PowerBuilder News Desk

XNA, Game Development for Everyone

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:36:00 EDT

Maybe some of you remember a time when we created a sprite on a piece of graph paper and afterwards hacked zeroes and ones in so we could see something eventually move on a TV screen. I have to admit that those days have been gone for a long time and a lot of things have happened in IT since I developed simple games on my C64. And one of these new things is XNA Game Studio (the current version is 2.0).

An Updated History of PowerBuilder

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:04:00 EDT

I have been asked many times by various clients, students, and the IT curious about PowerBuilder: When did Sybase develop the product and how did it evolve? I keep telling this story and answering e-mails on the subject. I am now to the point where I have decided that I should have PBDJ formally publish this story for posterity.

Securing PowerBuilder Applications

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:04:00 EDT

PowerBuilder 11's .NET support may be welcomed by developers looking to expand their horizons and take further advantage of SOA, yet developing in this environment also introduces new threats. Applications developed using the Microsoft .NET platform inherently expose the intellectual property they contain much more than their native compiled counterparts.

Converting a PowerBuilder 10.5 Client/Server Application to PB 11 Web Forms

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:36:00 EDT

As a long-time PB developer, I have successfully created or maintained many PB applications for clients and for myself. Since day one, I was impressed with the ease with which applications can be created using PowerBuilder. Although I had been exposed to Visual Studio and other client/server tools, I have always felt PB was the better product.

Editorial: PowerBuilder 11.5 Is on the Way . . .

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:20:00 EDT

The PowerBuilder 11.5 beta is officially opened. If you're at all interested in upgrading, particularly to improve the "eye-candy" aspect of your applications, now is the time to get involved. If you wait until after the product has been released and find that there are some key component of the new features that you feel is essential but missing, you'll have only yourself to blame.

Top Keynotes at SYS-CON's World-Beating RIA Conference & Expo: AJAX World

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Two of the biggest launches in Rich Internet Application history took place in 2007/2008 when Adobe launched AIR 1.0 in February '08 and Microsoft launched Silverlight (September '07). At the 6th International AJAXWorld RIA Conference & Expo in October SYS-CON Events is delighted to be presenting major industry keynotes from the two industry executives with overall responsibility for both of those massive richer-web initiatives: Adobe's CTO Kevin Lynch and Scott Guthrie, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's .NET Developer Platform.

SYS-CON.TV: View "Virtualization Power Panel" Live from Times Square, NYC

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:20:00 EDT

Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens, Citrix CTO Simon Crosby, Egenera CTO Pete Manca, Allen Stewart, Group Manager, Windows Virtualization at Microsoft, and Brian Duckering, Sr. Director of Products and Alliances at Symantec were the top industry executives who joined Jeremy Geelan in the 4th Floor Reuters Studio overlooking Times Square for a special SYS-CON.TV 'Virtualization Power Panel' recorded on June 22, 2008, the day before the opening of SYS-CON's 3rd International Virtualization Conference & Expo - which was held 23-24 June 2008 in New York City.

Retrieving Data on a SQL Anywhere Server Using AJAX

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:36:00 EDT

AJAX has dominated the web space so extensively that it needs no introduction. Connecting to a server via XMLHttpRequest and making a partial page refresh is what makes this technique so attractive. However, use of these AJAX requests, although very attractive, can pose dangers as well. JavaScript acts as a vector to infect websites with worms, such as SAMY, using cross-site scripting, also known as CSS or XSS.

Converting from ASA to ASE

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EDT

Most new users of PowerBuilder start with SQL Anywhere as the back-end database engine (formerly Adaptive Server Anywhere or ASA, and before that Watcom). With growth, a need to shift and adapt to a wider database platform is thrust on developers by customers. A recent exercise in this regard, besides re-emphasizing our past amateurishness, has also helped us make a clean, lean application.

