Application Shells
An application shell is a module used to initialize and run an application (Windows or character-based) or application server.
Different types of application shell support different sets of properties and triggers for coding application behavior, such as setting up the application environment, authenticating users, executing components, and performing cleanup operations.
Uniface supports the following types of application shell:
- Windows shell—defines the appearance and behavior of the application window in which form components, menus, and panels run.
- Character mode shell—defines the layout and behavior of a character mode application.
- Server shell—defines the behavior of an application server. This can be used in place of the Uniface Server that is provided by default.
During compilation, a runtime shell with the file extension .aps is generated. For example, the Uniface Server is started using the userver.aps, and the Uniface IDE and Uniface Debugger are both Uniface desktop applications which run in an application shell (respectively, ide.aps and udbg.aps).
