# Enterprise Communication Interface (ECI)

## Connection Type "windows_dde"

| To communicate with the graphic versions of Agile e6 on Windows platforms, you can select the connection type „windows_dde". The environment variable RDE_MAX_BUF influences the communication as follows:
RDE_MAX_BUF | Size of transfer buffer in kilobytes for data within RDE-communication. Value should be as big as value of variable MAXBUF in DTV-client initialization file cli_set.dat. (Default: 30000 Bytes)
Agile e6-IPC environment variables: ECI_DDE_RETRY_COUNT: Number of attempts to execute DDE-Call. ECI_DDE_RETRY_TIMEOUT: Timeout for period between two DDE-CALL attempts ECI_DDE_CHECK_CONNECTION: Flag for checking if an open DDE connection is still working ECI_DDE_TIMEOUT DDE: Transaction Timeout: A DDE-call must be returned within this period otherwise an error is returned
| ### Example
| Start Agile e6.
| Enter as transportmode "windows_dde" for "eci-connect". The parameter hostname has no meaning for "windows_dde". The resource is the ECI Topic specified in the setup for the program icon.
| For the program icon it is necessary to specify an ECI topic. Option "-p": <path>dtv_cli.exe -f <environment>.edb -p ECI-Topic:<topic>