CODE
EXPLORATION |
PowerBuilder
Components |
After analysing your project, Visual
Expert can list in a treeview:
* The PBL included in the application and the components of each
PBL
* The PowerBuilder object - by type - included in the application
(all the DW of the project for instance).
* The controls, functions, events, attributes, variables, parameters
defined in a PowerBuilder object.
While exploring the code in the treeview, you can also display:
* The container of the selected item (for example, the PBL containing
an object, the object containing a control, the control containing
an event or the event containing a local variable,...)
* The containier hierarchy (the list of all successive containers
of an item). For instance, the container hierarchy of an event may
display the Control/Objet/PBL/Projet where this event was defined.
You may display in the treeview some information about menu objects:
* The complete hierarchy of the menu options defined in a menu object.
* Same hierarchy, plus all events defined for each menu item. |
Database
Components |
While analyzing your code, Visual
Expert will find all references to database items.
Therefore, you can list in the treeview:
* The database tables referenced by the PowerBuilder code (both from
Datawindows and embedded SQL)
* For each table found, you may list the columns referenced by the
PowerBuilder code.
* The stored procedures called by the PowerBuilder code (both from
Datawindows and PB scripts)
If your application is also composed of DB code (PL/SQL or Transact-SQL),
Visual Expert finds all references to tables, columns and stored procedures
from this DB code.
See Visual
Expert for Oracle, Visual
Expert for Sybase ASE or Visual
Expert for SQL Server pages for more details.
You can have a global overview of your project (PowerBuilder + DB
code) by installing the appropriate versions of Visual expert on the
same machine. For instance, if your application is composed of PB
code and sybase stored procedures, you may combine Visual Expert for
PowerBuilder and Visual
Expert for Sybase ASE or Visual
Expert for SQL Server on the same PC. |
| SQL Queries |
After analysing your project, Visual
expert may display several lists of Procedure:
* SQL statements defined in the application
* SQL statements containing a given string (text search focused
on the SQL statements of the project).
* SQL statements by access type (select, insert, update or delete
Statements)
* SQL statements by definition type (defined in PowerBuilder Script,
Datawindow, Transact-SQL code(1) or PL/SQL code(2) ).
(1) requires Visual
Expert for Sybase ASE or Visual
Expert for SQL Server
(2) requires Visual
Expert for Oracle |
Inheritance
dépendencies |
Visual Expert analyses all inheritance
dependencies. As a result, you can display:
* The direct descendants (childs) of a PowerBuilder object
* The descendant hierarchy (multi-level treeview of all successive
descendants objects). For instance, you can get the complete inheritance
hierarchy of your application, including Framework and business objects.
* The direct ancestor of a PowerBuilder object
* The complete ancestor list of an object (all successive ancestors
of a given object).
When an object is inherited, the scripts defined in this objects may
be modified in the descendant Object.
In such a situation, Visual Expert keeps track of the "inheritance"
relationship between the "ancestor" and the "descendant"
script. |
String
search |
You may search for a string in your project. Several
options are available:
* Global Search in the whole project (including PowerBuilder Code,
PL/SQL, Transact SQL, SQL files, ...)
* Search restricted to a given type of component (For instance, you
may search in Windows only).
* You may search in the name and/or the source code of components.
* You use regular expressions in a search (click
here to read about regular expressions)
* You may search into a selection of components (for instance after
selecting some procedures in the treeview). |
| Dll Calls |
While analyzing your PowerBuilder
code, Visual Expert will find all referencies to dll functions.
As a result, you can list in the treeview:
* The dll used by the application
* For a given dll, which dll functions are declared in the PowerBuilder
code
* For a given dll, which PowerBuilder objects are declaring the dll
functions
* For each dll function declared in PowerBuilder, all PowerBuilder
references to this dll function
(Impact analysis in the PowerBuilder application on a dll function). |
System
and
Application
Globals |
* List of the Global variables declared
in the PowerBuilder application (name+number of calls to each variable)
* List of the Global functions defined in the PowerBuilder application
(name+number of calls to each function)
* List of the system properties referenced in the PowerBuilder code
(e.g. visible, title, with...)
