How You Can Use ASOLib Within an OpenROAD Server Application
An OpenROAD Server application is unaware of the client technology that is accessing it. Heterogeneous client technologies can access an application simultaneously. For example, an OpenROAD client could be used for back office data maintenance concurrent with a web server client for Internet deployment. Both client applications can use the same OpenROAD Server application instance. This section describes how to use ASOLib within an OpenROAD Server regardless of the client technology used.
Writing an OpenROAD Server application that uses ASOLib is technically straightforward because an OpenROAD Server application uses only a subset of the 4GL language. The GUI components are typically not used.
The entry point of each client call must be a 4GL procedure. These procedures are known as SCPs. You can write your own stateless SCPs, generate stateless wrapper SCPs for your 4GL procedures, or you can generate stateful SCPs from user class methods. Generated SCPs, whether wrapping 4GL procedures or methods, offer automated OSCA error handling, XML (eXtensible Markup Language) in/out processing and container functionality. In addition, the non-OpenROAD (COM) ASOSession client object can be used, which automates much of the processing required to drive ASOLib.
The following sections describe how to construct a simple OpenROAD Server application that uses method GSCPs and ASOLib. The basic steps required are:
1. Create an OpenROAD application.
2. Create a starting ghost frame.
3. Create or amend a user class (a BPM) whose methods will be exposed.
4. Generate GSCPs.
5. (Optional) Generate SCP metadata.
6. Make the image.
7. Register the application with the Name Server.