Naming the user object

A user object name can be any valid PowerBuilder identifier up to 40 characters. For information about PowerBuilder identifiers, see the PowerScript Reference.

Naming conventions

You should adopt naming conventions to make it easy to understand a user object's type and purpose.

One convention you could follow is to use u_ as the prefix for visual user objects and n_ as the prefix for class (nonvisual) user objects. For standard classes, include the standard prefix for the object or control from which the class inherits in the name. For external user objects, include ex_ in the name, and for custom class user objects, include cst_ in the name.

Table 15-3 shows some examples of this convention.

Table 15-3: Suggested naming conventions for user objects

Type of user object

Format

Example

Standard visual

u_control_purpose

u_cb_close, a CommandButton that closes a window

Custom visual

u_purpose

u_toolbar, a toolbar

External visual

u_ex_purpose

u_ex_sound, outputs sound

Standard class

n_systemobject_purpose

n_trans_test, derived from the Transaction object and used for testing

Custom class

n_cst_purpose

n_cst_commission, calculates commissions

For a list of naming conventions, see “Naming conventions” in Chapter 5, “Working with PowerScript Targets.”