Technology

PowerBuilder Modernisation
even though the original team has gone.

PowerBuilder went from Sybase to SAP to Appeon, who still develop it. The applications we are asked about are usually 12.5 or older, built by a team that has long since dispersed.

You get the DataWindows and the business rules read and documented first, then a rebuild or an upgrade path you can afford. We do this for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US, at a fixed price.

Book a 20-min scoping call
  • Independent No licence commission, no reseller agenda
  • 18+ yrs Building business software
  • Fixed Price scopes, no surprises
  • AU NZ UK US Perth-based, working remotely
Australian owned and operated

Built here. Your data stays here.

  • No offshore development. Everything is written by our own team in Australia. Nothing is subcontracted overseas.
  • Your data stays onshore. Hosted in Australia, on infrastructure you own, under Australian law.
  • Every state, not just ours. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and everywhere between.
Where we fit

Still supported, but try hiring someone who writes it

PowerBuilder built serious line-of-business applications through the 1990s and 2000s, especially in finance, insurance and logistics. The DataWindow was genuinely ahead of its time and is the reason these applications are hard to replace: it packs data access, presentation and update logic into one object, so behaviour is not where a modern developer would look for it.

The platform is alive. The skills market is not, which is the actual constraint most organisations hit.

See all legacy upgrade services

What the work actually is

Keep how every screen behaves, rebuilt on current tools

The DataWindow objects hold most of the behaviour worth preserving. We read them, make the logic explicit, and rebuild the application on a current stack against the same database.

What you have now

  • .pbl libraries and PowerScript
  • DataWindow objects
  • Sybase or SQL Server back end
  • A client install on every desk
What we build

Unpack the DataWindows, rebuild the application

The DataWindow objects hold most of the behaviour worth preserving. We read them, make the logic explicit, and rebuild the application on a current stack against the same database.

Get a fixed-price scope

What you end up with

  • A web application with the same grids and the same update behaviour
  • DataWindow logic made explicit and documented
  • No per-desk client install to maintain
What we do

Only the PowerBuilder work you actually need

Most engagements are some combination of these, and most start with the first.

  1. Read the .pbl libraries

    PowerScript and object structure documented, including inheritance chains that make behaviour hard to trace.

  2. Unpack the DataWindows

    Data access, presentation and update rules separated out and written down. This is the core of the work and the part that is routinely underestimated.

  3. Keep the database

    Sybase or SQL Server usually stays. Replacing the application and the database at once makes reconciliation far harder than it needs to be.

  4. Rebuild the application

    A web application with equivalent grid behaviour, so the people who live in these screens all day are not slowed down.

  5. Remove the client install

    Deployment stops being a desk-by-desk exercise once it runs in a browser.

Where you are now

It works, and nobody will touch it

  • Applications running on PowerBuilder 12.5 or older
  • DataWindow logic that no current developer can read
  • A client install to maintain on every machine
  • A hiring market with effectively nobody in it

After

Supported, documented and yours

  • A stack you can actually hire for
  • Update and validation rules documented instead of buried in objects
  • Browser access with no desktop deployment
  • The same database, so reporting continues uninterrupted

Scoped and quoted before you commit. You own the code, the documentation and the credentials at the end of it.

Get a fixed-price scope
Common questions

What people ask us about PowerBuilder

PowerBuilder is still supported. Why move?

Support is not usually the trigger, hiring is. If you cannot find anyone to make a change, the platform being alive does not help you. We will say plainly when staying put is the better call.

What makes DataWindows difficult?

They combine the query, the presentation and the update rules in one object, so behaviour that a modern developer expects to find in code lives inside a control. Reading them properly is most of the analysis work.

Can we keep the Sybase database?

Usually yes, at least initially. Replacing the application first and the database later keeps each step verifiable.

Can it be done in stages?

Yes. Module by module against the same database is the normal approach, with both applications live during the transition.

Our grids are heavily used. Will performance suffer?

That is the right question for PowerBuilder specifically, because DataWindow grids are fast and users notice immediately. Grid behaviour and volume get tested early rather than at the end.

Tell us what your PowerBuilder system does

What the system does, roughly how old it is, and what is forcing the question. We will come back with a straight answer and a fixed-price scope, even if the answer is to leave it alone.

Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.