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Object Browser for PowerBuilder
Toolbar
Toolbar button description (Left to right)
Open Object - Open Class viewer for the selected object.
Open Syntax - Open Source viewer for the selected object.
Open Editor - Open Text editor.
Reset - Refresh the browser.
Load Db - Loads all objects to an embedded database and checks for duplicate names.
Check Duplicates - Checks for duplicate names.
Export Library - Export library source to flat files for documentation.
New !! Search - Advanced search for text in properties, scripts and variables.
New !! Statistics - Interactive statistics reporting.
Settings - Library export and search settings.
Print
Printer Setup
Close
Help
Exit Object Browser Main Window 
(1) Applications Tab
(2) Library List
(3) Library objects
(4) Search Results and Log Highlight the application you wish to browse then click the 'Add' button to build the library list which will display in Section 2. Note: You can also doubleclick on an application in Section 1 and the list will be displayed in Section 2 without having to click the 'Add' button. Selecting a library from the list in Section 2 will display its objects in the Class List (Section 3). Directly above the object list are indicators which display the current library, the number of objects and also the current library path. Doubleclicking the object which will open the browser window. Object Filter ( New for Version 1.5 Build 1H) A new tab has been added to <Section 1> of the main window. The Filter tab displays the object filters available for the selected library. Selecting one of the filters will display only that object type in the Class List (Section 3). Selecting All will display all objects which is the default action. In the figure below the Window filter was selected which displayed only window type objects in the Class List. 
Class Viewer Window 
Components - Toolbox
- Current Object Indicator
- Ancestor Script Selector
- Script Editor (Display only for Variables)
The toolbox is what you will use to navigate
between the objects assets. You simple click
on the tab which corresponds to information
you wish to view or edit.
To browse a function or Event simply
tab to 'Function' or 'Event' then click
the appropriate script. The information
for the script will be displayed in the
editor.
The immediate ancestor script can be also
displayed by selecting the ancestor class
which is displayed in the drop down list.
If the current object has an ancestor script
the script icon will display half colored.
If there is no ancestor script the icon will
display one color (white).
In the above figure the current
object is w_buildfilter and its immediate
ancestor is w_main. Simple
select w_main in the drop down list
and its script will display above
the current object script. This feature
is usefull when you need the ancestor
script to be shown, along with the
current script, to make sense of
the ancestor/descendant logic.
To browse the objects variables
tab to Variables. This information
will be displayed as read only.
The Variables browser displays
two screens of information:
Variable painter script
and
Variable definition.
Variable painter script
is displayed
exactly how it was
entered in the variable
painters within the
PowerBuilder IDE.
This feature has
been added inorder
to display the comments
which may have been
added to describe
the variable's meaning.
Variable definition
fully describes
an object's variable.
It displays critical
information such
as Read and Write
Access and whether
or not the variable
overrides its
ancestor.
The Scopes reported
on are : Global,
Instance and
Shared.
To browse
the objects
definition
tab to 'Definition'.
The information
is displayed
in the toolbox
only.
Information
such as Class
Name, Ancestor
and Parent
Class and
Type are
displayed.
If an object
has controls
the Object
Browser will
display the
controls
in the classes
drop down
list. The
attributes
for the current
selected
control will
be displayed
to the right
of the class
drop down
list.
To display the
class information
for a control
simply select
a class from
the Classes drop
down list. If
the newly selected
class has nested
classes, a drill
down pointer
will display
red. Click the
down pointer
as many times
necessary to
get to the desired
nested class.
The attributes
for the control
will be displayed
to the right
of the Class
drop down list.
The object's ancestry tree can be viewed
by selecting the Hierarchy Tab on the browser
toolbox. The tree will display the object
currently loaded in the browser. Clicking
the ancestor button, immediately to the left
of the tree, will load the ancestor object
denoted on the button. The newly loaded object
will be highlighted in the tree and the ancestor
button text will now reflect the next ancestor
object. You can navigate up the tree until
the current object's immediate ancestor is
the PowerBuilder System Class. To reset the
browser to the original object simply click
Reset Hierarchy.
Reports can be printed for any of the
toolbox assets. For function or event
reports first select the appropriate
tab then select the function or event.
Select the Print toolbar menu item to
print the report. Controls, Variables,
Attributes and Definition reports can
be printed by selecting tabs 3, 4 or
5 then selecting the Print toolbar menu
item.
If the script for a function or event
is changed you can save the changes
to a file by selecting the Save To
File toolbar menu item.
