pb

Analyze PowerBuilder codebases through an interactive web UI — browse objects, trace call graphs, inspect DataWindows, and query relationships. Backed by a DuckDB database, you can also run SQL directly or hand the schema to an LLM.

What we're working with.

Quick start

Prerequisites: GHCup (GHC + Cabal), pnpm, and uv.

# Index and explore in one step — builds parser, indexes, opens browser
./pb explore /path/to/src

Or separately:

./pb index /path/to/src       # parse → import → analyze (incremental)
./pb explore                  # open browser (reuses existing pb.duckdb)

The Haskell parser is built automatically on first run. Subsequent runs only re-parse files whose content has changed.

Input can be a directory of .sr* source files, a single .pbl library, or a directory of .pbl files — extraction happens transparently.

CLI

Command	Description
pb index DIR	Parse, import, and analyze a source tree (incremental)
pb explore [DIR]	Start the web UI; index DIR first if given
pb extract DIR -o OUT	Extract .pbl files to per-library directories
pb dead-code [DB]	List non-public procedures unreachable from entry points
pb impact TABLE [COL]	Show all PB objects affected by a DB table/column change
pb query NAME [DB]	Run a canned SQL query against the database
pb analyze [DB]	Re-run graph metrics on an existing database
pb check-corpus	Verify both corpora parse with zero errors
pb clean	Remove build artifacts (cabal, node_modules, Python caches)

Common flags: --db FILE (default pb.duckdb), --reset (full re-parse), --ddl [SCHEMA:]FILE (DDL catalog, repeatable), --sql-dialect DIALECT (default oracle), --default-namespace NS.

Explorer

The interactive explorer is a SolidJS SPA backed by FastAPI and DuckDB.

View	Description
Dashboard	Codebase overview — metrics, charts, health
Objects	Browse all parsed objects with detail views
Procedures	Functions, subroutines, events — full AST body rendering
DataWindows	Controls, bands, retrieval args, SQL lineage
Tables	Database tables referenced by DataWindows
Diagrams	Inheritance, call graphs, DW-table dependencies, heatmaps
Queries	Run canned SQL queries or write your own
Search	Full-text search across objects and procedures
Explore	Write and run ad-hoc SQL against the database

File types

Extension	Object type	Notes
.srw	Window	PowerScript
.srs	Structure	PowerScript
.sru	UserObject	PowerScript
.srf	Function	PowerScript
.srm	Menu	PowerScript
.sra	Application	PowerScript
.srp	Pipeline	Data pipeline / ETL
.srj	Project	Build configuration
.srd	DataWindow	Separate parser (different syntax)

Further reading

• doc/architecture.md — component map, data flow, cross-component interfaces, testing, and build sequence.
• doc/vision.md — architectural rationale, LLM integration workflow, DuckDB schema design, and the full operational pipeline.
• doc/spec.md — parser specification: lexical rules, token forms, file structure, and DataWindow syntax.
• doc/development.md — build overview, test commands, adding queries, and corpus/debt analysis.
• AGENTS.md — development protocol: staged verification loop, corpus gates, module placement guide, and code index.

License

BSD-3-Clause — Copyright (c) 2026, Thomas Marsh