Delphi to VB.Net migration
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Has anyone here embarked on this adventure before? If yes, I would like to hear your experiences since I need to go down that path now. In any case, can somebody share any tips, tricks or pitfalls related to this type of migration and any pointers as to how the effort estimation might be done? I am currently evaluating one of the tools that will convert Delphi form files (DFM) to Winforms files. Though there do not seem to be any tools for code conversion. Thanks
Shreekar
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Has anyone here embarked on this adventure before? If yes, I would like to hear your experiences since I need to go down that path now. In any case, can somebody share any tips, tricks or pitfalls related to this type of migration and any pointers as to how the effort estimation might be done? I am currently evaluating one of the tools that will convert Delphi form files (DFM) to Winforms files. Though there do not seem to be any tools for code conversion. Thanks
Shreekar
I would be surprised if such a tool exists, I think you're in rewrite land.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog "I am working on a project that will convert a FORTRAN code to corresponding C++ code.I am not aware of FORTRAN syntax" ( spotted in the C++/CLI forum )
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I would be surprised if such a tool exists, I think you're in rewrite land.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog "I am working on a project that will convert a FORTRAN code to corresponding C++ code.I am not aware of FORTRAN syntax" ( spotted in the C++/CLI forum )
Thanks for your reply. My research also suggests the same thing. Based on your experience, are there any things that I can do to make my task easier, or some precautions etc.? Since there does not seem to be much in way of prior experience related to this, I am trying to draw on any parallel or related experiences. Thanks
Shreekar
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Thanks for your reply. My research also suggests the same thing. Based on your experience, are there any things that I can do to make my task easier, or some precautions etc.? Since there does not seem to be much in way of prior experience related to this, I am trying to draw on any parallel or related experiences. Thanks
Shreekar
I have no experience, I have never used Delphi, and I refuse to use VB.NET.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog "I am working on a project that will convert a FORTRAN code to corresponding C++ code.I am not aware of FORTRAN syntax" ( spotted in the C++/CLI forum )
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Has anyone here embarked on this adventure before? If yes, I would like to hear your experiences since I need to go down that path now. In any case, can somebody share any tips, tricks or pitfalls related to this type of migration and any pointers as to how the effort estimation might be done? I am currently evaluating one of the tools that will convert Delphi form files (DFM) to Winforms files. Though there do not seem to be any tools for code conversion. Thanks
Shreekar
I used to work for a company that had all their code in delphi and turbo pascal. The company decided to move to vb.net. SO I have a bit of experience translating delphi to vb.net. Things that will drive you crazy in vb.net there are no ; for line delimiters. If you want a line to go to the next line you have to use _ When passing parameters you always have to mark the parameter as byref or byval. You have try catch instead of try except. Any use of pointers is probably not needed anymore. The database stuff is really different and takes some getting used to. I think the biggest issue is just learning the .net framework. That takes a while. Once you get familiar with it, it doesn't matter if you write the code in vb.net or C# because you know the .net framework. I wrote a little document at one point that talked about common things done in delphi and how to do them in vb.net. I will check to see if I can still find that doc. Hope that helps. Ben
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I used to work for a company that had all their code in delphi and turbo pascal. The company decided to move to vb.net. SO I have a bit of experience translating delphi to vb.net. Things that will drive you crazy in vb.net there are no ; for line delimiters. If you want a line to go to the next line you have to use _ When passing parameters you always have to mark the parameter as byref or byval. You have try catch instead of try except. Any use of pointers is probably not needed anymore. The database stuff is really different and takes some getting used to. I think the biggest issue is just learning the .net framework. That takes a while. Once you get familiar with it, it doesn't matter if you write the code in vb.net or C# because you know the .net framework. I wrote a little document at one point that talked about common things done in delphi and how to do them in vb.net. I will check to see if I can still find that doc. Hope that helps. Ben
That certainly helps a lot, thanks. Did you use any tools that could automate atleast some part of the process? I have come across this[^] tool that converts Delphi forms to Winforms. That document would be great. All in all, was that a good/painful experience and did you get the expected benefits in terms of higher maintainability ad improved performance? I am sorry to raise so many questions, but I am trying to collect as much data as possible. Thanks
Shreekar
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That certainly helps a lot, thanks. Did you use any tools that could automate atleast some part of the process? I have come across this[^] tool that converts Delphi forms to Winforms. That document would be great. All in all, was that a good/painful experience and did you get the expected benefits in terms of higher maintainability ad improved performance? I am sorry to raise so many questions, but I am trying to collect as much data as possible. Thanks
Shreekar
We did not use any automated tools. In our case the way you do things in .net is different enough that it was probably a good idea to re-write the existing delphi code to better match the new .net structure. I have looked for that document, it looks like I didn't take a copy of it when I left my previous employer. It was a good experience to move to .net. Some of the issues we were facing were a lack of people we could hire that had delphi skills. The reality is that there are far more .net programmers out there then delphi. Now that I have been doing .net for 5 or so years, I wouldn't go back to delphi either. I really liked delphi as a product, but it tends to be a little behind the microsoft release. I still remember about 10 years ago where we had to wait almost a year before we could use ado in delphi. Now that delphi has .net that could always perhaps be an option too. Again you don't have a lot of people that will say they know delphi .net The company I worked for went with vb.net and left delphi behind. I havn't worked there in 2 years, but I would guess most of their delphi code is gone. The .net framework is great, I think it would be a good move to get on .net Hope that helps. Ben