ISBN 10: 0132385775 ISBN 13: 9780132385770

Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr, 1996

A complete hands-on reference covering the fundamentals of Powerbuilder applications development. Covers interface development, scripts, data types, accessing external database information, compiling, debugging and project management. Paper. CD ROM included.

From the Publisher:

This book will teach you to build client/server applications with PowerBuilder and learn PowerBuilder from the ground up.

From the Inside Flap:

Bukauskas with Braunstein, PROFESSIONAL POWERBUILDER PROGRAMMING 1/E ISBN 0-13-238577-5 PREFACE

You hold in your hands a key to the PowerBuilder universe. Use this book as your guide; it will quickly bring you up to speed in PowerBuilder. It provides you with the foundation necessary to become a successful PowerBuilder programmer. This book leads you through PowerBuilder fundamentals, using a system that has worked all over the world. It helps you master the material by working through practical examples, exercises, and questions.
This book is for the person who has read the manuals and the other PowerBuilder books and who is still confused. You will find the world of PowerBuilder opening with this book. All the mysterious arcane icons, formatting, and scripts will become second nature. This book is for the computer literate person who wants to become a professional PowerBuilder developer. It is for the COBOL programmer as well as the Xbase or the Visual Basic programmer who wants to come up to speed with PowerBuilder as soon as possible. It is designed for independent study. Think of it as having an experienced PowerBuilder guru at your side.
The material in this book has been honed in front of live audiences around the world. The practical exercises and questions that accompany each chapter allow you to test your progress and let you see if you are truly mastering the material.

Version Independence.
This is the PowerBuilder book that will stand as your reference guide and introduction—no matter which version of the product you are using. The "hands-on" approach deals with PowerBuilder fundamentals. PowerBuilder is an evolving environment. Each year Powersoft schedules a revision of the software but maintains continuity between versions. The fundamentals that you learn in one version of PowerBuilder will apply to future versions. This book has been designed with version 5.0 and with Windows 95.
In short, this book is your window to the world of PowerBuilder. It will get you to the point where you will be able to solve PowerBuilder problems on your own. It develops the mind set that lets you accomplish your goals in PowerBuilder.

Prepare for the CPD.
In addition to practical exercises, every chapter concludes with a set of test questions, designed to re-enforce key concepts.
These questions are modeled after PowerSoft's Certified PowerBuilder Developer (CPD) Exams. A sample CPD exam appears in Appendix B, and a demo copy of PowerQuiz from BMS Systems is included on the accompanying CD.
Taken together, these tools should prepare you to become a professional PowerBuilder developer.

Organization.
“Professional PowerBuilder Programming” guides the developer through the various aspects of the product. It presents tricks and shortcuts gleaned over the years and puts them together in a way that is easy to follow. Along the way, a working application is built from the ground up. The application enforces solid programming techniques and ensures that important concepts are reinforced.

This book contains the following chapters:
Chapter 1. —What Is PowerBuilder? Presents an overview of the whole environment.
Chapter 2. —Overview of Client-Server Computing. Introduces the concepts of front-end and back-end processing and discusses why client/server computing has taken over the industry.
Chapter 3. —Introduction to Event-Driven Programming. Opens up the world of object-oriented and event-driven programming. Go beyond the buzz words and gain a firm understanding of these core concepts.
Chapter 4. —What Is a PowerBuilder Application? Introduces the Application painter that lets you create the Application object for your project.
Chapter 5. —The Library Painter. Tells you how to build PowerBuilder libraries (.PBLs) from the various objects in your application.
Chapter 6. —The Window Painter. Describes how to construct the windows that users see on the screen. Chapter 7. —Window Controls. Covers the various buttons and visual objects that you can place on your screens.
Chapter 8. —Scripts and Data Types. Covers the fundamentals of the PowerBuilder language PowerScript.
Chapter 9. —The Menu Painter. Describes how to create the menus that control your PowerBuilder applications.
Chapter 10. —User Objects. Discusses the custom-built objects you create in PowerBuilder to ease the task of code maintenance.
Chapter 11. —The Database and Administrator Painter. Tells you what you need to know about design, including data modeling and creating databases that work with PowerBuilder. This chapter covers connecting to the database with profiles, formatting, and data validation. The chapter also introduces the Table painter.
Chapter 12. —The DataWindow Painter. Describes this unique feature of PowerBuilder, discussing DataWindow objects in particular.
Chapter 13. —The DataWindow Presentation. Continues with the DataWindow painter. It covers how to format information in the DataWindow. It shows how to lay out the DataWindow—bands, calculated fields, and everything you need to know to format information in the DataWindow.
Chapter 14. —DataWindow Controls. Clears up the difference between DataWindow controls and DataWindow objects; that is, controls are placed in a window and allow you to manipulate DataWindow objects.
Chapter 15. —More DataWindows. Introduces the concepts of DataWindow events. It covers data validation, sorting, filtering, and finding records and is filled with useful DataWindows tricks and tips.
Chapter 16.—Various Painters covers the Structure painter, enables you to create user-defined structures; the Function painter enables you to create user-defined functions and pass parameters by reference or value; and the Debugger which enables you to step through your application setting breakpoints, watch points, and checking values of variables.
Chapter 17. —Working with Multiple DataWindows. Covers setting up data retrieval from multiple tables and keeping the tables coordinated. It covers automatic retrieval, handling primary and foreign keys, and transaction processing.
Chapter 18. —Using SQL in PowerBuilder. Provides an overview of the SQL language and describes what you need to know to retrieve data and create tables.
Chapter 19. —Distributing the Application. Details the process of turning your application into a standalone executable.
Appendix A. —Answers to Test Yourself Questions.
Appendix B. —Preparing for the CPD.
Appendix C. —Practical Exercises: Solutions for a Contact Management System.
Appendix D. —PowerScript Functions: Includes a listing of PowerScript functions and their syntax.
In short, you hold in your hands everything you need to quickly get up to speed as a PowerBuilder developer. Now, roll up your sleeves and let's get started!