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PowerScript Reference

Appeon PowerBuilder® 2017 R2

FOR WINDOWS

DOCUMENT ID: DC37781-01-1700-01

LAST REVISED: May 02, 2018

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Table of Contents

PowerScript Topics

Language Basics

Identifier names

Special ASCII characters

NULL values

Reserved words

Parent pronoun
This pronoun
Super pronoun

Statement continuation

Statement separation

White space

Conditional compilation

Standard datatypes
The Any datatype
System object datatypes
Enumerated datatypes

Declarations

Declaring variables

Where to declare variables
About using variables
Syntax of a variable declaration

Declaring constants

Declaring arrays

Values for array elements
Size of variable-size arrays
More about arrays

Declaring external functions

Datatypes for external function arguments
Calling external functions
Defining source for external functions

Declaring DBMS stored procedures as remote procedure calls

Operators and Expressions

Operators in PowerBuilder

Arithmetic operators in PowerBuilder
Relational operators in PowerBuilder
Concatenation operator in PowerBuilder

Operator precedence in PowerBuilder expressions

Datatype of PowerBuilder expressions

Numeric datatypes in PowerBuilder
String and char datatypes in PowerBuilder

Structures and Objects

About structures

About objects

About user objects
Instantiating objects
Using ancestors and descendants
Garbage collection
User objects that behave like structures

Assignment for objects and structures

Assignment for structures
Assignment for objects
Assignment for autoinstantiated user objects

Calling Functions and Events

About functions and events

Finding and executing functions and events

Finding functions
Finding events

Triggering versus posting functions and events

Static versus dynamic calls

Static calls
Dynamic calls

Overloading, overriding, and extending functions and events

Overloading and overriding functions
Extending and overriding events

Passing arguments to functions and events

Passing objects
Passing structures
Passing arrays

Using return values

Functions
Events
Using cascaded calling and return values

Syntax for calling PowerBuilder functions and events

Calling functions and events in an object's ancestor

Statements, Events, and Functions

PowerScript Statements

Assignment
CALL
CHOOSE CASE
CONTINUE
CREATE
DESTROY
DO...LOOP
EXIT
FOR...NEXT
GOTO
HALT
IF...THEN
RETURN
THROW
THROWS
TRY...CATCH...FINALLY...END TRY

SQL Statements

Using SQL in scripts

CLOSE Cursor
CLOSE Procedure
COMMIT
CONNECT
DECLARE Cursor
DECLARE Procedure
DELETE
DELETE Where Current of Cursor
DISCONNECT
EXECUTE
FETCH
INSERT
OPEN Cursor
ROLLBACK
SELECT
SELECTBLOB
UPDATE
UPDATEBLOB
UPDATE Where Current of Cursor

Using dynamic SQL

Dynamic SQL Format 1
Dynamic SQL Format 2
Dynamic SQL Format 3
Dynamic SQL Format 4

PowerScript Events

About events

BeginDownload

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

BeginLabelEdit

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

BeginLogScan

BeginRightDrag

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

BeginUpload

Syntax 1: For menus
Syntax 2: For ListView controls
Syntax 3: For Tab controls
Syntax 4: For TreeView controls
Syntax 5: For windows and progress bars
Syntax 6: For other controls

Syntax 1: For the application object
Syntax 2: For OLE controls
Syntax 3: For windows

ColumnClick

ConnectMobiLink

Constructor

DateChanged

DateSelected

DBNotification

DeleteAllItems

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

DisconnectMobiLink

DisplayMessage

DoubleClicked

Syntax 1: For ListBox, PictureListBox, ListView, and Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls
Syntax 3: For windows
Syntax 4: For other controls

Syntax 1: For ListBox, PictureListBox, ListView, and Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls
Syntax 3: For windows and other controls

Syntax 1: For ListBox, PictureListBox, ListView, and Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls
Syntax 3: For windows and other controls

