Last, we need a way to receive a message back from Skype. For that, again we'll use the "other" event and listen for WM_COPY_DATA_MESSAGEs coming from Skype. In this example, just display the output in a multi-line edit.

event ue_process_inbound

      mle_log.Text += is_retdata + '~r~n'

      //here...success
      Return 1

However, in full implementation we would probably implement some sort of functionality that would parse the input and call an appropriate method depending on what was sent back.

That's it. A basic but functional implementation of a small part of the Skype API. In essence, we touched on how to set up the basic communication architecture between the client and server followed by a demonstration of how to make a simple phone call. However, there are many other commands that could be implemented such as voice mail, chatting capabilities, retrieving call history, friends, etc. Again, look here for a complete list: http://share.skype.com/sites/devzone/2006/01/ api_reference_for_skype_20_bet.html#COMMANDS.

On a final note, you PPB folks may look forward to a complete implementation of Skype coming in a future version of PocketBuilder. Perhaps we can look forward to a little code sharing with its big brother PowerBuilder as well!

Want to learn more? There are many resources I used to begin to understand the Skype API and its implementation. I'll list a few. One I would highly recommend is the Skype Tracer Source. You can find it at http://share.skype.com/directory/skype_tracer_source/view/ . Essentially, this is the C++ source code for a Skype interpreter. Armed with this, a little bit of reverse engineering, and the command list we can learn much about "rolling our own" Skype implementation. You may also find these references useful as well.

• Skype API Documentation:
  http://share.skype.com/developer_zone/documentation/documentation/
• Skype Developer Forum:
  http://forum.skype.com/viewforum.php?f=16
• Learning Skypes' Plug-In Architecture:
  http://share.skype.com/directory/learning_skypes_plug_in_architecture/view
• MSDN Library:
  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp
• PowerBuilder Newsgroup;
  http://groups.google.com/group/sybase.public.powerbuilder.general?lnk=srg