Online-only applications

If the application is available online only, the latest updates
are always downloaded before the application runs.

Online and offline applications

If the application is available offline as well as online,
the user is notified of new updates according to the update strategy
you specified in the wizard or Project painter. Whether the application
was originally installed from the Web, a file server, or a CD or
DVD, the intelligent updater component always checks for updates
on the Web.

When to check for updates

You can specify that the application never checks for updates
(if it does not require automatic updating or uses a custom update),
or that it checks for updates either before or after it starts.
If you specify a check after the application starts and an update
is available, it can be installed the next time the application
is run. For high-bandwidth network connections,
you might want to use the before startup option, and for low-bandwidth
network connections or large applications, use the after startup
option to avoid a delay in starting the application. If you specify
that the intelligent updater performs the check after the application
starts, you can choose to perform the check every time the application
starts or only when a specified interval has elapsed since the last check.

If an update is available, a dialog box displays to inform
the user, who can choose to download the update immediately or skip
the current update and check again later. The user cannot skip the
update if you have specified that it is mandatory. You
set all these properties on the Install/Update page.

Intelligent notifier

When you select either of the check for updates options for
an application that is available offline, the Notify tab page is
enabled. The notifier enables users to check for updates and download
them manually while the application is running. When the application
starts, a notifier icon displays in the task bar. By default, the
icon is a PowerBuilder icon, but you can choose a custom icon in the
Project painter.

The context menu that appears when a user right-clicks the
notifier icon shows the current version and contains Check for
Update, Retrieve Update, Restart with New Version, Poll for Updates,
and Options menu items.

Check for Update opens a pop-up window that contains information
about the availability of updates. If any are available, the Retrieve
Update item is enabled, and if the update is downloaded and installed,
the Restart with New Version item is enabled.

Selecting the Poll for Updates item enables or disables polling
for updates. When Poll for Updates is enabled, the notifier checks
for updates at the interval specified in the dialog box that displays
when the user selects the Options item. In this dialog box, the
user can also specify the title of the pop-up window that displays
when the user selects Check for Update.