Show Report

For the initial beta, you'll need to specify the Java package to deploy to in a comment field. The PB client needs to be modified to support the additional parameter. Don't use the Web services tab for deployment for other platforms. With the initial beta, you have to add a comment to indicate Web services deployment. Result sets are not supported yet; use structure/array instead. You can delete generated files after deployment, but if you leave them in place it speeds up later deployments. Don't delete the generated files if you are using the proxy server, as it uses them. The deployment converts naming conventions to Java standards (CamelCase). Comment entry is currently used for security as well.

Automatic deployment has to be on for JBoss, and it doesn't always seem to work without restarting the server. Automatic deployment doesn't seem to work all the time for Oracle as well, though they (Oracle) may have that fixed. With WebLogic, you must deploy when the server is in development mode.

I wonder if it would be possible to come up with a dynamic properties definition dialog that would read an XML file to determine what options should be shown, that way additional properties could be added by modifying the XML file, rather that requiring new builds of the IDE.

Release: 1H2006 - All other details are TBD (licensing, packaging, pricing) Sept/Oct for beta

Wednesday, August 24
Incidentals
A few complaints: it wasn't entirely obvious to me where we were supposed to pick up the hard copies of the presentations for our a.m. classes (the p.m. classes are only done on CD). I've found it now, but either somebody didn't mention it to me during registration or I completely missed any signs indicating where it was located.

I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to locate the meeting rooms adjacent to what appears to be freight elevators. It was not unusual to have a session interrupted at times by loud noises from people moving heavy equipment. I don't see why the hotel can't wait until lunchtime or after hours to move equipment in that area if they know a conference is going on.

There was a similar issue during the keynotes, as the breakfast area was directly adjacent to the room where the keynotes occurred. Apparently the hotel did not mind making a significant amount of noise cleaning up after the breakfast and moving equipment around during the middle of the keynotes.

Wednesday, August 25
Special Event
I'm a video game junkie, so this year's special event was one of the better one I've been to in a while. (Of course, I haven't gone to many of them recently, so I'm speaking out of ignorance as well.) Sybase reserved the GameWorks on the strip for 3.5 hours. A wide variety of food was provided, and the games were set to run for free. People who climbed half way up the climbing wall were rewarded with flashing sunglasses, and those making it to the top won an additional prize. There were also several competitions (indy racing, basketball throws, pool), which had prizes as well.

Thursday, August 25
ISUG Enhancements Session
Over 85% of the high vote value enhancements are implemented. The panel consisted of (or was supposed to consist of) Jonathan Baker, John Strano, Dimitri Volkman, Dave Dichman, Loren Corbridge, Evan Ireland, and Ian Thain; however, for some reason, Jonathan Baker was unable to attend. At the session Bryan Enochs of ISUG demonstrated the new ISUG Web site and the following enhancements were discussed:

• Sarbanes-Oxley: John Strano mentioned the open source PFC security service, but the person who asked the question indicated that it wasn't good enough. After some discussion, the general consensus was that it was more than just a development tool issue; there were database column access issues, auditing, etc., as well.
• DataWindow.NET: It should support GetFullState, and SetFullState. John Strano referred to the EAF framework that is shipped with PowerBuilder now that has options to transmit the data and state information by other means.
• DropDown Calendar edit style: The time value should also display and be editable on the dropdown.
• TreeView DataWindow: It should only retrieve each level as it's being accessed, rather than doing the retrieve for all levels at once.
• Nested DataWindows: They should allow data to be accessed between levels.
• DataWindow Export to Word: One person indicated they were having problems exporting data from a DataWindow to Word. Another user offered to help them with that offline.
• PowerDesigner: Mike Nicewarner wants to have it available on the PocketPC.
• DataWindow: One person wanted to have the system tell him what object is causing an extra page and the end of a report.
• PowerBuilder built-in wizards: A user complained about the wizards not giving them options that are applicable all the time, for example, a component wizard that forces the user to select from a base PowerBuilder class rather than an inherited object. The user wanted some control over the presentation of the dialog. Evan Ireland suggested that they might provide a template for dialogs.
• PowerBuilder Resize: A user complained about the lack of an autoresize capability within PowerBuilder. Dave Dichman suggested that something like the multi-orientation layout painter in PocketBuilder might help. Another user suggested a layout manager approach to handling different screen sizes. Reed Shilts talked about the multi-orientation layout painter that they're adding to PocketBuilder. He indicated that he and the PowerBuilder folks were "intimate" and they could work it into PowerBuilder. Terry Voth indicated that the PFC resize service has been decoupled from PFC and is available.
• PowerBuilder Deployment: One user complained about PowerBuilder not handling deployment. They wanted some capability to auto-deploy to all their users. John Strano indicated that now would be a good time to provide input on the smart client deployment methodology that Sybase is working on.
• Open Source PFC: A comment was made about the PFC and its open source status. There was concern that it was viral and that it wasn't supported. I indicated that it wasn't viral because it uses the lesser version of the open source license.
• PowerDesigner metadata: A user indicated that having PowerDesigner options in the registry was an issue because a company wanted to force some consistency across their designers. Dave Dichman indicated that there are some options to push out registry information at login.
• PowerDesigner source control: A user asked about storing data models in a source control system rather than the repository. Mike Nicewarner indicated that the issue is that the models have a different life cycle than individual applications.
• PowerBuilder Voice Recognition: One user asked about users now needing to be able to do data entry through voice recognition. Alex Whitney recommended ScanSoft (formerly Dragon Naturally Speaking).
• PowerDesigner Reporting: One user mentioned that PowerDesigner reporting is limited to a particular model. Dave Dichman noted that it is possible to do reporting directly against the repository using third-party tools and that.

The only issue I had with the enhancement section was that people were continuously told "good idea, post it as an enhancement request on the ISUG Web site." All these folks could have done that without having to invest 1.5 hours of their time to show up for this session first thing in the morning. I think that an ISUG member should have been adding the good suggestions (or all suggestions) into the ISUG enhancement section while the session was going on.