Let me in: data sharing between applications is closer than you think.

• Author: Cieslak, David
• Position: Application Integration

A lucky few work with only one or two computer applications a day. Everyone else must navigate a variety of programs and often enter the same data into several different applications.

There must be an easier way, right? Shouldn't you be able to enter the data just once and then allow access by other applications?

COMMON USER STRATEGIES

To address this sticky issue, a variety of strategies have evolved--some of them quick and simple, others complex and expensive. Common strategies include:

* Copy/Paste. Probably the simplest way to move data between applications that support standard Microsoft Windows operating conventions, but not a suitable solution for anything more than a onetime copy of small amounts of data--and certainly not a long-term strategy.

* Export/Import. Records are typically selected and exported from one application, then imported into another, but the process can be cumbersome to set up and awkward to operate. This strategy is functional and many find it ineffective as a long-term solution.

* Custom interface using open database connectivity. When it's critical to have a transparent interface between two applications, users will sometimes have a custom application written that communicates directly with the databases where the information is stored. If these databases support the open database connectivity, or ODBC, standard, then a number of application languages can be used to reach inside the files to move the data back and forth. Examples include MS Access, Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications. The ODBC interface can be used for anything from ad hoc reporting to a reusable data bridge.

* Custom interface using vendor software development kit. This tends to be the most complex and expensive solution, usually involving hiring a programmer to write a custom interface using the same language as the core application, yielding a transparent result. Because of the cost and effort, this is not for the faint of heart.

NEW BREED OF APPLICATIONS

In response to the above challenges, the computing industry is adopting new technologies to make integrating applications and the underlying data much simpler.

At the center of this approach is the creation of reusable application logic using the Internet as the underlying infrastructure--and a host of buzzwords and acronyms:

* XML (eXtensible Markup Language): This establishes a standard for moving data in and out of applications by surrounding each piece of data with "tags"...