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Title RPC Broker Developer's Guide

RPC Broker V. 1.1 Developer's Guide

Overview

Introduction

The RPC Broker is a client/server system within VA's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA) environment. It enables client applications to communicate and exchange data with M Servers.

This manual describes the development features of the RPC Broker. The emphasis is on using the RPC Broker in conjunction with Borland's Delphi software. However, the RPC Broker supports other development environments.

This manual provides a complete reference for development with the RPC Broker. For an overview of development with the RPC Broker component, see the "RPC Broker V. 1.1 Getting Started with the Broker Development Kit" manual.

This document is intended for the VISTA development community and Information Resource Management (IRM) staff. A wider audience of technical personnel engaged in operating and maintaining the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) software might also find it useful as a reference.

Broker Overview

For the latest RPC Broker product information, please refer to the RPC Broker Home Page on the web at: http://vista.med.va.gov/broker/index.html.

About this Version of the RPC Broker This version of the Broker provides programmers with the capability to develop new VISTA client/server software using the Broker Delphi component (i.e., TRPCBroker) in the 32-bit environment.

Orientation

- Patches **

This version of the RPC Broker includes the following patches (listed in sequence order):

</td>

Seq #	Patch	Subject	Release Date
1	XWB1.11	Some Small Fixes	02/18/98
2	XWB1.12	Encryption, Data Collection, Agent	07/27/98
3	XWB1.13	Security Log Problem (XWBSEC Routine)	01/06/99
4	XWB1.15	RUM Support	03/31/99
5	XWB1.17	Broker Listener/Available Slots	06/04/99
6	XWB1.14	Updated BDK and Kernel Login Fixes	06/24/99
7	XWB1.16	Eliminate Orphaned Server Jobs	09/09/99
8	XWB1.18	GUI Multi-Division Support	12/10/99
9	XWB1.19	Caché License Fix	01/24/00
10	XWB1.111	Delphi V. 5 Support	01/24/00
11	XWB1.115	Broker Command Error Fix	04/12/00
12	XWB1.110	RPC Availability	08/04/00
13	XWB1.112	Server to Server RPC's	08/04/00
14	XWB1.118	XWB2HL7 Routine Fix	10/17/00
15	XWB1.114	Release Source Code for BDK	10/17/00
16	XWB1.120	RDV Proper Setup of DUZ	05/10/01
17	XWB1.122	Name and Null Subscript Error	10/03/01
18	XWB1.124	Correct Problem with Reading Registry	11/09/01
		(Updated BDK, Delphi 4 and 5 versions only)
19	XWB1.116	Read/Write Errors	02/06/02
20	XWB1.127	Remote Data Request Processing	03/15/02
21	XWB1.113	Silent Logon, Bug Fixes, & Delphi V. 6	(Current)
			Support (Updated BDK)</tr> </table> To develop VISTA applications in a 32-bit environment you must have Delphi V. 2.0 or greater. This version of the TRPCBroker component does not allow you to develop applications in Delphi V. 1.0. However, the Broker routines on the M server will continue to support VISTA applications previously developed in the 16-bit environment. The default installation of the Broker creates a separate Broker Development Kit (BDK) directory (i.e., BDK32) that contains the required Broker files for development. The Office of Information (OI) will support the Broker Development Kit running in the currently offered version of Delphi and the immediately previous version of Delphi. This level of support became effective 6/12/2000. Sites may continue to use outdated versions of the RPC Broker Development Kit but do so with the understanding that support will not be available and that continued use of outdated versions will not afford features that may be essential to effective client/server operations in the VISTA environment. An archive of old (no longer supported) Broker Development Kits will be maintained at: