For detailed information on the properties, methods and events for the Business API objects, please refer to BusinessAPI NameSpace in the BusinessAPI.chm file.

Starting and Closing or Disconnecting Modules

This section describes the flow and different features available in the Business API which facilitate the launching, connecting and closing or disconnecting of a Noah module.

Overview

Noah 4 supports modules developed for Noah versions 2, 3 and 4 (except for NOAH 2 modules on 64 bit OS), which means that Noah 4 Business API together with Noah Client supplies the same functionality for launching and closing NOAH 2 and 3 modules as was available in previous versions of Noah.   

For NOAH 3 based modules an Active Document Container is supplied by Noah, but the Noah 4 modules must be standalone exe files which can be launched from either a business system or a computer desktop. Noah will not be the host of the Noah 4 module process, which also means that it will not be possible to close Noah 4 modules directly merely by disconnecting them from the Noah Client.

Noah Client will keep track of the version of the actual Noah module installed on a PC.  This information is used by the Business API to handle the launching differently (i.e., by executing as exe or within an Active document container). The business system developer should not be concerned about this, whether the module is a NOAH 2, NOAH 3 or Noah 4 module.  It is launched by calling the same method.  The difference lies within the closing or disconnecting functionality, for Noah 4 modules the Noah Client will only disconnect the module.

When a Business API is initiated it will query Noah Client for information on which modules are installed, and will also receive a list of module instances that are running for each module installed. The list of running modules consists of the following information:

• an integer RunningModuleHandle which is unique to the installation and generated by Noah Client.

• the ModuleID which links the running instance to an installed module.

The Business API is kept up to date regarding the status of the running module by the events, ModuleConnected and ModuleDisconnected.

Starting a Module

A module is launched from the Business API, or directly from the desktop, by starting the module exe or though an Active Document container depending on the Noah version of the module. Refer to the following figure:

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                                              Figure: Starting a module

In order for the module to be launched from a business system the method LaunchWithAction must be called. This method is located on the Module object, and takes one argument, which is either a formatted Noah Business API action 3 object or NULL. If the formatted action module is given, then the action ID will be given as the startup parameter to the module. This can then load a desired action which can be altered or used as a template for a new action.

For detailed information on the methods and objects please refer to BusinessAPI NameSpace in the BusinessAPI.chm file.