The 21 member X400 Application Program Interface Association, APIA, has announced its first X400 Gateway API specification. The specification defines how elements of software exchange information between each other, and the body – whose members include AT&T Co, British Telecommunications Plc, DEC, Lotus Development Corp and 3Com Corp – claims it is independent of any one operating system or communication network. The specification allows the creation of Gateways, using a common interface, between electronic messaging systems and an X400-based message transfer agent; it is thought this will encourage the portability of software products that are built upon them. Implementations of the specification will allow users to connect specific electronic mail systems to any X400 server supplied by APIA members. A spokesman from member company Enable Software Inc expects members to have products that meet the specification within a year, and hopes the Association will benefit from an uncertain level of commitment from IBM to X400. The specification has been presented to the IEEE Posix standards committee for consideration as a formal standard. The association, formed in December, will also develop specifications for an X400 Application Specification to provide an interface between non-messaging applications, such as spreadsheets, and electronic messaging systems: it also plans an X500 directory Gateway API specification.
