Reflection Desktop 16.1 - New Features and Release Notes

Reflection Desktop 16.1 released in February, 2017. This technical note describes new features and resolved issues in Reflection Desktop 16.1, as well as fixes previously released in Reflection Desktop 16.0 Service Pack 1.

What’s Reflection Desktop?

Reflection 2014 emulation products are now named Reflection Desktop. For information about features provided in each product edition, see KB 7021415.

Note for X users: Reflection Desktop for X and Reflection Desktop Pro also include:

• Reflection X Advantage version 16.1. For features and fixes, see KB 7021840.
• Legacy Reflection X version 14.1 SP5 (32-bit). For features and fixes, see the Reflection X sections in Technical Notes 2861. For installation instructions, see KB 7021808.

Note for NonStop users: Reflection Desktop for NonStop Add-On is a separately licensed product for connecting to HP NonStop hosts (Tandem 6530). For NonStop features and fixes, see KB 7021424.

New Features

Key Enhancements

• Added the Express Macro language. Express macros are general purpose macros that are supported by a number of Micro Focus products including: Reflection Desktop, InfoConnect Desktop, ZFE, and Rumba. After you create an Express macro, you can run it on any supported Micro Focus product (no editing is required). Express macros are currently supported for 3270 and 5250 sessions only.
• Updated platform support:
  • Support was added for Windows Server 2016
• Tested for the following:
  • Microsoft Windows 10 operating system certification
  • VMware Ready logo for Applications specification
  • Citrix Ready logo specification

• Enhanced the Plus Add-on:
  • Table control allows you to modify data on multiple screens and specify the location of an action to be performed relative to the location of the selected table row.
  • Chooser control loads data dynamically from an external source.
  • New MultiLine control is an input field with multiple text lines which are added at a specified screen location.
  • New MessageBox control allows you to create a configurable alert message box.
  • Rule Manager provides a new exclusion method for rules. It also allows you to sort rules by names and provides support for operands and variables in rules.
  • Bold / italic / underline support for controls with caption adds functionality for those controls that have captions.

API and Macro Improvements

• Added the SaveAsCompound .NET method and VBA function to allow the saving of compound session documents.
• Extra! *.ebm Macro files now have a Windows Association with the ebedit.exe file, which opens the macro in an editor instead of the ebrun.exe file that runs the macro.
• Added support for the legacy Reflection SetKeyMap and SetMouseMap methods to programmatically set the keyboard and mouse maps.
• Added support to use the legacy Reflection API to customize the title caption.
• Added the ScratchPadContentsAsText property to the Productivity object in .NET and VBA. This property allows you to get the scratchpad content programmatically as either text or Rich Text Format.
• Reduced risk of user errors by disabling the Run Macro Action when a macro is already running. This applies for all macro types in all host sessions.
• Added a "When the session opens" event to the Event Mapper. This event is equivalent to the RIBM/RUO 14.X "When Reflection starts" event, which is now imported from legacy sessions to Reflection Desktop. If enabled, this event fires before a macro initiated with the "Run a macro or other action before initial connection" setting runs.
• Enabled Events and Macro menus in the Reflection Desktop printer session user interface.

Upgrade Improvements

• Functionality was added to import legacy Hotspot (.ehs) files into Reflection. To do this, place the legacy file in the My Documents\Reflection\Hotspots Maps folder. Then in Document Settings, select Manage Hotspots, choose Select another hotspots file | Custom, and browse to the file.
• Before you deploy the file, Select to Modify the currently selected hotspots file so you can save it in the new file format (.xhs).

User Interface Improvements

• Improved the user experience by making it easier to add a new Trusted Location after trying to open a file that is not currently in a Trusted Location.
• Added the Users’ Desktop to the default Trusted Locations list.
• Added the ability to customize the full text of the Reflection Workspace name displayed in the title bar in Classic (SDI) mode.
• Added the ability to hide or show the menu bar and status bar in Classic (SDI) mode.
• Added the ability for hotspots to work with unprotected fields or text on Host screens by default when creating a new IBM Host session.
• When viewing data in the screen history list, you can now copy selected text from the context menu (the right click menu).
• Added the ability to change the color of the cursor by choosing a color for the Cursor item in the Text Color Mapping list.
• Added the ability to set cursor and hotspots colors in VT sessions.