EndDownload

EndLabelEdit

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

ErrorMessage

ExternalException

FileMessage

HotLinkAlarm

InputFieldSelected

ItemActivate

ItemChanged

ItemChanging

ItemCollapsed

ItemCollapsing

ItemExpanded

ItemExpanding

ItemPopulate

Syntax 1: For RichTextEdit controls
Syntax 2: For windows

Syntax 1: For RichTextEdit controls
Syntax 2: For windows

Syntax 1: For RichTextEdit controls
Syntax 2: For windows

Syntax 1: For the application object
Syntax 2: For windows

PictureSelected

PrintFooter (obsolete)

PrintHeader (obsolete)

ProgressIndex

PropertyChanged

PropertyRequestEdit

RButtonDown

Syntax 1: For controls and windows, except RichTextEdit
Syntax 2: For RichTextEdit controls

RecognitionResult

RemoteHotLinkStart

RemoteHotLinkStop

RemoteRequest

RightClicked

Syntax 1: For ListView and Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

RightDoubleClicked

Syntax 1: For ListView and Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

SelectionChanged

Syntax 1: For Listboxes
Syntax 2: For Tab controls
Syntax 3: For TreeView controls

SelectionChanging

Syntax 1: For Tab controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

SyncPreview

SystemError

ToolbarMoved

ValueChanged

WaitForUploadAck

WarningMessage

PowerScript Functions

AddCategory

Syntax 1: For all graph types except scatter
Syntax 2: For scatter graphs

Syntax 1: For ListBox and DropDownListBox controls
Syntax 2: For PictureListBox and DropDownPictureListBox controls
Syntax 3: For ListView controls
Syntax 4: For ListView controls

AddItemArray

AddItemBlob

AddItemBoolean

AddItemDate

AddItemDateTime

AddItemNull

AddItemNumber

AddItemObject

AddItemString

AddItemTime

AddLargePicture

AddSmallPicture

AddStatePicture

AddToLibraryList

ArrangeSheets

BeginTransaction (obsolete)

CategoryCount

CategoryName

ChangeDirectory

ChooseColor

Syntax 1: For any object
Syntax 2: For variables

Syntax 1: For selected text
Syntax 2: For RichTextEdit controls

ClearBoldDates

ClearRequestHeaders

Syntax 1: For text
Syntax 2: For bitmaps of graphs

Syntax 1: For windows
Syntax 2: For OLEStorage objects
Syntax 3: For OLEStream objects
Syntax 4: For trace files

CloseChannel

CloseUserObject

CloseWithReturn

CollapseItem

CommandParm

CommitDocking

CommitTransaction (obsolete)

ConnectToNewObject

ConnectToNewRemoteObject

ConnectToObject

ConnectToRemoteObject

ConnectToServer (obsolete)

CreateDirectory

CreateInstance

CreateJsonArray

CreateJsonObject

Syntax 1: For DateTime data and blobs
Syntax 2: For strings
Syntax 3: For combining numbers into a date

Syntax 1: For creating DateTime values
Syntax 2: For extracting DateTime values from blobs

DeleteCategory

DeleteColumn

DeleteColumns

Syntax 1: For ListBox and DropDownListBox controls
Syntax 2: For ListView controls
Syntax 3: For TreeView controls

DeleteItems

DeleteLargePicture

DeleteLargePictures

DeletePicture

DeletePictures

DeleteSeries

DeleteSmallPicture

DeleteSmallPictures

DeleteStatePicture

DeleteStatePictures

DestroyModel

DirectoryExists

DisableCommit

DisconnectObject

DisconnectServer

DraggedObject (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For editing a label in a ListView
Syntax 2: For editing a label in a TreeView

EnableCommit

Syntax 1: For sending single commands
Syntax 2: For commands over an opened channel

FileEncoding

FileLength64

FileWriteEx

FillW (obsolete)

FindCategory

FindClassDefinition

FindFunctionDefinition

Syntax 1: For ListBox and DropDownListBox controls
Syntax 2: For ListView controls
Syntax 3: For ListView controls
Syntax 4: For TreeView controls

