SnapDevelop 2021 Installation Guide

Last Updated: July 2021

PowerBuilder Installer is an online installer that automatically downloads and extracts the installation files. Your machine must be connected to the Internet during the installation process. If you need an offline installer, you can download it from the PowerBuilder Installer.

When you run the PowerBuilder Installer, you get the option to install SnapDevelop, including the plugins .NET DataStore (DataWindow Converter) and PowerScript Migrator. Note that you need a PowerBuilder Professional license or above to use .NET DataStore (DataWindow Converter), and a PowerBuilder CloudPro license to use PowerScript Migrator. If you do not have a valid license yet, you can install the programs first, and then apply for a trial license.

Planning Your Installation

Before you install, prepare your environment.

  • Make sure your system meets installation requirements.

  • Identify software required.

System Requirements

Make sure your system meets all requirements before you install SnapDevelop 2021.

This table provides system requirements for SnapDevelop. The disk space requirements provided are approximate. The actual disk space you need for each product might vary depending on hard disk size, partitioning, and the features you choose to install. Additional temporary space is required on the hard disk during installation for uncompressing installation files.

CPU Minimum Memory Hard Disk Space Operating System
Intel Core i3 or higher (1.8 GHz or faster, dual-core or better recommended) 2 GB (4 GB recommended) 2 GB Windows 8.1 32-bit or 64-bit
Windows 10 32-bit or 64-bit version 1607 or higher (excluding Windows IoT and Windows Embedded Compact)

If your current machine runs on Windows 8.1, make sure that KB 2919355 has already been installed; if your current machine runs on Windows 10, make sure Windows 10 version 1607 (OS Build 14393.3930) or higher is installed.

Software Requirements

Database Server Requirements

SnapDevelop IDE (mainly SQLQuery and DataWindow Converter) can connect with the following database types and versions:

DB Type DB Version
MySQL
Amazon RDS for MySQL
Amazon Aurora for MySQL
Azure Database for MySQL		 5.6, 5.7, or 8.0
8.0.20
5.6.10a
5.6
PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
Amazon Aurora for PostgreSQL
Azure Database for PostgreSQL		 9.6, 10.1, 11.3, or 12
12.3-R
11.6
11
Oracle
Amazon RDS for Oracle		 12c, 18c, or 19c
12.1.0.1
SQL Server
Amazon RDS for SQL Server
Azure SQL Database		 2016, 2017, or 2019
2017 14.00.3281.6.v1
Latest SQL Server engine (as at September, 2020)
Informix 12.x or 14
SQLite 3
Adaptive Server Enterprise (ODBC) 16.0
SQL Anywhere (ODBC) 16 (16.0.0.2043 or later) or 17
HANA (ODBC) 2.0

The .NET DataStore and SnapObjects NuGet packages can connect with the following databases using the specified data provider:

DB Type Data Provider
MySQL 5.6, 5.7, or 8.0
Amazon RDS for MySQL 8.0.20
Amazon Aurora for MySQL 5.6.10a
Azure Database for MySQL 5.6		 SnapObjects.Data.MySql.dll
PostgreSQL 9.6, 10.1, 11.3, or 12
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL 12.3-R
Amazon Aurora for PostgreSQL 11.6
Azure Database for PostgreSQL 11		 SnapObjects.Data.PostgreSql.dll
Oracle 12c, 18c, or 19c
Amazon RDS for Oracle 12.1.0.1		 SnapObjects.Data.Oracle.dll
SQL Server 2016, 2017, or 2019
Amazon RDS for SQL Server 2017 14.00.3281.6.v1
Azure SQL Database (Latest SQL Server engine as at September, 2020)		 SnapObjects.Data.SqlServer.dll
Informix 12.x or 14 SnapObjects.Data.Informix.dll
SQLite 3 SnapObjects.Data.Sqlite.dll
Adaptive Server Enterprise 16.0 SnapObjects.Data.Odbc.dll
SQL Anywhere 16 (16.0.0.2043 or later) or 17 SnapObjects.Data.Odbc.dll
HANA 2.0 SnapObjects.Data.Odbc.dll

SnapObjects.Data.Odbc.dll can connect with SQL Anywhere database, Adaptive Server Enterprise database, and HANA database at this moment.

Preinstallation Tasks

This topic describes tasks to perform before installation.

