An application service has both a general and specific definition for an AppServer. In general, an application service is the entire business function provided by an AppServer. An application service also has a specific identity in the form of a name that identifies it to controlling NameServers and connecting clients. An application service name is essentially an arbitrary alias for the AppServer that provides its particular business function. An AppServer instance can register with more than one application service name to identify its function. Because the different application service names registered by an AppServer are simple aliases, a client application can call any remote procedure or user-defined function supported by the AppServer instance no matter what application service name the client uses to connect the AppServer.
Note: For Open Clients and OpenEdge Web services, the available remote procedures and user-defined functions are limited by a well-defined interface that you specify and generate appropriately for the client type. Therefore, this interface represents a proper subset of the functionality available in the application service. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: Open Client Introduction and Programming.
For example, an AppServer instance that accesses an inventory database with certain ABL procedures might support an application service named "Inventory." An AppServer instance that accesses an employees database with certain other ABL procedures might support an application service named "Employees." On the other hand, the same AppServer instance might support both the "Inventory" and "Employees" application services.
