What IDE/tools for compiling Delphi Application

Question

I am a C# developer by trade, but have been tasked with making some changes to a Delphi desktop application. I have never used Delphi and I'm trying to identify the version of Delphi the application has been compiled with, and find a (preferably free) development stack/environment.

Looking at the source, there are a bunch of .DCU, .DPP, .DFM, and .PAS files. There's a .DPR file that would seem to reference all of the forms. In the .CFG file I found reference to

c:\program files (x86)\borland\delphi7\Projects\Bpl

Based on the above info, what tools should I use to design and compile this application?

Answer 1

That entry in the .cfg file is a clear cut indication that the project was most recently built with Delphi 7.

However, it may be more tricky to build this project than just to install Delphi 7 and press build. You may very well need to install a bunch of third party packages and libraries. In an ideal world there would be documentation on how to build, or at the very least, how to create a build environment. Sadly, you may not be living in an ideal world!

I'm trying to .... find a (preferably free) development stack/environment.

Well, Delphi 7 is not free. There are free Delphi like development environments, most specifically Lazarus. However, you would need to port the existing code, which is likely to be a non-trivial task. Especially if you have no Delphi experience.

Answer 2

It appears to be Delphi 7.

But the compiler version is only part of your problem, as several commentators have mentioned here. Unless they used only Delphi components, you're going to need to find the component libraries that were used, and that could be nearly impossible in itself. If it used any DLLs or BPLs, you'll need to find them as well, and possibly re-build the interfaces.

I'd spend some time trying to track down a backup that was made of the system that this software was developed on, as that's your best bet. It won't cost you anything assuming everything is still intact.

But trying to load up the source into D7, or anything for that matter, is going to be a total crap shoot unless you know all of the libraries that were used, how things were configured, all that good stuff.

It would be far more efficient for your company to just hire a Delphi expert for a day or so to dig into this for you than for you to waste a week or two of your time on something you don't know anything about.