  • Log in to Windows as an administrator, as you must have administrator privileges to run the installer.
  • Read the release bulletins for the latest information on the products that you are installing. Release bulletin is available on the Appeon Documentation Center at https://docs.appeon.com/snapdevelop2021/Release_Bulletin/index.html.
  • Make sure the drive on which you install SnapDevelop is not compressed. If compression is enabled on the installation drive, the installer fails.
  • Make sure you have a TEMP environment variable that points to an existing directory location with at least 2GB free space. The installer writes files to this directory during the installation and frees the space after the installation is complete.
  • Close any open applications.
  • Read Software Requirements to determine whether you need to install any software before installing SnapDevelop.

Online Installation

If the PowerBuilder Installer executable does not start automatically, you can start it manually from your download directory.

  1. Double click PowerBuilderInstaller_bootstrapper.exe to start the installer (you must have administrator privileges to run the installer).

  2. Select to agree to the license terms and click Continue.

  3. Click Install under PowerBuilder 2021.

    If you have already installed an older version of SnapDevelop, click Install and then select Yes to proceed.

  4. PowerBuilder Installer shows the installed product(s) as well as the available product(s) in the Programs tab. Select SnapDevelop and any other program(s) you want to install from the Programs tab.

    PowerBuilder Installer will also check if the prerequisites have been installed; if not installed, a warning message (and installation instructions if any) will be displayed on the right of page.

  5. Based on the program(s) you selected, the available components will be shown in the Components tab. Select the components you want to install.

    The required components or prerequisites are automatically selected and cannot be de-selected. The installed components/prerequisites will still be listed but cannot be selected (the selection box is greyed out).

  6. In the Locations tab, use the default download location and installation location or specify where you want the product to be downloaded and installed.

    Note there is an "Automatically delete the downloaded files after the installation is complete" option under Download Location. You may want to select this option if you will not use the downloaded files for other installations. This will make sure the downloaded files won't waste your disk space.

  7. Click Install to begin the installation.

  8. When installation is complete, read the status message carefully to make sure installation is successful. If you have performed a full installation (not an update), click Restart Now to restart the machine immediately or click Restart Later to manually restart the machine later.

Offline Installation

Offline installation helps users install the product on the machine where Internet connection is not available.

Downloading Offline Installer

The offline installer can be downloaded from the PowerBuilder Installer. Launch the PowerBuilder Installer, select Download Offline Installer, and then select the products and components to download (by default all available products and components are selected).

When the download is complete, click Open Folder (the default folder is C:\ProgramData\Appeon\InstallPackages) to get the standalone installation package (the offline installer). Now you can distribute the offline installer to any computer to install the product.

Starting Offline Installer

The SnapDevelop 2021 offline installer is included in the PowerBuilder offline installer, therefore you will run the PowerBuilder installer to install SnapDevelop.

To launch the downloaded offline installer:

  1. Exit any programs that are running.

  2. Run the Autorun.exe file in the package of the offline installer of PowerBuilder (you must have administrator privileges to run the installer).

  3. Click Install.

    The installer collects basic information before launching the individual installer for SnapDevelop.

Installing SnapDevelop

Run the offline installer to install SnapDevelop. The installer collects basic information before beginning the SnapDevelop installation.

To install SnapDevelop:

  1. On the start page of the installer, select Install.

  2. On the Welcome page, click Next.

  3. On the License Agreement page, read the license agreement, select the I accept the terms of the license agreement radio button, and click Next.

  4. On the Customer Information page, enter your name and your company's name.

  5. On the Select Products page, select SnapDevelop, .NET DataStore, and PowerScript Migrator and click Next to continue.

    If Universal C Runtime is not installed, the installer will display a list of packages that need to be installed. After you manually download and install the packages in the provided order, click Next.

  6. On the Choose Destination Location page, click Next to accept the destination path shown, or click Browse and select a different path, click OK, and click Next.

  7. On the Choose Destination Location For Shared Files page, click Next to accept the destination path, or click Browse to select a different path, click OK, and click Next.

  8. Select to install SnapDevelop and Prerequisites (Microsoft .NET Framework SDK, Microsoft .NET Core SDK, and TypeScript SDK).

    The Prerequisites are automatically selected and cannot be de-selected.

