Components
The components of wIntegrate include:
Scripting
Scripting is the key to wIntegrate's flexibility - it is its core functionality and controls everything from displaying a simple character onscreen to running complex GUI applications. Scripts can be compiled for deployment on client PCs. Query Builder and Report Wizard are scripts for which source code is supplied to help users see how client-driven interfaces work.
Flexible and mature wIntegrate scripting capabilities include:
- More than 550 commands and 400 methods and properties
- Familiar syntax for host BASIC programmers
- Expressions and variables
- Dynamic arrays with Locate, Insert and other commands
- Loops and conditional execution
- Built-in and user-defined functions
- Mouse input and file I/O on the PC and host
- Full support for OLE, ActiveX and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)
- Comprehensive support for dialog boxes
- Dialog Designer, which allows dialogs to be created using the mouse
- Linking of controls to host or PC data
- Use of ActiveX server components
- Ability to execute host subroutines and receive results back from the PC
- Standard Windows common controls
- Grid with more than 60 methods and properties
- Date/time control
Scripts can also be executed from the host. To help developers get started, wIntegrate provides nearly 300 subroutines to accept parameters and generate scripts that are passed down to the PC for execution. These host subroutines and customized scripts can completely control the application. Windows' benefits and GUI features can be added where appropriate, while the main interface is left unchanged. For example, the supplied subroutines may be used to control:
- Any wIntegrate function
- Custom icon bars, menus and pop-up dialogs
- Scalable images, charts and graphs
- OLE automation to other applications
- Any MAPI-compliant e-mail application
wIntegrate Server
The wIntegrate Server supports central control and administration for the clients. Server-based processing introduces many benefits, such as client independence and central administration. The wIntegrate server can be administered from any authorized desktop, and a Monitor application allows sessions to be viewed and controlled by authorized users from any PC on the network.
Clients
wIntegrate offers three deployment options:
- Classic local installation where the application is installed entirely to the local PC
- Thin-client deployment as a Windows application, connected to the host through the wIntegrate server
- Thin-client deployment as a Java applet, connected to the host through the wIntegrate server
All deployment options allow Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or secure shell (SSH) to be used for end-to-end security.
Thin-client deployment
The cost of buying a software license represents only a small part of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an application. Increasingly, IT departments seek to reduce TCO by deploying applications centrally with thin-client operations in which a minimum of software and data resides on the user desktop. wIntegrate reduces TCO by supporting thin-client deployment. A screen and keyboard interface on the desktop PC acts as a front-end to the wIntegrate server, which resides on a remote Windows server.
The thin client on the desktop PC can be either a Windows application, which is indistinguishable from the classic local installation, or a Java applet running inside a browser (for example, as part of the corporate intranet). Server-based processing introduces many benefits, such as client independence and central administration. The wIntegrate server can be administered from any authorized desktop, and a Monitor application allows sessions to be viewed and controlled by authorized users from any PC on the network.
Query Builder
For transferring data with ease, the graphical Query Builder is unparalleled. This powerful tool supports U2 and similar multi-valued hosts and provides rich functionality, making it possible to:
- Display reports onscreen in the built-in GUI viewer or transfer data to and from PC applications
- Allow files, items, fields and destination PC application parameters to be selected dynamically with the mouse
- Enable automatic e-mailing of newly created reports
- Save and recall query parameters with optional run-time prompts for selection criteria
- Allow queries to be created and saved for reuse by non-technical users
- Use optional host-based security
- Use popular file formats, including Excel, HTML, XML and Word Mail Merge
- Enable auto-run destination application after import
- Bridge copy between different hosts
Report Wizard
The Report Wizard converts host-based reports from unwieldy printouts to PC files, allowing the user to:
- List available reports from a HOLD file
- Preview reports, including thumbnails
- Access quick views in the GUI Report Viewer
- Transfer data to Excel or HTML
- Parse automatic columns with manual adjustment and with embedded page headers/footers removed
- Save and restore templates with custom parsing
