To save a user object
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In the User Object painter, select File>Save from the menu bar or click the Save button in the painter bar.
If you have previously saved the user object, PowerBuilder saves the new version in the same library and returns you to the User Object painter.
If you have not previously saved the user object, PowerBuilder displays the Save User Object dialog box.
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Enter a name in the User Objects box.
For naming considerations, see Naming the user object.
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Enter comments to describe the user object.
These display in the Select User Object dialog box and in the Library painter, and will document the purpose of the user object.
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Specify the library in which to save the user object.
To make a user object available to all applications, save it in a common library and include the library in the library search path for each application.
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Click OK to save the user object.
A user object name can be any valid PowerBuilder identifier up to 40 characters. For information about PowerBuilder identifiers, see the section called “Identifier names” in PowerScript Reference.
Naming conventions
You should adopt naming conventions to make it easy to understand a user object's type and purpose.
One convention you could follow is to use u_ as the prefix for visual user objects and n_ as the prefix for class (nonvisual) user objects. For standard classes, include the standard prefix for the object or control from which the class inherits in the name. For external user objects, include ex_ in the name, and for custom class user objects, include cst_ in the name.
The following table shows some examples of this convention.
Type of user object |
Format |
Example |
---|---|---|
Standard visual |
u_control_purpose |
u_cb_close, a CommandButton that closes a window |
Custom visual |
u_purpose |
u_toolbar, a toolbar |
External visual |
u_ex_purpose |
u_ex_sound, outputs sound |
Standard class |
n_systemobject_purpose |
n_trans_test, derived from the Transaction object and used for testing |
Custom class |
n_cst_purpose |
n_cst_commission, calculates commissions |
For a list of naming conventions, see Naming conventions in Working with Targets.