Mastering PowerBuilder

PowerBuilder Foundation Class Library

In previous versions of PowerBuilder, Powersoft introduced the concepts of window, menu and user object inheritance for developing applications. Even though PowerBuilder helped speeding up Windows GUI development, it still required lot of work and code. Alternative approaches included writing your own class library or using a third party class library, such as PowerFrameâ or PowerToolâ .

Building frameworks and object libraries requires effort and can be a complex task to undertake. If your company is just getting started with PowerBuilder, creating a framework on your own would be challenging. Typically, you could save yourself the development time and buy a third party product, but, you'll still need to do some analysis and customization. Beginners would probably don't know what features to look for in a framework.

Powersoft has responded to user requirements with a service-based architecture, Foundation Class library (PFC). Powersoft ships the PFC with the Enterprise Edition of PowerBuilder 5.0. If you are not an enterprise version user, you can get PFC by purchasing the advanced developers kit. You now have a foundation class library which is supported by the vendor, similar to what Microsoft has done with the Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC).

Having a foundation class library as the primary tool itself reduces the need for relying on third party class libraries, but it is only intended to provide a consistent framework and foundation on which future third party libraries are expected to build.

After this session You Will Be Able To:

• Understand FrameWorks.
• Understand Class Libraries.
• Understand Service Oriented Class Libraries.
• Understand PFC Architecture.
• Develop Applications using PFC.
• Apply new releases of PFC.

Estimated Lesson Time:

600+ minutes.

Prerequisites:

• You should have PowerBuilder Professional/ Enterprise edition or PowerBuilder Desktop with Advanced Developers Toolkit installed on your computer.