Visual Expert offers nine different ways for the developers to identify object dependencies in PowerBuilder, Oracle, and SQL Server code.
When making changes in the code, modifying one object without propagating the changes to related objects can cause the application to break. It is therefore essential to understand the dependencies between objects before making any changes, to identify which objects will be affected and avoid regressions.
Finding these dependent objects is not easy or straightforward, especially in large, complex, or legacy applications.
Visual Expert facilitates the developers to understand dependencies between PB objects, all the way down to stored procedures and tables.
9 Features to Identify Object Dependencies in your Code

Cross References
Visualize dependencies between objects to avoid regressions.
Identify all elements that need to be changed to avoid breaking your app.

Dll Dependencies
This feature helps to deploy the DLLs required by your application.
Deploy the required DLLs. Replace 32 bit with 64 bit DLLs.

CRUD Matrix
Generate a report showing how tables and columns are used by your objects.
This feature helps to find Object-to-Tables dependencies.

Call Graphs
Explore complex chains of calls and understand complex code.
Display callers and callees for Functions, Events, Procedures, Tables, and Triggers.

E/R Diagrams
Visualize chains of calls. Understand the inner workings of your application.
Model your code with Call Graphs, Impact Analysis, PBL dependency diagrams, Data Model, etc.

Calls to Web Services
Track calls from PowerBuilder to web services from an entire PB application, a selection of PBLs, or a selection of PB objects.

PBL Dependencies
Visualize PBL dependencies.
Identify objects in a PBL referencing objects stored in another PBL.
This feature can be used to separate modules of an application or track the dependencies between the client and back-end PowerBuilder code.

Object Dependency
Generate an ODM to document cross-references between objects in a 2-dimension matrix.
This feature helps to review Object-to-Object dependencies.

Reverse Call Graphs
Drill up to view the callers and encounter changes at multiple levels.
Understand the mechanics of your resultant application.
Locate errors or inconsistencies in your program execution.
About Visual Expert
Visual Expert is a robust static code analysis tool created for PowerBuilder, SQL Server, and Oracle developers to review, maintain, and analyze the applications and database code, and automate documentation generation. VE also comes with the SAST feature to improve code quality and security.