DataWindow technology is implemented in two parts:
A DataWindow object The DataWindow object defines the data source and presentation style for the data.
A DataWindow control or component The control or component is a container for the DataWindow object in the application. You write code that calls methods of the container to manipulate the DataWindow object.
The DataWindow was originally invented for use in PowerBuilder to provide powerful data retrieval, manipulation, and update capabilities for client/server applications. Now the DataWindow is available in several environments:
PowerBuilder DataWindow A PowerBuilder control for use in client/server and distributed PowerBuilder applications.
Web DataWindow A thin-client DataWindow implementation for Web applications that provides most of the data manipulation, presentation, and scripting capabilities of the PowerBuilder DataWindow, requiring the Web DataWindow component on a component server but no PowerBuilder DLLs on the client. The Web DataWindow can be implemented in three ways:
Sybase DataWindow Web control for ActiveX An ActiveX control for use on Web pages. The client browser must support ActiveX controls to display a DataWindow object used by this control.
WPF DataWindow Windows Presentation Foundation DataWindow with managed code. In the PowerBuilder .NET IDE, you can create WPF Window Application targets. For more information, refer to the PowerBuilder .NET documentation.
For a comparison of each of these environments, see “Choosing a DataWindow technology”.
You can also use DataStore objects as containers for a DataWindow object. DataStores provide DataWindow functionality for retrieving and manipulating data without the on-screen display. Uses for DataStores include specifying layouts for printing and managing data in the server component of a distributed application.
A DataWindow object is an object that you use to retrieve, present, and manipulate data from a relational database or other data source (such as an Excel worksheet or dBASE file). You can specify whether the DataWindow object supports updating of data.
DataWindow objects have knowledge about the data they are retrieving. You can specify display formats, presentation styles, and other data properties to make the data meaningful to users.
In the DataWindow painter, you can also make Powersoft report (PSR) files, which you can use in DataWindow controls or components. A PSR file contains a report definition—essentially a nonupdatable DataWindow object—as well as the data contained in the report when the PSR file was created. It does not retrieve data.
You define DataWindow objects in the PowerBuilder DataWindow painter. You can also define nonupdatable DataWindow objects in the InfoMaker Report painter.
