PowerBuilder Modernisation
for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
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.
- 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
Still supported, and still nobody left 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.
Your PowerBuilder project, end to end
Three stages. Scoped and fixed-price before anything starts, delivered by the founder, and your existing system stays running until cutover.
-
Week 0
Read the system as it is
We go through the existing application and record what it actually does, including the parts nobody documented. You get a written inventory and a fixed price before any build starts.
-
Weeks 1-N
Rebuild and run in parallel
The replacement runs beside the original until the numbers reconcile. The old system stays untouched and switched on the whole time.
-
Cutover
Go live and hand over
Cutover on a date you choose, then thirty days of support. Source code, documentation and credentials are handed to you, in your name.
What the work actually is
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.
What you have now
- .pbl libraries and PowerScript
- DataWindow objects
- Sybase or SQL Server back end
- A client install on every desk
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.
See how a project runsWhat 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
The 5 pieces of PowerBuilder work we are asked for
Most engagements are some combination of these, and most start with the first.
Read the .pbl libraries
PowerScript and object structure documented, including inheritance chains that make behaviour hard to trace.
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.
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.
Rebuild the application
A web application with equivalent grid behaviour, so the people who live in these screens all day are not slowed down.
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 scopePowerBuilder questions
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.
Sending your details…
You can stay on this page while we send it.
Tell us what you are running
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.
