INSTALLATION REGISTRATION

1. How to analyse my application with Visual Expert?

2 - a. How can I unlock Visual Expert?
2 - b. How can I transfer a Visual Expert license to another development seat?

3. When I try to analyze my application, it says "You tried to open a project with an Evaluation edition of Visual Expert"?

4. What are the minimum system requirements to install and run Visual Expert?

5. How to install a new release of Visual Expert if I have an old one on my computer?

6. Does Visual Expert install system DLL?

VISUAL EXPERT FEATURES

7. Does Visual Expert support Visual SourceSafe?

8. Does Visual Expert work with Jaguar (or EA Server)?

9. Is there a maximum size for the application to run Visual Expert?

10. Is the analysis of the application fast?

11. Is it necessary to have comments in the application so that VE can analyse the code?

12. Can we modify the source code with VE?

13. If the application is modified, how does VE take it into account?

14. To see whether a modification (in the PB app) was taken into account by VE, do we have to close and relaunch VE?

15. With which PB versions is Visual Expert currently compatible?

16. Is VE supported by all Windows versions?

17. Does VE analyze stored procedures?

18. What is DataBaseExtractor (DBE)? How does DataBaseExtractor (DBE) work?

19. Is Visual Expert only available in English?

20. Can we see the recursive references* on several elements?
Recursive means when a "function 1" calls a "function 2" and these latter calls again the "function 1".

21. Does VE preserve your previous PB versions? - After a modification of the application, does VE keep somewhere a trace of the old PB code?

22. When searching for a word in the source code (using the "find" field), the required word appears highlighted in yellow or in blue. Is there a color code for the highlighting?

23. Can we change the presentation of technical documentation?

24. In which language was VE developed?

25. Following a modification done on the PB app, when we refresh the analysis done by VE, are the customized views (previously created) preserved and refreshed? - Do they take the modifications into account?

26. After one search, is it possible to perform new requests (impact analysis, inheritance...) directly on the result of this search?

27. How do the VE licences work? - Can a license be installed on several seats?

28. Is it possible to open 2 sessions of VE at the same time?

29. Is it possible to analyse 2 different applications at the same time?

30. Are there any technical skills required to use Visual Expert?

LIMITATIONS

31. Visual Expert identified functions and objects as unused, but they are not.

OTHER

32. Is there potential for hackers to gain access to my system via your program?

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INSTALLATION REGISTRATION

1. How to analyse my application with Visual Expert?

First, look at [Help-About].
If you have an Evaluation edition, you have to download a serial number.

To analyse your project:
1. Open [File -New Visual Expert project] and Select "PowerBuilder" , “Transact-SQL”, “PL/SQL”
2. Select your PB version
3. Choose the type of selection and select chosen targets, folders, files…
4. Make sure you do not need to add more code in your project
5. Select a name for your project
6. Choose whether or not to use Visual Expert Scheduler, to refresh the analysis => End
7. Your project is created and opened; your code will be analyzed.

2 - a. How can I unlock Visual Expert?

Register your copy:
1 - Open the menu [Help - Registration Wizard]
2 - Select "Request a serial number"
3 - Fill in the form (default value for VENDOR is "NOVALYS")
4 - Novalys informs you by email that your key has been delivered.

If the following message appears - "An error occurred while connecting. Possible error is xxx..." -
you probably met registration problems (firewall, proxy server...).

2 - b. How can I transfer a Visual Expert license to another development seat?

Uninstall your key from the previous PC
1 - Open the Wizard [Help - Registration Wizard].
2 - Select "Uninstall or transfer your Serial Number"
3 - Novalys send you an e-mail with your UNINSTALL CODE.

Request a key for the new PC
1 - Open the Wizard [Help - Registration Wizard].
2 - Select "Request a serial number"
3 - Indicate in the field "Additional information" of the "Registration Wizard" your UNINSTALL CODE

3. When I try to analyse my application, it says "You tried to open a project with an Evaluation edition of Visual Expert"?
Refer to answer 2.


4. What are the minimum system requirements to install and run Visual Expert?

• Microsoft Windows XP with SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7
• .NET Framework 2.0
• Word 6 (or later)
• IE 4.0.1 or Netscape 4.0 or later
• 5 to 10 MB of free hard disk space
• 4 GB RAM 
  (Note : VE may use from 100 MB to several GB depending on the volume of code analyzed in a project)

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5. How to install a new release of VE if I have an old one on my computer?

If you need to install a Minor release of Visual Expert (ie VE 5.7.70420 to VE 5.7.80716) you have to uninstall Visual Expert first.

If the new release is a Major version (i.e. VE 5.6 to VE 5.7), it will be installed on a new folder and it is completely separate from the old release.

6. Does Visual Expert install system DLL?

System DLL MSVCRT.DLL and OLEPRO60.DLL are installed with Visual Expert, in the Visual Expert directory, but they do not replace those already existing in Windows System directory.

7. Does Visual Expert support Visual SourceSafe?

No, Visual Expert does not support this product. However, there is no conflict between these tools.

8. Does Visual Expert work with Jaguar (or EA Server)?

VE analyzes the PB code – it doesn’t matter if this code is executed on the client seat or on a Jaguar server.

9. Is there a maximum size (number of PBL, MBytes) for the application to run Visual Expert?

There is no limitation for your project. Visual Expert includes powerful source code parsers. Some of our customers have applications which contain more than 250 Mb of PBL (several hundreds of PBL). The duration of the analysis depends on the size of your application.

