PowerBuilder: Бағдарламалық жасақтама құралының даму тарихы мен мүмкіндіктері

Software development tool

PowerBuilder is an integrated development environment owned by SAP since the acquisition of Sybase in 2010. On July 5, 2016, SAP and Appeon entered into an agreement whereby Appeon, an independent company, would be responsible for developing, selling, and supporting PowerBuilder. Over the years, PowerBuilder has been updated with new standards. In 2010, a major upgrade of PowerBuilder was released to provide support for the Microsoft NET Framework. In 2014, support was added for OData, dockable windows, and 64 bit native applications. In 2019 support was added for rapidly creating RESTful Web APIs and non visual NET assemblies using the C# language and the NET Core framework. And PowerScript client app development was revamped with new UI technologies and cloud architecture. Appeon has been releasing new features every 6 12 month cycles, which per the product roadmap focus on four key focus areas: sustaining core features, modernizing application UI, improving developer productivity, and incorporating more Cloud technology.

PowerBuilder has a native data handling object called a DataWindow, which can be used to create, edit, and display data from a database. This object gives the programmer a number of tools for specifying and controlling user interface appearance and behavior, and also provides simplified access to database content and JSON or XML from Web services. To some extent, the DataWindow frees the programmer from considering the differences between Database Management Systems from different vendors. DataWindow can display data using multiple presentation styles and can connect to various data sources.

PowerBuilder is used primarily for building business CRUD applications. Although new software products are rarely built with PowerBuilder, many client server ERP products and line of business applications built in the late 1980s to early 2000s with PowerBuilder still provide core database functions for large enterprises in government, higher education, manufacturing, insurance, banking, energy, and telecommunications. Job openings for PowerBuilder developers are readily available but often revolve around maintaining existing applications.

PowerBuilder is an object oriented programming language. Nearly all of the visual and non visual objects support inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation. The programmer may utilize a common code framework such as PowerBuilder Foundation Classes, also known as PFC, to inherit objects from and leverage pre existing code. The DataWindow is the key component (and selling point) of PowerBuilder. The DataWindow offers a visual SQL painter which supports outer joins, unions and subquery operations. It can convert SQL to visual representation and back, so the developer can use native SQL if desired. DataWindow updates are automatic — it produces the proper SQL at runtime based on the DBMS to which the user is currently connected. This feature makes it easier for developers who are not experienced with SQL. The DataWindow also has the built in ability to both retrieve data and update data via stored procedures or REST Web APIs as well as import/export JSON data. The RESTClient object introduced in PowerBuilder 2017 facilitates bridging the DataWindow with REST Web APIs and requiring minimal coding.

PowerBuilder supports ActiveX and OCX controls, both visible and non visible. It also can use OLE Automation as a client. However, PowerBuilder supports only late binding, not early binding. Therefore, when using OLE Automation, a dropdown of possible actions is not provided. PowerBuilder can also act as a DDE client or server, providing a further mechanism to interoperate with other applications. PowerBuilder can make Windows and third party API calls, and, in general, works well with third party libraries in DLL files, however it does not directly support callback functions.

PowerBuilder offers a "/pbdebug" (or variants: " pbdebug", " pbd", "/debug", " debug", " deb") runtime switch, which creates a log file. This can help track down a bug "in the field", as the user simply emails this log file to the developer. It has another feature which can log all SQL statements to a file. It also has built in performance profiling, an integrated debugger, context sensitive help, and an active newsgroup to provide support. PowerBuilder applications are typically compiled to p code, which is then interpreted by the PowerBuilder run time. An application can also be compiled to machine code, which can sometimes offer a performance benefit.

Extensibility of the language was rather limited for older versions of PowerBuilder. The technologies provided to overcome this (ex. PowerBuilder Native Interface, or PBNI) is rather tricky. To develop a solution that includes external C++ code may not only require a competent C++ developer, but also a PowerBuilder expert to guide the developer through the myriad subtleties of the language and the PowerBuilder Virtual Machine. Inheritance and object oriented features are limited to some object types (Windows, Userobjects and Menus). In particular, it is not possible to inherit from a DataWindow. A PowerBuilder user cannot open a descendant and a parent at the same time in the painter, though they can see all ancestors' code while working on the descendant. To address these criticisms, Appeon has set a new roadmap for PowerBuilder, which it publishes openly on the Appeon Website. Amongst developers, the (classic) PowerScript language itself, which is still available for compatibility reasons, is known as a "language built around the DataWindow", and PowerBuilder is known as the "IDE built around the DataWindow". C# development centered around a new NET DataWindow with automated migration of existing DataWindows was introduced in PowerBuilder 2019.

Since Appeon took over PowerBuilder, it has launched a new official community website for PowerBuilder developers. This community website offers technical articles, webinars, and Q&A, which are authored by community users. Appeon also hosts an annual user conference called Appeon Elevate, and recordings of the conference sessions are available from the conference website. There are a number of local user groups around the world that cooperate with Appeon to deliver abridged versions of the conference in seminar format and local language. There are also a variety of grass roots community groups and resources for PowerBuilder developers to share and convene. PowerBuilderTV is series of webinars by PowerBuilder users and vendors that tend to focus on third party add ons. PowerBuilder Central is a community initiative to create a single source for third party add ons and services.

Appeon PowerServer Deploys existing or new PowerBuilder projects as Cloud native applications that runs on NET Core with support for almost every single PowerBuilder feature, including the PFC framework. Visual Expert for PowerBuilder Visual Expert helps in sharing the knowledge of your applications. It also automates impact analysis and checks code quality. Enable Multilingual Enable makes PowerBuilder applications multilingual quickly and easily. Using Enable, developers can only need to make a few small changes to the original PowerBuilder code to go from monolingual to multilingual. ProDiff for PowerBuilder ProDiff is designed to highlight the differences between versions of PowerBuilder development source code. Visual Guard for PowerBuilder Visual Guard is an access control and application level permissions tool. It helps you centralize view and control of users and their rights in PowerBuilder applications. STD Framework for PowerBuilder A Free object oriented development framework for PowerBuilder Classic, Web Services, Appeon PowerServer Web and Mobile. Ultimate Suite for PB A suite of controls, written in PowerScript, that modernizes the GUI of PowerBuilder applications; Ultimate Suite for PB gives applications a contemporary look and makes them more user friendly. AscentialTest Automated testing for PowerBuilder, web, and others. Deep integration with the PowerBuilder VM api's allow AT to see and understand PB objects. PowerGen Automated build and regeneration of PowerBuilder applications. Supports building directly from Source Control.