Basic Application Integration
Basic application integration is a set of highly recommended tasks you
should perform. These tasks do not require modification
of the source code for your application.
Basic integration does not involve extensive use of the desktop application
program interface (API). Therefore, it does not provide other interaction
with the desktop, such as drag and drop, session management, ToolTalk messaging,
and programmatic access to the actions and data types database.
Basic Integration Features
Basic application integration provides these features for end users:
A graphical way to locate and
start your application on the desktop.
Your application will provide a desktop registration
package, and your installation script will automatically register
your application.
Registration creates an application group at the top level of Application
Manager. The application group contains an icon the user double-clicks to
start the application.
The ability to recognize and manipulate your application's
data files.
Your application will provide data types for its data files.
Data typing configures data files to use a unique icon in File Manager
to help users identify them. The data files also have meaningful desktop
behavior. Two examples are:
The user can start your application
by double-clicking a data file.
Dropping a data file on a desktop printer drop
zone prints the file using the appropriate print command.
Easy font and color selection using Style Manager.
Your application will change interface fonts and background, foreground,
and shadow colors dynamically.
The desktop defines general interface font and color resources that
are used if no corresponding application-specific resources exist.
Basic integration provides these advantages to system administrators:
Easy installation and registration.
Upon installation, the application is automatically registered. The
system administrator has little or no additional work to do.
Easy ongoing administration.
All the desktop's configuration files are gathered in one location.
Furthermore, the application can easily be unregistered if, for example,
the system administrator wants to update it or to move it to a different
application server.
Organization of Basic Integration Information
Most of the tasks involved in basic integration are also performed by
system administrators who are integrating an existing application into the
desktop. Therefore, most basic integration documentation is located in the Advanced User's and System Administrator's Guide.
The Programmer's Guide contains a chapter on basic
integration. Where appropriate, the chapter refers you to the information
contained in the Advanced User's and System Administrator's Guide. It also contains additional information specific to application
programmers.
Basic Integration Tasks
These are the general tasks involved in basic integration:
Modify any application resources
that set fonts and colors. This allows users to change the application's
interface fonts and colors using Style Manager.
See the section on modifying font and color resources in the Advanced User's and System Administrator's Guide.
Provide printing for your application's data files.
See the Programmer's Guide basic integration chapter
for details.
Some types of printing integration require that you modify your application
code. They are optional, and are discussed in the Programmer's
Guide basic integration chapter because they are closely related
to basic integration tasks.
Create the registration package for your application.
See this documentation:
Programmer`s Guide basic integration chapter
Advanced User's and System Administrator's
Guide
Modify your application's installation script to
install the registration package files and perform the registration procedure.
See this documentation:
Programmer's Guide basic integration chapter
The section on registering the application using dtappintegrate in the Advanced User's and System Administrator's
Guide