APPC serves as a translator between applications and the network in a distributed environment. When an application on your computer passes information to the APPC software, APPC translates and passes the information to a network interface, such as a local area network (LAN) adapter card. The information travels across the network to another computer, where the APPC software receives the information from the network interface. APPC translates the information back into its original format and passes it to the corresponding partner application.
The following topics discuss the development issues relevant to APPC programming: understanding transaction programs, using APPC verbs, and understanding Common Service Verbs and Windows APPC extensions. For more information about these topics, see the Microsoft SNA Server documentation in the "Internet, Networking, and Distributed Services" section of the Microsoft Platform SDK.