How This Manual Is Organized

This manual is organized into three general parts: Chapters 1 through 5 introduce ToolTalk and cover concepts and file system layout; Chapters 6 through 17 cover the ToolTalk API; and Chapters 18 through 20 cover message sets and the messaging toolkit.

This manual contains the following chapters and appendix:

Chapter 1 “Introducing the ToolTalk Service” describes how the ToolTalk service works and how it uses information that your application supplies to deliver messages; and how applications use the ToolTalk service.

Chapter 2 “ToolTalk Service Overview” describes applications and ToolTalk components.

Chapter 3 “Setting Up and Maintaining the ToolTalk Processes” describes ToolTalk file locations, hardware and software requirements, how to find ToolTalk version information, and installation for the ToolTalk database server

Chapter 4 “Maintaining Application Information” describes how to maintain application information.

Chapter 5 “Maintaining Files and Objects Referenced in ToolTalk Messages” describes how to maintain file references in ToolTalk messages; how system administrators and users maintain ToolTalk objects; and how to perform maintenance on ToolTalk databases.

Chapter 6 “Participating in ToolTalk Sessions” , describes the location of the ToolTalk application programming interface (API) header file; how you initialize your application and start a session with the ToolTalk service; how you provide file and session information to the ToolTalk service; how to manage storage and handle errors; and how to unregister your message patterns and close your communication with the ToolTalk service when your process is ready to quit.

Chapter 7 “Sending Messages” describes the complete ToolTalk message structure; the ToolTalk message delivery algorithm; how to create, fill in, and send a ToolTalk message; and how to attach to requests a callback that will automatically call your callback routine when the reply to your request is delivered to your application.

Chapter 8 “Message Patterns” describes message pattern attributes.

Chapter 9 “Dynamic Message Patterns” describes how to create a dynamic message pattern and register it with the ToolTalk service; and how to add callbacks to your dynamic message patterns.

Chapter 10 “Static Message Patterns” describes how to provide process and object type information at installation time; how to make a static message pattern available to the ToolTalk Service; and how to declare a ptype.

Chapter 11 “Receiving Messages” describes how to retrieve messages delivered to your application; how to handle the message once you have examined it; how to send replies; and when to destroy messages.

Chapter 12 “Objects”, describes how to create ToolTalk specification objects for the objects your process creates and manages.

Chapter 13 “Managing Information Storage” describes how to manage and remove objects.

Chapter 14 “Handling Errors” describes how to handle error conditions, errors that may occur during initialization, and Tooltalk error messages found in the message catalog.

Chapter 15 “The ToolTalk Enumerated Types” describes each of the ToolTalk enumerated types.

Chapter 16 “The ToolTalk Functional Groupings” lists, in table format, the ToolTalk functions by the specific operations they perform.

Chapter 17 “ToolTalk Functions/Commands” lists, in table format, each of the ToolTalk functions and commands, along with their descriptions.

Chapter 18 “Using ToolTalk Messaging” describes how to use ToolTalk messaging.

Chapter 19 “The Messaging Toolkit” describes the Messaging Toolkit, which is a higher-level interface of the ToolTalk API.

Chapter 20 “ToolTalk Message Sets” describes the ToolTalk Desktop Services Message Set and the ToolTalk Document and Media Exchange Message Set that have been developed to help you develop applications that follow the same protocol as other applications with which your application wants to inter-operate.

Appendix A “Frequently Asked Questions” provides the answers to some frequently asked questions about the ToolTalk service.