IBM i Quick Tip: Copy and Paste in IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 Green Screens

My shop just migrated from System i Access for Windows V5R4M0 to IBM i Access for Windows V7R1M0, and we’re still looking at the differences between the two programs.

One of the small things I noticed is the difference between Copy and Paste for the Personal Communications program that comes with System i Access for Windows V5R4M0 and Copy and Paste for the Personal Communications V6.0 program that comes with IBM i Access for Windows V7R1M0 (sometimes called PC5250) . PC5250 is the program that provides green-screen 5250 terminal emulation in Windows. Here’s what I’m seeing.

In V5R4M0, I could highlight the text I want to copy and hit the Windows copy shortcut key (CTRL+C), and that text would be copied to the clipboard. To paste text from the clipboard into a PC5250 screen, I could move the cursor to where I wanted to paste the text and hit the Windows paste shortcut key (CTRL+V), and the text would be copied to my Personal Communications screen.

In V7R1M0, neither the Windows Copy shortcut key nor the Windows Paste shortcut key works. Instead, I have to click on Edit–>Copy or Edit–>Paste from the Personal Communications menu bar to make these functions work.

It looks like CTRL-C and CTRL-V for Personal Communications screen went away with the Personal Communications program delivered with IBM i Access for Windows 7.1

As I said, it’s a small thing but something IBM i admins and their users should know as they are moving to IBM i Access for Windows V7R1M0. Anyone hear of this issue or know of a fix to bring CTRL-C and CTRL-V back?

This inconvenience is somewhat balanced out by several new Copy and Paste functions available in the Personal Communications program that comes with IBM i Access for Windows 7.1. See the second half of my IT Jungle article on getting Personal Communications to work for more information on these new functions.

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4 Responses to IBM i Quick Tip: Copy and Paste in IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 Green Screens

  1. Peter says:

    This is easy enough to fix, by changing the keyboard layout for IBM i Access. I don’t have the client in front of me, but if memory serves, go to the Edit menu, down to the keyboard mapping utility. Click on the C key, and change the setting for Ctrl, then do the same for the V key. Save it, and use it.

  2. Hi, i am not sure if you solve it the copy/paste sittuation but just to let you know that following the steps from peter you need to select C and then in the CTRL field add the following: [edit-copy] and select V and then in the CTRL field add [edit-paste]

    • James S says:

      Victor’s steps are correct. I will add just that I don’t believe this was a “change” for 7.1. My understanding is that the default has been the same, but the keyboard maps for Peter’s company were probably already in place.

      This change is about the only one I make to the default mapping, and it drives me crazy when I use a computer that doesn’t have it.

      A side note on the new java based client which went GA recently (http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/i/access/solutions.html). It supports the same keyboard mapping functionality, but it handles it in a different way visually. Experienced users won’t miss a beat, but your less computer literate friends may need extra assistance. If you haven’t checked the new client out, I’d encourage you to do so. It’s quickly become a suitable stand-in for the full-blown OS based installs, and IBM will be focusing on it exclusively in the future.

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