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Integration process

To get started with Pro API, you must first install Pro API and the data that you have been supplied with. You will need a valid license key to complete the installation.

The basic steps you should take for a successful integration are:

  1. Understand how Pro searches. This should provide an understanding of how Pro searches and clarify the values that are returned by some of the API functions.

  2. Run the Test Harnesses. Running one of the test harnesses supplied with the API should verify that you have installed the API correctly. It will also give you an idea of what Pro Web can do, and the type of results it can produce.

  3. Refer to the Pseudocode and Sample Code. The Pseudocode example demonstrates a possible interpretation of the API functions. Sample are available in C and Visual Basic.

  4. Use the API functions. You should choose whether the Primary API or the User Interface API is best suited to your requirements.

    It is recommended that you integrate the API in stages, beginning with the QA_Open, QA_Close and QA_Shutdown functions, followed by address search and retrieval facilities. Any other functions can be added in the appropriate places.

    You should also make use of the system functions, especially QAErrorMessage and QAErrorLevel or QA_ErrorMessage. These functions enable you to see the description and severity of any errors that occur and as such should be called after any function that has returned an error.

    When you wish to run your integrated application, you should ensure that the following files are in the same directory as the application executable.

    Primary API UI API
    qaworld.ini - Pro API configuration file qaworld.ini - Pro API configuration file
    qawserve.ini - Data file locations and other application configuration settings qawserve.ini - Data file locations and other application configuration settings
    qaupigd.dll - Pro API DLL qauwvgd.dll - Pro API DLL
    qalcl.dat - Locale information file qalcl.dat - Locale information file
    qalicn.ini - Licence information file qalicn.ini - Licence information file

  5. Configure your API:

    Before running your integrated API, you need to give Pro API the following information:

    • The format of your output addresses
    • The whereabouts of your dataset(s)

You can test your integration by trying some of the search examples provided in the Data Guide for your dataset.

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