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Why use Visual Expert? |
Impact
Analysis
When you modify the source code of the application, there is always
a risk of regression and errors due to the modifications.
With just a click Visual Expert helps you to perform those impact
analyses on any component (userobject, datawindow...) of the application.
Source code documentation
To write a technical documentation is always long and tedious!
With Visual Expert, generate a complete, customized and always up-to-date
technical documentation in minutes.
For example if you need to perform some knowledge transfer about part
of an application, you can choose to generate technical documentation
only based on Window objects & UserObjects. |
Take
the tour |
Browse through your application
Visual Expert makes it easier to navigate, no matter how complex the
application is.
Visual Expert helps you gain time in the development and maintenance
of your application and facilitates the integration of new developers.
Visual Expert allows you to :
• Discover the application
structure and its components (pbl, userobject, window,
datawindow,
menu,...)
• Explore the inheritance tree and master the
framework, (Looking for ancestors,
attributes
of a window...)
• See a preview of any application window
in order to visualize its aspect and test it,
• Ttc...
Improving Source Code
Projects need to follow development rules in order to :
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Normalize the code
• Simplify its reading
• Anticipate
maintenance
Visual Expert will help you during the 3 following phases:
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Before the development, Visual Expert helps to define the development
rules
(you can use the default ones)
• During the development, Visual Expert helps to apply
the rules and to correct errors,
• After the development,
Visual Expert can search in the whole application
for
unused components and those that do not comply with the rules.
Detecting dead code
Visual Expert detects code in your application.
Dead code includes functions, properties, parameters or variables
that are never referenced.
Removing this dead code will improve the performance of your application
and the source code will be easier to maintain. |
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Detailed Features |
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 Code
Exploration
Impact
Analysis
Architecture
Miscellaneous
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| CODE EXPLORATION |
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PowerBuilder Components |
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After analysing your project, Visual Expert can list
in a treeview:
* The PBL included in the application and the components of each
PBL
* The PowerBuilder object - by type - included in the application
(all the DW of the project for instance).
* The controls, functions, events, attributes, variables, parameters
defined in a PowerBuilder object.
While exploring the code in the treeview, you can also display:
* The container of the selected item (for example, the PBL containing
an object, the object containing a control, the control containing
an event or the event containing a local variable,...)
* The containier hierarchy (the list of all successive containers
of an item). For instance, the container hierarchy of an event may
display the Control/Objet/PBL/Projet where this event was defined.
You may display in the treeview some information about menu objects:
* The complete hierarchy of the menu options defined in a menu object.
* Same hierarchy, plus all events defined for each menu item. |
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Database Components |
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While analyzing your code, Visual Expert will find all
references to database items.
Therefore, you can list in the treeview:
* The database tables referenced by the PowerBuilder code (both from
Datawindows and embedded SQL)
* For each table found, you may list the columns referenced by the
PowerBuilder code.
* The stored procedures called by the PowerBuilder code (both from
Datawindows and PB scripts)
If your application is also composed of DB code (PL/SQL or Transact-SQL),
Visual Expert finds all references to tables, columns and stored procedures
from this DB code.
See Visual Expert for PL/SQL or Visual Expert for Transact-SQL pages
for more details.
You can have a global overview of your project (PowerBuilder + DB
code) by installing the appropriate versions of Visual expert on the
same machine. For instance, if your application is composed of PB
code and sybase stored procedures, you may combine Visual Expert for
PowerBuilder and Visual Expert for Transact-SQL on the same PC. |
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SQL Queries |
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After analysing your project, Visual expert may display
several lists of Procedure:
* SQL statements defined in the application
* SQL statements containing a given string (text search focused on
the SQL statements of the project).
* SQL statements by access type (select, insert, update or delete
Statements)
* SQL statements by definition type (defined in PowerBuilder Script,
Datawindow, Transact-SQL code(1) or PL/SQL code(2) ).
(1) requires Visual Expert for Transact-SQL
(2) requires Visual Expert for PL/SQL |
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Inheritance dépendencies
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Visual Expert analyses all inheritance dependencies.
As a result, you can display:
* The direct descendants (childs) of a PowerBuilder object
* The descendant hierarchy (multi-level treeview of all successive
descendants objects). For instance, you can get the complete inheritance
hierarchy of your application, including Framework and business objects.
* The direct ancestor of a PowerBuilder object
* The complete ancestor list of an object (all successive ancestors
of a given object).
When an object is inherited, the scripts defined in this objects may
be modified in the descendant Object.
In such a situation, Visual Expert keeps track of the "inheritance"
relationship between the "ancestor" and the "descendant"
script. |
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String search |
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You may search for a string in your project. Several
options are available:
* Global Search in the whole project (including PowerBuilder Code,
PL/SQL, Transact SQL, SQL files, ...)
* Search restricted to a given type of component (For instance, you
may search in Windows only).
* You may search in the name and/or the source code of components.
