PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development [Paperback]

Bruce F. Armstrong (Author), Millard F. Brown (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672325004 | ISBN-13: 978-0672325007 | Publication Date: August 4, 2003 | Edition: 1

Over a decade ago PowerBuilder introduced the idea of rapid Client/Server application development and, for much of that time, was the leader in both technology and sales in the enterprise development market. Although PowerBuilder has lost significant market share to Visual Basic and Delphi, it still enjoys an intensely loyal developer community of close to 300,000. Version 9 of PowerBuilder continues the tradition of introducing leading-edge technology to these developers. PowerBuilder 9 Client/Server Development zeroes in on the most important aspects of building client/server applications in PowerBuilder, including PBNI (native interface), PFC (foundation classes), and database connectivity.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Over a decade ago PowerBuilder introduced the idea of rapid Client/Server application development and, for much of that time, was the leader in both technology and sales in the enterprise development market. Although PowerBuilder has lost significant market share to Visual Basic and Delphi, it still enjoys an intensely loyal developer community of close to 300,000. Version 9 of PowerBuilder continues the tradition of introducing leading-edge technology to these developers. PowerBuilder 9 Client/Server Development zeroes in on the most important aspects of building client/server applications in PowerBuilder, including PBNI (native interface), PFC (foundation classes), and database connectivity.

About the Author

Bruce Armstrong is an independent consultant in the Los Angeles area. He was one of the charter members of TeamSybase and has been using PowerBuilder since version 1. He was a contributing author of PowerBuilder 4.0 Secrets of the Masters. He is also a member of the editorial board for the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal, in which he has authored several articles, including a monthly news column.

Millard F. Brown III is the Vice President of Training Development at Power3 (Power-Cubed) and a member of TeamSybase. Power3 provides consulting and training in the areas of Enterprise and Internet development and architecture. Millard has been with Team Sybase since 1996 (formerly TeamPowersoft). Millard's areas of expertise include OO design and architecture, n-tier Internet and intranet development. He has also authored and delivered training material. His knowledge of Sybase products includes PowerBuilder (since version 2), EAServer, and PowerDesigner.

Terry Dykstra ([e-mail]) is working in a combined role of database administrator and systems analyst for Canadian Forest Oil Ltd. in Calgary, AB. Previously, he has worked in the Telecommunications and Energy and Utilities industry. He grew up in The Netherlands, where he received his B. Comm. degree. He has been a guest speaker at the Sybase user group conferences. Terry has been a member of TeamSybase since 1996.

Dave Fish ([e-mail]) is the Sybase PowerBuilder evangelist and a member of TeamSybase. He has been using PowerBuilder since 1993. Dave was a coauthor on a PowerBuilder 4 and a PowerBuilder 5 book. Dave has written articles for several industry publications and has developed numerous client server, distributed, and Web-based applications using PowerBuilder.

William (Bill) Green ([e-mail]) is a software developer, consultant, and teacher with more than 10 years of object-oriented software analysis, design, and development experience, and more than 20 years in the software development arena. Bill is a charter member of TeamSybase, a group of technical experts that provides voluntary assistance to Sybase customers on the Internet. Bill is a contributing author and coauthor of several technical books, including the best-selling PowerBuilder Foundation Class Library Professional Reference (McGraw-Hill, 1997), is a regularly featured writer in industry trade journals, and is a regular instructor at the Sybase international user conferences.

Berndt Hamböck ([e-mail]) is a senior consultant and certified instructor for Sybase products (PowerBuilder, EAServer, iAWS, EP, ASA, ASE) after spending several years at Bhitcon in Germany and Austria. He is certified in EASAC, CPD5, SCAPD8, and SCJP2. He also writes articles for the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal. At the arrival of this book, his first daughter Lara was born.

Bob Hendry ([e-mail]) specializes in writing client server/Internet Software Systems. He has been programming in PowerBuilder since 1993 and is the co-editor-in-chief of the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal. He lives in Wayne, Illinois, with his wife Caroline and daughter Cassie. This book is dedicated to them.

Paul Horan ([e-mail]) is the senior software architect at Video Communications, Inc., of Springfield, Massachusetts, VCI is the award-winning vendor of STARS II+, a PowerBuilder/ASA/EAServer¿based Sales, Traffic, and Accounts Receivable System for the Broadcast and Cable television industry. Paul has been working actively with PowerBuilder since version 1.0 B, and was inducted into the ranks of TeamSybase in May 2000. Paul is a frequent contributor to the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal, and he was the founding member of the Indianapolis PowerBuilder User's Group. Paul currently resides in Buffalo, New York.

Roy Kiesler ([e-mail]) is an architect with Percussion Software in Stoneham, Massachusetts, specializing in Content Management systems and XML/Java applications. He has nine years of experience building Web, distributed, and client/server applications for the financial services, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and energy and utilities industries using PowerBuilder, C++, and Java. Roy is also a writer for Sybase Developer's Network (SDN) and the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal, as well as a guest speaker at Sybase user group conferences. A winner of the 2001 TeamSybase MVP award, Roy has been a member of TeamSybase since 1999.

Jerry Neppl ([e-mail]) is the president of Develop-n-Tier, Inc., a software consulting company specializing in design and development of distributed systems based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

John D. Olson ([e-mail]) is a member of TeamSybase, the editor-in-chief of the PowerBuilder Developer's Journal, a certified Sybase instructor, CPD, on the ISUG board of directors, author, and frequent speaker at conferences and events in North America and Europe. He is the chief technology officer of Developower, Inc., a company that provides expert-level leadership, technology and development consulting for Web, n-tier, and client/server projects. John spends most of his time helping governments, companies, and individuals develop better software.