FindMatchingFunction

FindTypeDefinition

FromUnicode

GarbageCollect

GarbageCollectGetTimeLimit

GarbageCollectSetTimeLimit

GetActiveSheet

GetAlignment

GetApplication

GetArgElement

GetAutomationNativePointer

GetByteArray

GetCertificateLabel (obsolete)

GetChildCount

GetChildItem

GetChildKey

GetChildrenList

GetCommandDDE

GetCommandDDEOrigin

GetCommandString

GetCompanyName

GetContextKeywords

GetContextService

GetCredentialAttribute (obsolete)

GetCurrentDirectory

Syntax 1: For data points in graphs
Syntax 2: For EditMask controls
Syntax 3: For data in an OLE server

GetDataDDEOrigin

GetDataLabelling

GetDataPieExplode

GetDataStyle

Syntax 1: For the colors of a data point
Syntax 2: For the line style and width used by a data point
Syntax 3: For the fill pattern or symbol of a data point

GetDataTransparency

GetDataValue

GetDateLimits

GetDbmlsyncPath

GetDisplayRange

GetDynamicDate

GetDynamicDateTime

GetDynamicDecimal

GetDynamicNumber

GetDynamicString

GetDynamicTime

GetEnvironment

GetFileOpenName

GetFileSaveName

GetFirstSheet

GetFixesVersion

GetGlobalProperty (obsolete)

GetHostObject

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For ListView controls
Syntax 3: For TreeView controls

GetItemArray

GetItemBlob

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemBoolean

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemDate

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemDateTime

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemNumber

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemObject

GetItemString

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemTime

Syntax 1
Syntax 2

GetItemType

GetItemAtPointer

GetJsonBlob

GetJsonString

GetLastReturn

GetLibraryList

GetMajorVersion

GetMinorVersion

GetNativePointer

GetNextSheet

GetObjectRevisionFromRegistry

GetParagraphSetting

GetPin (obsolete)

GetRecordSet

Syntax 1: For single DDE requests
Syntax 2: For DDE requests via an open channel

GetRequestHeader

GetRequestHeaders

GetResponseBody

GetResponseHeader

GetResponseHeaders

GetResponseStatusCode

GetResponseStatusText

GetRootItem

GetSelectedDate

GetSelectedRange

GetSeriesLabelling

GetSeriesStyle

Syntax 1: For the colors of a series
Syntax 2: For the line style and width used by a series
Syntax 3: For the fill pattern or symbol of a series
Syntax 4: For determining whether a series is an overlay

GetSeriesTransparency

GetShortName

GetStatus (obsolete)

GetSyncRegistryProperties

GetTextColor

GetTextStyle

GetToolbarPos

Syntax 1: For docked toolbars
Syntax 2: For floating toolbars

GetTransactionName (obsolete)

GetVersionName

HyperLinkToURL

ImpersonateClient

ImportClipboard

ImportString

IncomingCallList

Init (obsolete)

InputFieldChangeData

InputFieldCurrentName

InputFieldDeleteCurrent

InputFieldGetData

InputFieldInsert

InputFieldLocate

InsertCategory

InsertClass

InsertColumn

InsertDocument

Syntax 1: For ListBox and DropDownListBox controls
Syntax 2: For ListBox and DropDownListBox controls
Syntax 3: For ListView controls
Syntax 4: For ListView controls
Syntax 5: For TreeView controls
Syntax 6: For TreeView controls

InsertItemFirst

Syntax 1: For TreeView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

InsertItemLast

Syntax 1: For TreeView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

InsertItemSort

Syntax 1: For TreeView controls
Syntax 2: For TreeView controls

InsertObject

InsertPicture

InsertSeries

InternetData

InvokePBFunction

_Is_A (obsolete)

IsAllArabic

IsAllHebrew

IsAnyArabic

IsAnyHebrew

IsArabicAndNumbers

IsCallerInRole

IsHebrewAndNumbers

IsImpersonating

IsInTransaction (obsolete)