New for Version 1.5 !!! The
toolbox can be toggled On/Off. This feature
will enable you to view more of the object
asset currently displayed in the edit control.
To hide or show the toolbox select the Hide/Show
Toolbox menu item.
Object Syntax
Selecting an object in Object Browser's
main window then clicking the Open Syntax
toolbar item will display an editor with
the objects syntax. This is the same
syntax which is exported from the PowerBuilder
Library Painter.
The window will open with the objects
syntax which can then be browsed
and edited using popup menu functions
: Find, Find Next, Find Previous,
Replace, Cut, Copy, and Paste.
The syntax can be printed, edited and
saved to a file. New for
Version 1.5 !!! Object
syntax can be Imported back into a PowerBuilder
library. Currently this feature supports
the DATAWINDOW object type only. To import
an object select the Import Object menu
item. A message box will display to confirm
the library import. Choose YES to import
the object. Note : The object syntax
can only be imported into its original
library.
File Editor
Clicking the Open Editor toolbar
item will display an editor which
can be used to open previously saved
scripts and syntax for editing.
Select the Open File menu item to
display the system folders dialog
box. Select the path and file then
click open. The file will be displayed
in the editor. You may also right
mouse click on the editor area to
display a popup menu then select
Insert Document which will display
the system folders dialog box.
Note :The Menu Item Open File currently
supports file extensions TXT and
RTF. An error will occur if other
file types are opened. The popup
menu Insert Document will open other
file types other than RTF however
will display the file as TXT.
The opened file may be browsed and
edited using popup menu functions
: Find, Find Next, Find Previous,
Replace, Cut, Copy, and Paste.
The opened file can then be printed
and saved.
Search
Clicking the Search toolbar item
will display the Search Library
List dialog.
By default all libraries in the list will be checked.
By default the search is case sensitive and will search in Properties, Scripts and Variables.
Uncheck the libraries you do not wish to search in.
Type what you are searching for in the Search for edit box.
The results of the search will display in the Search tab window.
Double click the search result item to opened it in the object browser viewer.
Search result line is denoted with a red flag in the default editor.
Search result line is denoted with a red circle in the SCIntilla-based Text Editor.
Scintilla*, the free source code editing component first used to build SciTE* a SCIntilla-based Text Editor. Copyright 1998-2003 by Neil Hodgson
SCIntilla-based Text Editor
Goto Main Menu Preferences -> User Settings -> Editor Settings to switch between the default editor and the SCIntilla-based Editor.
SCIntilla-based Text Editor.Scintilla*, the free source code editing component first used to build SciTE* a SCIntilla-based Text Editor. Copyright 1998-2003 by Neil Hodgson .
From withing the Class Viewer goto Main Menu Tools to enable/disable SCIntilla editing features.
Documentation
Clicking the Export Library toolbar item will display the Library List dialog. By default all libraries in the list will be checked. Uncheck the libraries you do not wish to export then click Ok. The objects contained within the selected librarys, and specified in Export Objects under User Settings, will be exported to the application \Output directory. The file name will be the library name with the TXT extension. Note : Selecting the datawindow object in User Settings Export Objects can cause the file to be quite LARGE. The generated file(s) can be opened in the Object Browser Editor or any other document editor.
You can open the document(s)
into a word processor which supports
rich formatting such as and page
setup such as headings and footers,
page numbers, etc ... then save
the file(s) as part as your project
documentation. We recommend
using FONT Comic Sans MS (8 Pt)
because it produces the best
looking documents.
Notes can be placed in the header
and footer of the document. One
example is shown below:
Document header example : My Application
v.1.0 1/1/1999
Document footer example : Author’s
Name pg # Printed Datetime
The Export Library function is very fast.
It will export a large library in less than
a minute. Inserting the selected text
from the exported file into a word document,
changing the font then adding the header
and footer information can also be done in
a few minutes. The result is a complete and
well presented document of the PowerBuilder
Library.
This type of document has several advantages:
You can view the object variables, script,
etc as well as the forward prototypes and
declarations and class create and destroy
listings. The saved document can be
used to reconstruct an object(s) at any time
by importing the syntax into a powerbuilder
application using PowerBuilder's Library
Painter. The file can be opened
and variables or script edited globally for
all objects within the library. This would
normally be performed by exporting, opening
and editing each object within a library
which can be very time intensive.
Statistics Report
Display statistics on objects and scripts.
Number of scripts by type.
Number of objects by type.
The detail of the report is displayed
in tabs at the bottom of the report.
(For scripts Only) Double click
the detail record to open it in the class
viewer.
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