PowerBuilder Editorial: A Tale of Two Companies...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

The first is Borland. Originally known for their development tools (e.g., Delphi, JBuilder, C++ Builder), in February of 2006 Borland announced they were planning to sell off the Development Tools Group so that they could focus on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product offerings.

1200 Attendees from 42 Countries Flock to Sybase TechWave

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:15:00 EDT

Even the most sceptical observer would be hard pressed to argue that Sybase isn’t making some smart - or at least pretty interesting - moves right now. Bringing in the Sybase 365 division to position the company as the ‘database company with the unique focus on mobile communications’ sets it apart from the crowd.

Sybase Releases Sybase Analytic Appliance

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Sybase has announced the immediate availability of the Sybase Analytic Appliance, configured and tuned to provide extreme analytics and alleviate overburdened data warehouses, data marts and reporting systems. Sybase Analytic Appliance combines Sybase IQ with such technologies as Sybase PowerDesigner, IBM Power Systems, and MicroStrategy.

Sybase iAnywhere Announces TPC-C Benchmark Using SQL Anywhere Server

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Sybase iAnywhere has announced that SQL Anywhere version 11 on Dell PowerEdge has achieved outstanding price/performance results by delivering an audited TPC-C result at a cost of $0.85 per transaction1, demonstrating that high-performance database applications can be delivered inexpensively.

Sybase iAnywhere Targets Web Developer Community with New Version of SQL Anywhere

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Sybase iAnywhere has announced its new initiative to deliver SQL Anywhere for the web developer community. In addition to a number of web development features found in SQL Anywhere Version 11, its newest release, the company has also unveiled a new Web Edition that allows developers free SQL Anywhere Server database deployment.

Sybase iAnywhere Announces Availability of SQL Anywhere 11

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Sybase iAnywhere has announced that SQL Anywhere version 11 is now available to the marketplace. With more than 10 million deployed seats, SQL Anywhere is designed to be widely deployed in environments with little or no onsite IT support. Thousands of application partners worldwide embed SQL Anywhere in server, desktop, remote office and mobile applications.

Sybase iAnywhere Broadens Information Anywhere Suite Management with Afaria 6.0

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Sybase iAnywhere has expanded its mobile device management and security solution with the release of Afaria 6.0. The latest version of Afaria, a core component of the Sybase Information Anywhere Suite, will include a new relay server architecture that works across multiple Information Anywhere Suite components to offer secure communications for data synchronization and mobile device management functions.

Sybase Announces Availability of PowerBuilder 11.5

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Sybase has announced the planned availability date of PowerBuilder 11.5. The latest release of PowerBuilder continues Sybase's commitment to simplify complex data access, manipulation and presentation through its patented DataWindow technology, especially for developers looking to deploy PowerBuilder applications to the .NET framework.

Sybase Unveils New Mobility Platform for Unwiring The Enterprise

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Sybase demonstrated its next-generation architecture for mobilizing enterprise applications, Sybase Unwired Platform, to approximately 1,200 attendees from more than 41 countries at its TechWave User Training and Solutions Conference. With this new architecture, Sybase is providing a single, complete mobile platform to ease the development, deployment and management of strategic mobile applications.

PowerBuilder Tutorial: Running the pbtutor Application

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:30:00 EDT

I recently purchased a new laptop. Choosing an operating system was not any easy decision and challenged me for two weeks. Finally, I decided to go with the flow. I ordered my first Vista system. That was only the start of a long and arduous journey and I'm still trying to get my environment and tools back to normal!

A Technology Leap for PowerBuilder Developers

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Sybase has just released the latest version of its premier .NET development tool in PowerBuilder version 11.2. I am proud to say that I haven't missed a beta since November 1989 (version 0.8) and that includes PocketBuilder and InfoMaker too. I need to thank the people at Sybase for continuing to let me test drive their new code.

