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"Cheat Sheet" for PowerBuilder/PFC "Help"

Intro & Tour


There are a variety of different avenues for seeking "Help" for your PFC and PowerBuilder questions.  Some avenues are just for looking around to see what is new… and some ways allow you to "bounce ideas" off of other people… and other ways allow you to find a specific answer to your particular question, either by a Sybase expert, or by a PowerBuilder peer, or even simply all by yourself! ...  Pick the ways that are right for you!

Note: If you are just getting started with the PFC, you may want to go first to
"I would like to learn PFC. Where Do I start?"

The following pages are designed to be like a "Cheat Sheet" for remembering where to go to get some "Help".

Wise programmers don't know it all, but they know HOW to find any answer they want or need.  The truth is out there - the web is powerful.  Learn how to work the web.  For if I give you a fish, that will feed you for one day.  But if I teach you how to fish, that will feed you forever.  Not only will the "Cheat Sheet" teach you how to go fish the web, but it will also serve as a powerful tool for you, so that answers will always be at your fingertips.

By the way, over the years, I have had some people ask me, "Sharon, why do you call your site a Cheat Sheet?"  Well, don't worry, it has nothing to do with cheating <g>.  A "Cheat Sheet" is simply a nick-name for like a "Quick Reference"…  Think of it as a summarized, organized set of those all-important Post-It Notes that you have.

So now, let’s get started by going on a brief tour of all of your available options for getting "Help"


THE FIRST PLACE TO LOOK…

Boring, boring, boring... but oh so true, your answers are many times right here in front of you!  So, first and foremost, always keep in mind to check the online help and documentation first Many questions can be answered by doing that alone.  This category includes the help files (PB, PFC & SQLAnywhere), the online reference books and the infobases.

Your Best Friends pbhlp70.hlp ,  pbpfc70.hlp
pbhlp60.hlp ,  pbpfc60.hlp
pbhlp050.hlp, pbpfc050.hlp, dbeng50w.hlp
(make these super easy to access on your PC)
Online, free, up-to-date Books http://sybooks.sybase.com/pb.html
(in titlebar as Online Doc - 7.0,6.0,5.0)
Online, free, up-to-date Infobase http://info.powersoft.com
(in titlebar as Bug?)
Online, free, Sybase Support Search http://support.sybase.com/fd_search.html
(in titlebar as SEARCHSybase)
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USER GROUPS, CONFERENCES & TRAINING… LEARNING IS FUN!

The PowerBuilder User Group meetings and the Sybase Conferences are excellent means to learning bunches and bunches of things in a short amount of time.  I highly recommend taking advantage of these for keeping up with technology and for learning about the ins and outs of others’ experiences.  Many times lasting "contact" relationships are formed at these gatherings as well.

And, of course, it goes without saying that all PFC Training classes are invaluable.  Even classes in PowerBuilder and theory are very beneficial.  There are several options for training available:  Sybase’s classes, self-study materials and tour classes.  All are excellent.  Steve Benfield’s classes are more fast-paced and "advanced" level classes, and I highly recommend them!  Although Benfield has moved on, you can still enjoy the content of his classes past from his cool CDs.  For more information on training, please see:

http://www.stevebenfield.com
http://www.stevebenfield.com//Pages/seminarandcds.html
http://slc.sybase.com/guide/index.html

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EXPERT HELP...

The next available resource for "Help" are the Sybase Newsgroups, hosted by the TeamSybase Gurus. The TeamSybase gurus do a wonderful job of answering your questions quickly, succinctly and correctly…

Visit the Sybase News Server at: forums.powersoft.com

news://forums.powersoft.com/powersoft.public.powerbuilder.pfc         (in titlebar as PFC?)
news://forums.powersoft.com/powersoft.public.powerbuilder.general   (in titlebar as PB?)

