Scripts and Code Fundamentals

PowerBuilder applications are event driven. Write a script to specify the processing that takes place when an event occurs.

• Script View in PowerBuilder .NET
  Use the Script view to code functions and events, define your own funtions and events, and declare variables and external functions.
• Editing Scripts
  Perform standard editing tasks in the Script view using the Edit menu, the pop-up menu in the Script view, or the PainterBars. There are shortcuts for many editing actions.
• Handling Problems with Script Compilation
  If problems occur, PowerBuilder displays messages in the Error List tab of the Output view.
• Code Snippets
  You can store short code snippets and reuse them in scripts.
• IntelliSense
  IntelliSense helps you write PowerScript code more quickly by providing a lookup and paste service inside the Script view.
• Identifier Names
  The rules for naming variables, labels, functions, windows, controls, menus, and anything else you would reference in a script are different in PowerBuilder .NET than in PowerBuilder Classic.
• Inner Control Properties and Methods
  The properties and methods of controls in the System.Windows.Controls namespace are accessible in the PowerBuilder .NET Script Editor through the PowerScript InnerControl property. These controls are the ancestors to all PowerBuilder .NET controls.
• Declaring Variables and External Functions
  The default layout in the Application, Window, and User Object painters includes a Script view where you can declare variables. Keeping a separate Script view open makes it easy to declare any variables or external functions you need to use in your code without closing and compiling the script.
• Go To Definition
  Go To Definition allows you to find the definition of a type, variable, method, event, or object that you select in the Script view.
• Skin Selection for Applications and Controls
  At design time, you can select system-defined and custom skins for PowerBuilder .NET applications and individual visual controls. You can also allow customers to change skins on applications and controls at runtime.
• Right-To-Left Formatting
  In PowerBuilder .NET, the RightToLeft PowerScript property has been deprecated, and is replaced by the FlowDirection property.
• Coding Restrictions
  Several PowerScript coding practices are not permitted in the .NET environment.
• Supported Custom Events
  PowerBuilder .NET cannot generically support user-defined custom events because there is no matching concept for these types of events in WPF applications. However, PowerBuilder .NET does provide support for some of the more commonly used events of this type.
• Using Multithreading
  When you deploy a PowerBuilder application that contains shared objects to .NET, the application can be run in a multithreaded environment. The PowerBuilder .NET runtime library also supports .NET synchronization, enabling your application to avoid possible data corruption.
• Unsupported Properties, Events, and Functions
  Several PowerScript properties, events, and functions are not supported in PowerBuilder .NET.
• XAML
  eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML) allows you to code an applications' presentation aspects separately from the business logic that you code in the PowerBuilder .NET painter Script views.