Programming Forums > Application Development > Delphi

ghaith · Dec 12th, 2007, 8:39 AM

hello,
My company is considering a (long needed) switch from delphi 5 to .NET, and i wonder if there's a way to simply convert the application as i noticed that almost all the components we used are not there..

Thank you

lectricpharaoh · Dec 12th, 2007, 7:54 PM

While there are apparently automated language conversion tools available, I can't comment as to how well they work. However, they seem to be mainly syntactic in nature, meaning they'll convert the language syntax, but if the APIs and other components used are not available, they won't help much.

Make no mistake- something like this is not a trivial task, and will probably require a lot of time and effort to complete, not to mention the inevitable bug fixes. If you're talking about a single application, it might not be too bad (particularly if it's a small app), but if you're talking about converting a large code base, then you've got your work cut out for you.

What you really have to consider, though, is what the business rationale for the conversion is. In other words, how do you justify the potential costs? While wanting to get away from a Pascal code base is understandable, at least to someone scarred for life by Turbo Pascal in high school, it's not really valid from a business perspective.

Klipt · Dec 13th, 2007, 2:41 AM

Newer versions of Delphi can compile directly to .net. Check out these Google search results, e.g. http://www.delphibasics.co.uk/NetArt...e=NETForDelphi

Quote:

The Delphi VCL
Borland wisely respected the existing non-.Net Delphi user and application base, and provided a gentle migration path into .Net. At the same time, however, they introduced a bit of confusion. How can it be that the original Visual Component Library (VCL) is available for .Net applications? Surely you must use the .Net Framework visual components and classes?

Not true - the VCL was developed as a wrapper to .Net Framework - extending the framework classes to suit the existing users with their familiarity of VCL.

This allows existing applications to be migrated to .Net with relatively little change, and allows users to write new applications in .Net without a huge learning curve. It also allows new applications to be written once, but compiled into Win32 and .Net applications.

However, the VCL implementation creates Windows platform specific code, and for this reason, is not recommended for new .Net applications.

It is not clear how long VCL will be supported by Borland, but it is likely to be a number of years.

myworkstation · Dec 13th, 2007, 9:19 AM

Xenocode‘s postbuidle or vas,
Salamander .NET Linker .
and oldest version" framework linker"

ghaith · Dec 13th, 2007, 12:32 PM

Hey,
Thanks for the replies,
actually what we need is to convert from delphi 5 to delphi for .NET, so we're not exactly looking for a converter to C# or another language, i thought a switch must be relatively easy, especially after i read some of the VLC.NET stuff, they use almost the same components, however coudn't successfully import the project.. maybe i missed a feature in the builder? i did successfully open the project in the win32 builder, i just had problems with the 3rd party components, which is normal..

has anyone tried such a conversion before?
thank you

Dec 12th, 2007, 8:39 AM	#1
ghaith Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Convert win32 to .NET applications hello, My company is considering a (long needed) switch from delphi 5 to .NET, and i wonder if there's a way to simply convert the application as i noticed that almost all the components we used are not there.. Thank you

Dec 12th, 2007, 7:54 PM	#2
lectricpharaoh Caffeinated Neural Net Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Wet west coast of Canada Posts: 1,120 Rep Power: 5	Re: Convert win32 to .NET applications While there are apparently automated language conversion tools available, I can't comment as to how well they work. However, they seem to be mainly syntactic in nature, meaning they'll convert the language syntax, but if the APIs and other components used are not available, they won't help much. Make no mistake- something like this is not a trivial task, and will probably require a lot of time and effort to complete, not to mention the inevitable bug fixes. If you're talking about a single application, it might not be too bad (particularly if it's a small app), but if you're talking about converting a large code base, then you've got your work cut out for you. What you really have to consider, though, is what the business rationale for the conversion is. In other words, how do you justify the potential costs? While wanting to get away from a Pascal code base is understandable, at least to someone scarred for life by Turbo Pascal in high school, it's not really valid from a business perspective. __________________ And once again, Probability proves itself willing to sneak into a back alley and service Drama as would a copper-piece harlot. - Vaarsuvius, Order of the Stick

Dec 13th, 2007, 9:19 AM	#4
myworkstation Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	Re: Convert win32 to .NET applications Xenocode‘s postbuidle or vas, Salamander .NET Linker . and oldest version" framework linker"

Dec 13th, 2007, 12:32 PM	#5
ghaith Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Re: Convert win32 to .NET applications Hey, Thanks for the replies, actually what we need is to convert from delphi 5 to delphi for .NET, so we're not exactly looking for a converter to C# or another language, i thought a switch must be relatively easy, especially after i read some of the VLC.NET stuff, they use almost the same components, however coudn't successfully import the project.. maybe i missed a feature in the builder? i did successfully open the project in the win32 builder, i just had problems with the 3rd party components, which is normal.. has anyone tried such a conversion before? thank you

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Programming Forums > Application Development > Delphi

Convert win32 to .NET applications