Introduction to PowerBuilder

Customizable Weblinks on PowerBuilder Menu

You can display up to four web links on the PowerBuilder menu under the 'Help' menu bar item. When you install PowerBuilder, you see the following links.

To customize these links, you need to edit pb.ini file that is located in the PowerBuilder installation directory. The .INI file is a file that stores initialization values of an application such as defaults, last used values and preferences. A .INI file is divided into sections and each section name is surrounded by square brackets. A partial listing of section 'PB' looks like:

[PB] CompilerWarnings=1 DashesInIdentifiers=1 DatabaseWarnings=1 Maximized=1

Each variable in the section is placed on the left and the value on the right separated by an equal sign. Take the example of 'Compiler Warnings'. It is placed on the left and its value 1 on the right of the '=' sign. The keywords of web links are WebLink1, WebLink2, WebLink3, and WebLink4 that can be found under 'PB' section.

To edit these web links, you need to supply the name you want to see on the menu and the actual web site address separated by a comma. For example, open pb.ini file and replace the code for those four variables with the code shown below and save the file.

WebLink1=&Powersoft Web Site,http://www.sybase.com/products/tools/products.html WebLink2=&Electronic Case Management,https://support.sybase.com/cust_prim/cgi-bin/Logon.cgi?refer=https://support.sybase.com/ecm-bin/services/ WebLink3=PowerBuilder &Online Books Site,http://sybooks.sybase.com WebLink4=PowerBuilder Online Courses,http://www.applied-software.com

In the above code, you find '&' (Ampersand) characters. An ampersand creates an accelerator key for the menu item. An accelerator key is a letter that you press in combination with an 'Alt' key to access the menu item quickly without using a mouse. For example, you can press 'Alt + F' and 'O' keys to access File > Open from the menu.

If you restart PowerBuilder, the changed options under the 'Help' menu bar item will be as shown in the picture.

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