Hi Guys and Girls,

I don't want to be negative and I apologize, but this is just my opinion and in the last 25 years I haven't heard of any normal sized powerbuilder project which could be migrated successfully - without tripling the estimated time - to any other language.

It's very true that the C# migration tool might help a lot, but the C# dataobjects, models (deprecated?) and stuff don't have all the same properties and possibilities as the powerbuilder versions of them.

Lots of powerbuilder applications have no (updated and 100% correct) specifications and therefore you'll have to go to the code, line by line.

That makes me starting to wonder if this is not going to be one of these failed projects in lots of companies (though improved by Appeon's new features). Believe it or not, a LOT of features are in the GUI, so things could really become very hard to migrate.

Just my 2 cts.

For new projects, Yes, Appeon is a great solution!

Good luck on your journeys!

Hi 

 I need to know if use RapidSharp product,

(1) how many % need to rewrite. 20% or more

(2) My teams member know more C# than powerbuilder. I would like to wipe off powerbuilder after migration. 

is that possible.

(3) would you recommend me to use Rapidharp or rewrite total powerbuilder. 

I need to confirm which method are suitable for my team

Best regards

William 

Hi William,

You cannot migrate PowerScript code that refers to visual objects like windows, edit controls, command buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, scroll bars, etc., including code that refers to DataWindows controls used for data entry or reporting (i.g. itemchanged event, print method). There are no .NET classes developed for that purpose.

What you can migrate is code that refers to the DataWindow control’s database API (SetItem, GetItem, Update, Retrieve, etc.) and the query of the DataWindow object which is converted to a SnapObjects model in C#. These can be used to create C# Web APIs to cloud enable your application.

If you want to migrate the UI part of your PowerBuilder application to C# WinForms for example, or ASP.NET WebForms you will need to practically rewrite all of it. How much that will take depends on how much effort was initially invested in developing the UI part of your application. In our case, that’ll mean no less that 80% of the total effort.

Regards, Ricardo

The PowerScript Migrator (the tool) and .NET DataStore (the framework) for converting PowerBuilder to C# is open and standard technology.  That means you can use any UI technology, such as an ASP.NET page, Flutter UI, native iOS/Android apps, etc. 

The tutorial you are referencing is included with PowerBuilder so naturally the example it will use is a PowerBuilder UI.  We have not created tutorials for other UI technologies.  Sorry about that.

If your UI is not PowerBuilder, then what you need to do is create your REST API controllers so it is returning just plain JSON.  If you are using SnapDevelop to automatically scaffold your REST API controllers, use the "NonPBClient" option: https://docs.appeon.com/snapdevelop2019r2/Scaffolding/index.html#managing-scaffolding-templates

From a licensing perspective, if you want to stop using PowerBuilder then you would be purchasing RapidSharp instead, which gives you the conversion tools and open-source perpetual license of the runtime libraries (.NET DataStore).  You can contact sales@appeon.com to get a price quote.

If you really are going to go C#, no matter your UI is PowerBuilder or other technology, I would strongly recommend to get some training from one of our consulting partners.  This will increase chance your company is successful with your project.

Hi William;

   That is what the new RapidSharp product is targeted for ...

https://www.appeon.com/bundles/rapidsharp

Regards .... Chris