>Several of our clients have requested us to have an API so that their custom application can open a client account window in our application.
>
>Without rewriting our entire application into an automation server is there a way that an external app can tell our app to open a Customer Account screen? (Assume the external application is not written in VFP)
>
>Possible solutions I could think of:-
>
>1. rewrite our application as a COM automation server -- probably a massive job!
>
>2. use BindEvents() to have our application respond to a Windows API event and let the other application trigger the API event passing the customerID as parameter.
>Is that realistic and which Windows API event to use?
>
>3. Have the other application create a text file in a specified directory; our app then monitors that directory and responds when a new file is created. The file simply contains the customerID parameter.
>Possible problem: too much time is spent constantly monitoring the folder for the creation of a file; performance will take a hit.
>
>These are the 3 possibilities I could come up with. What is the best way to go about this? Any feedback or suggestions on how to implement this are welcome.
>
>cheers,
>
>Alain

Alain,
I think I only partially understood.
1) Is viable. An external app could show up a VFP form. It might be part of your application instead of whole application.
2 and 3 is connected IMHO. You can bindevents to watch for file creation in a specific directory. Or invoke a COM of external app's and react its events.
I don't understand why they don't open their own UI instead, getting only data needed from you.
Cetin