EA and PowerBuilder reverse engineering

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi,

we have just released a beta version of the first generation of the tool for reverse engineering of PowerBuilder applications.
The tool will not only reverse engineer the objects and the code itself, it will also reverse engineer the User Interface, modeling each window using the Screen and GUI Elements in the EA.
Each PowerBuilder library is represented as a Package, each object in the library is reverse engineered as a class, stereotyped to indicate the PowerBuilder object type. All of the attributes, controls, events and functions are reverse engineered as well, the PowerScript code is placed into the behaviour field.
This version does NOT place the reverse engineered objects on a diagram (except for the User Interface) nor does it draw relationships between them. This feature will be added shortly.
This version has been developed and tested for PB9, it will work in many instances with earlier versions of PowerBuilder, incompatibilities are likely to be encountered when reverse engineering the User Interface. Version of the tool that supports PB7, PB8 and PB9 will be released shortly as well.

You can download the tool here:
www.standardcase.com/download/EAPB.zip

You will also need a runtime:
www.standardcase.com/download/PBCLTRT90.zip

I will apprecciate any feedback or comments as well as requests for enhancements or additions.

Bruno Cossi
[email protected]

P.S. We are currently looking into a code generation functionality for PowerBuilder. I will keep you updated.

[Keith Bollwahn]

This is great news!  I'm looking forward to the ability to do PowerBuilder 7.  Could you check you download link, the runtime worked ok, but can't get to the app.

Thanks

[Bruno.Cossi]

My apology, the link is here:

www.standardcase.com/download/EAPB.zip

Bruno

[Keith Bollwahn]

Buno,

I've downloaded the tool and runtime files, thanks.  Could you post a quick & dirty how-to on setting up and using the tool?  

When I first ran it I got a error that 'libjsybheap.dll' could not be located.  I searched my system, found and pasted a copy into to folder with the tool.  The next time I got an Ordinal Not Found error 'The ordinal 33 could not be located in the dynamic link library libjsybheap.dll'  The copy of libjsybheap.dll I have is dated '09/19/2002 6:23 PM'

Thanks for any help you may have,

Keith

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi Keith,

have you downloaded and installed the runtime?
There may be potential problem due to the fact that you are running PB7 (I am guessing) and the tool is built in PB9. It may access the older version of DLL while it expects the newer one.
When you run installation of the runtime, it will save whole bunch of DLLs under "Program Files\Sybase\Shared\Power Builder". (Mind you, most of the files are hidden). The libjsybheap.dll should be dated Feb-1, 2003.
Please make sure to install the runtime first. If the error still occurs, let me know at [email protected]

Thanks!

Bruno

[Keith Bollwahn]

Thanks Bruno,

That's got it running - slick  

Looks like I'll need to wait for the 7.0 support to go much further.  It ran thru and set up the packages for each pbl but there was nothing in the packages.  I'll check with the programers here for what I should be seeing in each pbl.  Keep up the good work.

Keith

[Bruno.Cossi]

We will have the PB7 support before end of the week. I will make sure that you are the first one to know about it! :-)

Thanks,
Bruno

P.S. You can download trial version of PB9 from www.sybase.com.

[Samuel B]

Hi Bruno,

Like Keith, It ran thru and set up the packages for each pbl but there was nothing in the packages.
I am going to make tries with PB9 and wait for the 7.0 support to go further for my project.

Samuel

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi Samuel,

the PB8 version will be available tomorrow, PB7 shortly afterwards. The problem is that Sybase does not support PB7 anymore.
New release of the tool, that creates diagrams of object hierarchy as well, shall be released later on today. I will post the link to it here.

Bruno

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi,

a new release is currently available for download at:
www.standardcase.com/download/EAPB.zip

Additions in this release:
- The inheritance relationships between reverse engineered objects are created
- "Object Hierarchy" package is created during the reverse engineering, objects are placed on diagrams that illustrate the object hierarchy/inheritance
- the DataWindows are now being reverse engineered as well
- Events are distinguished from functions by a stereotype <<event>>
- Arguments and return values of methods are now correctly reverse engineered

This release supports PowerBuilder 9.0. Support for PB 8 will be released today. Support for PB 7 is pending feedback from Sybase as Sybase is not supporting PB7 anymore.

I will be happy to provide more information or support and even more happy to hear your comments!

Thanks,

Bruno

[email protected]

P.S. New releases of these tools are currently scheduled for the next week:
- Project Architect (project planning, estimation, metrics, generation of MS Project plan)
- EA ERD (conversion of Entity-Relationship diagrams between Oracle Designer and EA)
- Rose Architect (conversion between Rational Rose and EA)

[Bruno.Cossi]

Hi,

a new release is currently available for download at: www.standardcase.com/download/EAPB.zip

Additions in this release:
- datawindows are now reverse engineered including all the objects placed on them
- the Retrieve method is included on reverse engineered datawindows, including the retrieval arguments
- the underlying SQL is placed into the Behaviour of the Retrieve method
- diagram with reverse engineered User Interface is now placed both into the User Interface View and under each reverse engineered window

Next release is currently scheduled for early next week. Any feedback is welcome!

Thanks,

Bruno

[email protected]

P.S. We are currently moving our servers, should you have problems downloading the tool, please either try later or contact me for assistance.

[Keith Bollwahn]

  Shameless Plug Time...

To anybody that might be following this topic, this app is coming along very nicely.  If you are working in a PowerBuilder environment, it's well worth your time to take a look.

Keith

[Bruno.Cossi]

Thank you Keith! :-)
Your help and all the excellent suggestions are much appreciated!

Bruno

[Bruno.Cossi]

We have added a bit of functionality into the PB Convertor:
- UserObjects that are of a visual style are now reverse engineered in the same way as windows, i.e. the User Interface is reverse engineered as well. The diagram containing the model of UI is placed both underneath the class representing the UserObject and under the User Interface View
- DataWindows' UserInterface is now reverse engineered in the same way. In certain cases a graphical issue appears, causing an overlap of text and controls. This will be resolved in the next release.

The next release is scheduled for April 20-22 and will, besides other functionality, include:

- Resolution of graphical issues with reverse engineering of DataWindows' User Interface
- Option to automatically link DataWindows to the underlying tables provided the tables exist in the EA model
- Ability to choose the target package where the reverse engineered model would be placed to
- Parsing of the code in order to indicate usage of DataWindow and Pipeline objects throughout the application

Near future releases will include:
- Placement of DataWindows and UserObjects onto Windows as DiagramFrame

Any feedback is much appreciated, comments and questions are welcome!

Enjoy :-)

Bruno

[Samuel B]

Hi Bruno,

We have to carry our application in PB9.
I tried with it, the reverse engineering don't work to the end, the progress window closed without message.


I have a question :
Is the tool going to be integrated in Entreprise Architect or goes remain an external tools ?

Samuel