Exchanging Information in Real-Time

CONGRESS is a connectivity toolset designed to enable real-time peer to peer application communication over a TCP/IP network between a wide range of computer platforms.

Full client and server application facilities are enabled on all of the supported host systems, allowing users complete freedom of client/server application design. A high level communications API lets developers utilise the language most suitable for the particular host environment while still providing a common interface across all environments and languages. Currently supported operating environments are:

• Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95
• OS/2 Warp, Connect
• Windows NT 3.5
• UNIX several variants including SUNOS, SVR4 Intel
• Fujitsu mainframe MSP, XSP

Internal communications are supported via the standard BSD socket interface of TCP/IP. This in turn is hidden beneath the simple API designed to mask the complexity of network programming.

Functions

• An efficient communication backbone that allows client and server programs running on different hosts to communicate across a TCP/IP network. This network can be local as in Ethernet, wide area via SLIP, PPP, X25, or similar protocols, or a mixture.
• A high level application program interface that enables easy peer to peer communication between user-written client and server application programs via the network on a wide range of hosts.
• A server application controller to manage the initiation and network connection of server programs with client programs. The server controller supports full multitasking and features a simple operator interface to allow effective management of the service tasks under its control.
• The ability to manage any server controller on the network from a single PC operator client, allowing centralised CONGRESS network management.

Principle Features

• A very simple API structure supporting most network functionality through an Open-Read-Write-Close style interface.
• A standardised high-level network Application Program Interface for MS-Visual Basic on Windows PCs. This API is implemented as a module allowing native language style function calls to the network facilities.
• Full Windows WINSOCK.DLL interface implementation, compliant with the V1.1 standard.
• A standardised, high-level network Application Program Interface for Fujitsu mainframe applications. The applications may be written in any language that supports the passing of parameters at program initiation time and that supports a standard subprogram Call interface. Sample programs and data descriptions are provided for COBOL, PL/I, MANASYS, and assembly language programs. Exchange of binary data is supported, as well as display data with automatic EBCDIC to ASCII translation.
• A standardised high-level network Application Program Interface for the C language on UNIX, NT, OS/2, mainframe, and Windows systems providing a high degree of C language compatibility between all the C language host environments.
• A standardised high-level network Application Program Interface for high-level languages like PL/I on OS/2 systems.
• A Server Application Controller program that allows effective control of server applications while making efficient use of host system resources. The server controller runs on MSP, XSP, Windows, Windows NT, OS/2 WARP, and UNIX. Several variants of UNIX are supported including derivatives from SUN OS, SVR4 and BSD UNIX.
• An operator interface allows management of both the server controller and the server applications under its control. An external operator interface allows a server controller on any platform to be managed from a Windows PC.
• Full support of both client and server style applications on all supported operating system platforms, allowing maximum flexibility of application system design.
• All communications are done using the BSD TCP/IP socket interface standard for industry wide compatibility.
• A flexible approach to client/server technology that allows a site to design its systems according to its requirements. The scope of the client and server applications can be scaled according to the resources available to a site's processing systems.