 

Another highly recommended avenue is the PFC Guide web site by TeamSybase member Boris Gasin at:

Boris Gasin[TeamSybase]’s PFC Guide site (Has it all!): http://www.pfcguide.com   (in titlebar as PFCGuide)

 

A new avenue is the SDN (Sybase Developer Network) web site by Sybase at:

http://sdn.sybase.com/sdn/index.stm

 

And yet another avenue is the PBDJ Developer Forum web site by the "Power Team" at:

PBDJ Forum http://www.sys-con.com/pbdj/board.htm

 

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POWERBUILDER/SYBASE NEWSLETTERS...

Subscribe to one or more of these PowerBuilder/Sybase Newsletters, and keep current effortlessly...

Sybase Developer Network at http://sdn.sybase.com/sdn/about.stm

justPBinfo at http://www.justpbinfo.com/newsletters/newslettertoc.htm

The Instant Sybase News Service at http://www.sybase.com/programs/i.news

Michael Brown's Pure Power at http://www.magicnet.net/purepower

 

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GET THE FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)

Boris Gasin's PFC Guide has a well-organized and extremely helpful set of PFC FAQs at:

http://www.pfcguide.com/pfc_faq.asp
(in titlebar as FAQs - PFCGuide)

And the PFC Guide also has a handy list of the PFC Faxbacks from Sybase at:

http://www.pfcguide.com/pfclinks.asp#PFC_FaxBack_Documents
(in titlebar as PFCFaxbacks)

The Sybase PowerBuilder Faxbacks are well organized and easy to search at:

http://techinfo.sybase.com/css/techinfo.nsf/FAQs
(in titlebar as PBFaxbacks)

There are also regular PowerBuilder FAQs all inventoried and organized at:

http://www.teleport.com/~wagnerc/powerbuilder_faq.html

 

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PFC/PB-RELATED MAIL LISTS AND USENET NEWSGROUPS

The next available resource category are the PFC/PowerBuilder-related mail lists. Searching the archives of these mail lists are very helpful (and totally free!). You may also subscribe to the mail lists. At the following site, there is a handy little subscribe and unsubscribe to these mail lists:

http://www.opcenter.net/~david_levine/pblmlist.html   (in titlebar as MailList - Subscribe)

In a nutshell, these are some favorites:

"PFC - RRSI"    (PRO: Has searchable archives, PRO: Is PFC-specific)
"PowerBuilder"  (CON: Huge load, PRO/CON: Broad categories, PRO: Monitored by PS)
"PBHelp"           (PRO/CON: Broad categories)
"SQL Anywhere"

Of course, you can get totally inundated with email subscribing to one or more mail list, so you may wish to consult the "E-Control Tips" at http://www.pfccheatsheet.com/mailtips.htm .  Here you will find such tips as using the digest option, using e-mail filters, setting up a separate pop e-mail account, checking/searching the archives, or possibly opting for newsgroups instead.  Here are some of the searchable archives of the mail lists/newsgroups...

(in titlebar as MailList - Search)
http://www.mail-archive.com/pfcsig@rssi.com

http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/listarch?list=PB-L@plearn.edu.pl
http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/pbhelp
http://www.deja.com/ using keywords +comp.soft-sys.powerbuilder +PFC
http://www.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=q&what=news&what=news&kl=XX&q=%2Bcomp.soft-sys.powerbuilder+%2BPFC

In addition, there is a PBHelp mail list (with a digest option) at:

http://www.budgetware.com/lists.htm

And here is the name of the PowerBuilder unmoderated newsgroup:

news:comp.soft-sys.powerbuilder

 

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POWERBUILDER-RELATED MAGAZINES…

Another useful resource are the PowerBuilder-related magazines and publishings.

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PFC/POWERBUILDER BEST BOOKS…

Here are two PFC books that every PFC developer simply must have! Check them out...

Title:  Powerbuilder Foundation Class Library Professional Reference (Team Powersoft Series)
Click here:  http://www.amazon.com
Sneak Peeks:  http://www.pfcguide.com/pfcmag/extension_page01.asp#Introduction
Authors:  Howard Block, Millard Brown, William Green, Boris Gasin, Andy Tauber
Contributions by:  Steve Benfield, Kent Marsh and William Rompala.