IsSecurityEnabled

IsTransactionAborted (obsolete)

LeftW (obsolete)

LeftTrimW (obsolete)

LenW (obsolete)

LibraryCreate

LibraryDelete

LibraryDirectory

LibraryDirectoryEx

LibraryExport

LibraryImport

LoadDockingState

LoadPicture

Syntax 1: For all objects
Syntax 2: For ErrorLogging objects

Syntax 1: For combining integers
Syntax 2: For converting strings and blobs

Syntax 1: For combining longs
Syntax 2: For converting strings and blobs

Lookup (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For CORBA-compliant EAServer components
Syntax 2: For instances of an EJB component

mailAddress

mailDeleteMessage

mailGetMessages

mailReadMessage

mailRecipientDetails

mailResolveRecipient

mailSaveMessage

MatchW (obsolete)

MemberDelete

MemberExists

MemberRename

MidW (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For all graph types except scatter
Syntax 2: For scatter graphs

_Narrow (obsolete)

NextActivity

ObjectAtPointer

Syntax 1: For windows of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For windows of unknown datatype
Syntax 3: For loading an OLE object from a file into a control
Syntax 4: For opening an OLE object in memory into a control
Syntax 5: For opening an OLE object in a file into an OLEStorage
Syntax 6: For opening an OLE storage member into a storage
Syntax 7: For opening OLE streams
Syntax 8: For opening trace files

OpenChannel

OpenSheetAsDocument

OpenSheetDocked

OpenSheetFromDockingState

OpenSheetInTabGroup

OpenSheetWithParm

OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument

OpenSheetWithParmDocked

OpenSheetWithParmFromDockingState

OpenSheetWithParmInTabGroup

Syntax 1: For user objects of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For user objects of unknown datatype

OpenTabWithParm

Syntax 1: For user objects of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For user objects of unknown datatype

OpenUserObject

Syntax 1: For user objects of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For user objects of unknown datatype

OpenUserObjectWithParm

Syntax 1: For user objects of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For user objects of unknown datatype

OpenWithParm

Syntax 1: For windows of a known datatype
Syntax 2: For windows of unknown datatype

OutgoingCallList

PageCreated

ParentWindow

PasteSpecial

PBAddCookie

PBGetCookies

PBGetMenuString

PixelsToUnits

PopulateError

PosW (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For editable controls, except RichTextEdit
Syntax 2: For RichTextEdit controls

PostDataEnd

PostDataStart

Syntax 1: For printing a visual object in a print job
Syntax 2: For printing text in a print job
Syntax 3: For RichTextEdit controls

PrintBitmap

PrintCancel

PrintDataWindow

PrintDefineFont

PrintGetPrinter

PrintGetPrinters

PrintRoundRect

PrintScreen

PrintSend (obsolete)

PrintSetFont

PrintSetPrinter

PrintSetSpacing

PrintSetupPrinter

ProfileString

Syntax 1: For reading into a string
Syntax 2: For character arrays or blobs

RecognizeText

RegistryDelete

RegistryGet

RegistryKeys

RegistrySet

RegistryValues

RelativeDate

RelativeTime

ReleaseAutomationNativePointer

ReleaseNativePointer

RemoveDirectory

ReplaceText

ReplaceW (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For list boxes
Syntax 2: For graphs
Syntax 3: For trace files

ResetArgElements

ResetDataColors

ResetPicture

RespondRemote

ResumeTransaction (obsolete)

Syntax 1
Syntax 2
Format of JSON string

RevertToSelf

RightW (obsolete)

RightTrimW (obsolete)

RollbackOnly (obsolete)

RollbackTransaction (obsolete)

RoutineList

Syntax 1: For InkPicture controls
Syntax 2: For OLE objects

Syntax 1: For graph objects
Syntax 2: For saving an OLE control to a file
Syntax 3: For saving an OLE control to an OLE storage
Syntax 4: For saving an OLE storage object to a file
Syntax 5: For saving an OLE storage object in another OLE storage

