[fpc-pascal] OFF TOPIC - how I can migrate of Delphi to FPC

[Marcos Douglas]

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 3:36 AM, Graeme Geldenhuys
<graemeg.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 14 August 2010 19:04, Marcos Douglas wrote:
>> 1- What the connector you use to Postgre and SQLServer, Zeoslib?
>
> For PostgreSQL you can use Zeoslib or SqlDB (included in FCL and part
> of FPC). For MS SQLServer there is not direct database component, but
> you should be able to use ODBC (I have done this to talk to MS Access
> from Linux).

Zeoslib uses ADO too. So, it could be used with MS SQLServer.
I think Zeoslib is more faster than ODBC.

>> 2- What the Report designer is more like with ReportBuilder?
>
> There are a few. I use a custom written one that uses RTF files as
> report templates. I can use any editor that edits RTF files as my
> report designer and previewer. In our case we like to use OpenOffice
> because we can distribute it to all our clients for free, and it's
> read-only mode makes for a great "report preview" system (OOo hides
> all toolbars and edit options in read-only mode). We even use
> OpenOffice to generate PDF's via the non-GUI API.

You said there are a few, but not wrote names! rs...
Well, your solution to reports seems to be very good. Is it an open
source project? It is very interesting!

>> 3- Do exists something I can do with Delphi but not do with FPC?
>
> Probably yes. But this is true from both FPC and Delphi. Each can do
> something that the others can't - or maybe just with a bit more
> effort. Have you got a specific feature in mind?

No, nothing specific. You right. This questions is much generic...
forget this  =)

>> 4- The Lazarus IDE is the most used, but MSEide is relevant too? Why?
>
> It's quicker and easier to build, feels faster than Lazarus and seems
> more stable. Note: I'm talking about the IDE itself, not the GUI
> toolkits each of them uses. I don't use LCL or MSEgui, but rather
> fpGUI Toolkit.

OK I understand this separation.

> If you want to move your GUI forms etc from VCL, then probably LCL
> will be the quickest to do because Lazarus IDE comes with a
> Delphi-to-Lazarus conversion tool. If your move is because you want to
> develop your application for multiple platforms, then you must take
> other things in consideration too. LCL is maybe not the best choice
> then either - depending on your needs.

But the LCL has the advantage of being developed by the same team of
FPC. Let's say it is "safer" to continue evolving.
However I agree with you about the dependencies of LCL.

> fpGUI and MSEgui are custom
> drawn GUI toolkits, so look and behaviour is identical on all
> platfroms - theming can be applied to "look more native". This also
> has the benefit that all features of the GUI toolkit can be used
> safely in a cross-platform way.

This is very good...

> With LCL (which wrapper other GUI
> toolkits), only the most common features of each platform toolkit can
> be used in a cross-platform way. As soon as you use features that are
> specific to a platform, your code starts getting riddled with IFDEF
> statements - not good, and a nightmare to maintain.
>
> This is why our company invested the time to develop fpGUI. We have NO
> IFDEF's in our code and all components work and behave identical on
> all platforms - much easier to work with and maintain.

...and this is not so good.

>> 5- Do you use Object Persistence Framework (OPF)? If yes, which is?
>>    5.1- What is the best OPF most used? Would be tiOPF?
>
> Yes, we use tiOPF. I'm a core developer of tiOPF. We use
> Model-GUI-Mediator (MGM implementation included in tiOPF repository)
> to make all standard UI components "object aware". No need for
> DB-aware or custom descendant components to let your Business Objects
> interact with the UI. MGM supports fpGUI, LCL and VCL.

I know you use tiOPF. You even sent me the sources in another mail :)
But I did not know you're a core developer of tiOPF. There is a SVN to update?

>> 6- What FPC/Lazarus provides to DataSets in memory like TClientDataSet
>> in Delphi?
>>    6.1- And about multi-tier applications, what they provides?
>
> Due to use using tiOPF, we don't need TClientDataset. I believe FPC is
> near having a TClientDataset (some minor parts are missing). With
> tiOPF you can still have multi-tier applications though. tiOPF
> includes a "remote persistence layer" which uses HTTP as the
> communication protocol and uses XML to transfer data between tiers.
> The "app server" runs an embedded HTTP server and many components can
> be used for this: eg Indy.

You uses this solution or just talk about what tiOPF can do?
If you uses maybe I could do a few questions about it in private?

>> 7- Is there any other factors we should consider before making this
>> migration, which was not written above?
>
> * Are you planning to target multiple systems, or still just Windows.
> * Is your apps GUI or non-GUI. If GUI, then you need to decide what
> GUI toolkit to use and what
>   features are important to you. Code maintainability etc.

For now, just Windows (a pilot project will be coded to assess the
migration) after multi-platform.
The GUI toolkit is very important. MSEgui or fpGUI are very
interesting, but how many options of components they give us? Actually
I use JEDI and RX.

> Our company moved over to FPC (from Delphi 7). First to Kylix 3, then
> to FPC. Since we started using FPC, we never looked back. It was a
> good move!

It's great to read this, thank you!


Best regards,
Marcos Douglas