Deploying PowerBuilder Applications

Appeon Deployment Wizard deploys PowerBuilder applications to be Web or mobile applications. The deployment should take place only after the application has undergone careful analysis and is in compliance with the Basic and Architectural Requirements defined in Basic Requirements and Recommendations in Supported PB Features for PowerServer Mobile or in Supported PB Features for PowerServer Web.

The Appeon Deployment Wizard handles the deployment in five steps:

  1. Exports the PowerBuilder application source code.

  2. Analyzes the PowerBuilder application to verify that it does not contain unsupported features.

  3. Parses the PowerBuilder source code (PBL files) into Web or mobile application files that are stored on the local machine.

  4. Uploads the DataWindow syntax to PowerServer.

  5. Transfers local application files to the Web Server by either file copy or FTP.

Notes:

1) Deploying to an SSL Web Server is no different than deploying to a standard Web Server. You only need to make sure that the SSL Web Server is set up correctly and is fully functional. For detailed instructions on configuring a Web Server as an SSL Web Server, refer to the corresponding documents provided by the Web server vendor.

2) If you want to re-deploy an application which is now running online:

  • You can incrementally deploy the application while keeping the application running online, if non-database related source code and image files are changed.

  • You must shut down the running deployed application and then full or incrementally deploy the application if the INI files or database-related source code are changed. Otherwise, the application may have runtime problems such as database connection failure or missing tables or fields.