Is the Application a Good Fit for the Internet?
Not all PowerBuilder applications will move smoothly to the Internet with every approach described here. Variables such as the size and complexity of the application, the use of Windows-only features such as OLE, DDE, and third party OCXs, the number of DataWindows used in each Window, the size of the SQL result sets retrieved, the PowerBuilder framework used, and even coding practices and the general quality of the code will all determine the options open to you. Other variables that will all impact your decision include the complexity of the UI presentation style and the use of drag and drop in the application. The chart below should serve as only a general guideline and not an indication of which approach is best for your organization.
| Technique | PB Windows Forms | PB Web Forms | PB Web DataWindow | CITRIX or Terminal Svcs. | Appeon |
| MDIInterface | Y | Y, using tabs | N/A | Y | Y |
| Drag and Drop | Y | N | N | Y | Y |
| OLE, OCX | Y | N | N | Y (server-side) | Y |
| Client-Side Integration | Y | Via JavaScript | Via JavaScript | Disks and printers only | Y |
| Server-Side Integration | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Level of Effort | Minor | Significant | Highest | Least | Minor |
| Fidelity of UI | Highest | Good | Good | Excellent | Excellent |
| Strengths | Easy, good UI, broad capability | Best for simple UI, ground up true web dev | Scalability, good for Java and low level control | Easy to set up and deploy | Client & server integration, scalability, performance |
| Weaknesses | Bandwidth, footprint on client | Event postback model inherent to ASP .NET 2.0 | Strong need for good 3-tier architecture, more hand coding | Scalability, cost | Technology created by a Sybase Partner. |
