Overview

A description of the Noah 4 business system development process is supplied, including:

• An overview of the Noah 4 software architecture and the steps required to develop a Noah 4-compatible business system

• A set of guidelines for each step in the development process

• References to additional information sources.

Only information on interfacing a business system to Noah 4 is included. No details are offered on how to design the architecture of the developer’s own business system.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that the developer has a solid general knowledge of programming on the Microsoft Windows.  A good knowledge and understanding of .NET4.0 or later is also required for completing the Business API system interfaces.

Abbreviations

GUI                                           Graphical User Interface

MS                                            Microsoft

Noah 4

Noah 4 is the latest version of the Noah software developed by HIMSA II. Noah is a modular software framework/application. The figure below shows the different components which make up the Noah 4 system.

                                            Figure: Noah 4 components

The Noah server is an MS-windows based service, which resides either on the same PC as Noah client or on a dedicated server PC. The Database used by Noah is by default a SQLCE and it resides along with the Noah server either on the local PC or on a dedicated server PC. Himsa also delivers a solution for using MS-SQL along with Noah 4. Please note that the Noah DB interface and Noah DB in the figure must be supplied by the business system developer. HIMSA supplies a complete sample of a an implementation of a DB interface.

Noah Client is the main component that Noah installs on a client PC; the Noah client will normally be executed as a MS-windows service. The business API and the module API are installed and available for the module or business system developers in the form of a .NET assembly dll. The Dlls can then be referenced within your development environment.  

All inter-component communication in Noah 4 is done by using .Net remoting, except for the NOAH 2/3 module communication layer where COM is used. 

The Business API

The Noah 4 Business API is a .NET 4.0 assembly, which is CLScompliant. This setup should ensure the usability of the assembly in other development environments as long as they support CLS.

The Business API exposes a number of objects and classes which implement the Noah business model. In addition, the Business API ensures communication with the Noah client, exposes all relevant Noah data for the business system and sends needed events to the business system so that it can update/restore data when needed.

A prerequisite for the Business API dll is Noah 4. Thus, the first step is to install Noah 4 by executing the installation file (setup.exe) which will guide you through the installation.

For using the Noah 4 installer process inside your own Business system installing process, please refer to Installation of Noah and Basic Modules with a Business System.