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DB connection

ADO.NET connection enhancements
Secure Connection Encryptor
Database interface name optimization

ADO.NET connection enhancements

  • You can connect and interact with the PostgreSQL database using the PowerBuilder ADO.NET database interface. (In previous versions, you normally connect and interact with the PostgreSQL database using the PowerBuilder ODBC database interface.)

    The ADO.NET data provider for PostgreSQL (npgsql.dll) is automatically included and installed with PowerBuilder.

    A number of runtime files (including Appeon.DB.PostgreSql.dll) are required for supporting the connection at PowerBuilder runtime.

    For more information, refer to ADO.NET PostgreSQL in Connecting to Your Database.

  • You can also connect with other database types via ADO.NET by providing the ADO.NET data provider as a custom driver in the PowerBuilder.

    So far, PowerBuilder has enhanced its ADO.NET database interface to support connection via the following data providers: Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and ODBC. For other data providers (such as MySQL, Teradata etc.), you can provide them as a custom driver in PowerBuilder. Custom driver means the driver has not been predefined or preprocessed by PowerBuilder. Therefore, PowerBuilder may not fully work with the custom driver if: 1) The driver is not implemented according to established standards; 2) The driver and its required dependencies are not fully provided. For example, if the data set returned by the driver differs from the expected data set standards, parsing may fail, resulting in incorrect data being returned.

    You can specify a download URL or a local directory of the custom driver and PowerBuilder will try to load and parse the driver according to the ADO's standard interfaces and common data types.

    For more information, refer to ADO.NET custom driver in Connecting to Your Database.

Secure Connection Encryptor

An encryption tool is provided to encrypt the connection properties of the transaction object and generate an encrypted connection string for the database connection.

The following properties can be encrypted and included in the encrypted connection string: servername, logid, logpass, database, userid, dbpass, lock, dbparm, & dbms.

You can access the tool from the New window > Tool tab > Secure Connection Encryptor or by right-clicking the database profile and selecting Generate Secure Connection String from the popup menu.

Input the connection property values, click Encrypt to generate an encrypted string, and then use the string in the following code: 

sqlca.EnableSecureConnection (true)
sqlca.SetSecureConnectionString("xqRAXnVg6rXmXbnDh0KDONUBU1rnnrjoD91RyPElnxrf0l9SnSlfpVvBhjVILLH9+mvvHhYexk0niM+N17rdZQLFCEW0x7z89qnNpVpIDgbhKHB7tvPyM2CaoFc6gsdvifEmUh0ICExJAyfzAA+GcA==")
sqlca.SetSecureConnectionProperty("logid", "appeon")
sqlca.AutoCommit = false
connect;

The Transaction object has been added with the following functions to support the secure connection:

Database interface name optimization

The database interfaces in the Database Profiles dialog, Runtime Packager, and PowerClient have been optimized from the following aspects:

  • The database interface names have been simplified and standardized to improve clarity.

  • The most recent database interfaces will be shown at the first level, for easy selection. Older database interfaces will be shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node.

  • The SQLCA.DBMS value of "IN10 Informix v10.x|v12.x|v14.x" has been changed to "INF Informix". Although the old value "IN10 Informix v10.x|v12.x|v14.x" is still supported, it is recommended to use the new value "INF Informix" instead of the old one.

  • The old name conventions in the database profiles or DBMS exported from earlier versions will still be supported and compatible with Version 2025.


Old name New name Hierarchy SQLCA.DBMS value
ADO Microsoft ADO.NET ADO.NET shown at the first level (no change)
ASE SAP ASE 15.x|16.x ASE shown at the first level (no change)
IN10 Informix v10.x|v12.x|v14.x INF Informix shown at the first level Changed to "INF Informix"
MSOLEDBSQL SQL Server MSO SQL Server shown at the first level (no change)
ODB ODBC (no change) shown at the first level (no change)
ORA Oracle (no change) shown at the first level (no change)
IN9 Informix v9.x IN9 Informix shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)
O10 Oracle 10g O10 Oracle shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)
O90 Oracle 9i O90 Oracle shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)
OLE Microsoft OLE DB OLE DB shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)
SNC SQL Native Client SNC SQL Server shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)
SYC SAP ASE SYC ASE shown under the "Obsolete Interfaces" node (no change)

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