yeah,

  abinitio is a combination if GDE(graphical development environment),

co^operating system,and EME(enterprise metadata environment)

each have its own importance and are inter-related.

generally co^op system ,and EME exists remotely .GDE has to communicate with these.

GDE communication to co^op and EME are very essential ,coz when we develop a graph it has to be deployed into co^op system(which is called the host,generally unix operating system) as .ksh,or .sh file .

the communication  to co^op system is possible thru ".aih "file,which tells GDE the host locatin,where the graph runs,in which directory ,which machine,and the necesary settings need to connect to co^op  etc.

similarly EME plays a prominent role .Thru GDE we have to store our object(project) by checking in,and if we want any modifications for the existing project checkout from EME to GDE.

the communication EME is possibel thru ".aip" file which tells GDE about the location of EME,the location of project ,the necessary settings need to connect to EME etc.

   hope this satisfies u folks,

Cheers,

 Mukund