| PFC Programmer's Reference Manual Richard Brooks 1998 | 368 pages ISBN: 1884777554 |
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| $37.95 | Softbound print book | ||
RESOURCES
DESCRIPTION
PFC Programmers' Reference Manual provides information that should prove indispensible for the PowerBuilder programmer trying to learn the PowerBuilder Foundation Classes. It lists all of the objects and functions that they might use for a project with notes from the author on each function. Service-based architecture and appropriate object-oriented techniques are stressed throughout.
The more difficult objects and services are given special attention; these are the ones that are sure to enhance your image as an expert in this emerging technology. The text is written with the same easy-to-understand prose that has marked the PowerBuilder Dojo as one of the premier PowerBuilder sites worldwide.
At first, the programmer will find this book a comprehensive guide to the wide scope of these libraries. Later it will serve as a handy memory tool for finding exactly what is needed at implementation time.
The manager will find this book an invaluable source for understanding which tools are available for immediate implementation.
PFC Programmers' Reference Manual covers PowerBuilder version 6 as well as version 5.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR...
Richard Brooks is an independent programmer who has worked exclusively in PowerBuilder since the beta of version 1.0. He is owner of Core Group Innovations, a PowerBuilder Code Partner, and has consulted for companies such as Charles Schwab, Prudential, CIGNA, and Pacific Bell.
Sample Chapters
A sample chapter and appendix are available for download.
Chapter 1Appendix A
Introduction
This book is intended to be a programmer's reference to the PFC. It is not an introductory text on PowerBuilder or the Foundation Classes. It is assumed that you are well familiar with PowerBuilder. It also has no explanation of object-orientation or event-driven programming.I have attempted to cover all that a programmer needs to know in this book. There are quite a few functions and objects that are used internally in the PFC that the programmer will never need to reference. Some have been included simply to be comprehensive; some have not. I hope that I have included everything that you need.
This book, the same one used by consultants at BYTE, Inc., will provide you with a quick guide to PFCs. It is designed to be a reference, a memory jogger, a quick place to find answers. Consider this book, especially the first part, to be similar to a dictionary. I have tried to provide a full listing of the structure of PFCs. Very little of the book, other than the appendices, is original. This is information that mainly can be found in the electronic help, repackaged, to give the programmer a source of data that can be used in multiple ways. There are listings, for example, that give an overview of the functions available, separated by areas of functionality that might be followed by a more detailed listing of the same functions, then a description of each function. This is not meant to be redundant. It is meant to make it easy for the programmer to go to any section with a minimum of searching.
PowerBuilder 6 enhancements will be covered as much as possible. At the time of this writing the beta copy of PowerBuilder 6 is available, so there may be some minor changes in what you will find in this book regarding those features. Everywhere that these enhancements are referenced you will see a large 6 preceding it. For example:
| The security service has been enhanced so that now it provides security all the way to the object level. This means that you will not be confined to simply menu items. You will be able to specify that certain datawindows might be invisible to a particular group of users. If you are using the resize services then this will be a seamless metaphor where it will look as if the window was defined specifically for them. |
Remember that the purpose of this book is a quick reference, not to overload you with information that you are not likely to ever need.