Title:  PFC Programmer's Reference Manual
Click here:  http://www.amazon.com
Sneak Peeks:  http://www.pfccheatsheet.com/pfcwmstr.htm
Author:  Richard Brooks
Appendices by:  Sharon Weinstrom Buntz, Jason Cohen, Glenn G. D’mello, Ken Howe, Greg Schultz, Brian Suter

Other primo picks include:

  1. Steve Benfield's CDs and 200+ page resource manuals
  2. Bernhard Metzger's PB Slick Tricks - The Book
  3. The latest Secrets of the PowerBuilder Masters 6. 0 book
  4. A PFC Tutorial book
  5. A wonderful book on OO Design and Development
  6. The first book ever on taking the CPD tests
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PFC/POWERBUILDER TOP TOOLS…

See what the experts deem as the top tools for the PFC!...

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WEB SURFING FAVORITES…

And here are some more WEB surfing favorites (in titlebar as SURF)...  Many times you may be able to efficiently go directly to your answer by properly searching WEB sites.

Boris Gasin[TeamSybase]’s PFC Guide site (Has It All!) http://www.pfcguide.com
Rik Brooks' Dojo ~ Lots! Comprehensive, Funny http://www.texasmob.com/dojo
Bob Kawasaki's PB Developer's Web Ring http://members.aol.com/bjk2343/homepage/webring.htm
Ken Howe, Brian Suter & Navdeep Chadha's Tips & Software http://www.pbdr.com
Bill Green[TeamSybase] SBA & Business Object Papers/Books http://www.concentric.net/~Bgcastle
Jon Credit[TeamSybase] Papers (Containers & SBA) and More http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/jcredit
Eric Aling[TeamSybase] Tips, Links, References, etc. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/alingejj
Breck Carter[TeamSybase] Tips, Articles and Reference http://www.bcarter.com
Larry Cermak[TeamSybase] Tips & Techniques http://www.branick-inc.com/pbmain.htm
Woodger Computing, Inc.'s PFC Intro & Tips http://www.woodger.ca/pfc_top.htm
justPBinfo http://www.justpbinfo.com/
David Levine’s .PBL PowerBuilder Links and More http://www.opcenter.net/~david_levine
Eric Egnet's PowerScape Hundreds of PB-Related Links http://www.tiac.net/users/fisher/powerbuilder/
Michael Harmon’s Links & PB-L Mail List Info http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/7207
PurePower's PB Tips, Articles, Links and Jobs http://www.magicnet.net/purepower
Ted Coombs' PowerBuilder Interactive, Variety of Topics http://science.org/tedc
PowerBuilder Developer’s Journal (Magazine) http://www.PowerBuilderJournal.com
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CONTACTING THE PFC DEVELOPMENT TEAM AND SYBASE...

Furthermore, you may wish to contact the PFC Development Team (for advice, suggestions or requests)...  (This page is always available in titlebar as Contacting...  Sybase.)   Plus, check out all the things on the WEB that Sybase has to offer, such as their online infobases, faxbacks and release updates.  Also, you may wish to consult your Sybase representatives, especially your training representatives, online or via phone, fax, etc…

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STUDYING FOR THE CPD TESTS…

And, finally, I have included some information on Preparing for the CPD Tests.  I believe that you can learn a whole lot by preparing and taking these tests.  Just be aware that they are not for the sensitive nor the egotistical nor the faint-hearted!   They can be very humbling and very frustrating.  But, in the end, I think that you will find that you have learned a whole, whole lot!

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Well, there you have it… everything you'll ever need to know is "out there"...

Have fun, and here come the "Cheat Sheets" for "Help"
Sharon Weinstrom Buntz
sbuntz@texas.net

 


Take me to the first Cheat Sheet, please...

 

 

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