Introduction to PowerBuilder

Introduction to Window Painter

No matter what kind of application you have used, it is the user interface that has been your best friend. Without that you would have been powerless to interact with the software, whether it be to format a document, calculate your tax return or interrogate the information in your local database.

To address to these basic requirements, PowerBuilder provides you with an object that operates in the same customary manner to display information or accept it from the user and in combination with others of its own type, to be used as a guide for the user through the task that the user wishes to complete.

The object that PowerBuilder provides is called a "Window Object". The basic building blocks of the user interface are designed, maintained and customized using the Window Painter.

What is a Window? Is it Microsoft Windows Operating System? The answer is No. A Window in PowerBuilder world is a screen. It is the main interface between the user and the application you develop. Do not confuse it with MS-Windows. Whenever we refer to Microsoft Windows, we always refer as "MS-Windows".

Window is the place where the end-user does the query and sees the report, does the data entry and so on. A window itself doesn't do all these things, instead a Window acts as a placeholder for some controls. There are few controls that the window allows you to place on it. For example, a control to allow you to enter your name, a control that allows you to close the window and so on.

Home	Previous Lesson: Window Painter Next Lesson: Creating a Window