Enhanced JSON handling

Why enhance JSON handling?

Reading and writing JSON in PowerBuilder is simple using PowerBuilder’s RESTClient object; however, the JSON needs to be in a two-dimensional format. But there are times when the JSON you are working with has multiple nested levels, especially if working with data from an external interface not under your control.

The PowerBuilder objects JSONParser and JSONGenerator can be used to parse or generate such JSON with multiple nested levels.  However, a key caveat is that the JSONParser and JSONGenerator require the JSON data to be accessed through “handles”.  For example, the getItemObject() returns a handle rather than the full JSON object.  Compared to an object-based approach, this handle-based approach requires more coding by the developer.

PowerBuilder Modern Mobile App UI Framework

Download this Mobile UI Framework that also works on desktop and Web with Appeon from the link on my blog :
zulmach.wordpress.com

Powerbuilder 2019 on Linux

Did you know that Powerbuilder 2019 could run on Linux ?

Since Powerbuilder 2019 is now in 64 bit, it is now a lot easier to run on Linux using wine64

REST Enhancements in PowerBuilder 2019

REST support was added to PowerBuilder in 2017 R2 and enhanced in 2017 R3.  PowerBuilder 2019 contains additional significant enhancements to REST support, including the following:

• RetrieveOne method – For REST methods return one row
• Submit method - sends request and returns data in one operation
• SetRequestHeader behavior modified
• GZIP compression handled automatically
• Send[Method]Request, where method can be Get, Put, Post, Patch, Delete
• Get and Set OAuth token methods
• Get and set JWT token methods

JSON Enhancements in PowerBuilder 2019

Support for the JSON format was added in the PowerBuilder 2017 R2 release and then enhanced in 2017 R3.  PowerBuilder 2019 contains even more enhancements in this area, particularly with regard to:

1. Enhanced JSONParser
2. Enhanced JSONPackage
3. DataWindows Row Level Import/Export
4. New ModelStore JSON Format

Two Factor Authentication using PowerBuilder

Two factor authentication is a way of increasing the security of an application by requiring the user to provide more than a simple password (one factor authentication).  Two factor authentication utilizes two of the following factors to identify the user:

1.  Knowledge - something you know - for example, your password

2.  Possession - something you have - for example, your cell phone or access to your email account

3.  Inherent - something you are - for example, fingerprints or eye iris

The third factor is out of scope for this particular article We're going to look at adding the second form (possession) to a PowerBuilder application. Specifically, we're What going to use Google Authenticator, an application for mobile devices (and the desktop) that generates time based one time temporary passwords (TOTP) for use with 2FA.

The sample code for this article is available on CodeXchange.

How to Define Events for RibbonBar Controls

Learning to define user events for items in the RibbonBar control feels like a lot of trial and error.
Different items support different events. Same event type requires different parameters.
My aim with this article is to take "... and error" out of your RibbonBar coding.
For each ribbon item type you get user event definitions that work.

Each ribbon item has its own XML element (here: Print Title is a CheckBox).
Each item binds specific user events via properties (here: Clicked on CheckBox binds to ue_PrintTitle)
Each user event must have the correct parameter list (here: Clicked event for CheckBox always requires al_handle while no other parameters allowed)
Each item type has its own PowerScript class and functions to obtain the object (here: Obtain class = RibbonCheckBoxItem via function GetCheckBox)
 

How to deal with the error 'No Network Connection' on logon to PowerBuilder

ISSUE: Receive error “No Network Connection” on logon to PowerBuilder

SYMPTOM: Error “No Network Connection” was received on every attempt to open PowerBuilder and occurs immediately on version installation. Experienced on install of  V19 - but may be experienced in other versions.  When initiating PowerBuilder process hangs for a long time and then returns a message “No Network Connection”. You exit and the application closes.

Working with Transactions in .NET DataStore

This document will describe how to work with transactions for CRUD operations (create, read, update and delete) in .NET DataStore.

For the full content of the document, see https://www.appeon.com/support/documents/appeon_online_help/powerbuilder/Working_with_Transactions_in_.NET_DataStore_and_ModelStore/. 

CRUD Operations with .NET DataStore

This tutorial demonstrates the basics of creating, in SnapDevelop, a Web API with ASP.NET Core that will use .NET DataStore as its data manipulation component.

In this tutorial, you will learn to:

• Create a Web API Project
• Test the API
• Add a Database Context
• Register the Database Context
• Add a .NET DataStore Model
• Add a Service
• Perform CRUD Operations Using the Web API
• Call the Web API from PowerBuilder

To view the full content of the tutorial, see https://www.appeon.com/support/documents/appeon_online_help/powerbuilder/CRUD_Operations_with_.NET_DataStore/index.html.