Abstract

Attachmate Corporation commissioned Tolly, then operating as InterLAB/The Tolly Group, to evaluate EXTRA! for Windows version 4.0. The main focus of the project was to compare the product’s ease of use against other Windows-based 3270 emulators by measuring both end-user interface quality and administration-interface efficiency across a structured feature taxonomy.  

The February 1994 report compares EXTRA! for Windows 4.0 with Digital Communications Associates IRMA Workstation for Windows 2.1, IBM Personal Communications/3270 3.00a, NetSoft DynaComm/Elite 3.4, and Wall Data Rumba 3270 for the Mainframe 3.2. Tolly’s methodology weighted end-user interface factors at 70% of the composite score and administration-interface factors at 30%. As shown in the overall ease-of-use chart on page 1, EXTRA! achieved a composite score of 7.7, substantially ahead of DCA at 3.9, IBM and NetSoft at 3.8, and Wall Data at 3.7.  

On the end-user side, EXTRA! led with an overall score of 7.8. The detailed matrix on page 2 shows strong results in 3270 menu design, keyboard organization and configuration, toolbar flexibility, hot spots, and function-pad configuration. Tolly highlights several differentiators on page 3: highly configurable menus, Microsoft-style “Most Recently Used” menu organization, fully configurable toolbars using drag-and-drop icons, and individually configurable hot spots with OIA support and automatic activation logic. EXTRA! also supported recent-transfer tracking for file movement and allowed flexible session-specific toolbar behavior.  

The administration interface was another major advantage. On page 5, EXTRA! scored 7.6 overall versus 3.8 for DCA and IBM and 4.0 for NetSoft and Wall Data. Tolly notes that EXTRA! was the only product tested with true context-sensitive online help, deeper OIA message explanations, strong multi-session layout control, broad script and macro support, and extensive security controls. These security features allowed administrators to lock down menus, toolbars, function pads, macros, keyboard options, layouts, and hot spots to prevent unintended or unauthorized user changes. The layout capability also let one icon launch multiple preconfigured sessions with associated windows, menus, toolbars, and function pads.  

The test bed used an IBM 9370 mainframe with an Integrated Communications Controller, an 80486-based 33MHz PC with 8MB of RAM, a 3Com TokenLink III network interface, IBM LAN Support 1.26, MS-DOS 6.0, and Microsoft Windows 3.1 Enhanced Mode over a 16Mbit/s single-segment Token Ring. Overall, the report presents EXTRA! for Windows 4.0 as the easiest-to-use 3270 emulator in this comparison, combining superior user-interface flexibility with especially strong administrative control and configuration depth.  

Solutions tested:

• Attachmate EXTRA! for Windows v4.0 — Windows-based 3270 emulator evaluated for end-user and administration ease of use.  
• DCA IRMA Workstation for Windows 2.1 — Competing Windows-based 3270 emulator included in the ease-of-use comparison.  
• IBM Personal Communications/3270 3.00a — IBM Windows-based 3270 emulator tested in the comparative evaluation.  
• NetSoft DynaComm/Elite 3.4 — Windows-based 3270 emulator included in the comparison.  
• Wall Data Rumba 3270 for the Mainframe 3.2 — Competing Windows-based 3270 emulator evaluated for ease of use.  

This report was first published under the InterLAB brand and was rebranded when InterLAB became The Tolly Group in 1994.