Powerbuilder resources [closed]

Question

I'm recently working in a company where we use PowerBuilder extensively. The only documentation or resources we have access to is some basic course saying things like "Do A, then B and you'll get C". I was wondering if there is some better crash courses or tutorials for this language on the net or somewhere else which actually explain something instead of simply taking me by the hand.

Splash

Answer 1

"Better" sounds intimidating, since it's hard to tell how your learning style works and what's better for you. (I guess I like the ABC approach.) So, instead of listing things that will be hit or miss, I'll try one resource that has both quantity and quality. The PowerBuilder Developer's Journal has a large online archive of old and fairly recent articles online. (The current issue gets online pretty quickly, but I wouldn't venture to guess how quickly.) Like any technical journal, the quality of the articles can vary, but IMHO stays pretty high on average. They'll range in topic from navel-gazing speculations to detailed instructions on how to accomplish very specific goals. I'm not sure it's necessarily great for starting off, but it's a good place to go once you've dragged your way through the ABC tutorial in the PowerBuilder manuals.

Good luck,

Terry.

Crossland

PBDJ has sadly ceased publication but the online archive is still there. – Marciano

Answer 2

Unfortunately there is not much out there for PB, compared to other languages. Here are some useful resources on the web:

• Back when I was writing PB I found Google Groups was a great resource for finding information about specific issues with PowerBuilder code.

• Terry Voth runs a website called Sequel's Sandbox that has a lot of useful PowerBuilder resources. He's also on StackOverflow, so perhaps he can chime in with more info :)

One thing that we did was have any new PB developers run through the tutorial that comes with PB (Disclaimer: we had an enterprise version, I am not sure if all versions of PB come with the same tutorial). Anyway, this was a great way of getting started and learning your way around the IDE.

Kelsey

Thanks for the links, i'll look at that. The tutorial that I'm talking about is in fact the tutorial that comes with PB. – Splash

Ah, OK. I still strongly recommend you spend a day or two just going through that tutorial though, even if it's tedious at times... – Kelsey

+1 for review the included tutorial. It's not the easiest thing, but it does have good material if you stick it out. – Gynandry

Answer 3

Don't forget the books. Much of PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development still applies. And if you can find a copy of a book like PowerBuilder 7 unleashed you can get most of the PowerScript syntax.

Congeries

Answer 4

Have you looked at the stuff that Yakov Werde is doing:

http://www.elearnitonline.com/PBCourseOverview/player.html

He's a former Sybase training guy and one of them that did a lot of the training classes at the Sybase TechWave events.

Arcanum

The link is no longer valid. – Shiv

Answer 5

This question has a few resources for learning PowerBuilder.

I've got lots of PowerBuilder bookmarks on Delicous.com. Some of that stuff might be useful.

Celery

Answer 6

The key to Powerbuilder is the Datawindow. One of the best books written on the subject is "The Definitive DataWindow" by Richard Brooks. It is 11 years old but it is still the best resource for datawindow information.

You can find it at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-DataWindow-Your-PowerBuilder-Success/dp/020170224X

Leverick

Answer 7

PowerBuilder used to provide PowerBuilder Foundation Classes (PFC) but they discontinued it. The PFC lives on though as an open source project here:

http://pfc.codeplex.com/

For older versions of Powerbuilder (8, 9, and 10) the below site has several code samples and DLLs. As other developers have mentioned, you'll end up looking all over the place for PB help.

http://www.topwizprogramming.com/freecode_adapter.html

Here's another resource:

http://www.techno-kitten.com/

Repro

Answer 8

Since this topic isn't yet closed you should find a lot here.

http://www.displacedguy.com - PowerBuilder, .NET, Silverlight Developer Blog with a PB Training Page containing over 100 links to sample projects, self created training material or other blogs and every link is free, the only requiring registration are from Sybase themselves.

DisplacedGuy Blog with PowerBuilder Tutorials, Training, Videos, Interview Questions, EBF Links and More - 4 years in the making

Laryngitis