Upgrading from earlier versions of PowerBuilder
There are different strategies for upgrading existing source control projects from earlier versions of PowerBuilder. To upgrade a target from PowerBuilder 8 or later, you can check the target out from source control, then add the target to a workspace in the new version of PowerBuilder. When the Migrate Application dialog box prompts you to migrate the libraries in the application library list, click OK to begin the migration.
If you change the directory hierarchy for target libraries in the new version of PowerBuilder, you should use the Existing Application target wizard to create a new target instead of adding and upgrading a PowerBuilder 8 or later target. If you keep the old target file (PBT) in the new target path, you must give the new target a different name or the wizard will not be able to create a new PBT.
For information on using the Existing Application target wizard, see Using the Existing Application target wizard.
When you open a PowerBuilder 8 or later workspace in the current version of PowerBuilder, a dialog box prompts you to upgrade the workspace targets. If you select the No Prompting check box and click OK, the target libraries are upgraded without additional prompting, and the Migrate Application dialog box never displays. You can then add the migrated target objects to source control from the new version of PowerBuilder.
For more information about upgrade, see Upgrading targets.
Removing PowerBuilder 8
If you remove PowerBuilder 8 from a computer where you have already installed a later version of PowerBuilder, the setup program deletes the PBNative registry entry. Subsequently, if you want to use PBNative source control with PowerBuilder, you must reregister PBNAT.dll. Attempting to use PBNative before reregistering the DLL produces an error message that points out the problem and the solution. You can reregister the DLL by opening a DOS command box, changing to the %AppeonInstallPath%\PowerBuilder [version]\IDE directory, and entering the command REGSVR32 PBNAT.dll.
Removing PowerBuilder 9 or later does not remove the DLL or the registry entry for PBNative source control.
Upgrading from PowerBuilder 7 or earlier
Upgrading an application from PowerBuilder 7 or earlier requires a different approach, since workspaces and targets were introduced with PowerBuilder 8. You need to create a new workspace and appropriate targets for any PowerBuilder 7 (or older) objects that you are upgrading.
The strategies available to you or the project manager are:
To use the first strategy, you must keep a copy of the old version of PowerBuilder -- at least until you have finished upgrading all your source-controlled PBLs.
Source control in early PowerBuilder versions
Because workspaces and targets were not available in PowerBuilder prior to version 8, you must use the Existing Application wizard to create targets for applications that you built with PowerBuilder 7 or earlier PowerBuilder versions. A source control project in PowerBuilder 7 (or earlier PowerBuilder versions) was associated with a single application.
Beginning with PowerBuilder 8, source control is associated with a workspace that can have multiple targets and applications.
If you keep a copy of your old version of PowerBuilder, you can check out your application object and all other objects from source control to a work PBL. By checking out the objects in the older version of PowerBuilder, you make sure that no one else makes changes to the objects before you upgrade them to the current version of PowerBuilder.
Deciding on a directory hierarchy
You should decide on a directory hierarchy before you upgrade. PowerBuilder 7 and earlier versions required you to keep all source-controlled files in a single directory. Beginning with PowerBuilder 8, you can create subdirectories to contain each PBL in your library list. Although this is not required, it is useful in that it keeps objects from different PBLs separated in source control subprojects.
You must also decide whether to add a new target to an existing PowerBuilder workspace or to a new workspace that you create specifically for the target. You can then use the Existing Application target wizard to create a new target from the local copies of your registered PBLs (making sure to select all the supporting PBLs for your application on the Set Library Search Path page of the wizard). When you run the wizard, PowerBuilder prompts you to upgrade the PBLs you select.
After you have run the wizard and upgraded all the source-controlled PBLs, you can define the source control connection profile for the workspace to point to the old source control project if you want to maintain it, or to a new source control project if you do not. You can then check in or add the upgraded objects to source control and delete the work PBL containing the older versions of the objects. You do not need a separate work PBL in PowerBuilder 9 or later.
To migrate a source control project using the Existing Application wizard
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From your old version of PowerBuilder, check out your objects to a work PBL.
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Decide on a new file hierarchy for the libraries in your application library list.
You can keep all the libraries in the same directory if you want, but it can be advantageous to create separate subdirectories for each library in the list. If you plan to share libraries among different targets, you should structure the directories so that the common libraries are in the local root path of every target that uses them.
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Create a new workspace in the new version of PowerBuilder, or open an existing workspace in the new version of PowerBuilder.
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Create a new target using the Existing Application wizard.
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In the wizard, point to the PBL with an Application object and add all the helper PBLs to the library search path.
PowerBuilder prompts you to upgrade the PBLs.
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Click Yes to upgrade each library in the path.
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Create a source connection profile for the workspace that points to the old source control project or to a new project.
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Check in the upgraded objects to source control if you are using the old source control project, or add the upgraded objects to source control if you are using a new source control project.
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Delete the work PBL whenever you want.
You can use your source control manager to check out all the old PowerBuilder objects to a named directory or folder. If you plan to use the same project to store your upgraded objects, you must make sure that the manager locks the files you check out of the source control archive.
You can create a new target using the Application target wizard in a new or existing workspace. The Application wizard lets you select or name a new PBL file to associate with the target it creates. You can use the Target property sheet to list any additional PBLs you want to associate with the target.
You can then import the files that you checked out of source control, distributing them as needed to the libraries you associated with the new target. After importing the files, you can upgrade the target by right-clicking it in the System Tree and selecting Migrate from the target pop-up menu. You should also do a full build of the target. After you have upgraded and built the target, you can define the connection profile for the workspace to point to the old source control project if you want to maintain it, or to a new source control project if you do not.