Security Improvements

• Added the ability to disable the option to Retrieve and validate certificate chain when configuring a session for TLS 1.0 or 1.2. Disabling this option adds security risks but makes it easier to move to TLS 1.2 without having to manage certificates.
• Added the ability to specify whether certificates presented for host authentication are checked to determine if they are valid and signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). This setting can also be specified with the SSLValidateCertChain property, which was added to the Reflection .NET and VBA API.

Improvements in Interacting with Host Access Management and Security Server (MSS)

• Reflection Desktop now supports smart card authentication to MSS via X509 Certificate Authentication without the need to have Java installed on the workstation.
• Added support to authenticate to MSS using cookies as an identifier. This is useful in multi-user and virtual environments like Windows Terminal Server and Citrix where individual users might share a common IP address.
• Added support for the MSS Advanced Authentication Framework. This framework enables strong multi-factor authentication using a variety of authentication methods, including biometrics, one-time passwords, and smartphone authentication.
• Added capability to use MSS to centrally manage trusted IBM host certificates and deliver to Reflection Desktop clients dynamically.
• Added the Require Authentication setting to the Configure Centralized Management Dialog box. When this option is selected, the user is required to authenticate to a centralized management server to create or open Reflection session files, regardless of origin.

Other Improvements

• Text copied from Reflection as Rich Text Format and pasted into Microsoft Word or Outlook includes the text colors and font as they are displayed in Reflection.
• Added a group policy and Permissions Manager setting to lock down the Rlogin port field.
• Added a new Product Experience Improvement program that is designed to help Micro Focus improve Reflection Desktop over time. This program collects information about how people use Reflection without interrupting the users in their tasks. The information that is collected helps Micro Focus identify which Reflection features to improve. Reflection is set to participate in this program by default. If you choose not to participate, you’ll need to clear the Enable Usage Data option in the Configure Usage Data dialog box and then close and reopen the Reflection Workspace.

Resolved Issues

This release includes the fixes previously provided in Reflection Desktop 16.0 Service Pack 1, plus the following additional fixes.

API and Macro Fixes

• In the Select Action dialog box, the Run Legacy EXTRA! Macro action now allows the passage of a macro parameter after the macro name.
• When the "Run Reflection Workspace Macro" is selected in the Select Action dialog box, only Functions and Sub procedures that do not take arguments are listed.
• The Action Parameters panel in the Select Action dialog box now displays all of the available subroutines and functions when the RunEmbeddedLegacyReflectionMacro Action is selected.
• HLLAPI Function 104 (Query or Set Window Status) now displays the currently connected Host session information.
• The Reflection Workspace and all running Host sessions are now removed from memory with HLLAPI Function 21 (Reset System).
• The VBA "Exit" statements in legacy Reflection macros are no longer incorrectly prepended with "ThisSession." when opening an .RSF file.
• The Frame.Visible property now works correctly when running two Host sessions on the same IPC channel from a .NET API application.
• The performance of ReflectionCOM methods and properties used in legacy Reflection macros has been improved.

Keyboard and Keyboard Map Fixes

• IBM (3270 or 5250) sessions running in Classic MDI mode now allow the ALT key to be used to select the File menu.
• When opening a host session, Reflection now displays a dialog box indicating the Keyboard Map file is missing if it cannot be found, instead of using a built-in keyboard map.

Upgrade Fixes

• Importing legacy keyboard maps and hotspot files that include external file references for setKeyboardMapAction, and setHotSpotFileAction actions now work properly. When legacy hotspots or keyboard map files with these actions mapped are imported, the following locations are searched for the parameter:

• For keymap - .ekm, .map, .kmp, .rkm, .r2w, .r3w, .r4w
• For Quickpads - .etb, .eqp
• Hotspot migration messages are no longer logged in the Workspace.log file if the hotspot is migrated successfully.
• Legacy Extra! and InfoConnect hotspot .ehs files are now converted to .xhs files correctly for all IBM, VT, INT1, and T27 sessions.
• A random error that says "an unnamed file has a bad format" no longer occurs when running encrypted Extra! (.ebm) macros.

