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Proven Solutions
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Aspen Software's Automation Business Building Block
component, the "Application Server" provides a robust and flexible general
purpose LAN based background-processing capability. This can be extended with
supplementary modules to provide data administration for R:BASE® and Oterro® solutions,
along with automated running of reports built using Business Objects Crystal Reports™.
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Application Server
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Aspen Software's Application Server lets you provide
a robust and flexible background processing capability for your multi-user LAN based
applications. The Application Server can be added to new and existing applications to
allow :
- Time consuming and necessary activities to take place out of office hours (the
transfer of information from a mainframe for example).
- Intensive tasks such as report generation to be off loaded from individual
personal computers freeing them for more productive use.
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Free Resources
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Where your application carries out processing that
ties up a user's PC and requires no further user interaction to complete, then this
processing may be carried out by the Application Server, freeing the user's PC for other
work. Typically, when a user requests a report that may require a significant amount of
time to complete, once they have specified the necessary selection criteria to be used,
the request may then be passed to the Application Server to complete 'in the background'.
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Schedule Activities
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As an aid to the productive use of your applications,
your users will also be able to schedule their requests to be repeated on a regular basis.
This may be on a daily, weekly or monthly basis at a particular time of day, at regular
time intervals or after some other action has taken place (such as a transfer of
information from a mainframe system).
To assist with the smooth running of a networked R:BASE or Oterro environment, management
utilities and add-on components allow the controlled scheduling of operational and
housekeeping requests (such as mainframe transfers, backup, reload etc) and provide
reports on the general status and overall performance of the service being provided by the
Application Server.
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Key Elements
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The system consists of three main components :
- The application server task itself (which deals with the running and rescheduling
of tasks). This is typically located on a dedicated 32-bit Windows PC or NT server.
- An administration program that allows the overall control, scheduling and
management of the application server tasks.
- A client program that is used by other enabled applications to schedule such
things as background report requests.
All of the above access a database shared over a local area network that
contains control information for processing.
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Server Task
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The server task is a stand alone program that runs
continuously and services all requests that have been scheduled by the Administrator
program or an Application Server Client. 
The Server Task can schedule and run any program within a 32-bit Windows
environment that may be started from a command line (including batch files) that does not
require any user interaction.
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Administrator
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The Application Server Administrator provides a full
suite of administration utilities to manage server tasks and to initiate regularly
scheduled activities that would not normally be initiated from a client application
program (data administration for example). 
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Client
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Application Server Client Routines allow the
scheduling and review facilities to be provided in a controlled fashion from within a wide
range of 32-bit Windows applications. |
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More Detail
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For more detailed information about the benefits and structure of the Application Server,
please see our "Recycled Designs" paper.
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Coming Soon |
Our Microsoft
.NET compliant version of the Application Server is now on its way -
contact us to find out more.
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What Next?... |
To find out how Automation Business Building Blocks
can enhance your applications please contact Aspen Software.
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