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PowerBuilder - Tips, Tricks, and Hints

Column Protection depending upon Datawindow isRowNew method :

Set the column's background color to White
Under "Expressions"
1. In the "Background.color" field : if( isRowNew(), rgb(255,255,255), 78682240 ) // 78682240 is buttonface - J.Vogel
2. In the "protect" field : if( isRowNew(),0, 1 )

Turning off the PB Catalog Tables - Since very few people actually use them for intended purpose theeasiest thing to do is to turn them off. pb.ini:

[Database] 
NoCatalog=Yes

Automatically starting one of the "painters" when PowerBuilder starts

Passing "dwo" (e.g. Triggering ItemChanged)

General Design Considerations

Transparent Text

Data and Dot Notation

Triggering the PFC Error Object WITHOUT Triggering a System Event

Printing Datawindows

Converting between Grid and Tabular Datawindow Styles and Vice-Versa

Viewing the contents of a Datawindow or Datastore

Writing to the NT Application Log

Returning a return code to the DOS commandline

Concatenating the regular PowerBuilder Help file and PFC (PowerBuilder Foundation Class) Help

View standard PB Help and PFC concatenated together in one file :

Open "PBHLP80.CNT" in Notepad and add the below line

:Index PB Foundation Classes=pbpfc80.hlp

After this you can see Powerbuilder help file concatenated with PFC help file

Number of selected rows	ll_SelectedCount = Long(dw_1.Describe("Evaluate('sum(if (IsSelected(),1, 0) for all)',1)"))
Force Autoresize	If you have external datawindows with the autosizeheight property set to TRUE. The band doesn't automatically re-calculate when you insert data into columns that expand their height. The script hereunder forces the dataobject to re-calculate the height of the detail band. // Get the row that is currently the 1st one visible ll_FirstRowOnPage = Long(this.Object.DataWindow.FirstRowOnPage) ll_row = This.GetRow() ll_current_column = This.GetColumn() // Remove the AutoSizeHeight property Modify("DataWindow.Detail.Height.AutoSize=No") // Restore the AutoSizeHeight property Modify("DataWindow.Detail.Height.AutoSize=Yes")This.ScrollToRow(ll_FirstRowOnPage) This.SetRow(ll_row) This.SetColumn(ll_current_column)
Get an entire column of data	`// Get entire EmailAddressID column's data ll_email_address_id[] = ids_email.OBJECT.internet_address_id.PRIMARY` DevNote : Where `internet_address_id` is the actual column name (in other words, it can't be a constant or a dynamic string).
Dynamically routing DataWindow PCL output to a file	There are many times that it is necessary to bypass a printer and route DataWindow output directly to a file for processing without changing the current default printer. This is easily accomplished by using the file attribute of the print DataWindow property: dw_1.Object.DataWindow.Print.Filename = "drive:\filename.prn" The filename attribute is a string containing the name of the file to which you want to print the report. An empty string means send to the printer Tip by: Keith Deron kderon@excite.com
Get the current database username	SQLCA.LogID