1. Lisa Willford
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 14:43 PM UTC

I have noticed that any of our newer programs are no longer showing up in the Windows taskbar when they start up.  I didn't notice that issue in our older programs, but it may have happened.  If a program takes a while to start up (working remotely, large program, network slowness, etc) and it does not have focus initially (example: I have switched over to Outlook to read emails while the program is loading) the program will not show up in the Windows taskbar even after the PowerBuilder program window has opened until I click on the program.  As soon as the program gets focus it will show up in the taskbar.  The problem is the user wouldn't know the program is running if they have a lot of programs open.

I thought maybe a windows function call to set focus to the program, to force it to have focus, might be the answer, but I'm not sure which one!  Has anyone else had this issue?   We are using both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Lisa Willford Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 23 April 2024 18:31 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 1

I finally got a chance to work more on this issue.  I have identified that the issue is related to the PFC window preference service (resize and position).  Specifically, in the pfc_n_cst_winsvr object (pfcwnsrv.pbl).  When the of_SetRequester function is run, it assigns the window to "w_master".  I'm guessing this assignment removes the icon that the opening window has?  Not quite sure the logic on that, but when I don't call that function the icon will correctly appear in the taskbar as expected.

This is the code which is causing this to happen: iw_requestor = aw_requestor

In my window I put this in the pfc_preopen event: 

// save the window size and position
this.of_SetPreference(TRUE)

Any thoughts on what could done to avoid this behavior?  The PFC library hasn't been modified for that object, so I'm not sure why this is happening.  Maybe it's always had this behavior, but it's never been an issue until we had remote users who noticed it (due to the speed of the program opening up).

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John Fauss Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Wednesday, 24 April 2024 19:22 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 2

Hi, Lisa -

I can't say with definite certainty, but I believe that the application's icon in the Windows taskbar does not appear until application's window (an MDI frame window, I surmise in your case) is displayed.

Does your application utilize a "splash" window? I know the PFC provides one. If not, this may be something you wish to investigate.

The commercial app I help support is also a PFC-based PB application utilizing an MDI frame as its main window. We have tailored the startup/open process to minimize any delay prior to the opening of the frame window. You did not elaborate on what your app does that delays it from opening quickly, so it's impossible for me to provide you with much useful advise. However, listed below are some of the tips/techniques we use. Maybe one or more will be helpful.

1. We use a splash window. It gets opened immediately. We've tweaked the amount of time it is visible so that it disappears as soon as the MDI frame window opens.

2. The MDI frame opens quickly, prior to database login, then the modal login (response) window is immediately opened. If the user login process ultimately fails, the MDI frame window and application closes. If the user does not successfully login with 60 seconds, the login window, the frame and application are closed. Using a modal response window for the login keeps the user from being able to interact with the frame window and menu.

3. After a successful login, customization of the frame menu, library search path, configuration and customization options, etc. are performed. The hourglass cursor displays during this time, and the MicroHelp area gets updated as each step progresses to let the user know the app is working.

Best regards, John

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  1. Lisa Willford
  2. Wednesday, 24 April 2024 19:34 PM UTC
Thanks for the suggestions! This gives me something to think about. What is slowing down our programs? Our network administrators ;) For real, the programs are fine within our building, but for remote users the bandwidth might be limited and the programs drag along as they load across the VPN. The frame opens up after the database login, so I'll take a look at changing the sequence of events and see how that looks. We are not using a splash screen. I'll check that out too.
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  1. David Peace (Powersoft)
  2. Thursday, 25 April 2024 15:34 PM UTC
I'd definately use a splash screen, it's the most simple solution. It gives the user something to look at and if you want to get fancy you can have somem status information on the splash screen updated as your background process progresses.
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Armeen Mazda @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 16:53 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 3

Never heard of this before.  Can you reproduce problem on multiple machines to verify it isn't your particular Windows install that is corrupted?  Also, what version of PowerBuilder are you using?

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Lisa Willford Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 17:44 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 4

Yes, a different computer had the same issue.  I have attached "before" and "after" screenshots.  You can see the open program behind the browser and no icon in the taskbar.  After I clicked on the program the icon showed up.

We are using PB 2022 R3.  I tried some of our old programs which are in PB 17 and the issue was there also.  Given that you have never heard of this, perhaps it's something in our code.  We are using the PFC libraries.  The reason I probably notice it now is because I am working remote and our programs take longer to load through our VPN.

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  1. Armeen Mazda @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 18:48 PM UTC
If you can create a little test case that reproduces the problem, then our support team will look at it. Most likely it is something about the way your code works combined with Windows 10/11 behavior over VPN that is causing the issue.
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  1. Armeen Mazda @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 18:50 PM UTC
By the way, if you need to make your apps available to remote users over the Internet you might want to look at deploying them with PowerServer: https://youtu.be/Li_pTEwMqw0

It works faster, more reliably, and with greater security than VPN.
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Chris Pollach @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 21:14 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 5

Hi Lisa;

  I am running native W10 & W11 O/S for many years and in W11 in particular since PB 2022 GA (1st PB release to officially support W11 and I can certainly say that I have never seen that behaviour before.  FYI :  https://docs.appeon.com/pb/whats_new/Updated_system_requirements.html

  As Armeen stated, please open a support ticket if you can recreate a simple test case & detailed steps to recreate this phenomenon.

PS: Did you also upgrade the PFC framework version to 2022 as well when you migrated your App(s) to PB 2022 R3?

Regards .. Chris

 

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Lisa Willford Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 21:20 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 6

We did update the PFC libraries.  In previous years used PFC libraries which I migrated from an older version (for 17 and 19, because I had modifications to the code) but for PB 2022 I did download the published libraries and made my changes to them.  That was within the past month or so.  I'll have to start digging in my code, and also creating a simple test app.  There must be something hiding in our code which is causing this issue.  We do have some code which will check to see if the program is already running and stop the program if it is (so there are not duplicate programs running) but I commented out that code and I still had the issue.  

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  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 30 January 2024 21:38 PM UTC
Hi Lisa;

Suggestion: Yes, I would create two simple based "Hello World" one window test apps. One using the PFC and one without the PFC as the 1st step to see if I could replicate this weird behaviour as the 1st step in the "process of elimination".

Regards .. Chris
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