To specify an application server connection for a client application using an Open Client interface, you provide the same connection information as for an ABL (Advanced Business Language) client application. How you provide the connection information depends on your type of client:

  • For Java and .NET clients, you pass the connection information as a set of parameters to the Connection object constructor, and the Connection object is passed as a parameter to the AppObject constructor. Alternately, you can pass the connection information directly as a set of parameters to the AppObject's constructor. You specify the session model to use for the connection (session-managed or session-free) using run-time property settings that you make prior to the connection. For more information on run-time property settings, see Access Open Client run-time properties. For more information on the Connection object for Java Open Clients, see Java Open Clients. For more information on the Connection object for .NET Open Clients, see .NET Open Clients.
Note: As a run-time property setting, you must specify the session model according to the requirements of each application service you access, as specified by the application server operating mode configuration.
  • For session-managed SOAP Web services, you call a Connect_AppObject method after instantiating the AppObject. For session-free Web services, you simply instantiate the AppObject, with no need to invoke a connect method. For details, see Web Services.

The Java Open Client also provides a client principal class, com.progress.open4gl.javaproxy.ClientPrincipal. A ClientPrincipal object is associated with the Connection object and provides a means to store and transmit user credentials. The ClientPrincipal class supports the following use cases:

  • Creating an unsealed ClientPrincipal object containing a user's credentials and sending this object to an application server for a direct login.
  • Creating a sealed ClientPrincipal object (verified by an external authentication system) and sending this object to an application server for a single sign-on.

For more information on the use of the client principal class, see Java Open Clients. The client principal class is not currently supported on .NET Open Clients.