PowerBuilder and EAServer: Uniting the .NET and J2EE Communities

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EDT

In PowerBuilder 11.2, .NET meets J2EE head-on with the capability to deploy .NET Windows Forms and Web Forms applications (as well as assemblies and Web Services) that access Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) in Sybase's own EAServer. As you'll see over the course of this article, integrating these 'competing' technologies is quite straightforward and leverages mechanisms that have been available since PowerBuilder 7.

HarPB Tool Review

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:45:00 EDT

HarPB is a specialized utility for checking PowerBuilder source objects in and out of AllFusion Harvest. It handles the special requirements of checking objects out to PowerBuilder Libraries (PBLs) and checking objects in from PBLs. These operations are non-standard to most source control systems, because the PBL is a proprietary binary format of PowerBuilder.

PowerBuilder Editorial: The State of the State

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Back in 2002, Sybase announced their four-phase approach toward adding .NET support to PowerBuilder. Phase 1 was the implementation of web services in PB9 and Phase 2 was the release of DataWindow.NET, which was packaged with PB 10. Phases 3 and 4 were the more significant phases. In Phase 3, Sybase added a number of .NET target types to PowerBuilder 11 and added support for calling non-visual .NET assemblies from PowerScript.

PowerBuilder History - When Did Sybase Develop PB and How Did It Evolve?

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:15:00 EDT

PowerBuilder 11's .NET Interoperability

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EDT

PowerBuilder 11 deploys entire applications as .NET Windows Form or Web Form applications and deploys individual components as .NET Assemblies and as .NET Web Services. Version 11 consumes resources of the default .NET framework as well as resources of custom developer-defined .NET resources. Non-PowerBuilder .NET solutions can interoperate with, and take advantage of, the unparalleled productivity of PowerBuilder's data access and data manipulation capabilities. In short, PowerBuilder 11 creates as well as consumes .NET resources.

Sanity, Strategy, Sustainability: The New World of Verification Platforms

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The lines between embedded and enterprise computing are blurring. As embedded devices become more and more networked, they form a perimeter at the edge of our enterprise data centers and a rich source of real-time, real-world information. These newcomers to the enterprise are coming of age. Embedded computing is moving beyond the world of hidden computing and a behind-the-scenes role in military and industrial applications.

Publishing .NET Web Services Using SQL Anywhere 10.0.1

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EDT

In this article we're going to take a database and create our own mini version of an 'Amazon-like' item lookup. That is to say, any .NET or .NET-compatible client will be able to look up items in our database via the Web by simply providing a UPC. This article will show you how. To complete this project, you'll need a few items...

PowerBuilder Editorial - "There You Go Again"

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:15:00 EDT

If that doesn't ring a bell, it's from the Reagan / Carter debates in the 1980 election cycle. Carter had presented a string of criticisms of Reagan's positions, which Reagan pretty much dismissed with that statement. Back in the heyday of client/server development, the folks at Borland released a hit piece on PowerBuilder written by a Delphi advocate. You can still find a copy of it as a series of articles on the CodeGear site.

Integrated Support for XML Data Management

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT

XML is increasingly being used as the language of data exchange. An XML document based on a DTD or an XML Schema contains data that conforms to a standard structure. A number of technologies, such as ebXML (Electronic Business XML), UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration), and RDF (Resource Description Framework) are based on XML.

SYS-CON's Virtualization Conference & Expo: Themes & Topics

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:30:00 EDT

From Application Virtualization to Xen, a round-up of the virtualization themes & topics being discussed in NYC June 23-24, 2008 by the world-class speaker faculty at the 3rd International Virtualization Conference & Expo being held by SYS-CON Events in The Roosevelt Hotel, in midtown Manhattan.

How Does NY State Manage Its PowerBuilder Applications?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:15:00 EDT

Most applications need upgrades and corrections. If you maintain in-house development you want to be particularly sharp about this. You can't afford to lose knowledgeable people to turnover and be left with no one able to maintain mission-critical applications. So you'll have to find a solution to handle any question, evolution or crisis related to these applications. Vincenzo Cianfarani, project manager, explains how New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) deals with such issues.

