AcuConnect is a runtime server that handles user requests to start new runtimes on server machines. AcuConnect supports multiple runtime instances so that users may start multiple applications on the server at the same time. It also allows programs on one server to start programs on another server, ad infinitum, so long as each server has a copy of AcuConnect installed.
With AcuConnect, both the client and server have a copy of the ACUCOBOL-GT runtime. The client can have any ACUCOBOL-GT runtime Version 4.2 or later; however, for performance reasons, we recommend that the runtime version on the client match the version of runtime on the server.
The server requires an ACUCOBOL-GT runtime that has been linked with AcuConnect library routines. For your convenience, AcuConnect includes an ACUCOBOL-GT runtime that has been prelinked with the AcuConnect libraries. In Windows NT and Windows 2000, the runtime is called "acuthread." In UNIX, it's called "acuconnect." This runtime automatically installs on the server when you install AcuConnect. Although designed for use with AcuConnect, this runtime can be used as a stand-alone runtime on the server if you wish. If your application interfaces with C-ISAM or other special library routines, you must relink the acuthread runtime with the library routines you are using.
Since both the client and server have an ACUCOBOL-GT runtime, you decide how much of an application runs on the client, and how much on the server. The client can be as "thin" or as "fat" as you like. With AcuConnect, the client is actually a "smart" client.
To launch a server program, the client uses standard COBOL CALL syntax. You embed a CALL in the client application, and AcuConnect launches the server application for you automatically. All application (and data) access is completely transparent to the end user.
Differentiation is achieved through configuration files, and more precisely, through definition of a CODE-PREFIX variable or "code name alias," which defines the directory containing the object programs. Without modifying or recompiling the original code, the same object can operate on any server, client, or stand-alone machine.
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