Here is a sampling of Don's presentations (ppt), articles and white papers. Most of the topics are related to PowerBuilder and/or Web application development using ASP or Web.PB/DPB. Just scan the titles and see if there is something that sparks your interest.

PowerPoint Presentations (PPTs)

NOTE: The presentations are PowerPoint slides and must be downloaded and viewed with a Microsoft PowerPoint compatible viewer. Some presentations may require a user ID and password for access. Please contact our webmaster if you have any problems.

Advanced ADO Techniques using MS SQL Server

by Don Draper
Download (110 Kb in ZIP format)

Professional developers understand that large enterprise web applications must be fast and efficient and one to accomplish that is to through the use of stored procedures. Beginning with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0, the ability to use stored procedures by common developers was made easier. Don discusses some advanced techniques on how to utilize stored procedures in ADO for ASP applications. Included are some Web pages and simple VB utility program that may be used to generate the Parameter code needed in VBScript or VB code for ADO calls.  
 

Visual InterDev 6 Revealed

by Don Draper
Download (62 Kb in ZIP format)

One of Microsoft's most popular Web tools has been Visual InterDev. The 6.0 version of this tools was a huge jump in sophistication and complexity from the previous version. Visual InterDev 6.0 (VI6) offers powerful team development processes. Learn more about how VI6 works and what it can offer in this slide presentation. 
 

Various ASP Tips and Techniques

by Don Draper
Download (161 Kb in ZIP format)

Don shares some interesting new tips and techniques in this presentation while covering a broad range skills that most any developer will find useful. Several of the major topics he covers includes Transact-SQL techniques, handling expired sessions, background images in tables,  JavaScript tips,  the Response Object and understanding HTTP headers.  This presentation is for moderate to experienced ASP developers.

Web Reporting with Crystal Reports 8 and ASP 

by Don Draper
Download (45 Kb in ZIP format)

Web Reporting is always a challenge. Do you provide simple HTML reports and live with the limitations or do you use a tool to get more options and a more pleasing GUI quality? This presentation provides a quick look at using the new Crystal Reports 8 with Active Server Pages. Don has had success with this new technology and offers some tips to smooth your learning curve. CR8 offers an easy to install Web Component Server (works with IIS, NS and CGI servers) that provides powerful, page-on-demand reports in a variety of presentation formats including HTML, HTML with frames, ActiveX, Java applets and client-side plug-ins! Don shows how to call the reports dynamically using ASP. Check this out if you need Web reporting options.

Moving PowerBuilder to the Web with ASP and COM (6.5)

by Don Draper
Download PPT (150 Kb in ZIP format)
Download WebPB Demo (480 Kb in ZIP format)
Download PB and HTML Source (17 Kb in ZIP format)

Advanced Concepts and Techniques for Web.PB

by Don Draper (PB 5 or later)
Download (676 Kb in ZIP format)

Continuing from the foundation laid by the "Intro" presentation, this set goes "under the covers" to show how a working Web.PB application really works. Many advanced features are shown along with tips and techniques that any Web.PB developer will be able to put to good use. Anyone interested in creating high-performance, database applications on the web should check this out.  New features in PB 6.0 which enhance Web.PB applications are discussed including using shared object for session management, new HTML form generation, style sheets and much more.

Using Adobe Acrobat and Web.PB to Publish Datawindow Reports on the Web

by Don Draper (PB 4 and later)
Download (1,875 Kb in ZIP format)

This presentation was given at the Powersoft Conference 97 in Nashville, Tennessee and is the result of over one year of working with Web.PB and Adobe Acrobat's PDF technology. CCS had a large healthcare vendor who needed to power of the datawindow to create complex clinical forms. However, their field offices, clinics and facilities all used MacIntosh so the standard Powersoft PSR plug-in would not work. The solution was to dynamically convert the datawindow reports to PDF files and send them to browsers equipped with the Adobe PDF plug-in.  The presentation will show you how to make this work for you. In fact, many are using this technique for PB 6.0 since the Powersoft datawindow plug-in for PSR's in currently not working in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. 

PowerBuilder Tips, Tricks and Techniques

by Don Draper (PB 4 and later)
Download (47 Kb in ZIP format)

Don't you just love it when you learn just one trick that really saves your time or increases the usefulness of your application. Well you're bound to find several in this bag of tips and techniques. Don covers many neat concepts from using PB's 'Any' data type to methods for speeding up your code.  This is a must to check out!

Using the PowerSocket Library

by Don Draper (PB 4 and later)
Download (1,374 Kb in ZIP format)

The PowerSocket was created by Ted and Jason Coombs to provide PowerBuilder with easy access to the Winsock API. Before PowerSocket, it was near impossible to access many Winsock calls since many functions could not be called directly from PB. Ted and Jason did all the hard work for you by creating this fantastic library bringing the power of the Winsock API to PB developers everywhere. You can create any Internet based application using this library. Although you may use higher level ActiveX controls for certain needs as FTP, SMTP, POP and more, PowerSocket provides a near 1 to 1 call map to Winsock API providing all the low level power available to any Winsock app.  Don's presentation shows the fundamentals of using the library plus some advanced techniques. If you've ever wanted to learn how sockets work at the lowest level, then this one is a must.

Internet Enabling PB Applications Using OLE Custom Controls/ActiveX

by Don Draper (PB 5 and later)
Download (696 Kb in ZIP format)

PowerBuilder 5 brought the ability to use OLE Custom Controls (ActiveX). Many vendors provide such controls which will give your application instant Internet power. For example, what if your application needed the ability to transfer files easily across the internet to another computer. This can easily be done by using ActiveX controls which provide FTP capability. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and has been used for years on the Internet. Or perhaps you application needs to send and receive Internet based e-mails....yes ActiveX controls come the rescue and can make this real easy. You can place them on a window or user object and use them just like regular controls...complete with events, functions and attributes. Don shows how these controls can really be used to add instant Internet Power to any PowerBuilder application.

Using PowerBuilder's 'Any' Datatype

by Don Draper (PB 4 and later)
Download PPT (24 Kb in ZIP format)
Download demo code (398 Kb in ZIP format)

In PowerBuilder 4.0, Powersoft implemented the 'Any' data type in preparation for improved support for OLE in future versions. Even though the data type was essentially non-documented, it was still there and ready for use. Don shows how to use this data type to completely encapsulate datawindow retrieval code. You may build a single object with a single datawindow that has a generic interface yet can retrieve data for any need in your application...WOW! However, there were some "gotchas" in PB 4.0 but Don shows you how to get around them. Finally, Powersoft made it much easier to use the 'Any' data type for this purpose in version 5 and Don shows just how to accomplish this. No PowerBuilder developer should be without these techniques in their bag!