Security Feature Fixes

• Large SSH banner screens are now displayed properly when authenticating with the "Handle SSH user authentication in terminal window" setting selected.
• SSH connections now properly detect the difference between an HPOpenVMS host and an OpenSSH system and correctly use the SECSH key format for Public key encryption.

User Interface Fixes

• Fixed problems with the display of imported legacy QuickPads:
  • Tooltips now display properly under all circumstances.
  • Font sizes less than 8 now display properly for QuickPad buttons.
  • QuickPads that contain backspace actions now display correctly.
• The “Show ToolTips” checkbox setting in the Manage QuickPads dialog box now works as expected and ToolTips are not displayed when this setting is cleared.
• The scroll bar is now always visible after resizing the Reflection Workspace Settings dialog boxes.
• A newly created Ribbon now displays correctly when switching between multiple sessions where the Ribbon is displayed.
• In a 5250 session, the Plus Feature actions for "Page Up" and "Page Down" now perform the “Roll Up” and “Roll down” functions.
• The “Clear to end of field after paste" setting now works when used in conjunction with the "Mask protected fields" setting.
• When configured for the Japanese language and using the "Automatically adjust font size to fit window" setting, typed characters in a VT terminal session no longer appear in a small font size.
• Hiding and showing Ribbon Groups programmatically no longer changes their order in the Reflection Ribbon.
• Problems with character display in Vietnamese 5250 sessions along with problems when a lower-case letter was entered in an uppercase-only field are now corrected.
• Tooltips now appear when you hover the mouse over a Hotspot in 3270, 5250, and VT sessions.
• Fixed problems with screen flickering that occurred after the toolbar or menu was modified in Classic or Classic MDI User Interface mode.
• Users can now create and display a Hotspot while the 3270 Host session is not bound to a Host application or is at an SSCP screen.
• In slow Citrix environments, the issue of a host session screen disappearing for a few seconds when tabbing between Host sessions is fixed.

VT Fixes

• Unix and OpenVMS Host connections can now be successfully metered with MSS.
• In OpenVMS SSH sessions, when "VT backspace sends" setting is set to "Delete” and the "Handle SSH user authentication in terminal window" setting is selected in Host Connection Settings, the Backspace key now works properly during in-terminal authentication.

Other Fixes

• Reflection does not try to save the Host session file when "Discard document settings" is selected and the Host session is closed after being resized.
• Custom settings now get copied from the global Applications.settings file (in C:\ProgramData\Micro Focus\Reflection\Workspace\...) to the users Applications.settings file (in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Micro Focus\Reflection\Workspace\... ).
• Fixed an issue related to selecting Host session text with a left mouse click while the mouse was still in motion, which would cause an incorrect line to be highlighted.
• Reflection FTP no longer truncates long file names to 8.3 format when using a local folder that resides on a Citrix client machine.
• The Reflection Plus feature is no longer installed for products that don't use this functionality, such as Reflection for Unix and OpenVMS.
• Resolved a random crash that appeared as a "NullReferenceException" or an "Unhandled exception error."
• The "BadImageFormatException" exception error no longer occurs if a user tries to create or open a Host session when a file named "program" is located in the root drive C:\ of a Windows PC.
• Fixed an intermittent problem with the ExtraSystemManager.exe still running after the last instance of the Attachmate.Emulation.Frame.exe was closed.
• Pressing an "invalid" AID key on certain 5250 screens no longer causes a Host session to drop back to the Sign-on screen.
• Local Help is now accessible for installations on operating systems using the Italian language.
• An error dialog appears if the .NET prerequisite installer fails to detect an existing .NET version or if the prerequisite fails to install completely.
• Fixed problem with Reflection hanging after pressing the Alt+F4 key combination and then pressing the Alt key on Windows 10.

Open Issues

• The Desktop designers are missing actions (setKeyboardMapAction, showQuickPadAction and setHotSpotFileAction). These actions are used to show a QuickPad or implement a keyboard map.

Downloading and Installing

Maintained customers are now eligible to download the latest product releases at https://download.attachmate.com/Upgrades/. You will be prompted to login and accept the Software License Agreement before you can download a file. For more information about using the Downloads website, see KB 7021965.

For supported platform information, see KB 7021413.

For information about upgrading an existing installation of an earlier Reflection product, see KB 7021412.

Legacy KB ID