I’ve been meaning to start my “alternatives” series for a few weeks now, but couldn’t decide on the proper piece of software for the opening. I have it now, however, and it’s something solid: an SSH client able to act as an alternative to VanDyke’s SecureCRT.

My daily job requires me to use a SSH/Telnet/serial client a lot to manage servers, routers, firewalls and use other devices such as modems. Since 2003 I’ve been constantly using SecureCRT and consider it a powerful, feature-packed (but not bloated) product. Before settling with SecureCRT I had tried several other programs, including the popular open source PuTTY, but never found anything suitable to my needs.

It’s obvious, then, why I was initially skeptical when the folks at EmTec suggested I have a look at ZOC Terminal. Still, the program seemed capable, so I said to myself why not give it a try. After a first brief look, I decided it deserves a much closer look and used it regularly for about a week. …and I’m going to share my findings with you.

Tip of the day
I always appreciate it when I’m greeted by a “tip of the day” dialog. Granted, it’s not something out of the ordinary, but it’s the first time I see a configurable one (every program start, every day, every two days, once every week or none at all).

Local command typing
From time to time I happen across a slow, lagging or lossy connection (“mobile” Internet comes to mind), so using SSH becomes a drag. Typing simple commands can take a long time because, apparently, each character is sent separately. Pressing Alt-C in ZOC brings up a field in which one can type the full command(s) and then send them in a single go.

Colored tabs
Each connection can be assigned a color from a predefined list. That color is used to paint the associated tab when you open that specific connection, achieving an effect similar to the ColorfulTabs Firefox add-on.

Password protection for idle time
If you connect to several machines at once and leave the connections open, you probably don’t want anyone to meddle with your terminal. To prevent this from happening when you’re away from the computer, the simplest method is to lock the workstation (Win-L on Windows), but what if you forget? ZOC supports an automatic password protection prompt that kicks in after a configurable amount of idle time.

Clipboard to editor
I often need to work on text copied from a terminal window, so I fire up my text editor, perform whatever actions are necessary, then save the file or use the contents back in the terminal window. ZOC helps speed up the process with the “Edit->Clipboard to editor” option, which opens up your chosen editor and automatically pastes the clipboard inside a new file.

Paste without final newline
Also inside the “Program settings” dialog there’s the “Paste without final newline” option. Enabling it allows one to avoid accidentally running a command by pasting some text that has a newline at the end.

Host directory dialog organization
Unlike SecureCRT, ZOC doesn’t organize saved connections in a tree-like structure. Instead, it uses sections, which translate visually as tabs. Therefore you can have your “servers” tab, your “routers” tab, and so on. The tabs cannot be reordered via drag&drop, but it can be done using two Up/Down buttons. The “clone” button can be extremely useful sometimes.

Shortcuts for specific connections
The “More” button in the Host directory dialog has more treats in store; for example, the “Create shortcut” option, which (you guessed) creates a shortcut for a specific connection. Shortcuts can be added to the button bar or to the Windows desktop. This can also be done from the “Shortcuts” tab in the “Edit host directory entry” window, in which case you can assign a Ctrl-Fx keyboard shortcut or choose to add the connection to the main window’s File menu.

Connection counts
This isn’t really a terminal-related feature, but it’s interesting to see straightforward connection statistics (ever wanted to find out which server requires your attention the most? )

Snippets window
If enabled, the snippets window (Alt-I or View->Window elements->Snippets) autocollects useful bits from the commands you type inside the terminal: hostnames, IP addresses, and so on.

Scripting
Scripting is possible in ZOC but, unlike SecureCRT which uses the Microsoft Script Engine, it relies on the high-level REXX language. The help system covers this pretty well.

Conclusions?
ZOC is definitely a piece worth installing. I just wish it were a bit cheaper than SecureCRT. That way I wouldn’t have to wait until the SecureCRT license I renewed recently expires

Of course, there’s a downside too, but I guess it’s something to expect when switching from a program to another: the shortcuts are different. For example, I’m currently used to hit Alt-C to bring up the Connect dialog in SecureCRT, but in ZOC it opens the local command field. Reconnecting to a tab I just logged out of in ZOC required that I press Alt-R, whereas in SecureCRT I simply press ENTER. (And so on…)

The current version of ZOC Terminal is 6.03. Two more screenshots and I’m done

Tags: Alternatives, securecrt, ssh, ZOC |

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