10. Is the analysis of the application fast?

On your station, you can test the analysis of the sample application which contains approximately 12 Mb of code. This analysis usually takes less than one minute.

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11. Is it necessary to have comments in the application so that VE can analyse the code?

VE does not need to have comments to analyse the code of the application. If comments exist in the application, they will add complementary information to the data provided by VE.

12. Can we modify the source code with VE?

You can open your code editor FROM VE to modify your code. Check out the option ”Open in PB IDE" or “Open file…” in the treeview or the PopMenu of the source code. Modifications have to be made within your usual editor to ensure code integrity.

13. If the application is modified, how does VE take it into account?

You have to refresh the analysis for VE to take the modifications into account.

2 possibilities:
1 - Use Visual Expert Scheduler to refresh the analysis in "batch" mode (Menu tools).
The analysis can be scheduled at any time (lunch time, at night...).
2 - Use the menu [Tools - Refresh Code Analysis].
The analysis will start immediately

14. To see whether a modification (in the PB app) was taken into account by VE, do we have to close and relaunch VE?

It is not necessary to close and relaunch VE. Just select "Tools" and then "Refresh Codes Analysis".

15. With which PB versions is Visual Expert currently compatible?

VE analyzes from PB4 to PB11.

16. Is VE supported by all Windows versions?

VE supports Windows 98, ME, MT4, 2000 and XP.

17. Does VE analyze stored procedures?

VE is not connected to the database. VE analyzes the PB code, and also all the calls to stored procedures. You can thus know the impacts of a modification of a stored procedure on the PB application. To extract your stored procedures, you can use DBE (DataBase Extractor). They will be then included in your VE project.
The stored procedures are taken into account when doing textual searches.

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18. What is DataBaseExtractor (DBE)? How does DataBaseExtractor (DBE) work?

DBE is a utility installed with the latest release of Visual Expert. It connects to Oracle, Sybase and Microsoft Databases to export stored procedures, triggers and DataModel into text files. Visual Expert will then analyse these files.
You can define profiles to remember your extraction settings.
You can filter the extracted items on their name or their type (triggers only for instance)

19. Is Visual Expert only available in English?

Today, VE is available in several languages: French, English, Spanish and Japanese.
During the installation, VE recognizes the language of your station, and automatically installs the corresponding language. There is an option that enables you to change language (French, English, Spanish, Japanese), but the documentation templates are only in English.

20. Can we see the recursive references* on several elements?

A recursive reference is when a "function 1" calls a "function 2" and later this calls "function 1" again.

We can see them when we search for an element (object or attribute).
For example: In the "PowerBuilder Components" list, select "Window" and click on "Window list".
Select the window "pfc_w_about" and click on "Functions & events". Select the "of_getclosestatus" function and select "Calling Hierarchy".
"Recursive call!" is displayed in red.
NB: VE does not offer any function to visualize all the recursive elements at once.

21. Does VE preserve your previous PB versions? - After a modification of the application, does VE keep somewhere a trace of the old PB code?

No. There are other specific tools to save previous versions of an application.

22. When searching for a word in the source code (using the "find" field), the required word appears highlighted in yellow or in blue. Is there a color code for the highlighting?

There's no color code.
Only the first selected word is in yellow, whereas the other occurrences are in blue.
When selecting the 2nd occurrence, it will become yellow and the first one will appear blue.

23. Can we change the presentation of technical documentation?

There are some possibilities to customise your technical documentation, please contact Novalys at support.ve@visual-expert.com.
Wizard also offers you many different options.

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24. In which language was VE developed?

VE was mainly developed with C++. PB was also used.

25. Following a modification done on the PB app, when we refresh the analysis done by VE, are the customized views (previously created) preserved and refreshed? - Do they take the modifications into account?

When you refresh the analysis of VE, all the views previously created disappear (since we cannot plan if the modifications are to be taken into account in the created views). Only the Treeview (in the Mainview) displays the changes carried out.

26. After one search, is it possible to perform new requests (impact analysis, inheritance...) directly on the result of this search?

To work on the result of your search, you must first create a new view (by clicking on "Save view" + "Save results").
A new tab will be created next to the "Main View" tab.
You can perform any request on this new tab.

27. How do the VE licences work? - Can a license be installed on several seats?

A VE Licence can only be installed on one station.
There is no concept of "simultaneous users" or "concurrent users".

28. Is it possible to open 2 sessions of VE at the same time?

Yes you can open multiple sessions and change the current project for each session. The open project must be previously analyzed.

29. Is it possible to analyse 2 different applications at the same time?

No. But you have the possibility to plan the analysis of 2 or more different applications, one after another, with the VE Scheduler
(See the“How to” support section – How to analyze a Visual Expert project automatically).

30. Are there any technical skills required to use Visual Expert?

Visual Expert is very easy to install and to use for any developer. No specific skills are required, except the basic knowledge of the programming language used.

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LIMITATIONS

31. Visual Expert identified functions and objects as unused, but they are not.

Visual Expert considers as unused the components for which no references were found in your code.
Because VE does not execute the application and only reads source code, some dynamic references cannot be found (those references that are dynamically calculated when the application is running).
Therefore, “unused” macros provide a list of “potentially” unused items that you should double-check before removing.
However, you can include some dynamic references in VE analysis by using exceptions (See Option – project Setup – exceptions).

OTHER

32. Is there potential for hackers to gain access to my system via your program?

Once installed on your desktop, Visual Expert does not send us any information. Visual Expert will analyze your application to provide you with help and services. The result will be stored on your desktop. You are the only person to decide how to use it.

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