1. william yau
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. Wednesday, 22 July 2020 09:18 AM UTC

Hi Teachers

 

  I would to like to migrate all powerbuilder code to C# or .net.  but I studied the

Document at

https://docs.appeon.com/powerscriptmigrator2019r2/PB_to_CSharp_Migrating_Re-factored_Business_Logics(NVOs)/index.html.
It seems need powerbuilder to run API. In my understanding. After migration code, we also need

to user powerbuilder to run API.  Is true? Is possible to run all code without  powerbuilder ?

 

best regards

William

 

Miguel Leeuwe Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Friday, 24 July 2020 15:09 PM UTC
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. # 1

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!

Comment
  1. eric chan
  2. Thursday, 30 July 2020 08:40 AM UTC
hi guy



My questions why appeon are always promoting C# migration if it don't work



best regards

William



  1. Helpful
  1. Miguel Leeuwe
  2. Thursday, 30 July 2020 09:01 AM UTC
I don't say it doesn't work. But I've seen a lot of companies overestimate the ease of doing a migration of big complex projects.
  1. Helpful
  1. Ricardo Jasso
  2. Thursday, 30 July 2020 16:44 PM UTC
William,



Appeon promotes the capability to “migrate existing client/server applications to pure C# with any UI technology.” In the second part of this statement Appeon underestimates the amount of effort required to build the user interface part of an application and the enormous effort reduction that DataWindows provides us PowerBuilder developers compared to developers using other tools.



Apart from data saving and data retrieving we use DataWindows for data entry, data displaying, data reporting, data exporting, amongst other things. All this is done easily with DataWindows and all this is not being addressed with the new tools. Not to say they are not good, it’s just to say they address just one part of the DataWindows and leaves unaddressed the other part, the one we spend the most time working with.



So, for now, migrating to pure C# will require a substantial amount of rewrite, depending of course, on how your application is structured. Yes, we could use other UI technologies if they can handle these issues like DataWindows do, but then the question will be on how the new .NET DataStore fits in that picture. How, for example, could the .NET Datastore can be used in a .NET WinForm or ASP.NET WebForm.



Now, considering that with the new tools we can build C# Web APIs that can link a PowerBuilder application to a remote database through HTTP the real question will be if a migration is what we really want or need to do. If your application is big, I’d suggest you speak with your boss and explain him the benefits of this approach compared to a full rewrite to another technology.



Regards, Ricardo.

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william yau Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Thursday, 23 July 2020 06:40 AM UTC
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. # 2

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 

 

 

 

 

Comment
  1. Armeen Mazda @Appeon
  2. Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:42 PM UTC
1. You need to rewrite the UI. It only migrates business logic. So there is probably manual coding of 50-60%.

2. Yes, PowerBuilder is no longer n the picture.

3. Migrations are large projects. Saving even small % of work is a lot of absolute time. So I definitely recommend use RapidSharp instead of rewrite.

Please read this page carefully: https://www.appeon.com/products/powerbuilder/csharp-migration-solution.html
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Ricardo Jasso Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Thursday, 23 July 2020 00:13 AM UTC
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. # 3

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

 

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Armeen Mazda @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Wednesday, 22 July 2020 15:28 PM UTC
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. # 4

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.

Comment
  1. william yau
  2. Thursday, 23 July 2020 07:55 AM UTC
is possible dismiss powerbuilder after migration
  1. Helpful
  1. Armeen Mazda @Appeon
  2. Thursday, 23 July 2020 13:41 PM UTC
Yes, that is the whole point. Please read this page carefully: https://www.appeon.com/products/powerbuilder/csharp-migration-solution.html
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Chris Pollach @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Wednesday, 22 July 2020 11:33 AM UTC
  2. SnapDevelop
  3. # 5

Hi William;

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

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

Regards .... Chris

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