Campus Hosts (Telnet):
dataComet for the Macintosh

1. Pre-Configured Connections to Hosts
2. Connections to Other Hosts
3. Adding Your Own Hosts to the Bear Access menu

DataComet is a Macintosh application for communicating with host computers, such as multi-user Unix systems, using a communications protocol called "telnet" or "tn3270." This software was originally developed at Cornell under the name "Comet," and later licensed to an independent company and renamed "dataComet."

At Cornell, dataComet is provided as part of the Bear Access package of online services. If you don't use Bear Access, you can download dataComet from http://www.databeast.com/.

Pre-Configured Connections to Hosts

Gaea (CISER)

An IBM UNIX system for research sponsored by Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Instruct3

A Sun UNIX system used for instructional purposes. Students taking courses that require accounts on this system will receive accounts through their instructors.

CornellC

A system used mainly for administrative data processing.

Library Catalog

A telnet version of the library catalog provided for people whose computers have trouble accessing the web catalog.

Connecting to Other Hosts

1. Click on the dataComet button in the Campus Hosts folder of the Bear Access window. A Configure Session dialog box will open.
   • If dataComet is already running, you can start a new session by selecting the New command from dataComet's File menu to bring up the Configure Session dialog.

   

2. In the text field at the top, enter a name for this session. This will appear in the title bar of the session's window and it will be the default file name if you save the configuration as a dataComet document.

3. Under "Terminal type," you can usually use Automatic, since dataComet will negotiate with the host to determine the correct protocol.

4. At the bottom of the dialog box, in the Host Name/Address field, enter the domain name name (for example, jtf.cit.cornell.edu) or IP address (for example, 132.236.56.6) of the host computer to which you wish to connect.

   Tip: If you know both the host's name and its number, use the name, which is safer in case the IP address ever has to be changed. For a domain name that ends in .cit.cornell.edu, you only need to enter the first part of the name.

5. If you are connecting to a specific port at a host system, add a colon and the port number after the host name. For example, to designate port 1240 of the address jtf.cit.cornell.edu use: jtf.cit.cornell.edu:1240 .

6. Click OK and you should connect to the host you requested.

Exiting from dataComet

DataComet does not automatically quit when all sessions are closed. Even if you close the windows for all hosts and services using dataComet, the application will still be active in your Macintosh's memory until you select Quit from dataComet's File menu. There is an option (Global... under the Control menu) to have dataComet quit automatically when all windows have been closed.

For More Information

For more information about dataComet, see its comprehensive built-in help system (choose any topic from the Help menu).

Saving Settings for Hosts You Use Often

1. Open a connection to the desired host.
2. Under the File menu, select Save Configuration....
3. Enter a name for your session and click Save.
4. The next time you use dataComet, select Open... from the File menu and then click on the session name you saved.

   If you use Bear Access, you can create a custom folder with icons for the hosts you use most frequently. See Customizing Bear Access.