* You use regular expressions in a search
* You may search into a selection of components (for instance after
selecting some procedures in the treeview). |
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Dll Calls |
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While analyzing your PowerBuilder code, Visual Expert
will find all referencies to dll functions.
As a result, you can list in the treeview:
* The dll used by the application
* For a given dll, which dll functions are declared in the PowerBuilder
code
* For a given dll, which PowerBuilder objects are declaring the dll
functions
* For each dll function declared in PowerBuilder, all PowerBuilder
references to this dll function
(Impact analysis in the PowerBuilder application on a dll function). |
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System and Application Globals |
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* List of the Global variables declared in the PowerBuilder
application
(name+number of calls to each variable)
* List of the Global functions defined in the PowerBuilder application
(name+number of calls to each function)
* List of the system properties referenced in the PowerBuilder code
(e.g. visible, title, with...)
* List of the system functions referenced in the PowerBuilder code
(e.g. close, opensheet, setpointer...) |
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| IMPACT ANALYSIS (cross-
references) |
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Detailed Impact Analysis |
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This feature will list all the components related to
a given object, method, variable, table, column...
You can use this feature before modifying the application: it will
help checking the consequences of the change on the components related
to the change.
In order to provide a complete result, the impact analysis includes
all type of dependencies:
* PowerBuilder-to-database dependencies: any change
in the DB Schema may affect the PowerBuilder components using the
table or column modified. For instance, an Impact Analysis on a table
gives you all Datawindows, Embedded SQL and Stored Procedures(1) calling
this table.
You may filter the references depending on the access type (Select,
Insert, Update Delete)
* PowerBuilder Inheritance dependencies: any change
in a PowerBuilder object may affect its descendants.
Therefore, an impact analysis on a PB object will includes all its
descendants.
* PB code references: An Impact analysis on a PB
object, method or variable lists all the PB objects and methods calling
it. Special PowerBuilder dependencies are also supported (e.g. the
reference between a DataWindow Column and a DropDownDatawindow).
Impact analysis are also available for Global variables and functions
as well as system properties and functions. The result contains all
references to such variables or functions.
* PB-to-DB Code dependencies:
If your PowerBuilder application calls Stored Procedures, you can
list these procedures:
- You can list all stored procedures called by each PBL of the application.
- You can list all stored procedures called by each object coming
from a given PBL.
For each Stored procedure refrenced by the PB code, you can peform
an Impact Analisys.
As a result, you get all PowerBuilder object and functions of the
application calling this Stored Procedure.
(1) If your application is also composed of Stored Procedures (PL/SQL
or Transact-SQL), Visual Expert analyses all references to tables
and columns from these stored procedures.
See Visual Expert for PL/SQL or Visual Expert for Transact-SQL pages
for more details. |
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Calling Hierarchy |
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List of all successive methods calling a function.
The result is displayed in a treeview (e.g. function A is called by
function B, itself called by function C, etc...). |
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Called Hierarchy |
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List of all successive methods called by a function.
The result is displayed in a treeview (e.g. function A calls function
B, which itself calls function C, etc...).
You may use this feature when you need to understand a complete process
in the application.
(For instance, which functions are executed after the user has triggered
a specific event?) |
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| ARCHITECTURE |
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Opening Hierarchy |
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List of all successive windows or menus opened in the
project.
As a result, you get a treeview representing the navigation paths
in the application
(from Windows to Windows and from Menus to Windows). |
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General Architecture |
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Detailed architecture of an object (treeview of all
controls, functions, events and variables composing the object) |
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Control Architecture |
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Architecture of the controls composing a PowerBuilder
object (presented in a treeview) |
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| MISCELLANEOUS |
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Preview |
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Displays a graphical preview of a PowerBuilder Visual
Object (Window, DataWindow, Visual UserObject).
This preview help understanding the application while browsing in
the code.
You can also locate any control displayed in the preview.
As a result, Visual Expert open the treeview where the control is
defined. |
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Dead Code (Unused items) |
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* List of the Windows, OserObjects, DataWindows, Menus,
... not referenced/used in the application.
* List of the functions, events and global functions not referenced/used
in the application.
* List of the attributes, global variables, parameters not referenced/used
in the application.
* List of the dlls and dll functions declared, but not called in the
application. |
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Duplicated components |
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Searches for components with the same object name and
same type in your project. |
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Locate |
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Use this feature to locate an object, method or variable
in your project (i.e. where is this item created/declared in your
project?). As a result, the treeview opens on the definition |
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DropDown Datawindow |
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Lists all Datawindows used as DropDownDatawindows in
your project |
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Dynamic Datawindow |
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Lists all Datawindows referenced dynamically in the
PB code (e.g. Control.DataObject = "<DataWindow name>") |
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PBL Statistics |
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Statistics about the size and content of the PowerBuilder
Libraries (PBLs) |
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Oversized PBL |
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PBL containing too many components |
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