New York, NY (November 18, 1997) - In response to requests from users of host applications Advanced Transition Technologies (AT2), Inc. has announced the release of the newest addition to its ResQ! for Windows family of Sprites. Entitled Get-to-the-Point, the Sprite (plug-in) is a facility that seamlessly integrates GUI host screen data into PC applications so that users may not even be aware that the screen they are viewing originated on the Mainframe or mid-range host.

"We were surprised by the high percentage of users who wanted to bypass the login screens," says Todres Yampel, President and COO of Advanced Transition Technologies., "After further investigation we understood that bypassing login screens is only the beginning. What the users were asking for was a tool that would allow them to seamlessly integrate host screens into the PC environment by eliminating the redundant navigation process."

Under the old approach, when an accounts payable user, for example, needed invoice data, he or she had to access the mainframe session via hot-key, sign on and log in, navigate through a few "green screen" menus, and then reenter account and invoice numbers-information already in the PC application. Once on the host screen, the user would most likely cut-and-paste to retrieve data from the host session and place it on the PC application. Later on, programmers would try to streamline the process by using programming tools with HLLAPI code, however that approach was costly and unstable. With Get-to-the-Point for ResQ!, host data in GUI can be seamlessly "embedded" into the PC application without any programming efforts on the user side.

When activated by ResQ! for Windows, the Get-to-the-Point facility attaches itself to a predefined screen, fills out the desired fields, and optionally presses 'Enter' or any other indicated function key. This allows users to launch a GUI-ized host session (thanks to ResQ! technology) from a PC application in Virtual Basic, C++, PowerBuilder, etc. Data is retrieved while all host-related login and navigational screens are hidden behind the PC application screen. The result is that in the time it takes for the user to get to the host screen, all user info and host data is already available, eliminating the need to tread through multiple navigational screens.

Get-to-the-Point can use various sources for input, such as Environment variables, INI files, screen variables, and screen data from current as well as previous screens. All of this is done without programming or scripting. Additionally, the Get-to-the-Point facility can be combined with other Sprites from AT2. The Global Variables and Global Calculator Sprites make great companions to Get-to-the-Point because strings and values extracted through them can be easily applied to further enhance users applications.

AT2 has also developed a Java-based version of Get-to-the-Point for use with the Internet and Intranets.