AbsoluteTelnet / SSH version 7 introduces a feature that has been at the top of my request list for awhile. I knew session scripting would take a while to do correctly, and I finally decided that now was the right time and I don't think you'll be disappointed with the results!
AbsoluteTelnet uses the Microsoft Script Control to implement a fully VBScript compatible scripting language with extensions to give you control over session data. Now, you can use your VBScript scripting skills and a little imagination to automate tasks within a terminal session over telnet, ssh, serial, or dialup.
Scripts can be implemented in three different places within AbsoluteTelnet to achieve various results...
- Scripts can be entered in Options->Properties->Scripts. Scripts entered here are saved along with your session file (.tnt file) and are specific to any session opened using that session definition. The script is started at login time and is useful for setting up session logging, monitoring, or login automation.
- If you don't want to define a different script for each session file, you can enter a script in the Options->Properties->Global page using the option 'edit global connection script' option. Here, you can define a single global script that runs at login time. This option is useful for session logging and monitoring. You *could* perform login automation here, but your login credentials are probably different for each host, so this is probably not the best place to implement that. See option 1 above. Global scripts and session script can both run in parallel at login time, so be careful not to replicate the same functionality in both places. It won't be pretty.
- To provide user-initiated scripting, keyboard-mapping has been enhanced to allow the inclusion of a VBScript coded script into the mapping interface. With this feature, scripts can be run ad-hoc at user request, not just at login time. For example, you could map a diagnostic script to the 'F7' key so the user can perform complex diagnostic tasks in response to a single keystroke.
Related Links: Script Examples, VBScript API