Startup and Shutdown procedures encapsulate logic that executes during the startup and shutdown of a PAS for OpenEdge multi-session agent and/or a PAS for OpenEdge ABL session. In effect, the logic in these procedures executes for each multi-session agent and in each ABL session created for an agent as it starts up and shuts down. Functionality that might go in a Startup or Shutdown procedure includes managing self-service database connections, loading or storing the contents of temp-tables, and instantiating or deleting certain local persistent procedures.

Note that on PAS for OpenEdge, all connections to a self-service database are created as single connections owned by each multi-session agent and shared by the ABL sessions managed by the agent. Each ABL session started by a multi-session agent that connects to the same database, whether by using the -db startup parameter or by executing the ABL CONNECT statement, becomes a separate user of the shared connection already established and owned by the multi-session agent. On the other hand, a network database connection started in a PAS for OpenEdge session is a separate user connection to the database owned by that session.

So, you can use Multi-session Agent Startup and Shutdown procedures to connect and disconnect all self-service databases used by its ABL sessions, and use Session Startup and use Shutdown procedures to connect and disconnect all network databases used by these sessions. At the same time, any self-service database that is connected in a Session Startup procedure shares that connection with self-service connection already established by the Agent Startup procedure, and if the Session Shutdown procedure disconnects that database, it has no affect on the self-service connection established by the Agent Startup procedure.