A globally unique identifier (GUID) is a 128-bit integer that is virtually guaranteed to be unique. You can generate your own using the PowerBuilder.Application GenerateGUID function. The formula is based on the time of day, the date, and a unique number contained in your network card. If you do not have a network card, you can request GUIDs from Microsoft in sets of 256.
GUIDs are used as class identifiers (CLSID) to uniquely identify each object and type library. The CLSID enables a program to be sure of the interface that it is interacting with.
Programmatic identifiers (ProgID) are unique only in the local environment. They may contain up to 39 characters, must not contain any punctuation (except for the period), and must not start with a digit. They have two forms:
Version-independent Does not include a version number
applicationname.objectname
For example, MyApp.Application or MyApp.AnalysisUserObject
Version-dependent Includes a version number
applicationname.objectname.versionnumber
For example, MyApp.Application.1 or MyApp.AnalysisUserObject.1
You should establish consistent naming conventions for your applications and objects so that others can see the relationships among your objects.
Other programmers use the ProgID to connect to objects that you register. If they specify the version-independent ID, the registry redirects them to the current version.
When you use the PowerBuilder.Application function GenerateRegFile, you supply a version-independent ProgID and PowerBuilder constructs the version-dependent entry using the version number you specify.
