Team Applications and the Team Productivity Update

The Team Productivity Update makes applications available as application templates. An application template has the same relationship to an application as a class has to an object in object-oriented programming. Instances of applications are deployed in Team Workspaces when the Instantiation URL is invoked. The Instantiation URL creates and configures an instance of the application, which can include the copying of application files, the creation of database tables, the setting of permissions, and any other tasks the application requires.

The instantiation of an application in the Team Productivity Update environment occurs in two steps. First, the application must be registered on the computer running the Team Productivity Update for BackOffice® Server 4.5. This registration occurs during the application's setup. An application can be installed on a different computer; calling TeamAppManager::RegisterAppFactory() informs the Team Productivity Update that the application is ready to be instantiated in Team Workspaces.

The second step begins when a user requests an application using the Team Workspace Creation Request Wizard. When a Team Productivity Update administrator approves the request, an Instantiation URL is launched. The Instantiation URL copies and configures the application for the requesting Team Workspace. It also returns a set of URLs that specify the Team Workspace interfaces, which support the same team capabilities the application supports.

Application Registration on the Team Productivity Update Server describes how to write an application setup that provides the Team Productivity Update with the information it needs to instantiate the application.

Instantiating an Application in a Team Workspace describes what happens when an Instantiation URL is invoked.

Unregistering Team Applications describes how to remove an application from the Team Productivity Update Server.