Compiling and Deploying PowerBuilder 9 Applications

• By Bruce Armstrong and Millard F. Brown
• Oct 3, 2003
• Sample Chapter is provided courtesy of Sams

This chapter is from the book
PowerBuilder 9: Advanced Client/Server Development

In This Chapter

• Objectives
• PowerBuilder Deployment Through the Years
• Application Deployment with PowerBuilder 9
• Command-Line Deployment with OrcaScript
• Delivering the Completed Application to End Users
• Additional Tips and Tricks

Objectives

At some point in the life cycle of every PowerBuilder project, the application will need to be compiled and deployed to the end-users' workstations. This stage of the development cycle has also seen radical changes over the years, but none as significant as the introduction of Workspaces and Targets in PowerBuilder 8. The evolution of the deployment process continues with PowerBuilder 9 and the release of the new OrcaScript utility. With OrcaScript, it is now possible to write command-line scripts that automate this process entirely.

This chapter discusses the entire deployment process of PowerBuilder targets, and how that process has evolved over time. We'll show how the new OrcaScript feature can be used to fully automate the build process and integrate with the Source Code Control system. Finally, we'll list the required PowerBuilder files that need to be deployed along with the compiled applications.