When you deploy an AppServer on the database server machine and connect to a database using a self-service connection, you have the opportunity to minimize network traffic.
In a traditional client/server model, table joins and application-specific record filtering are done by the ABL client, implying that many records must be passed over the network. By using an AppServer, all this processing can be completed local to the database and network traffic is restricted to the final results being returned to the client application.
Using the AppServer, you can provide a remote procedure that returns a temp-table that contains a single record for each sales representative along with each representative's associated statistical information. The procedure that you write and is executed within the AppServer uses the same query that was used when the application was executed using the traditional client/server model. However, using the AppServer, the query was executed using a self-service connection to the database. Also, your procedure performs all other record processing and filtering that is necessary to reduce the data to the actual results required by the client application. The end result of transforming your application from the traditional client/server model to a model that takes advantage of the AppServer is that one record is sent over the network for each sales representative rather than several.
For example, consider a sales representative application. One of the application's activities might be to accumulate a set of statistics for each sales representative. These statistics might include the number of orders, the number of customers, and the average order value. In the traditional client/server model, all the records for all sales representatives are passed back to the client application where the statistical information is generated.