http://vista.med.va.gov/broker/archives/index.html About this Version of the RPC Broker What's New in the BDK Developer Considerations Application Issues Silent Login Context-sensitive Help for the TRPCBroker Component RPC Broker Components and Classes TRPCBroker Component TXWBRichEdit Component TMult Class TParamRecord Class TParams Class TVistaLogin Class TVistaUser Class EBrokerError Exception Units Hash Unit LoginFrm Unit MFunStr Unit RPCConf1 Unit RpcSLogin Unit SplVista Unit TRPCB Unit TVCEdit Unit Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) Overview What Makes a Good RPC? Creating RPCs Using an Existing M API M Entry Point for an RPC Relationship Between an M Entry Point and an RPC First Input Parameter Return Value Types Input Parameters Examples RPC Entry in the Remote Procedure File RPC Entry in the Remote Procedure File RPC Version in the Remote Procedure File Blocking an RPC in the Remote Procedure File Cleanup after RPC Execution Documenting RPCs Executing RPCs from Clients How to Execute an RPC from a Client RPC Security: How to Register an RPC RPC Limits BrokerExample Online Code Example Other RPC Broker APIs Overview Encryption Functions GetServerInfo Function M Emulation Functions VistA Splash Screen Procedures $$BROKER^XWBLIB $$RTRNFMT^XWBLIB XWB ARE RPCS AVAILABLE XWB IS RPC AVAILABLE XWB GET VARIABLE VALUE RPC Running RPCs on a Remote Server Options For Running RPCs on a Remote Server Checking RPC Availability on a Remote Server XWB DIRECT RPC XWB REMOTE RPC XWB REMOTE STATUS CHECK XWB REMOTE GETDATA XWB REMOTE CLEAR Deferred RPCs Overview of Deferred RPCs XWB DEFERRED RPC XWB DEFERRED STATUS XWB DEFERRED GETDATA XWB DEFERRED CLEAR XWB DEFERRED CLEARALL Debugging and Troubleshooting Overview How to Debug Your Application RPC Error Trapping Identifying the Listener Process on the Server Identifying the Handler Process on the Server Testing Your RPC Broker Connection Client Timeout and Buffer Clearing Memory Leaks Developer Utilities RPC Broker Programmer Preferences Tutorial Introduction Advanced Preparation Step 1: Create Application with an RPC Broker Component Step 2: Get Server/Port Step 3: Establish Broker Connection Step 4: RPC Routine to List Terminal Types Step 5: RPC to List Terminal Types Step 6: Call the ZxxxTT LIST RPC Step 7: Associate IENs Step 8: Routine to Retrieve Terminal Types = Step 9: RPC to Retrieve Terminal Types Step 10: Call Zxxx RETRIEVE RPC Step 11: Register RPCs See Also: FileMan Delphi Components (FMDC) Tutorial Source Code DLL Interface Introduction DLL Special Issues RPC Results from DLL Calls GetServerInfo Function and the DLL DLL Exported Functions RPCBCall RPCBCreate RPCBCreateContext RPCBFree RPCBMultItemGet RPCBMultPropGet RPCBMultSet RPCBMultSortedSet RPCBParamGet RPCBParamSet RPCBPropGet RPCBPropSet Guidelines for C++ Overview TRPCBroker C++ Class Methods Initialize the Class Create Broker Instances Connect to the Server Execute RPCs Destroy Broker Instances Guidelines for C Overview Initialize—LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress Create Broker Components Connect to the Server Execute RPCs Destroy Broker Components Guidelines for Visual Basic Overview Initialize Create Broker Components Connect to the Server Execute RPCs ===Destroy Broker Components ===

Broker help/TOC

Contents

RPC Broker Components and Classes

Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs)

M Entry Point for an RPC

RPC Entry in the Remote Procedure File

Executing RPCs from Clients

Other RPC Broker APIs

Running RPCs on a Remote Server

Deferred RPCs

Debugging and Troubleshooting

Developer Utilities

Tutorial

Step 8: Routine to Retrieve Terminal Types =

DLL Interface

DLL Special Issues

DLL Exported Functions

Guidelines for C++

Guidelines for C

Guidelines for Visual Basic

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