The following figure shows typical data exchanges between an OpenEdge application and an external application using named pipes.
A OpenEdge database client accesses named pipes in the same manner as any input or output file. Typically, the OpenEdge database client acts as an ABL server, receiving ABL requests from a non-OpenEdge UNIX or Windows application through an input pipe, executing the ABL statements, and returning the results to the UNIX or Windows application through an output pipe.
Named Pipes emphasizes this type of client/server interaction with ABL using named pipes.