More Professional Powerbuilder Programming: Advanced Techniques [Paperback]

Paul Bukauskas (Author), Bruce Braunstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0135081459 | ISBN-13: 978-0135081457

50814-3 More great techniques for developing with PowerBuilder! To become a truly proficient PowerBuilder developer, you need a deep understanding of techniques and technologies that most books only skim over. That's where More Professional PowerBuilder Programming comes in. It starts where Paul Bukauskas' best-selling Professional PowerBuilder Programming leaves off, presenting sophisticated PowerBuilder techniques to help you build more powerful, effective applications - and do it more quickly. You'll develop a deeper understanding of the window/event programming paradigm, and learn the most effective implementation strategies for event-driven environments. You'll learn how to make the most of Dynamic SQL, Dynamic DataWindows, nested reports, and other advanced DataWindows capabilities. Bukauskas also introduces you to powerful data modeling techniques for client/server applications. And, this book will help you prepare for the PowerBuilder CPD exam with sample questions and PowerQuiz. You'll also find in-depth coverage of: * Application Partitioning with nonvisual user objects * Communicating among objects * Child DataWindow programming techniques * Interprocess communication with OLE and DDE * Conditional expressions using Modify and Describe * The Windows API * Performance and Tuning The concepts covered in this book will help you work confidently with any version of PowerBuilder - especially Release 5.0 with Windows' 95 support. More Professional PowerBuilder is based on the author's live PowerBuilder courses, which have been honed for years with audiences around the world. Every chapter contains practical exercises and questions to help you make sure you've mastered the material. This is a treasure house of advanced PowerBuilder techniques for the working developer. If you use PowerBuilder, you can't afford to be without it.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book will teach you PowerBuilder from the ground up. You'll learn about the Painters that help you build an interface and other elements of your application; the Help system; and the basic definitions every PowerBuilder developer needs to understand.

From the Inside Flap

Who would have thought that the database industry would shake out as it has—other than Bill Gates, of course. The whole landscape of the database industry has radically changed over the last decade. Ten years ago I started out as a dBASE programmer at Ashton-Tate. At that time, dBASE was king, DOS was the operating system, and no one had ever heard of SQL.

Well, things change. After the decline of Ashton-Tate, and the virtual death of dBASE, I left to join some former Ashton-Tate consultants who were just starting a client/server consulting company called NetBase Computing. They had tried every tool available to deliver a Windows-based frontend to SQL Server. They tried Gupta, C++, and JAD. Finally, they heard about an obscure program called PowerBuilder 1.0.

I remember sitting in my first class at NetBase trying to get a handle on DataWindows, and how frustrating the concept was. Especially vivid was the instructor, who was flown in from the East coast, because there was such a shortage of knowledgable developers. Bob Zurek taught that first class. I remember thinking to myself, “someone should write a book about this.” It took a few years, but here it is.

Today, PowerBuilder has become a phenomenon. The amount of information on CD-ROMs, and in manuals and periodicals can be overwhelming. What we have done in this book is synthesize the important information you need to know, put it in one place, and made it easily accessible. There are plenty of introductory books on the market, but there are few books that go beyond a rehash of the manuals. One of the shortcomings of the PowerBuilder online documentation is that while it provides syntax, it lacks context. Why do we use a particular feature or function? Where is data validation best done, on the frontend or backend? These are the types of questions we set out to answer.

This book takes the perspective of a professional developer. After all, if you intend to be a successful consultant with PowerBuilder, you need to use Powerbuilder to solve your client's problems. This book is based on course material that I have developed and taught over the past several years. It has been honed before thousands of students, and many of their suggestions are reflected in the book.

Another unique feature of this book are samples for the Certified PowerBuilder Developer (CPD) exam questions. Having a CPD is like money in the bank. It demonstrates that you have mastered PowerBuilder. To help you achieve this goal, we have included questions that test your comprehension of the material. This book can be used for self-study or as a textbook for an advanced PowerBuilder class.

Along with preparing you for the CPD exam, the book contains practical labs and exercises so you can have hands-on experience developing real-world PowerBuilder applications. All of the labs and source code are included on the CD-ROM accompanying the book, so you do not have to retype it in yourself. Included on the CD-ROM is a sample of PowerQuiz from BMS Systems, as well as free sample software from companies such as Powersoft and Blue Sky Software.

Even after four plus years of working day in and day out with PowerBuilder, I continue to learn new things. The best way to learn what the tool can do is learn from other developers. I know you will find this book to be a valuable resource. Continue using PowerBuilder and never stop learning.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who helped make this book possible. First, thanks go to my copy editor Martha Williams who made sense of everything and caught numerous omissions. Also, to Lisa Garbowksi who managed the project and kept us on schedule. And, to Prentice Hall and Paul Becker who believed we could do it and moved mountains to see that we did.

Thanks to each of the co-authors for making such a valuable contribution to this book. I am especially grateful to Scott McGarrigle, Phil Jesch, and Dave Emde for their suggestions on nonvisual user objects. Many thanks go to Dominick Divine and everyone at CountryWide Inc. for working around my schedule.

Finally, this book would not have come about without the loving support of my wife Nora and daughter Faith.
Paul Bukauskas

About the Authors


Paul Bukauskas is president of Bright Ideas, a client/server consulting firm based in Redondo Beach, California. He has been a full-time PowerBuilder developer, consultant, and certified instructor since the release of PowerBuilder 1.0. He is a Certified PowerBuilder developer and has written a number of PowerBuilder courses which he licenses to the public. Paul is frequent contributor to PAD and the author of Professional PowerBuilder Programming (also by Prentice Hall). He can be reached via e- mail at [e-mail] or [e-mail].

Bruce Braunstein is the editor of PAD—Powersoft Application Developer magazine. He is the author of a number of books, both technical and science fiction. Before editing PAD, he edited FoxMasters magazine on disk and .DBF magazine for Pinnacle Publications. PAD is currently electronically published at powerbuilder.com. He is focusing on PAD as a way to reach the Powersoft community with timely technical information.

Scott McGarrigle is with Applied Knowledge, Inc., a firm specializing in custom application and tools development utilizing object-oriented design with PowerBuilder. Scott is a Certified PowerBuilder developer. With extensive experience in GUI client/server development and object modeling, design, and programming, he bring a unique perspective to PowerBuilder development. Scott can be reached via e-mail: 71054.724@compuserve.

David Litwak is a client/server developer specializing in PowerBuilder and C programming. He is not the president of Powersoft.

Thomas O'Mara has been developing PC-based applications during the past 16 years. These applications range from data acquisition and statistical analysis in the engineering environment to Windows-based enterprise client/server applications.

Ted Kerr is an internationally known client/server developer who specializes in data modeling and related tools such as ERwin. He can be reached via PAD magazine.

Greg McAteer has been an independent programmer/consultant for seven years, and has worked with many top companies including Microsoft, Disney, Nasa, IBM, ARCO, Deloitte & Touche, Jet Propulsion Lab, and of course BMS Systems, the maker of PowerQuiz. He continues to work with BMS Systems to improve PowerQuiz and develop and market other tools for developers and small businesses. He can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail] or Compuserve 73062,601.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr (April 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0135081459
• ISBN-13: 978-0135081457
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,825,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critic, March 30, 1998

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[e-mail] (Athens,Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Professional Powerbuilder Programming: Advanced Techniques (Paperback)

It would be much more useful if the examples were more analytical.Some "advanced" techniques (e.g. EHLLAPI , Message Object ,Master Detail Datawindows , Multi Table Updates , MDI Interface ,DynamicDatawindows etc.) should be covered in depth with "like a manual" examples.