  9. Click Next until installer begins installing files for SnapDevelop.

After installation, make sure users have write permission to their user profile directories (for example, Public Documents in Windows 10), and HKEY_CURRENT_USER in the Windows registry.

Completing Offline Installer

After SnapDevelop is installed, you return to the installer.

To complete the offline installer:

  1. On the InstallShield Wizard Complete page, click Finish to complete the installation.

    If you do not deselect the check box on this page, installer displays the readme file.

  2. On the System Reboot Required page, click Finish to reboot your computer, or choose to reboot your computer later.

    After installing SnapDevelop, always shut down and restart your computer before using it.

The installer generates a log file PBLog*.txt in %SystemRoot%\System32\AppeonInstallLog (in 32-bit OS) or %SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\AppeonInstallLog (in 64-bit OS).

What the Installer Does

The installer installs files and updates the Windows registry:

  • Installs SnapDevelop files (as well as SnapObjects runtime packages) in an Appeon directory.
  • Installs system files in the Windows operating system path.
  • Creates a program group and icons for SnapDevelop.
  • Creates uninstall files to identify what needs to be removed if you uninstall SnapDevelop.
  • Makes changes to the Windows registry:
    • Creates or updates the key in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software.
    • Updates system and user paths in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment.
    • Adds the appropriate paths to the registry path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths.

Installing in Silent (Unattended) Mode

Install SnapDevelop from a Command Prompt window or script, without displaying messages or windows during the installation process.

  1. Accept the license agreement.

  2. Run silentinstall.bat in the SnapDevelop installation folder, for example, "SnapDevelop-2021-1288-EN".

Accepting the License Agreement

Edit the silentinstall.bat file located in the SnapDevelop installation package and change the value of AgreeToAppeonLicense from false to true.

set AgreeToAppeonLicense=true

Silent Install Commands

To run the silent installation from a Windows Command Prompt, run this command in the installation package:

silentinstall.bat
[ "opt=product" "dir=directoryName" "log=logFileName" ]
[ { help | /? } ]

The parameters can be listed in any order and are case-insensitive. Parameter values are case-insensitive as well.

Silent Installation Parameter Description
opt Specifies the name of the product to install. For SnapDevelop, the value is "SDEV".
dir Indicates the main installation directory. If you omit this parameter, silentinstall installs the product to the sysDriver\Program Files\Appeon\productName directory, where sysDriver is the main computer drive, and productName is "SnapDevelop 2021".
log Names the log file for the installation. If you omit this parameter, the log file is written to the system Temp directory with the file name, silentinstall.log.
help or /? Command syntax and parameters instead of running the command.

The following example uses all parameters for the silent installation command:

silentinstall.bat "opt=sdev" "dir=D:\appeon\sd190" "log=D:\appeon\install.log"

When installing SnapDevelop, the silent installation writes warnings to its log file if the computer does not have the correct version of any of these items:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework

  • Microsoft .NET Framework SDK

(Optional) Configuring SilentInstall.ini

You can modify the default installation path and upgrade strategy in the SilentInstall.ini file located in the SnapDevelop installation package.

Activating SnapDevelop

For more instructions, refer to Activating SnapDevelop in Appeon License User Guide.

Uninstalling SnapDevelop

This topic describes how to uninstall SnapDevelop.

Use one of these methods to run the uninstall program for the product that you want to uninstall:

  • Add or Remove Programs dialog box

    1. Make a backup copy of any files you might want to reuse (such as DB, source code files) if you plan to reinstall.

    2. Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and double-click the Add/Remove Programs button.

    3. On the Install/Uninstall tab page, select the product to uninstall, click Add/Remove, and click Yes when prompted to confirm that you want to uninstall the tool.

    4. If you are prompted to delete a shared file, choose the appropriate response.

      If the usage count for a system file in the registry indicates that the file is no longer being used, the uninstall program asks if you want to delete the file. Some applications do not increment the usage count; therefore, do not delete a file unless you are sure it is not being used by another application.

  • Silent uninstallation

    Run the silentuninstall.bat file in the SnapDevelop installation package.

The uninstall program removes:

  • Shared and standard program files

  • Folder items

  • Program folders

  • Program directories

  • Program registry entries

The uninstall program deletes file and icon groups, as well as system and user path settings in the registry. Simply deleting directories does not fully uninstall these products.