PBDJ - PowerBuilder Journal

"Microsoft is pleased to be working with Sybase to enable custom tools such as PowerBuilder," said Matt Carter, Microsoft's Group Product Manager for Visual Studio, as Sybase yesterday announced the beta availability for PowerBuilder 12, a new generation of Sybase’s proven development tool. "By leveraging the Visual Studio Shell," Carter continued, "Sybase is providing its community of developers with even more flexibility in building and deploying data driven applications that target the Windows platform."

This latest release of the award-winning PowerBuilder empowers developers with the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective path to the Microsoft .NET Framework, the Microsoft Windows component that that supports building and running the next generation of applications.

“PowerBuilder 12 is one of the most significant releases in the product’s history,” said David Tong, VP of Engineering at Sybase. “We have recognized the need in the PowerBuilder community for a versatile and open .NET development tool and have responded with a solution that empowers developers to quickly and easily deliver .NET Framework-based applications without limitations via end-to-end managed code.”

Sybase will ship PowerBuilder with two self-contained modules, one designed for Windows 32-based development and a new comprehensive module for developing Windows Presentation Foundation-based applications on top of the Microsoft Visual Studio shell.

“By leveraging the Visual Studio Shell, Sybase is providing its community of developers with even more flexibility in building and deploying data driven applications that target the Windows platform,” said Matt Carter, Group Product Manager, Visual Studio, Microsoft.  “Microsoft is pleased to be working with Sybase to enable custom tools such as PowerBuilder.”

PowerBuilder 12 works with the Visual Studio infrastructure to expand productivity for the .NET Framework, enhancing development of Windows Presentation Foundation applications. With the release of PowerBuilder 12, Sybase becomes the only vendor to allow customers to maximize their existing investment in code and skills with a solution that converts Win32® code to the .NET Framework seamlessly and removes the pain of expensive migration.

PowerBuilder 12 continues the tradition of simplifying application development by taking advantage of the features in the Visual Studio shell, and going to the next level by enhancing ease of use and adding new functionality not available in any other IDE for the .NET Framework.  Sybase's patented DataWindow has been completely rewritten to natively support Windows Presentation Foundation and allow for deployment of fully managed code in .NET Framework-based applications.

PowerBuilder 12 provides key new features and benefits, including:

• One tool, two modules that provide comprehensive support for both Win32 and .NET Framework development - build and maintain Win32 applications and migrate existing code to Windows Forms, WebForms, ASP.NET and Windows Presentation Foundation, as well as build new Windows Presentation Foundation-based applications and deploy 100 percent managed code, all with existing PowerBuilder skills
• The ability to leverage the extensive library of plug-ins the Visual Studio ecosystem provides and third-party components from commercial, open source and freeware vendors
• Open and heterogeneous database support for access to virtually any database management system (DBMS)
• A newly rewritten DataWindow that natively supports Windows Presentation Foundation as well as many new presentation styles for an enhanced user experience
• Visual Inheritance for Windows Presentation Foundation windows and User Objects
• Drag-and-drop capability from the Solution Explorer, providing immediate access to properties and methods of controls graphically added to Windows Presentation Foundation windows

POWERBUILDER BETA PROGRAM AT TECHWAVE
The Sybase PowerBuilder 12 beta program is now open. Developers can learn more about the beta program by attending the Sybase TechWave Symposium 2009 on August 26-27 in Washington D.C. Please visit http://www.sybase.com/techwave for details.

For additional information about signing up for the PowerBuilder 12 beta program, please visit: www.sybase.com/powerbuilder12beta