Automatically Generate a Source Code Documentation

Visual Expert can automatically document your code. The end result is very comprehensive HTML documentation, detailing every object and its dependencies throughout your application.

It can be used as reference manuals for code maintenance, review purpose, and knowledge transfer.

Update your documentation on a regular basis (scheduled job).

Review CRUD operations in your code (Create, Read, Update, Delete)

Generate a CRUD matrix showing which programs access your data.

For instance, which DW or Procedures Create/Read/Update/Delete which Tables.

  • Review dependencies between database and PB applications.
  • Analyze the impact of changing your database Schema, for example changing a table definition or adding an index.
  • Estimate software complexity and development efforts.
  • Find out which table is never updated, deleted from multiple places, etc.
  • Make sure every process has at least one input (R) and one output (CUD).
Visual Expert PowerBuilder CRUD Matrix 

Generate an Object Dependency Matrix

Object Dependency Matrix extends the concept of "Impact Analysis" to multiple objects, for visualizing cross-references between Oracle, SQL Server and PowerBuilder code in a 2 dimension matrix.

It shows the relationships between objects in a grid, offering developers a powerful way to analyze the consequences of a change.

Object Dependency Matrices help understand and maintain large and complex applications, where lots of objects have multiple dependencies with each other.
Visual Expert will generate the Matrix in an Excel file, to let developers easily highlight, comment and share specific references with their team.

Visual Expert Object Dependency Matrix 

Generate Diagrams from your Code

Visual Expert generates diagrams from your code to let you visualize and understand complex code.

Visual Expert can generate

  • Data Model Diagram
    Document graphically database entities and their relationships.
  • Impact Analysis Diagram
    Find all references to a table, column, object, method, variable...
  • Call Graph
    Visualize chains of calls (multiple levels of references).
  • PBL Dependency
    Visualize dependencies between PBLs

Make an Inventory of your Code

Estimate the volume of your code under various angles for auditing purposes or workload assessment.

After analyzing your code, VE can calculate the number of:

  • Lines of code in your project, separating comments from instructions
  • PB objects, by type (how many DW, Window, UO...)
  • PB controls, by type (DW control, tab, text...) PB events, functions, variables, attributes, parameters...
  • Database objects called from PB (Procedures, tables, etc.)

You can also list the Web services and dll functions called by your PB code.

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Visual Expert Features

200+ features to analyze and improve your PowerBuilder, Oracle and SQL Server code

Impact Analysis

Assess the impact of a change in your code

Estimate what you should modify to accomplish a change.
Don't break your application after a change!

  • If I change this variable, what is the effect on my code?
  • If I add a parameter to a function, what else is affected?
  • If a table or column is changed, which code should I update?
Visual Expert PowerBuilder Impact Analysis

Scan for Security Vulnerabilities

Identify and fix Security issues in your code:

  • Hard coded user id & passwords 
  • Hard coded IP addresses.
  • Vulnerabilities to Injections attacks
  • Fields access/protection issues
  • Improper/unsecured use of encryption
  • and more...

Check rules for Code Security

Review CRUD Operations in Your code
(Create, Read, Update, Delete)

Generate a CRUD matrix showing which programs access your data.

For instance, which DW or Procedures Create/Read/Update/Delete which Tables.

  • Review dependencies between database and PB applications.
  • Analyze the impact of changing your database Schema, for example changing a table definition or adding an index.
  • Estimate software complexity and development efforts.
  • Find out which table is never updated, deleted from multiple places, etc.
  • Make sure every process has at least one input (R) and one output (CUD).
Visual Expert PowerBuilder CRUD Matrix 

Generate Diagrams from your Code 

  • Visualize objects and dependencies.
  • Diagrams and source code are synchronized.
  • Select objects to generate a diagram

Visual Expert generates:

  • Data Model Diagram to document graphically database entities and their relationships. 
  • Impact Analysis Diagrams to find all references to a table, column, object, method, variable...
  • Call graphs to visualize chains of calls (multiple levels of references).
  • PBL dependency diagrams to visualize dependencies between PBLs


Visualize your code with diagrams

Explore Complex Chains of Calls

Display Call Trees: callers and callees for Functions and events.

Explore all possible execution paths.
Drill down in the code, click on referenced methods or variables to see their definitions.

Call trees help evaluate the effects of modifications to your code.

Visual Expert Call Trees

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Document your Code

Create reference manuals in HTML

Update your documentation on a regular basis (scheduled job).
Document the references in your code and navigate between these using hyperlinks.
Share knowledge with teammates.

 

PowerBuilder Documentation Tools 

Improve Code Quality

Cleanup the code. Streamline maintenance efforts. Avoid unexpected behavior.

  • Identify unused objects and remove some dead code.
  • Find empty methods, duplicated objects, oversized or uncommented scripts.
  • Calculate code metrics: lines of code, number of objects, methods, variables…
  • Check naming conventions.
  • Find objects that do not inherit from an ancestor etc.
  • You can check your code against hundreds of rules

Improve Code Performance

Find slow pieces of code. Remove Bottlenecks

  • Find the slowest procedures, functions, triggers
  • Reduce the time to access a given table
  • Break down the execution time of a large object into sub-queries or instructions.
  • Decompose the performance of a chain of calls
Identify Performance Issues in your DB Code

Code Comparison

Compare 2 versions of your DB or application:

  • View differences in a container hierarchy.
  • Drill down to find relevant changes.
  • Filter changes for a given object, or object type: Userobject, Table, Procedure...
  • Filter changes in a given PBL.
  • Save “snapshots” of your code on a regular basis, and compare them anytime.
  • And more...
PowerBuilder Code Comparison 

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Understand Complex Code

Explore the application structure. Understand its inner working.

When maintaining complex Applications, you may need to learn more about the code.
In such cases, Visual Expert is the perfect companion for PowerBuilder.

Navigate in your code via hyperlinks: each reference comes with a link to the referenced item.
Tooltips provide useful information about objects, methods and variables.
Explore inheritance dependencies between PB objects.
Lots of advanced feature will screen your code under various angles.

 

Catch a glimpse of Visual Expert

How it works?

Visual Expert Working

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Visual Expert Pricing & Editions

Pricing in Euro

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Feedback from our clients

Jane Doe

Reduces expenses

Using VE's features allows a much quicker turnaround, reduces expenses and frees up resources for more productive work.

- Project Manager
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Jane Doe

Become familiar with a new application in literally a few hours

(The) More you work with Visual Expert - more you understand how convenient it is. (...) I cannot remember so powerful a tool that allows a user to become familiar with a new application in literally a few hours

- Georges Mikhailovsky
Calibre Systems
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BNP
US Army
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