About targets

A target can be used to create:

  • An executable application

    A collection of PowerBuilder windows that perform related activities and that you deliver to users.

    An executable application can be a traditional client/server application that accesses a database server or an application that acts as a client in a distributed application and requests services from a server application.

  • A .NET assembly or Web service

    A custom class user object to be deployed to the .NET Framework.

The first step in creating a new application or component is to use a Target wizard, described in Working with PowerBuilder.

Depending on the type of target you choose to create, the target can include only an Application object or it can include additional objects. If the target requires connection to a server or a SQL database, the Template Application wizard also creates a Connection object.

The Application object

All application, component, and .NET targets include an Application object. It is a discrete object that is saved in a PowerBuilder library, just like a window, menu, function, or DataWindow object. When a user runs the application, the scripts you write for events are triggered in the Application object.

When you open an Application object in PowerBuilder, you enter the Application painter.

After you create the new target, you can open the Application object and work in the Application painter to define application-level properties (such as which fonts are used by default for text) and application-level behavior (such as what processing should occur when the application begins and ends).