Jim O'Neil ([e-mail]) is a principal technical support engineer at Sybase, Inc., and an honorary member of TeamSybase. He has supported Sybase products since the release of PowerBuilder 5.0 in 1996, specializing in PowerBuilder's interfaces with databases and application servers. Jim has CPD Professional certification in PowerBuilder versions 5 through 8 and participated on the certification exam writing board for the last two versions of the product. He has been a presenter at TechWave and Sybase user groups in the United States and Europe since 1997.

Regan Sizer ([e-mail]) has 10 years experience as a software engineer. He has been a supporter of PowerBuilder since the early days and tries to promote the product by providing free code examples that showcase some of the more advanced capabilities. He is currently the development manager at a large international bank and lectures part time at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Buck Woolley ([e-mail]) is a software developer and consultant with eight years experience using PowerBuilder in a variety of industries. He is an avid promoter of PowerBuilder and has authored an article for the PowerBuilder Developers Journal. His company, dw-eXtreme, develops and sells advanced graphical user interface objects using the PowerBuilder datawindow.

Product Details

• Paperback: 840 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (August 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672325004
• ISBN-13: 978-0672325007
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for advanced beginner or journeyman level, October 6, 2003

By 

M. Balent "Nature forges everything on the An... (Columbiaville, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development (Paperback)

If you are an advanced PB programmer you will not find much here unless you have been stuck in versions 6.5 (or maybe even 7 but less so) and earlier. The authors give a reasonable overview of the new IDE and source control integration. There is also discussion of the newer features such as Powerbuilder Native Interface, XML datawindows, command line deployment, and error handling. Over 200 pages are devoted to database connectivity which may be of interest if you support multiple platforms.

Aside from some minor factual errors and the occasional typo, the information and examples are concise and to the point (although many leave out even rudimentary error checking which is vital in any 'real' application).

I bought the book since there haven't been any 'real' PB books since version 7 and this one details the new IDE.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars PB9 Advanced C/S Development, October 14, 2003

By 

Mrs Karen G Baker (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development (Paperback)

Authors

The 2 main authors of this book are Bruce Armstrong and Millard F. Brown III. If you are readers of the PBDJ magazine you will probably be familiar with these names. Both have also been involved with previous PowerBuilder book releases, are members of TeamSybase and have presented at user conferences around the world. Other contributing authors include a list of well known PowerBuilder experts such as Dave Fish, Bill Green, John Olsen, Roy Kiesler et al. The credentials of all the authors and co-authors of this book read like a Who's Who in PowerBuilder.

Book Overview

There are numerous books now available on PowerBuilder - this one does not aim to compete with these but to plug the gap in contents covered. PowerBuilder 9 - Advanced Client/Server Development zeroes in on some of the new features in this version including PBNI (native interface), XML datawindows, reworking of the source control interface, improved IDE and automated application builds using OrcaScript. Other subjects covered include PFC, an in-depth look at database connectivity, advanced coding and DW techniques, 3rd party tools and OLE.

Target Audience

The user level of this book is Intermediate - Advanced. The back cover states that this book is aimed at developers who know and use PowerBuilder and are looking to maximize their productivity. I would say that about half of the book succeeds in its aim, covering familiar subjects such as datawindows but with more detail and giving a few tips and techniques; covering new PB9 subjects and giving some useful productivity tips on the IDE for example. The remainder of the book serves as a point of reference such as the 200 pages on database connectivity which would be very useful for users developing for multiple database platforms.

Content

I would split the book into 3 main areas - an advanced look at existing features; an introduction to new PB9 features and a database connectivity reference.

The advanced look at existing features didn't uncover anything new for me but would serve as a useful reminder to someone who hasn't used PowerBuilder for a while. There are some good real life clear examples with supporting code and a few undocumented and therefore unsupported techniques.

The chapters on the new PB9 features would have been better if they had been more detailed. For example the chapter on XML datawindows assumes you know XML which is fair enough but it is a short and not very detailed chapter. In fact the PowerBuilder user guide provided with the product is much more detailed and useful than the chapter in this book. No tips or techniques are given in the chapter either. The chapter on the IDE and source control integration is useful especially if you are coming from PowerBuilder 7 and haven't used PowerBuilder 8.

The section on Database Connectivity is a useful reference point if you are developing for multiple database platforms but doesn't fit very well into the title of PowerBuilder 9 - Advanced Client Server Development. It does give a good amount of detail on an area that has previously not been covered particularly well in the past.

Writing Style

The writing style of the chapters vary because of the number of different authors. In general most of the chapters are written in a clear and concise manner with some good realistic examples. However some are a little too brief especially some of the new subjects areas such as XML Datawindows and OrcaScript. There is not enough detail and clear examples given for these new features.

Conclusion

If you haven't used PowerBuilder for a while or you are still using a version prior to Version 8 then you will find some useful information in this book, likewise if you are developing for multiple database platforms then the Database section will be very beneficial. I believe the book is more aimed at the intermediate level of knowledge rather than the advanced. Personally I wouldn't buy this book for myself because I wouldn't get enough new material from it that is not covered in the PowerBuilder User Guide.

[e-mail] (www.seabass.co.uk)

4.0 out of 5 stars A really good book!!!, April 6, 2009

By 

Manju Raman "maraman" (US) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development (Paperback)

I had worked on PB 6.5 and from there to PB 9 was a tough journey for me. But, this book is making it easier for me and I am hoping that my journey to the 11 the version would be much smoother.