The Web DataWindow is a thin-client DataWindow implementation for Web applications. It provides most of the data manipulation, presentation, and scripting capabilities of the PowerBuilder DataWindow without requiring any PowerBuilder DLLs on the client.
The Web DataWindow uses the services of several software components that can run on separate computers:
Web DataWindow server component running in an application or transaction server
Dynamic page server
Web server
Web browser
Database
The server component is a nonvisual user object that uses a DataStore to handle retrieval and updates and generate HTML. You can use the generic component provided with PowerBuilder or a custom component.
There are several ways you can take advantage of the capabilities of the Web DataWindow:
Web DataWindow design-time control In a Web target, you can use the Web DataWindow design-time control to generate server-side scripts that access the Web DataWindow component. This is the easiest way to use the Web DataWindow.
Hand coding against the Web Target object model In a Web target, you can write server-side scripts that use the Web Target object model to access the Web DataWindow component. The Web Target object model provides a set of predefined objects and methods that simplify coding against the Web DataWindow component.
Hand coding against the Web DataWindow component itself You can write server-side scripts that access the Web DataWindow component directly.
Writing your own HTML generator Using a sample PBL provided with PowerBuilder as a starting point, you can create your own HTML generator that provides the methods you need for your application.
For more information about the Web DataWindow, see the DataWindow Programmer’s Guide.
