Terminal - Control

Declaration

<AMCONTROLTERM SESSION="text" ACTION="SETCURSORPOSITION" 
CURSORROW="number" CURSORCOL="number" />

Description: Changes the properties of a currently established terminal session including window visibility or cursor position.

Practical Usage

Generally used to make the terminal window visible or hidden, or to clear the window or set the cursor position. Commonly used with the Get Terminal Text or Send Terminal Text actions to prepare the terminal window to receive text, or to clear it after text has been retrieved. The terminal actions are used in lieu of terminal emulation software. Using the terminal actions, legacy systems can be automated in the background without the use of third-party software.

General Parameters

Property

Type

Required

Default

Markup

Description

Action

Text (options)

No

Show terminal window

ACTION="CLEARTERMINAL"

Specifies the action to perform on the terminal window. The available options are:

  • Show terminal window (default) - Displays the terminal window.

  • Hide terminal window - Hides the terminal window.

  • Clear terminal window - Clears all text from the terminal window.

  • Set cursor position - Sets the position of the cursor in the terminal window. Specify position in Row and Column fields.

Cursor Row

Number

Yes if Action is Set cursor position

1

ROW="1"

Specifies the row number for the cursor position. This parameter is available only if the Action parameter is set to Set cursor position.

Cursor Column

Number

Yes if Action is Set cursor position

1

COLUMN="2"

Specifies the column number for the cursor position. This parameter is available only if the Action parameter is set to Set cursor position.

Session Name

Text

No

TermSess1

SESSION="TermSess2"

The session name that this action should correspond to. This session name must have been previously created with a prior Connect Terminal step. This allows several connections to be active simultaneously. If you are only using one connection at a time, you can leave this parameter set to the default value -TermSess1.

Description tab - A custom description can be provided on the Description tab to convey additional information or share special notes about a task step.

Error Causes tab - Specify how this step should behave upon the occurrence of an error. (Refer to Task Builder > Error Causes Tab for details.)

On Error tab - Specify what AWE should do if this step encounters an error as defined on the Error Causes tab. (Refer to Task Builder > On Error Tab for details.)

Examples

The sample AML code below can be copied and pasted directly into the Steps panel of the Task Builder.

Sample 1 - This step sets the cursor to position 2,3 in terminal "TermSess3".

<AMCONTROLTERM SESSION="TermSess3" ACTION="SETCURSORPOSITION" 
CURSORROW="2" CURSORCOL="3" />

Sample 2 - A sample task that uses all available terminal actions. Examining the step parameters and properties of this task may assist you in creating your own terminal emulation task.

<AMVARIABLE NAME="thePassword">password</AMVARIABLE>
<AMCONNECTTERM EMULATION="VT220" 
HOST="linux.networkautomation.com" SHOWTERMINALWINDOW="YES" />
<AMWAITFORTERMTEXT TYPE="TEXT">login:</AMWAITFORTERMTEXT>
<AMSENDTERMTEXT>%theUsername%{ENTER}</AMSENDTERMTEXT>
<AMSHOWDIALOG>OK to proceed?</AMSHOWDIALOG>
<AMWAITFORTERMTEXT TYPE="TEXT">Password:</AMWAITFORTERMTEXT>
<AMSENDTERMTEXT>%thePassword%{ENTER}</AMSENDTERMTEXT>
<AMSHOWDIALOG>OK to proceed?</AMSHOWDIALOG>
<AMDISCONNECTTERM />