When you start PowerBuilder, you might want to resume work on an existing project. You can have PowerBuilder open the workspace that you used last, and even open the painters you had open, with the last Script view you touched open at the code you were working on.
There are three options on the Workspaces page of the System Options dialog box that you can use to determine what displays when you start PowerBuilder.
Opening just the workspace
If you want PowerBuilder to open the last workspace you used at startup, select the Workspaces page and then check Reopen Workspace on Startup.
Opening the workspace, painters, and scripts
If you want PowerBuilder to open the last workspace you used and the painters and editors you were using, check Reopen Workspace on Startup and Reload Painters When Opening Workspace. When you open PowerBuilder, any painters and editors that were open when you closed PowerBuilder are reloaded. If you edited a script before closing PowerBuilder, the Script view is scrolled to show the last line you edited.
Opening with no workspace
If you want PowerBuilder to open without loading a workspace, clear Reopen Workspace on Startup. If you want the painters and editors that were open when you last used a workspace to be reloaded when you reopen it, clear Reopen Workspace on Startup and check Reload Painters When Opening Workspace.
Displaying the Welcome dialog box
If you want to see the Welcome to PowerBuilder dialog box when you start PowerBuilder, check Show Start Dialog at Startup with no Workspace and clear Reopen Workspace on Startup. The Welcome to PowerBuilder dialog box is shown in The PowerBuilder environment.
Double-click a workspace file in Windows Explorer. Workspaces have a .pbw extension. PowerBuilder starts with the workspace open.
You can start PowerBuilder from a command line (or the Windows Run dialog box) and optionally open a workspace, target, and/or painter. These are the painters and tools you can open:
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Application painter
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Database painter
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Data Pipeline painter
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DataWindow painter
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Debugger
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File Editor
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Function painter
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Library painter
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Menu painter
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Query painter
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Structure painter
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User Object painter
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Window painter
The syntax is:
directory\pb170.exe {/workspace workspacepath} {/target targetpath} {/painter paintername} {/output outputpath}where directory is the fully qualified name of the directory containing PowerBuilder.
You can also add one or more of the following options to the command line after /painter paintername to open a specific object or create a new one:
{/library libraryname} {/object objectname} {/inherit objectname} {/new} {/run} {/runonly} {/argument arguments}The syntax statements show the long form of option names. You need only use the initial letter or letters of the option name as long as the option is uniquely identified, as shown in the following table.
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
/W workspacepath |
Opens the workspace workspacepath. The default is the most recently used workspace if you have selected the Reopen Workspace on Startup check box in the System Options dialog box. If you have not selected this check box, you must specify the /W option before specifying any other options. |
|
/T targetpath |
Opens the target targetpath. |
|
/P paintername |
Opens the painter paintername. The default is the window that displays when you begin a new PowerBuilder session. The painter name must uniquely identify the painter. You do not have to enter the entire name. For example, you can enter q to open the Query painter and datab to open the Database painter. If you enter the full name, omit any spaces in the name (enter UserObject and DataPipeline, for example). The painter name is not case sensitive. To open the file editor, you could set paintername to FI or fileeditor. Except for the /W, /T, and /L switches, other switches must follow /P paintername on the command line, as shown in the examples after the table. |
|
/OU outputpath |
Logs the contents of the Output window to outputpath. |
|
/L libraryname |
Identifies the library that contains the object you want to open. |
|
/O objectname |
Identifies the object, such as a DataWindow object or window, you want to open. |
|
/I objectname |
Identifies the object you want to inherit from. |
|
/N |
Creates a new DataWindow object. |
|
/R |
Runs the DataWindow object specified with /O and allows designing. |
|
/RO |
Runs the DataWindow object specified with /O but does not allow designing. |
|
/A arguments |
Provides arguments for the specified DataWindow object. |
Examples
The following examples assume that the location of the PowerBuilder executable file is in your system path.
This example starts a PowerBuilder session by opening the Window painter in the Client PBL in the Math workspace. The output of the session is sent to a file called math.log. The workspace file, the PBL, and the log file are all in the current directory:
pb170 /w Math.pbw /l Client.pbl /p window /out math.log
Enter this command to start PowerBuilder and open the DataWindow object called d_emp_report in the workspace Emp.pbw:
pb170 /w D:\pbws\Emp.pbw /P dataw /O d_emp_report
Building from the command line
You can also build and deploy a workspace from the command line. For more information, see Building workspaces.