* List of the system functions referenced in the PowerBuilder code
(e.g. close, opensheet, setpointer...) |
| IMPACT
ANALYSIS
(cross- references) |
Detailed
Impact Analysis |
This feature will list all the
components related to a given object, method, variable, table, column...
You can use this feature before modifying the application: it will
help checking the consequences of the change on the components related
to the change.
In order to provide a complete result, the impact analysis includes
all type of dependencies:
* PowerBuilder-to-database dependencies: any change
in the DB Schema may affect the PowerBuilder components using the
table or column modified. For instance, an Impact Analysis on a
table gives you all Datawindows, Embedded SQL and Stored Procedures(1)
calling this table.
You may filter the references depending on the access type (Select,
Insert, Update Delete)
* PowerBuilder Inheritance dependencies: any change
in a PowerBuilder object may affect its descendants.
Therefore, an impact analysis on a PB object will includes all its
descendants.
* PB code references: An Impact analysis on a PB
object, method or variable lists all the PB objects and methods
calling it. Special PowerBuilder dependencies are also supported
(e.g. the reference between a DataWindow Column and a DropDownDatawindow).
Impact analyses are also available for Global variables and functions
as well as system properties and functions. The result contains
all references to such variables or functions.
* PB-to-DB Code dependencies:
If your PowerBuilder application calls Stored Procedures, you can
list these procedures:
- You can list all stored procedures called by each PBL of the application.
- You can list all stored procedures called by each object coming
from a given PBL.
For each Stored procedure referenced by the PB code, you can peform
an Impact Analisys.
As a result, you get all PowerBuilder object and functions of the
application calling this Stored Procedure.
(1) If your application is also composed of Stored Procedures (PL/SQL
or Transact-SQL), Visual Expert analyses all references to tables
and columns from these stored procedures.
See
Visual Expert for Oracle,
Visual Expert for Sybase ASE or Visual
Expert for SQL Serverpages for more details. |
| Calling
Hierarchy |
List of all successive methods calling
a function.
The result is displayed in a treeview (e.g. function A is called by
function B, itself called by function C, etc...). |
| Called
Hierarchy |
List of all successive
methods called by a function.
The result is displayed in a treeview (e.g. function A calls function
B, which itself calls function C, etc...).
You may use this feature when you need to understand a complete process
in the application.
(For instance, which functions are executed after the user has triggered
a specific event?) |
| Architecture |
Opening
Hierarchy |
List of all successive windows or
menus opened in the project.
As a result, you get a treeview representing the navigation paths
in the application
(from Windows to Windows and from Menus to Windows). |
| General
Architecture |
Detailed architecture of an object
(treeview of all controls, functions, events and variables composing
the object) |
| Control
Architecture |
Architecture of the controls
composing a PowerBuilder object (presented in a treeview) |
| Miscellaneous |
Preview |
Displays a graphical preview of
a PowerBuilder Visual Object (Window, DataWindow, Visual UserObject).
This preview helps understanding the application while browsing
in the code.
You can also locate any control displayed in the preview.
As a result, Visual Expert opens the treeview where the control
is defined. |
| Dead Code
(Unused items) |
* List of the Windows, OserObjects,
DataWindows, Menus, ... not referenced/used in the application.
* List of the functions, events and global functions not referenced/used
in the application.
* List of the attributes, global variables, parameters not referenced/used
in the application.
* List of the dlls and dll functions declared, but not called in the
application. |
| Duplicated
components |
Searches for components with the same
object name and same type in your project. |
| Locate |
Use this feature to locate
an object, method or variable in your project (i.e. where is this
item created/declared in your project?). As a result, the treeview
opens on the definition |
|
|
DropDown
Datawindow |
Lists all Datawindows used as DropDownDatawindows
in your project |
Dynamic
Datawindow |
Lists all Datawindows referenced dynamically
in the PB code (e.g. Control.DataObject = "<DataWindow name>") |
| PBL Statistics |
Statistics about the size and content of the PowerBuilder
Libraries (PBLs) |
| Oversized PBL |
PBL containing too many components |
Versión de evaluación de Visual
Expert para PowerBuilder
Usefull links