Tech Articles


The dwSyntax Tool


Thank you Sandy Barletta!

Just after the earth began to cool (I think it was in the PB3 time frame), I discovered the DWSyntax tool created by Sandy.

‘Round about that time I had been exporting DataWindow objects (this was before “edit source” folks) in order to get functional syntax for my dwModify() calls. Lo’ and behold I discovered this nifty GUI that would allow me to browse the dwDescribe(), dwModify(), SyntaxFromSQL() argument syntax for any DataWindow item or for the DataWindow object itself.

Fast forward to the present day. Let’s say you need to change the expression of a computed field at runtime, much as I illustrated in another tip on dynamically “creating” DataWindow groups.

From the PowerBuilder IDE, open the “New” dialogue. Select the “Tool” tabpage, and then select the “DataWindow Syntax” item.

Image

 

From the tool’s menu, navigate to Syntax>Modify>Attributes.

Image

 

From the “Object” DDLB, choose “ComputedField”.

Image

 

From the “Attributes” listbox, select “Expression”.

Image

 

You’re then presented with two versions of the syntax’s template; one for Modify() call usage, the other if you prefer dot notation. Copy/paste the template syntax and replace the bracketed portions as appropriate with explicit values or with reference variables.

DWSyntax offers this functionality without breaking a sweat. To really start utilizing the power of the tool, browse its “create” syntax capabilities…

Image

 

…or its GUI have you build SyntaxFromSQL() syntax from scratch…

Image

 

If you’re relatively new to PowerBuilder, you may find this tool to be instructive. If you’re an experienced PowerBuilder developer, I hope you enjoy the productivity this tool will provide.

Comments (0)
There are no comments posted here yet

Find Articles by Tag

PostgreSQL Window Debugger Automated Testing DataWindow JSON UI Themes TreeView HTTPClient BLOB Bug Event Encoding SnapObjects Open Source Authentication Service TortoiseGit Configuration Installation DragDrop Charts PostgreSQL ODBC driver Branch & Merge DataType Database ODBC Event Handler PBDOM Design Error Database Connection Database Object REST Data PowerServer Mobile C# Repository Debugging NativePDF OAuth License Text SqlModelMapper SQL Server Import PowerBuilder Compiler Validation Migration PowerBuilder Debug Database Profile Testing File Syntax UI Resize SDK WebBrowser XML InfoMaker Variable Interface OLE Icon JSONParser RibbonBar PBVM PowerServer Web Export OrcaScript Database Table DLL UI Modernization 64-bit RibbonBar Builder Stored Procedure Mobile API Encryption Source Code PFC CI/CD TLS/SSL Array Model .NET DataStore JSONGenerator SqlExecutor Menu Linux OS Application WinAPI Source Control ActiveX Event Handling Import JSON Oracle Excel GhostScript JSON Git Azure SQL OAuth 2.0 Transaction Windows OS PowerBuilder (Appeon) Filter Performance Sort Platform Web API Database Painter Script iOS COM Messagging Elevate Conference RESTClient Authorization PDF Database Table Data Graph DataWindow Trial Windows 10 Icons PBNI SnapDevelop SVN PowerScript (PS) Deployment MessageBox DevOps 32-bit Web Service Proxy Outlook IDE .NET Std Framework .NET Assembly RichTextEdit Control Visual Studio Android Database Table Schema Expression Class PDFlib Export JSON SOAP TFS External Functions Jenkins CrypterObject CoderObject