In this chapter, we will look at how your NAV processes can interface with outside
data sources or targets from NAV and how the outside world (systems and users)
can interface with NAV data and objects. Users of the system must communicate
with the system by finding the location of the tool that they wish to use. The Menu,
provided in NAV by means of the MenuSuites, provides access to the tools.
NAV must also accommodate communication with other software or hardware.
Sometimes that communication is either Inside-Out (i.e. instigated by NAV) or
Outside-In (i.e. triggered by the outside connection). When we consider
system-to-system communications, it's not unusual for the process to be a two way
street, a meeting of peers.
To make it easier for our users to meet their needs, we have to understand the
features and limitations of MenuSuites. To supply, receive, or exchange information
with other systems (hardware or software), we need at least a basic understanding of
the interface tools that are part of NAV.
It is critical to understand that because of the way some data is retrieved
from the NAV database, particularly FlowFields, it is very risky for an
external system to access NAV data directly without using one or more
C/AL based routines as an intermediary.
