[fpc-pascal] Searching for files all over the disk

[Jürgen Hestermann]

Am 2012-08-21 00:55, schrieb Juha Manninen:
 > About scanning "only paths specified by the user", do you really mean
 > the user should search for pascal sources in a to-be-converted
 > Delphi project directories, then type the directory names into
 > a config file and then feed that file to the converter's GUI?

In this case of Delphi project converting it can simply ask for a root directory where to look for a missing library


 > IMO that is a job for the converter because its whole purpose
 > is to automate the task. You can still do it manually if you like of course.
 > Did you ever try converting a non-trivial Delphi project? Try it and you get an idea of the challenges.

So you mean the converter needs to know more about an existing Delphi project than the user?
It should guess instead of asking?
I am not sure whether this is the right thing to do.

What is the problem to ask the user:
"I did not find a needed library xy? Please specify a branch where to search in:"
Then the user can point to it and there may be an additional option
"Look in this branch for other missing libraries too"

As long as the last option is not checked the user will get asked for every missing file/library and if it's in many different directories he can point to all of them. If everything is in one branch he can tag the addition option and will never be asked again. But he then knows where the sources came from.