Fast Track to PowerBuilder Part I

Goals

• Use the PowerBuilder IDE to create targets, workspaces, and fully functional applications
• Create DataWindows, windows, user objects, and menus
• Use object-oriented programming techniques to build and use class hierarchies for windows, menus, and user objects.
• Partition an application by separating business rules from the user interface, and code the logic for these rules in PowerBuilder Non-Visual Objects (NVOs)

Audience

• Application Developers

Prerequisites

• * This course does not teach the basics of programming. It covers the basics of PowerBuilder development. * SQL knowledge - you will need to already know how to compose SQL SELECT, INSERT, DELETE and UPDATE statements * Programming knowledge – prior to class, you should already know how to use structured coding techniques - such as declaring variables or invoking functions, have knowledge of standard data types, be able to use flow of control constructs, and have a good understanding of the principles behind User Interface Design.

Content

• Introduction to PowerBuilder IDE
• Coding Fundamentals
• Adding Functionality to Classes
• GUI Creation in PowerBuilder
• Creating Menus
• DB Profiles and the Database Painter
• DataWindow Objects
• DataWindow Control Basics (CRUD operations)
• Custom and Standard Class User Objects
• Intermediate DataWindow Topics
• Delivering the Completed Application

Notes

• Part I of the Fast Track to PowerBuilder Series will get you started with PowerBuilder development by building and deploying a complete two- tier client/server application using the business requirements of an actual business use case. After you learn the core features of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), you will begin development by creating a PowerBuilder Workspace, Application Target, and will work with the Application Object and create PowerBuilder libraries.
• After creating the shell of the application, you will gain familiarity with coding basics, where you will learn the PowerScript syntax, variable types and scope and about basic PowerScript functions. Exposure to the different types of methods you may build into classes (functions vs. events) and how to debug a PowerBuilder application is also learned.
• Once you have a good understanding of the basics, you will learn the G aspects of PowerBuilder application development by creating Windows, Menus and MDI-type applications. You will be taught how to use Inheritance. You will learn about how User Objects (Standard Visual) should be used in lieu of "native" controls. Since the DataWindow functionality is a key feature of PowerBuilder, the course gives a lot of focus on the creation of DataWindow Objects and covers the basics of DataWindow controls, where you will learn how to retrieve, insert, delete and update data.
• Intermediate coding techniques are covered, demonstrating how to write re-usable connection logic, partition applications (providing re-usable code) by using PowerBuilder NVOs. You will learn how to send messages between objects using the Message object. Once you gain a good understanding of intermediate level coding, we return to DataWindow topics such as how to access data, work with the important DataWindow control events, buffers, status flags, handling concurrency and transaction management.
• The class ends with a discussion on deployment of the finished application to the end-user. By the end of the course, you will be ready for Fast Track to PowerBuilder Part II, which will greatly improve your PowerBuilder development skills. Without Part II, you're only half way to gaining the required knowledge you need to build and then support PowerBuilder applications - Part II is essential for you to round out your skills. Sybase Education strongly recommends that you take advantage of the Fast Track to PowerBuilder package and attend Fast Track to PowerBuilder Part II 2-6 months upon completion of Part I.
• Hands-on lab exercises are performed throughout the course to reinforc all the learning objectives. The lab exercises will be performed on the PowerBuilder 12 Classic IDE. Use of the PowerBuilder .NET 12 IDE is not covered in this course – covered in the DEV546: PowerBuilder .NET 12.0 Boot Camp. Although the course is taught on PowerBuilder 12, all principles covered in this course are applicable to older versions of PowerBuilder. Code for the final lab solution is also provided for older PowerBuilder versions, so that you can review it later in the case you do not have PowerBuilder 12 on your system.

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