3270 Client: The font color for normal protected fields is hard to read (816836)

SYMPTOMS

You may find it hard to read some data when using the 3270 Client (Win3270.exe) to connect to applications on an IBM host system. Data fields in 3270 that are defined as normal, protected fields may appear with a very dim font that makes the data hard to read.

This problem is more noticeable when the system's display properties where the 3270 Client is running is configured to use a color resolution of 256 colors or lower resolution.

CAUSE

The 3270 Client is designed to display normal, protected 3270 fields using a dark blue font color that uses a color palette with the following RGB values:

0,128,255

This particular color can result in very dim and unreadable characters on monitors that use certain display properties, such as 256 colors.

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

328152 How to obtain the latest service pack for Host Integration Server 2000

Hotfix information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version      Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------
  14-Mar-2003  11:34  5.0.0.900         127,248  Win3270.exe

Note Because of file dependencies, the most recent fix that contains the preceding files may also contain additional files.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 and Host Integration Server 2000 Service Pack 1.

This problem was corrected in Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000 Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

The 3270 Client has been updated to use the following RGB values for displaying 3270 normal, protected fields:

0,255,255

This results in a turquoise color that is much easier to read when displaying these types of 3270 fields.