jRCS: jBASE Remote Connectivity Services

jRCS is provided to jBASE software developers to enable them to build complete and modern graphical user interfaces for applications that use the jBASE MultiValue database.  jRCS is a robust interface product allowing access to jBASE from Microsoft .NET and ActiveX environments, Java and C++ environments. 

Developers today do not want to be locked into any particular development methodology.  Preferring to use the tools that are best for the situation – or that suit the developer himself - freedom of choice is an important consideration to them.  Because of its highly portable design, jRCS can interface with a variety of different development environments.  jRCS is a true client-server connectivity library which leverages the power of jBASE.

jRCS consists of a jBASE remote connectivity server, and a multi-layered client library, accessible from various languages and a variety of platforms. jRCS server is the handler for remote client requests such as file I/O, dynamic array manipulation, conversions, remote subroutine calls and program execution.  The design is built around a concurrent server, backed by jBASE services. The server component is a listener that waits for client requests and then handles those requests.  Each connection is allocated a jBASE port and the processes are run in isolation.  The server uses the operating system security to control user access.

Consisting of a low-level communication library, coupled with string/dynamic array processing library, an ActiveX and .NET portability layer, the jRCS client allows several client types to remotely connect to jBASE.  Based on this architecture, the client library performance is excellent.    

The jRCS architecture has a set of advantages, namely the portability of the server and low-level client libraries across platforms (i.e. Windows, UNIX, etc.).  The server is supported on all jBASE 3.4 and 4.1 platforms.  The architecture therefore enables several client types to remotely connect to jBASE.  These currently include C++ programs (low-level library, the Java programs as UNIX/Linux clients, as well as  C++, Java and Microsoft ActiveX and .NET running as Microsoft Windows clients. 

The jRCS communications protocol is built on top of TCP/IP and XML standards for low-level communications which enables multiplatform portability of the communication layer itself.  XML is an emerging technology enabling interoperability between multiple platforms and languages.