SaveDockingState

SaveDocument

ScrollNextPage

ScrollNextRow

ScrollPriorPage

ScrollPriorRow

ScrollToRow

SecondsAfter

Syntax 1: For OLE stream objects
Syntax 2: For animation controls

SelectedColumn

SelectedIndex

SelectedItem

SelectedLength

SelectedLine

SelectedPage

SelectedStart

SelectedText

SelectionRange

Syntax 1: When you know the text of an item
Syntax 2: When you know the item number
Syntax 3: For TreeView controls

SelectObject

Syntax 1: For editable controls (except RichTextEdit)
Syntax 2: For RichTextEdit controls and presentation styles

SelectTextAll

SelectTextLine

SelectTextWord

SendRequest

SeriesCount

Syntax 1: For OLETxnObject objects
Syntax 2: For TransactionServer objects

SetAlignment

SetArgElement

SetAutomationLocale

SetAutomationPointer

SetAutomationTimeout

SetBoldDate

SetComplete

Syntax 1: For OLETxnObject objects
Syntax 2: For TransactionServer objects

SetDataLabelling

SetDataPieExplode

SetDataStyle

Syntax 1: For setting a data point's colors
Syntax 2: For the line associated with a data point
Syntax 3: For the fill pattern and symbol of a data point

SetDataTransparency

SetDateLimits

SetDropHighlight

SetDynamicParm

SetFirstVisible

SetGlobalProperty (obsolete)

Syntax 1: For ListView controls
Syntax 2: For ListView controls
Syntax 3: For TreeView controls

SetLevelPictures

SetLibraryList

SetMicroHelp

SetNewMobiLinkPassword

SetOverlayPicture

SetParagraphSetting

Syntax 1: System-defined shape
Syntax 2: File-defined shape

SetPosition

Syntax 1: For positioning windows and controls in windows
Syntax 2: For positioning objects within a DataWindow

SetProfileString

SetRecordSet

Syntax 1: For single DDE requests
Syntax 2: For DDE requests via an open channel

SetRequestHeader

SetRequestHeaders

SetResultSet

SetSelectedDate

SetSelectedRange

SetSeriesLabelling

SetSeriesStyle

Syntax 1: For setting a series' colors
Syntax 2: For lines in a graph
Syntax 3: For the fill pattern and symbols in a graph
Syntax 4: For creating an overlay in a graph

SetSeriesTransparency

SetSyncRegistryProperties

SetTextColor

SetTextStyle

SetTimeout (obsolete)

SetToolbarPos

Syntax 1: For docked toolbars
Syntax 2: For floating toolbars

SetTraceFileName

SetTransPool

SharedObjectDirectory

SharedObjectGet

SharedObjectRegister

SharedObjectUnregister

ShowHeadFoot

ShowPopupHelp

SignalError

Syntax 1: For TreeView controls
Syntax 2: For ListView controls

Syntax 1: For executing pipeline objects
Syntax 2: For activating timing objects

StartHotLink

StartServerDDE

Syntax 1: For deactivating timing objects
Syntax 2: For stopping an animation from playing

StopHotLink

StopServerDDE

Syntax 1: For formatting data
Syntax 2: For blobs

SuspendTransaction (obsolete)

Synchronize

Syntax 1: For synchronization without parameters
Syntax 2: For synchronization with parameters

SyntaxFromSQL

SystemRoutine

TabPostEvent

TabTriggerEvent

Syntax 1: For DateTime and blob values
Syntax 2: For strings
Syntax 3: For integers

TotalColumns

TotalSelected

TraceDisableActivity

TraceEnableActivity

TriggerEvent

TriggerPBEvent

TrimW (obsolete)

TrustVerify (obsolete)

UnitsToPixels

UpdateLinksDialog

WorkSpaceHeight

WorkSpaceWidth

XMLParseFile

XMLParseString

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