Application Types

This topic describes the most commonly encountered types of applications that you might profile with the Imprivata Application Profile Generator (APG).

Client/server applications:

  • Are the most common Windows application type. In Imprivata OneSign usage, client/server applications are referred to as Windows applications.

  • Use a locally running executable (.exe).

  • Have a designated process name.

  • May use a centrally hosted database.

  • Information entered in the client may be relayed to the server/database and information from the server is relayed to the client.

  • Client/server application fields, buttons, and dialogs usually have a consistent appearance.

Applications In Google Chrome and Edge Chromium

Applications that run in a Google Chrome or Edge Chromium browser are profiled as a Client/Server application.

These applications share many of the same characteristics as web applications. They:

  • Present a login screen within the browser.
  • Can be intranet and/or extranet sites.
  • Always have a URL and title.

The Imprivata OneSign APG does not support the following in Chrome or Edge Chromium: Java applets, Adobe Flash, or Chrome applications.

Web applications:

  • Present a login screen within a browser.

  • Can be intranet and/or extranet sites.

  • Always have a URL and title.

  • Can mask Java and ActiveX applications, which are learned as Windows applications.

Java applications:

  • Java applications are popular as they can be run on any platform.

  • Java applications run in a self-contained Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

  • Java applications use an instance of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed on the local workstation.

  • JVMs contain instructions for how the application should be loaded and how objects are created and manipulated

  • Java is also used to create web-based applications.

  • There are multiple implementations of Java, including Oracle’s Java SE Platform and OpenJDK.

Terminal emulators are:

  • Used to connect to a central mainframe.

  • Common for SSH, FTP, and Telnet sessions.

There are nearly 100 different varieties of terminal emulators, in four key types:

  • ASCII/UNIX
  • 3270 (IBM Mainframe)
  • 5250 (AS400)
  • Command line, DOS applications

Some are proprietary or specialty terminal emulators, like Meditech and OAS Gold.

  • A terminal emulator is typically a local .exe.

  • A terminal emulator may be covered by a GUI.

Host-based applications are made up of two parts:

  • The container. The container is the outer Windows-based application that hosts the session.

  • The terminal application itself, within the container.

The container is typically launched from a local .exe file, and then hosts one or more sessions to a backend mainframe.

In Imprivata OneSign usage, the term hybrid applications means applications that include screens from two or more different application types, including:

  • Web + client/server

  • Web + Java

  • Web + terminal emulator

  • Web + Java + terminal emulator

  • Client/server + terminal emulator

NOTE: Depending on your OneSign and enterprise versions, the Imprivata APG may not support some hybrid applications in Google Chrome or Edge Chromium application profiles. For details see Application Profile Generator Support for Chrome and Edge Chromium.

Hybrid applications are discussed in Hybrid Application Profiles.

There are additional application types that you can learn with the Imprivata APG:

  • Legacy applications including DOS-based, 16-bit applications
  • Other development types: PowerBuilder, Magic, Oracle
  • Proprietary application types such as SAP Business Suite

When the Imprivata APG learns these application screens, it learns the parts and then classifies the screen according to the type it most closely resembles.