![TRANSLATION PROCESS
The extracted labels are added to an array containing the
translation in a dropdown datawindow. The translated
values are extracted using a computed field containing the
lookupdisplay() function.
graphicobject[40] = cb_close
string[40] = ‘Close’
graphicobject[40].text = trans_value[40]
– Company Confidential – March 31, 2012](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/wbcstpatrixbuckwoolley5-13jssedit-130120121524-phpapp02/85/Modernizing-UI-of-a-Powebuilder-Application-43-320.jpg)
Modernizing UI of a Powebuilder Application
- 1. KEEPING POWERBUILDER APPLICATIONS COMPETITIVE Buck Woolley, Patrix AB, Powerbuilder Developer John Strano, Sybase, an SAP Company, Technology Evangelist May 17, 2012
- 2. INTRODUCTION Buck Woolley, Powerbuilder Consultant at Patrix AB, 2004 - Present He has been actively developing software for a variety of clients and industries using Powerbuilder since version 3.1. He is the author of several articles on advanced Powerbuilder datawindow development in both PBDJ and ISUG journals. He has delivered presentations on the same subject at several Techwave conferences and won the 2007 ISUG journal award for the article ‘Utilizing the Power of the Datawindow Object’. Some of his work can be seen on the website www.dw- extreme.com. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 3. AGENDA • What is the product? • What is the market? • What were the goals? • Design considerations. • Look at several specific changes to the application. • Detail some Powerbuilder techniques used in the update. • Look at addition examples of user interface upgrades. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 4. PRODUCT - PATRICIA • Intellectual Property... inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs and copyrights. • “Patricia is an enterprise wide solution that provides point-and-click access to case data and automatic tracking of relevant IP, i.e., laws/regulations, standard forms, time and cost registration, invoicing, document management including mail merge activities and batch processing. “ • Monthly maintenance releases, yearly major release. • Main application Patricia and a separate maintenance system for setup. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 5. PRODUCT - PATRICIA • First Windows release started development in 1995. The application contained the look and feel that was popular at the time. • Originally developed for resolution of 800 x 600 SVGA • Change in the mid 2000’s for 1024 x 768 XGA – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 6. MARKET • Clients located worldwide. • IP departments of corporations across all industries, IP departments of law firms and specialized patent bureaus. • Single person offices to largest corporate entities. • One - several hundred users. • For each installation the requirements are quite varied. Complex conversion processes. • Support SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 7. IP TRIVIA.... What was the first trademark ever registered and when? – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 8. IP TRIVIA.... What was the first trademark ever registered and when? 1876 – The Bass Brewery’s Red Triangle for ale was the first trademark to be registered under the Trade Mark Registration Act 1875 in England – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 9. GOALS • To modernized the user interface of the application for competitive reasons by taking advantage of new features in Powerbuilder. • Improve and unify window presentation • Provide for more user customization of windows and lists • Have applications fully localized, allow for the creation of custom languages. • Allow users to switch from old to new GUI at runtime to facilitate the change. • Better organization of querying and reporting, clean up menus. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 10. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Complete makeover, not just an upgrade of the existing UI. • Keep all existing functionality, use as much existing code as possible. • Provide a more consistent experience throughout the application • Provide full customization of security, functionality, presentation to the user/group level. • Had to implement the new UI while doing routine enhancements, wishes and bug fixes. • Must integrate with existing windows, new UI phased in over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 11. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS • Have a bit more of a ‘browser’ look. Present data as a document by showing all data for a section in one scrollable form, only displaying data. Make better use of varied screen resolutions. • Use a design template that would be familiar to most Windows users.... Outlook. Modified with input from in house users and group of client representatives. • Use Powerbuilder classic, deliver standard Win32 application. • Implement the project into three phases, each scheduled for one year. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 12. EXISTING APPLICATION The main window, traditional Windows MDI application that has been expanded and added to over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 13. EXISTING APPLICATION Tabs Traditional Windows MDI application that has been expanded and added to over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 14. EXISTING APPLICATION Command Buttons Traditional Windows MDI application that has been expanded and added to over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 15. EXISTING APPLICATION Various Input, Summary and Image Display areas crowded together Traditional Windows MDI application that has been expanded and added to over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 16. EXISTING APPLICATION Mystery Icons and unmarked hotspots ????? Traditional Windows MDI application that has been expanded and added to over time. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 17. UPDATED APPLICATION Same window in new UI with functional areas clearly defined. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 18. UPDATED APPLICATION Header Information New window with functional areas clearly defined. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 19. UPDATED APPLICATION Window Functional Areas New window with functional areas clearly defined. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 20. UPDATED APPLICATION Functional Area Specific Actions New window with functional areas clearly defined. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 21. UPDATED APPLICATION Work Area New window with functional areas clearly defined. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 22. CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE Basic Case Data – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 23. CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE Contact Management – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 24. CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE Financial Data – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 25. USE MODAL WINDOWS FOR EDIT – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 26. SETTING FUNCTION ACCESS TO USER GROUPS This user has access to all the functional areas – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 27. SETTING FUNCTION ACCESS TO USER GROUPS This user has limited access to functionality – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 28. PRESENT DATA AS DOCUMENT Only Items with data are displayed in a collapsable, scrollable ‘document’ – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 29. PRESENT DATA AS DOCUMENT Small amount of data displayed – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 30. USER DEFINED LISTS Columns in all lists can be selected, moved and resized by the user. