Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
.NET Open Clients

Preface

This preface contains the following sections:

Purpose
Audience
Organization
Typographical conventions
Example procedures

Purpose

The Open Client Toolkit (a component of OpenEdge® Studio) exposes AppServer™ functionality to Open Clients (non-Progress® clients). As discussed in OpenEdge Development: Open Client Introduction and Programming , the ProxyGen tool allows you to generate proxy objects for .NET (and other) Open Clients. These proxy objects encapsulate remote 4GL procedures and functions supported on an AppServer. Your .NET Open Client application can then access these AppServer procedures and functions through methods of the generated proxy objects.

This book contains .NET-specific information about creating and using Open Clients. It describes how to develop .NET Open Clients and how to provide access to Progress 4GL business logic from .NET clients.

Audience

This book is intended for .NET programmers who want to develop Open Clients and OpenEdge developers who want to provide access to their Progress 4GL business logic from .NET clients.

Before reading this book, you should be familiar with OpenEdge Development: Open Client Introduction and Programming and OpenEdge Getting Started: Application and Integration Services .

Organization

Chapter 1 "Configuring and Deploying .NET Open Client Applications"

Describes configuration prerequisites specific to .NET Open Client development and deployment.

Chapter 2 "Proxy Objects and Methods"

Presents the objects and methods generated by ProxyGen for a .NET Open Client.

Chapter 3 "Connecting to an AppServer"

Describes how to connect to an AppServer, by instantiating an AppObject and, optionally, a connection object.

Chapter 4 "Passing Parameters"

Discusses mappings for basic data types, static and dynamic temp-tables, and static and dynamic ProDataSets (Progress DataSets), when data is passed between a .NET application and OpenEdge.

Chapter 5 "Accessing Proxy Properties"

Describes the different ways you can access the proxy properties that govern behavior across an entire application.

Chapter 6 "Handling Errors"

Describes error handling in .NET Open Client applications.

Chapter 7 "Using OpenEdge .NET Proxy Objects in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET"

Lists the types of .NET open clients and gives an example of getting started building a .NET Open Client application using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.

Chapter 8 "Using the Open Client .NET OpenAPI to Directly Access the AppServer"

Describes an API for accessing application services on the AppServer from a .NET client without the need to generate Open Client proxies using ProxyGen.

Typographical conventions

This manual uses the following typographical conventions:

Convention	Description
Bold	Bold typeface indicates commands or characters the user types, provides emphasis, or the names of user interface elements.
Italic	Italic typeface indicates the title of a document, or signifies new terms.
SMALL, BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS	Small, bold capital letters indicate OpenEdge® key functions and generic keyboard keys; for example, GET and CTRL.
KEY1+KEY2	A plus sign between key names indicates a simultaneous key sequence: you press and hold down the first key while pressing the second key. For example, CTRL+X.
KEY1 KEY2	A space between key names indicates a sequential key sequence: you press and release the first key, then press another key. For example, ESCAPE H.
Syntax:
Fixed width	A fixed-width font is used in syntax statements, code examples, system output, and filenames.
Fixed-width italics	Fixed-width italics indicate variables in syntax statements.
Fixed-width bold	Fixed-width bold indicates variables with special emphasis.
UPPERCASE fixed width	Uppercase words are Progress® 4GL language keywords. Although these are always shown in uppercase, you can type them in either uppercase or lowercase in a procedure.
	This icon (three arrows) introduces a multi-step procedure.
	This icon (one arrow) introduces a single-step procedure.
Period (.) or colon (:)	All statements except DO, FOR, FUNCTION, PROCEDURE, and REPEAT end with a period. DO, FOR, FUNCTION, PROCEDURE, and REPEAT statements can end with either a period or a colon.
[ ]	Large brackets indicate the items within them are optional.
[ ]	Small brackets are part of the Progress 4GL language.
{ }	Large braces indicate the items within them are required. They are used to simplify complex syntax diagrams.
{ }	Small braces are part of the Progress 4GL language. For example, a called external procedure must use braces when referencing arguments passed by a calling procedure.
|	A vertical bar indicates a choice.
...	Ellipses indicate repetition: you can choose one or more of the preceding items.

Example procedures

This manual provides numerous example procedures that illustrate syntax and concepts. You can access the example files and details for installing the examples from the following locations:

The Documentation and Samples CD that you received with your product.
The Progress Documentation Web site:

http://www.progress.com/products/documentation

After you install the examples, you can find the .NET Open Client samples in the following location:

Doc_and_Samples_Install\src\samples\open4gl\dotnet\