Implementing QuickAddress Names

There are three simple methods of implementing QuickAddress Names. They can be broken down into the following categories:

• Plug & Go (off the shelf solution)
• API (developers' tool kit)
• Client/Server (network solution)

Plug & Go

Plug & Go is the easiest of all the implementations and is essentially a complete and ready to use product. Referred to also as the desktop version, it enables users to search and capture addresses using a pre-built QAS application (available for Microsoft Windows only). It is possible to configure the software to transfer the returned address information to another application, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, using our advanced pasting technology. The user interface (how Names looks) cannot be altered.

Optional Extra: QUSHOWN
An optional program supplied with QuickAddress Plug & Go called Qushown.exe can be used to pop-up/call Names with a specified layout. Qushown must be configured.

API

The Application Program Interface (API) version of QuickAddress Names basically allows all of the functionality of the Plug & Go product to be incorporated into any third party application that can call external C functions. Searching for addresses using either of these versions is identical. Java and ActiveX interfaces are also available using our Web API or Pro Web products. There are two types of APIs supplied at QAS:

• High Level (UI API)
  The high level API requires integrating into the application that it is to be used with. A small amount of functions are needed to do this, so the integration is relatively simple. High Level integrations use the same user interface as QuickAddress Plug & Go, and thus they look the same.
  
  
• Low Level (Primary API)
  The low level API also requires integrating into the application that it is to be used with. This integration uses many more functions than a UI API integration. Also no user interface is supplied and address handling picklists must be constructed. However, the advantages of this type of integration is a QuickAddress solution with a look and feel of your own choice.
  

v4 introduces new API technology (Universal API) that makes QuickAddress products easier to integrate and offers a wider range of functionality. Here are some of the features and benefits:

• Single API (the QuickAddress UK product line needed Pro, Names and DataPlus APIs for the equivalent functionality).
• Even simpler to integrate.
• Full support for multithreaded environments (handle-based).
• Extensive sample code to base integrations on.

Client/Server

A Client-Server (CS) implementation is also available, for either the Plug & Go or API versions of the Names product. With the CS version, address searching is performed on the server, rather than on each individual client. Picklists and the final addresses are passed back to the clients via a TCP/IP connection from the server program.