PowerBuilder and UPS Shipping

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Does your shipping department have these problems? Extra charges due to incorrect addresses? Difficulty tracking packages? How about duplicate entries? If your shipping department is really ancient, you may even have rolls of preprinted UPS shipping labels. Here's how you can seamlessly integrate your printing function using PowerBuilder.

Using the Eclipse Data Tools Platform with PowerBuilder and SQL Anywhere

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:15:00 EDT

The Eclipse Data Tools Platform (DTP) is now a top-level project at eclipse.org. Originally proposed by Sybase in February 2005, DTP has attracted strong community support and is currently managed by a committee comprised of Sybase, IBM and Actuate. It is an open source initiative designed to provide solutions in the data framework and tooling domains.

2008 Worldwide PowerBuilder Survey

Wed, 28 May 2008 14:15:00 EDT

Novalys is holding its 8th annual PowerBuilder Worldwide Survey. This survey is a great feedback mechanism for the entire PowerBuilder community. You'll see how the thousands of responses received in 2007 clearly demonstrate that PowerBuilder projects are increasingly embracing Microsoft technology.

Sybase PowerBuilder Delivers AJAX and .NET Enhancements

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Sybase announced that AJAX development capabilities and further Microsoft .NET enhancements have been added to the latest version of Sybase PowerBuilder 11, the premier 4GL rapid application development (RAD) tool. PowerBuilder 11.2 represents another milestone in the PowerBuilder roadmap for delivering .NET interoperability and incorporates new features such as AJAX functionality for WebForms, which enables richer, more interactive data-driven application development.

The PB Future: More on Graphs in PowerBuilder 11.5

Thu, 15 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Last week I posted a screen shot of the new 3D Rendering capabilities being added to some of the 3D graphs in PowerBuilder 11.5. It was met with mixed reviews on the PowerBuilder Futures newsgroup (forums.sybase.com) so I went back to the drawing board to see what I could come up with. Apparently there are quite a few configuration settings one can set programmatically to render better looking graphs.

BluePhoenix Expands Modernization Collaboration with Microsoft

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:15:00 EDT

BluePhoenix announced that it has expanded its collaboration with Microsoft on legacy modernization projects. The collaboration provides customers moving their applications or databases to .NET-based environments the best in both modernization services and technical support. BluePhoenix enables organizations to modernize their legacy data stores such as ADABAS, IDMS, IMS and VSAM to SQL Server, and from application languages such as COBOL, Natural, RPG and PowerBuilder to .NET.

PowerBuilder 11.2 Released: Sybase's Flagship IDE

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Sybase has released the production version of its flagship .NET development tool - PowerBuilder version 11.2. This latest release of its premier IDE for RAD includes not only standard fixes but also a good list of new features. Here is the 'Coles Notes' version of these new features.

PowerBuilder Takes You To .NET

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:15:00 EDT

In June of 2007, Sybase released PowerBuilder 11. PowerBuilder developers can now deploy PowerBuilder components as .NET Assemblies or as .NET Web Services. A PowerBuilder developer can now create these .NET resources so that those who develop .NET solutions can benefit from PowerBuilder and DataWindow productivity regardless of what development tool they use. PowerBuilder 11 also gives its users the ability to deploy entire applications as ASP .NET Web Forms applications (WebForm) as well as to deploy entire applications as .NET Windows Forms (WinForm) applications.

Using Web Services in a PocketBuilder Application

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:45:00 EDT

A shortcoming of PocketBuilder 1.x and 2.x has always been the difficulty in accessing Web Services. This shortcoming had always irritated us, but the limitations of the PocketPC and the size of the traditional PowerBuilder approach prevented us from providing an adequate traditional solution. We have a sample up on CodeXchange that wraps a simple API around the free 'Pocket SOAP' client, but that had its own limitations and we were never really satisfied with it.