SoftSwitch Inc has also launched the SNAPI Client Library/CICS into beta test: it enables IBM Corp CICS applications users to send and receive electronic mail using a Remote Procedure Call-based interface operating in a client-server environment. Users of public mail services can also be accessed via the Soft-Switch X400 gateway. SNAPI is an advanced programming interface first delivered by Soft-Switch in 1990. The SNAPI Server operates as an adjunct to Soft-Switch Central, the company’s backbone mail switch, and responds to mailbox access Calls which may be issued remotely. These Calls implement a safe-store-and-forward service and eliminate the black hole syndrome which can be a danger in store and forward messaging. SNAPI Client Libraries are being provided in multiple environments in order to simplify interaction with the mail network, so that mail access can be programmed entirely at the application level. SNAPI Client Library/CICS comes as a set of subroutines callable from either Cobol or Assembler programs.