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 31. TRANSLATED AT RUNTIME Translated by user and groups. Clients can create their own language for custom labels. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 32. TRANSLATED AT RUNTIME Localization by user and groups. Clients can create their own language for custom labels. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 33. IMPROVED REPORT REQUESTING Report requests were scattered on the MDI menu – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 34. IMPROVED REPORT REQUESTING Reports are now consolidated on a report request window. Access can be controlled per user group. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 35. IMPROVED REPORT REQUESTING Specific report lists for each section can be opened by the user. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 36. IMPROVED REPORT CREATION List creation and formatting together in one step. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 37. IMPROVED REPORT CREATION Users are presented with all possible columns to choose and arrange in a list. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 38. IMPROVED REPORT CREATION Users can then format the list into separate report using the Flex Report component from Felix. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 39. NEW POWERBUILDER FEATURES – BACKGROUND SHADING Background shading effects, introduced in Powerbuilder 11.5, are used extensively to give the application a modern appearance. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 40. NEW POWERBUILDER FEATURES - TREEVIEW DATAWINDOW The treeview datawindow, introduced in Powerbuilder 10.5, is used in many windows. An nvo was created to turn any list into a user configurable treeview enabled grid datawindow. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 41. TRANSLATION PROCESS • 1. Retrieve all translations at startup for the users language. • 2. As a window is opened, extract and store all text strings and objects associated with the window and all included user objects and datawindows. • 3. During the open event, translate all strings matching string text and the text objects owner if necessary. • 4. Apply translations back to the text parameters of stored objects. If no translation is found then use the existing text. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 42. TRANSLATION PROCESS At application start up, retrieve all strings for the users language into a globally defined dropdown datawindow containing the base(english) data string and the translated(french) display string. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 43. TRANSLATION PROCESS The extracted labels are added to an array containing the translation in a dropdown datawindow. The translated values are extracted using a computed field containing the lookupdisplay() function. graphicobject[40] = cb_close string[40] = ‘Close’ graphicobject[40].text = trans_value[40] – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 44. SUMMARY • Created a complete makeover of the UI. Patricia now has a modern competitive user interface. • From a sales perspective: ‘...being a big change to look and feel, there was a little reluctance from old Patricia users to change but within 30 minutes of doing so they all realised the many benefits of the new GUI. New users take to it immediately as it is very logical and user-friendly....’ – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 45. ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES • Apply the new datawindow objects visual properties introduced in Powerbuilder 11.5 to advanced dynamic datawindows to create modern user interfaces. • Specifically used the object background and transparency properties. • Example - Planner datawindow – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 46. EXISTING PLANNER WINDOW – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 47. NEW SCHEDULER WINDOW Applied a new color scheme and implemented the background gradients and object transparency from Powerbuilder 11.5. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 48. NEW PLANNER WINDOW New features from PB 11.5 such as background effects and transparency create a modern look. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 49. NEW PLANNER WINDOW PB applications can be modern. Camtasia and PB. – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 50. THE FUTURE??? Moving to devices with Appeon Mobile – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 51. THE FUTURE??? Moving to devices with Appeon Mobile – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 52. RESOURCES • Datawindow techniques slide presentation from 2006 Sybase Techwave. http://www.slideshare.net/bwoolley3/techwave-2006- advanced-datawindow-techniques • PBDJ The Powerbuilder Datawindow as an Image Thumbnail Display Control, Jan 2012 • PBDJ Datawindow Consolidation, In Print • PBDJ List Management Using the Datawindow, Coming Soon • Patrix website www.patrix.com • Flex Report Control http://www.felix.fr/produits/flxReport/flxReport.cfm – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
- 53. CONTACT • Email: bwoolley@dw-extreme.com • Skype: bwoolley • LinkedIn: Buck Woolley • Location: San Diego, CA • Website www.dw-extreme.com • New website under construction on www.behance.net/dw-extreme – Company Confidential – March 31, 2012
Editor's Notes
- #4: If time allows then there will be a demo at the end followed by Q&A
- #5: Basically a workflow product for the IP market. There are many variables in the workflow of IP cases including the country and/organization its filed in Spain vs European Union, especially relevant to items such as deadlines and fees, the type of case Patent vs Trademark, the nature of the application provisional, priority founding, continuation etc.
- #7: 1. clients located worldwide > must be flexible as laws vary in different countries application must be translated 2. The way they use Patricia can be quite different. Some firms specialize in patents, some in trademarks, one is different from the other. 5. Depends what kind of system was in place before Patricia next trivia
- #10: 4 - Custom languages allow for clients to build custom labels to more closely mirror the way they do business. Different firms /countries may have different terminology.
- #12: This refers to presenting data in a document format in a single collapsable scrolling form. Screenshots next
- #46: Provide a little history about the planner.
- #49: notice the header text and the bars have the 3d gradient. The close up on the right shows a dropdown datawindow that contains a simple bar graph with bars on a scale. Not only do the bars have gradients with transparancy but the entire dropdown datawindow has a degree of transparancy for a nice effect.