Lesson 11: Preparing the Application for Deployment

Create the Project object

Now you create the PBTUTOR Project object. You can then use the Project object to create the executable file for the application.

About machine code If you are running PowerBuilder Enterprise, you can choose between Pcode (pseudocode) and machine code as the compile method for your project executable file. However, you cannot select machine code as the compile method for the tutorial application because it contains Try-Catch statements.

When you deploy an application to users, you may want to take advantage of the execution speed of machine code for some computations, such as loops, floating point or integer arithmetic, and function calls. While you are developing the application, you usually use Pcode because it is faster to generate.

About dynamic libraries You can also create dynamic libraries for your application. Dynamic libraries can be used to store the objects in the application. By using dynamic libraries, you can break the application into smaller units that are easier to manage and also reduce the size of the executable file.

For small applications like the one that you are working on now, you do not need to use dynamic libraries.

Click the New button in the PowerBar.

Click the Project tab in the New dialog box.

Shown is the Target page of the New dialog box. It has icons for Application, Template Application, Existing Application, E A Server Component, COM / com plus component, Automation Server, Web Site, J S P Target, and Source Controlled Web Target.

Select the Application Wizard icon and click OK.

Using the Project painter If you clicked the Application icon on the Project page instead of the Application Wizard icon, you open the Project painter. You can make the same selections in the Project painter that you make with the wizard, but the wizard prompts you for this information.

Click Next.

The Specify Destination Library page displays.

Select pbtutor.pbl in the Application Libraries list box if it is not already selected.

Click Next until the Specify Build Options page displays.

The wizard will generate a project with the following default selections:

Wizard property	Default value
Project name	p_pbtutor_exe
Executable filename	pbtutor.exe
Optional resource file	none

Select Incremental Build for the Build Option.

Click Next until the Specify Version Information page displays.

The wizard will generate a project with the following default selections:

Wizard property	Default value
Generate machine code	No
Build dynamic libraries	No

If you want to, enter your own version information on the Specify Version Information page.

If you do not change the information on this page, the defaults display in Windows Explorer when you look at the properties of the executable.

Click Next.

Review the information on the Ready to Create Application page.

Click the Finish button.

PowerBuilder creates a Project object for your application and displays it in the Project painter workspace.

Shown is the Project object in the Project painter work space. The object name p b tutor dot e x e is displayed at top in a text box for Executable File Name. Next is a blank text box for Resource File Name, a group box of Project Build Options with an unselected check box for Prompt for Overwrite, a checked check box for New Visual Controls Style, and a Rebuild drop down list box set to Incremental. Next is a group box of Code Generation Options including an unchecked check box for Machine Code and an optimization drop down set to Speed. Next is a group box for Version information, including Company and Product Name, Description, and Copyright. At bottom is a list of Libraries with cleared P B D check boxes and blank text boxes for Resource File Name.

After a project is defined, you can easily create an executable version of the application. Using a project saves time when you are working on an application that includes dynamic libraries that you expect to rebuild often. Selecting incremental build means that if you make a few changes, you can rebuild your project quickly, rebuilding only files that have changed or files that depend on files that have changed.