The Client Communication Interface (CCI) is a mechanism built into the latest versions of NCSA Mosaic for Windows which allows other applications to communicate with Mosaic. The CCI consists of a collection of OLE function calls that can be made from other programs. For example, an application can use the CCI to ask Mosaic to access a World Wide Web document, download an Internet resource, or even send electronic mail.
This tutorial will introduce the functions that are available to the user, and demonstrate the use of those functions via examples and sample applications. Examples of CCI uses will range from simple Microsoft Excel macro function calls to stand-alone Visual Basic or C++ applications. Source code will be provided for all of the examples and sample applications.
The intended audience for this tutorial includes both Windows users and developers. As the simplest applications of the CCI, we will demonstrate how to use OLE-enabled applications -- such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Quattro Pro, and others -- to access Internet resources. We will also briefly cover how to write standalone applications (using Visual Basic and/or Visual C++) for even greater flexibility. This will be covered in more depth in handouts rather than during the session.