What types of API do you offer with your Delphi application?

Question

We have a 3-tier Delphi application written using RemObjects DataAbstract. Many of our customers are asking for an API so they can interact with it using their own applications.

The API must allow the clients to call methods with various parameters and return results ranging from simple parameters to whole datasets.

What types of API can you recommend and how difficult are they to implement?

Answer 1

Since you've written your application using RemObjects DataAbstract then you've got just about everything you need already waiting for you in your application.

RemObjects DataAbstract includes the RemObjects SDK which is one of the most flexible and easy ways to build an API available. The RemObjects SDK lets you expose methods methods to your customers in a multitude of ways from native binary RemObjects calls, to XML-RPC, to JSON, to SOAP, to a local DLL, to Windows Messages, to Named Pipes... even via SMTP/POP.

The beauty is that you'll be able to design one API and then easily expose it to your customers via any or all of these different mechanisms. Just design your API methods, then ask your customer how they'd like to be able to consume it, chances are RemObjects have a message/channel combination that matches their request.