An ABL (Advanced Business Language) procedure library is a collection of r-code combined in a single file. The r-code files in a library are known as members. It is similar to an object library in Windows or an archive file on Linux. However, object libraries and Linux archive files are used solely for efficient storage. ABL procedure libraries allow you to manage and execute r-code more efficiently.

Note: OpenEdge can only make use of r-code and images within a procedure library. It is technically possible to include other types of files in a procedure library, however, the user would need to extract them from the library before making use of them.
Note: Procedure libraries only allow for code packaging. ABL archive files, however, allow for both code packaging and signing. For information on ABL archive files, see Manage archive libraries.