NFS or Samba.
Correct, I have some nice ftp stuff, and have no problem checking for
created files.

 > This will give you on-demand processing, otherwise I would say your best
 > bet is a cron job running each minute and when a specified file exists it
 > runs your script, removes the file and when complete places a
new/completed
 > file in the same location for you to check.

That would require additional configuration on server,
which is not going to happen at this client site.

Thank you
Robert Wiltshire<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Rodney wrote :
 > 1. Find a Windows based command level TelNet
 > Terminal Application. (I'm sure they exist.)

 > 2. Open it minimized from within Paradox and include
 > command line parameters that would log you onto
 > the UNIX machine and fire up the script.

Yes, this is *exactly* what I want to try.

While doing some research and digging today
with my two good buddies,
(ogling with google and some other yahoo)
I stumbled acoss these :
1 . putty/plink,
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.puttyssh.org/" target="_blank">http://www.puttyssh.org/</a>
2. power tcp telnet tool, an active X component
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.dart.com/powertcp/telnet.asp" target="_blank">http://www.dart.com/powertcp/telnet.asp</a>
3. catalyst dll
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.catalyst.com/products/sockettools/library/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.catalyst.com/products/sockettools/library/index.html</a>

Plopping a component on a form,
and using its exposed methods/properties sure seems appealing.

Does anyone have any comments on these ?
or programs/components of similar nature ?


 > 4. Fire up Rick's FTP stuff from Paradox and check
 > for the file (via a timer that would time out after a
 > reasonable period if the file isn't found).
I bought this and it works great.

This needs to work at a client site,
and I can not make *any* modifications to the server.

Thanks for all comments so far.
Robert Wiltshire<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

On Tue, 8 Feb 2005 15:14:58 -0500, "Rodney Wise"
<NoMoreSpamPleaserodney.RemoveThis@ars-florida.com> wrote:

 >1. Find a Windows based command level TelNet
 > Terminal Application. (I'm sure they exist.)
For a Free TELNET, Open a command prompt
Type: Telnet <server.domain>
Win XPpro its a text based screen.
W98 it opens a GUI screen

Also HyperTerm allows telnet (W95 up)

Steve U)



--- _
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, / / / Running United Devices "Cure For Cancer" Project 24/7 Have you helped? <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.grid.org" target="_blank">http://www.grid.org</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

  > >1. Find a Windows based command level TelNet
  > > Terminal Application. (I'm sure they exist.)
 > For a Free TELNET, Open a command prompt
 > Type: Telnet <server.domain>
 > Win XPpro its a text based screen.
 > W98 it opens a GUI screen
 >
 > Also HyperTerm allows telnet (W95 up)

Thanks, I know about these already,
as this is how I currently do the work manually,
but I am think these are interactive programs.

Are you saying these can be run from a batch file ?
or that paradox can control the session somehow ?

Thanks
Robert Wiltshire<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

"Robert Wiltshire" wrote:


 > 3. catalyst dll
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.catalyst.com/products/sockettools/library/index.html</font" target="_blank">http://www.catalyst.com/products/sockettools/library/index.html</font</a>>
 >
========================


That one looks interesting. It uses DLL's and provides a feature that might
be just what you're looking for.

see quote below:
-----------------------

<Quotw>
Remote Command Protocol Library
The Remote Command protocol is used to execute a command on a server and
return the output of that command to the client. The SocketTools library
provides an interface to this protocol, enabling applications to remotely
execute a command and process the output. This is most commonly used with
UNIX based servers, although there are implementations of remote command
servers for the Windows operating system. The SocketTools library supports
both the rcmd and rshell remote execution protocols and provides functions
which can be used to search the data stream for specific sequences of
characters. This makes it extremely easy to write Windows applications which
serve as light-weight client interfaces to commands being executed on a UNIX
server or another Windows system. The library can also be used to establish
a remote terminal session using the rlogin protocol, which is similar to how
the Telnet protocol functions.
</Quote>


I see they have a free test download.... have you tried this?


--
....
`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·-> rodney<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

 > I see they have a free test download.... have you tried this?

Rodney,

Agreed, this dll from catalyst looked very interesting indeed.
I know of at least one person on this list with extensive catalyst
experience,
but not sure if they ever tried this particular toolset.

I have not tried anything yet.
I wanted to give this thread a few days before trying anything.
Who knows, maybe there is a simple windows api for this,
or perhaps someone has used sendkeys or winPostMessage to control the
windows telnet app.

Thanks
Robert Wiltshire<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Robert Wiltshire wrote:

 > 1 . putty/plink,

I think plink may do what you're looking for. If this is just a tool for
yourself, and you don't mind quick and dirty, I think the plain old
WinNT/2k/XP command-line-only telnet client can also be scripted (through
file redirection), though I am pretty sure you'll have to manually supply
the password each time.

plink can use public key password passing, but I suspect you might have to
make changes on the server to support this.

--
Larry DiGiovanni
Digico, Inc
IT Consulting and Staffing Solutions
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.digicoinc.com" target="_blank">www.digicoinc.com</a>
Check out <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.thedbcommunity.com" target="_blank">www.thedbcommunity.com</a> for Paradox resources<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question 

Following up......

#1 I used ShellExecuteA to fire off telnet.exe that comes with windows,
#2 used api FindWindows to get handle of open window.
#3 using handle, called winSendMessage to send name, password, and command
to telnet window
#4 using handle, called winSendMessage to copy text from telnet window to
clipboard
#5 looped and monitored clipboard content until word "done" appeared
#6 used winSendMessage to logoff *nix system
#7 used winSendMessage to close console window

A little on the crude side ,
but it serves my purpose of initiating an action from the workstation.

Thanks for all suggestions.

Robert Wiltshire
 >> Stay informed about: Telnet question