1. Installation and deployment #

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1.1 Requirements #

There is nothing else to install: no .NET, no ActiveX, no PBNI, no COM registration, and no administrator rights for the library itself.

1.2 Files to deploy #

An xcopy deployment, next to your executable:

mon_appli.exe
pbtoolboxai.dll        <- the x86 or x64 copy, matching your application

The DLL is self-contained: the HTML/CSS/JS bundles, the themes and the language dictionaries are embedded as resources. No web files on disk, no extra folder to copy.

On the PowerBuilder side, pbtoolboxai.pbl is added to your application like any other library (as a .pbl during development, as a .pbd or compiled into the executable in production).

One DLL name for both 32-bit and 64-bit #

The library ships as two files with the same name, in two separate folders:

The practical consequence: your external function declarations name a single file, pbtoolboxai.dll. You develop and debug in the 32-bit IDE, then compile a 64-bit executable without changing a line of PowerScript — only the deployed file changes.

Hourglass during a long operation. SetPointer(HourGlass!) only covers the PowerBuilder areas: a component is a WebView2, it runs in another process and keeps showing its normal cursor — the screen says "click me" while nothing is listening. PBT_SetBusy(1) asks every component to show the hourglass, including those born during the wait; PBT_SetBusy(0) clears it. Wrap your long operations in it, just as you already do with SetPointer.

⚠️ Since both files share the same name, they must never sit in the same folder.

ℹ️ Nothing else to change for 64-bit. Window handles cross the library API on 32 bits — Windows guarantees that window handles carry 32 significant bits, precisely for this kind of crossing. The long declaration held by u_pbt_base is therefore exact on both targets: you change neither the library name nor a single line of PowerScript. No longptr is required, and the floor stays PowerBuilder 10.2.

1.3 Integrating with the PowerBuilder IDE #

1. Copy pbtoolboxai.pbl into your application folder.
2. Target Library list → add pbtoolboxai.pbl.
3. Copy pbtoolboxai.dll — the x86 copy, since the PowerBuilder IDE is 32-bit — next to pbXXX.exe or into the target's working folder, so that the IDE finds it when running from the IDE.
4. The external function declarations already live on u_pbt_base: nothing to redeclare in order to use a component.

Global declarations (optional) #

A few functions are process-wide (default theme, language, reading direction, license). They do not depend on any component: declare them in the application object (Local External Functions of the application object), then call them from the open event.

// Declarations - application object, "Local External Functions" tab
Function long PBT_SetLicense (string as_client, string as_key) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_SetDefaultTheme (string as_name) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_SetDefaultThemeAccent (long al_accent) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_SetLanguage (string as_lang) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_SetFlowDirection (string as_dir) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_SetBusy (long al_on) Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"
Function long PBT_Warmup () Library "pbtoolboxai.dll"

// open event of the application object
PBT_SetLicense(gs_titulaire, gs_cle_licence)      // unlocks the library
PBT_SetDefaultTheme("fluent-dark")  // theme applied BEFORE the first rendering
PBT_SetLanguage("fr")               // language of the component user interface
PBT_Warmup()                        // warms up the WebView2 engine

Open(w_principale)

⚠️ The library name is the same in 32-bit and 64-bit: these declarations stay identical whatever the compiled target.

1.4 Checking the runtime at startup (recommended) #

Two complementary ways:

// 1. On the component: the ue_runtime_missing event is raised when WebView2 is missing
event ue_runtime_missing   // on your component
MessageBox("PBToolboxAI", "The Microsoft WebView2 component is required.")

// 2. Cold, with no component: PBT_CheckRuntime returns the installed version
string ls_version
long ll_rc

ls_version = Space(64)
ll_rc = PBT_CheckRuntime(ls_version, 64)
if ll_rc <= 0 then
    MessageBox("PBToolboxAI", "WebView2 runtime missing: install it before continuing.")
end if

1.5 Warm-up (startup performance) #

The first component you create pays for starting the Edge process (a few hundred milliseconds). PBT_Warmup() triggers that startup while your application loads everything else:

// open event of the application object, BEFORE opening the first window
PBT_Warmup()

Everything works without the warm-up: the first window simply appears a little more slowly.

1.6 WebView2 data folder #

Each application gets its own cache folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%\PBToolboxAI\WebView2\<nom_exe> — never next to the executable (which is often not writable under Program Files). It is created automatically; no action required, no special rights.

1.7 Uninstalling #

Remove the DLL and the PBL from your delivery. The cache can be deleted under %LOCALAPPDATA%\PBToolboxAI. Leave the WebView2 runtime in place, as it is shared with Windows and other applications.

1.8 Go-live checklist #

• [ ] pbtoolboxai.dll (x86 / x64) next to the executable (and to pbXXX.exe for the IDE)
• [ ] pbtoolboxai.pbl in the library list
• [ ] PBT_SetLicense called from the application open event (License)
• [ ] PBT_SetDefaultTheme called before the first window opens (Themes)
• [ ] PBT_Warmup called once at startup
• [ ] WebView2 runtime checked on the target machine

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