Description

PowerBuilder provides tools for developing custom class (nonvisual) user objects and deploying them as COM components, optionally running in Microsoft Transaction Server. Once you've generated and deployed a PowerBuilder COM server, users can call methods on the PowerBuilder COM objects it contains from COM-enabled client applications built with tools such as PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, and C++ compilers.

A PowerBuilder COM server can include one or more PowerBuilder custom class user objects. You code the user objects in the User Object painter and then build the server in the Project painter.

PowerBuilder 7 provides wizards and a validation tool to help create the custom class user objects and package them as PowerBuilder COM servers. 

The following features in PowerBuilder 7 provide tighter integration when PowerBuilder COM objects execute within MTS:

• The TransactionServer object provides control of and information about objects and transactions
• Runtime errors, including errors triggered explicitly with SignalError, are propagated to MTS
• The ErrorLogging object enables runtime errors from PowerBuilder COM objects running in MTS to be written to the NT system application log
• Activate and deactivate events on the custom class user object provide knowledge of the object's lifecycle
• Database result sets can be returned via DataStores using the ADOResultSet system object

Usage

PowerBuilder includes three wizards for COM/MTS generation:

• Start wizard  Creates a new application, a new custom class user object, and a new project
• Object wizard   Creates a new custom class user object in an existing application and a new project
• Project wizard  Builds a COM server from one or more existing custom class user objects