Powerbuilder Classic - Quick Learning Guide?

[Former Member]

I am working on a prototype that I started in PB.NET  and with the aid of intellisense the learning curve was near zero. Talking with Appeon they recommend that I use PB Classic for the moment and when they get the C# versions there will be tools to port easily from Classic to C#.

Issue is I started up Classic and started looking at the porting my .NET scripts to Classic scripts and without intellisense I start to get lost quickly.

Any suggestions on how to minimize the pain here?

Thanks

TPS

[Former Member]

With powerbuilder classic when you do builds does it really force all painters to be closed?

Thanks

TPS

[Former Member]

Hi Tom;

Yes, almost all ... for example, you could have the DataBase Painter still open. Its just any painter that manages a PB Object Class (ie: Menu, User Object, Window, etc). Closing the Painter forces a save - which performs the incremental compile of that object at this time.

  Note: you do not need to compile each time in PB Classic like you have to do in PB.Net. PB Classic's modus operandi is compile & go on the Save of any Painter (or its closure). You just need to click the blue jogger on the PB Classic's main toolbar at anytime to force a save/close & run the application almost instantaneously.

HTH

Regards ... Chris

[Former Member]

I think most people refer to it as "The Runman". I'm sure you remember in early versions it was a hatchet as in 'execute' the program.

[Former Member]

Hi Tom;

1) FWIW: While a C# version of PB was being tossed about in the early webinars from Appeon - the latest PB High-Level road-map webinar presented on March 8, 2016 did not have any such PB.Net replacement venue that I could tell.

   There is a potentially new C# DataWindow as a direct plug-in for VS (I'm guessing sort of like the old DW.Net) - however, that does not address the other range of various Object Classes in PB. There is also a WCF Web Service feature planned and some kind a .Net InterOp for PB Classic on the road-map. Other than that, I did not see a full C# replacement product as you mentioned. You might want to check back with Appeon on this.

2) The trick with PB Classic is to make sure you turn on its Intellisense (aka Auto-Completion) feature after you first complete the installation. For some unknown Sybase reason (which totally escapes me common sense wise) - this feature is turned off initially. So you will want to turn the autoscript-complete option on.

   So .. for each Painter you first open, make sure you select ...

   a) From the IDE menu ... "Design => Options ..."

   b) Select the AUTOSCRIPT tab.

   b) Set the check boxes as follows:

      

             (my favourite settings BTW)  

HTH

Regards ... Chris

[Former Member]

One 'gotcha' to remember when using the PB 'not' intellisense is that your keyboard buffer gets overwritten by the feature.  So if you have copied a big block of code (BBOC) via a 'Ctl - C' and then go to a script and intellisense pops up, your BBOC is gone...

[Former Member]

Yes indeed, it is a very poor implementation using the clipboard to paste the text in.

[Former Member]

Hi Matt;

  A good point!

  Also Tom ... the nested DataWindow object within a DW Control (aka dot notation) is not supported in PB Classic like it is in PB.Net (hopefully, Appeon will tweak the auto-script feature a bit to remedy this handicap). For example"

  Any  la_data[]

  la_data = DC.Object.Data

  You will note that nothing pops up after "Object.". For the remainder of the statement, you will need to use the DW Syntax tool in the PB Classic IDE. This can be activated via the File=>New menu from the IDE - then select the TOOL tab and from there, the DWSyntax utility.

   The DW Syntax utility will return you the correct DOT Notation and/or DW Method syntax as follows:

HTH

Regards ... Chris

[Former Member]

Chris,

This was working fine and that it just stopped working. Check the settings for autoscript and they are all intact. But when I start typing  dw_1.    nothing appears.

Same with cb_1.

Any ideas where I need to check to get this going again.

So far the project seems to progressing fine and learning powerbuilder has been quite easy.

Also, what is the best way to implement source control?

Thanks

[Former Member]

Hi Tom;

     I get that OTL behaviour the odd time as well!  

   To re-enable the auto-script feature, enter the auto-script options dialogue and just change anything - hit APPLY - and then close the dialogue. The AS feature should now start-up again.

   Weird .. what can I say ... LOL! However, this is one of the first features that Appeon said that they will "spruce up" when they take over PB from SAP ( ) . 

HTH

Regards ... Chris