Hebrew Setup

Israeli AS/400 systems use EBCDIC code page 424 for Hebrew characters. This tutorial walks through setting the correct CCSID, enabling right-to-left screen display, using bidirectional copy, and displaying Hebrew PF-key labels in IMTerm.

Prerequisite: You should have completed the Getting Started tutorial first. You need access to a Hebrew-enabled AS/400 system (CCSID 424 or 803).

Open a new connection

Click File > New Session (or Ctrl+N) to open the New Connection dialog.

What you should see: The New Connection dialog with TN5250, TN3270, and VT220 protocol cards.

Choose TN5250

Click the TN5250 card. Hebrew sessions on IBM i always use TN5250, not TN3270.

What you should see: The TN5250 card is highlighted. The CCSID dropdown appears below the host/port fields.

Set the CCSID to 424

In the CCSID dropdown, choose 424 - Hebrew. Use 803 if your system uses the old CCSID 803 encoding (less common). Leave the default (37) only for US-English sessions.

What you should see: The CCSID dropdown shows "424 - Hebrew". This tells IMTerm to map incoming EBCDIC bytes using the Hebrew code page, so the characters display correctly.

Enter host and port, then connect

Type your AS/400 hostname in the Host field, confirm the port is 23 (or 992 for TLS), and click Connect.

What you should see: The Sign On screen appears in the terminal. Hebrew field labels should already appear correctly in Hebrew characters.

Sign on and navigate to a Hebrew screen

Sign on as usual (Tab to Password, Enter) and navigate to a screen that contains Hebrew text, such as a customer list or name-entry screen.

What you should see: Hebrew text appears on the right side of the screen. Mixed Hebrew/English screens are common: column headers may be in English while data fields contain Hebrew.

Enable Screen Reverse for right-to-left display

Click View > Screen Reverse, or press Ctrl+Shift+R. This mirrors the screen layout so Hebrew text flows naturally from right to left.

What you should see: The screen content is mirrored. Column headers and data shift to the right. Hebrew sentences read left-to-right visually (which is how they appear on a physical 5250 terminal configured for Hebrew). Toggle it off with the same shortcut if the screen looks wrong for your system.

Copy Hebrew text correctly with Copy RTL

Select text on the screen by clicking and dragging. Then go to Edit > Copy Right to Left to copy with the character order reversed, which pastes correctly into Hebrew word processors and email clients.

What you should see: The selection is highlighted. After clicking Copy RTL, you can paste into Word, Outlook, or any Hebrew-capable application and the text reads naturally.

Display Hebrew PF-key labels

IMTerm can label the PF-key toolbar buttons in Hebrew. To enable this, connect with CCSID 424 and ensure View > PF Toolbar is checked. The toolbar labels automatically switch to Hebrew (F1=עזרה, F3=יציאה, F4=הצג רשימה, etc.) when the session CCSID is 424 or 803.

What you should see: The PF toolbar below the menu bar shows Hebrew text on each button instead of generic "F1", "F2", etc. labels. Hover over any button to see the English equivalent in a tooltip.