Reflection Desktop Help & HowTo > How Do I? > Set up Sessions and Connections

Set up Sessions and Connections

Using options for starting and configuring Reflection, you can:

Specify Whether to Automatically Connect to the Host

By default, terminal session documents are configured to connect to the host automatically when you create or open a terminal session. However, with a session document open in Reflection, you can manually disconnect or connect. You can also set up a session so that it doesn't automatically connect to the host.

To stop a session from automatically connecting to the host

  1. Open a terminal session.

  3. Under Host Connection, click Configure Connection Settings.

  4. Under Host Connection Options, clear the Automatically connect to the host option.

Share Sessions as Templates

Session documents contain references to the following settings (all of which can be customized): host, ribbon, theme, keyboard map, and mouse map.

After you configure a session document, you can share and reuse your settings by saving the document as a template. Templates provide an untitled copy of the original, giving you a quick and easy way to create pre-configured documents, while ensuring that your original file remains unchanged.

Reflection includes several templates in the Create New Document dialog box. When you create a template, as long as you save it to the Templates folder (the default location), it is added to this dialog box under User Defined.

To share a session document

  1. Open the session document that you've configured.

  3. Move the template file from the Templates folder on your computer to either a shared location or to the Templates folder on a computer that has Reflection installed.

    NOTE:If you copy the template file to a location other that the Templates folder, make sure it's a trusted location or Reflection won't open it.

    The Templates folder is in the following location:

    • Windows 10, Windows 7, and Vista:

      Users\ user_name \AppData\Roaming\Micro Focus\Reflection\Desktop\ version

  4. To make changes to the template, you must replace the template file — save the file that contains your changes using the same filename and extension as the template.

Encrypt a Session File

You can encrypt 3270, 5250, and Open Systems session documents to protect them against unauthorized changes. Encryption effectively scrambles the data in a session document, helping to prevent unauthorized users from reading and changing the file's contents. For best results, use document encryption in conjunction with the encryption options in the Permissions Manager.

In Reflection, you can easily encrypt sessions by saving them in the Encrypted Session Document format.

Alternatively, you can encrypt documents using a command-line program installed with Reflection, FileEncrypt.exe. With this program, you can also determine whether session documents are encrypted, and if they are, you can decrypt them.

To encrypt a session in Reflection

  1. Open a session document.

  3. From the Save as Type menu, choose the available encryption format, and then click Save.

To encrypt, decrypt, or test sessions using FileEncrypt.exe

  • From a command line, enter any of the following commands:

    To

    Type

    Encrypt a document

    fileencrypt /e [ file_in ] [ file_out ]

    Decrypt a document

    fileencrypt /d [ file_in ] [ file_out ]

    Test a document for encryption

    fileencrypt /t [ file_in ]

    where:

    [file_in] = The filename, including the extension and relative path.

    [file_out] = (Optional) A new name for the output file.

    For example:

    fileencrypt /e Session.rd3x SessionEncrypted.rd3x

    NOTE:FileEncrypt.exe searches only the current directory for session files, and requires administrative credentials to encrypt or decrypt a file.

Start a Session From a Command Line

You can launch a Reflection session from a command line. You can also use command line options to specify Reflection startup behavior and appearance. These options override the workspace settings.

To start a session

  • On a Windows command prompt, enter the following commands:

    "Attachmate.Emulation.Frame.exe" -f "<sessionPath><sessionName>"

Reflection Command Line Options

Options are case insensitive and are preceded by either a dash (-) or forward slash (/).

-f

Open document (.rdox, .rd3x, .rd5x) or layout (.rwsp)

-n

Suppress Reflection splash screen

-uimode{classic|ribbon|browser|touch}

Set user interface mode

-?, -help

Display this help topic

For example:

The following command opens mysession.rd3x in Browser mode with the splash screen suppressed:

Attachmate.Emulation.Frame.exe -f "C:\Users\myUserName\Documents\Micro Focus\Reflection\mysession.rd3x" -uimode browser -N

Configure Host Connection Options

You can specify whether to automatically connect to the host when a session document is opened. You can also specify whether to reconnect to a host after disconnections occur that are not initiated from Reflection.

To set up Host connection options

  2. Under Host Connection, click Configure Connection Settings.

  3. Under Host Connection Options (or Connection Options if you are using VT), specify how to connect and what to do when a connection is terminated:

    • To set up the session to establish a host connection as soon as the associated session document is opened, select Automatically connect to the host.

    • To specify whether to reconnect after any disconnection that is not initiated from Reflection, select an option in the When connection is terminated list.