RAPI

This set of application programming interfaces (APIs) allows applications running on the desktop computer to invoke functions directly on the remote Windows CE–based device. Windows CE provides one-way remote API (RAPI), with which the Windows CE–based device is the RAPI server and the desktop computer is the RAPI client. The application runs on the desktop computer—the client side—which calls functions that are executed on the Windows CE–based device, the server side.

RAPI under Windows CE is designed so that desktop computer applications can manage the Windows CE–based device remotely. The exported functions relate to the registry, file system, and databases, as well as to functions for querying the system configuration. While most RAPI functions are duplicates of functions in the Windows CE API, a few functions extend the API. You use these functions to initialize the RAPI subsystem and enhance performance of the communication link by compressing iterative operations into one RAPI call.

Essentially, RAPI is a remote procedure call (RPC). RAPI communicates requests from a desktop computer application to invoke a function and returns the results of that function.