BorlandTalk.com Borland discussion newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Converting an application to Unicode          BorlandTalk.com Forum Index -> Delphi Internationalization View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message Richard Guest Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:52 pm    Post subject: Converting an application to Unicode Hi all Apologies for asking a (probably) common newbie question. I maintain a largish (250 forms - c450,000 lines of code, non-database using) Delphi 5 application. It reads and writes to MS Office applications using COM. I've been asked what would be involved to convert it to work with Unicode. The app code uses standard ref-counted Strings throughout and does large amounts of text processing. AFAICR it uses standard VCL components or ones derived directly from them. I don't really understand the parameters of the problem and I'd appreciate some pointers as to how best to approach this. Many thanks Richard Back to top ThanksButNo Guest Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode On Mar 14, 9:52 am, "Richard" <r.tel...@e-tabs.com> wrote: Quote: Hi all Apologies for asking a (probably) common newbie question. I maintain a largish (250 forms - c450,000 lines of code, non-database using) Delphi 5 application. It reads and writes to MS Office applications using COM. I've been asked what would be involved to convert it to work with Unicode. The app code uses standard ref-counted Strings throughout and does large amounts of text processing. AFAICR it uses standard VCL components or ones derived directly from them. I don't really understand the parameters of the problem and I'd appreciate some pointers as to how best to approach this. Many thanks Richard I've been doing a bit of research in this area myself, and I've come to the conclusion that -- If you're trying to convert Delphi 5 to unicode -- STOP. Yes, it can be done -- it's possible -- but I haven't found any EASY way to do it. I've downloaded components from the web that purport to have unicode support -- and they don't compile. (They *might* compile in Delphi *6*). So just break down and shell out the money needed to get the latest version of Delphi, which already has unicode support. It'll be cheaper than expending the manhours necessary to shoehorn unicode into Delphi 5. And you'll have an up-to-date development tool for future use. NOW -- I'll be very very happy if someone here can tell me I'm wrong. Adding unicode to Delphi 5 would certainly be easier than converting everything to Java, and save you from needing to buy the latest version of Delphi. Note that I may use "easy" and "cheap" interchangeably, because after all, if it takes a long time to do, it ain't neither. Best of luck! < Back to top Richard Guest Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:51 am    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode Quote: So just break down and shell out the money needed to get the latest version of Delphi, which already has unicode support. Many thanks for the info. But... DOES the latest version of Delphi actually have full Uncode support? I seem to be reading that neither Delphi 2006 or 2007 do that with VCL. Back to top ThanksButNo Guest Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode On Mar 14, 3:51 pm, "Richard" <r.tel...@e-tabs.com> wrote: Quote: So just break down and shell out the money needed to get the latest version of Delphi, which already has unicode support. Many thanks for the info. But... DOES the latest version of Delphi actually have full Uncode support? I seem to be reading that neither Delphi 2006 or 2007 do that with VCL. Hmmmm -- I didn't do *enough* research -- Apparently, the latest does *not* have native unicode support -- (and it appears a number of people have complained about that) BUT -- TntWare has unicode components for Delphi, and although I can testify that they *won't* compile in Delphi 5 (even though they claim to -- but hey, Delphi 5 is 10 years old now) -- I've seen various references to their specific product, always positive, so it will *probably* work with Delphi 6 on up. http://www.tntware.com/delphicontrols/unicode/downloads.htm Take heed -- I can not vouch for anything I haven't tried. However, I think you ought to be able to get a free download trial version of Delphi, then download the free Tnt stuff, and try it out. As for myself, it appears my company is just going to switch to Java for anything that requires international characters. Hope that's helpful. Back to top Richard Guest Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:35 pm    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode Quote: Hope that's helpful. Extremely helpful. Many thanks indeed. Back to top Dajazas Guest Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode On Mar 15, 4:18 pm, "ThanksButNo" <no.no.tha...@gmail.com> wrote: Quote: On Mar 14, 3:51 pm, "Richard" <r.tel...@e-tabs.com> wrote: So just break down and shell out the money needed to get the latest version of Delphi, which already has unicode support. Many thanks for the info. But... DOES the latest version of Delphi actually have full Uncode support? I seem to be reading that neither Delphi 2006 or 2007 do that with VCL. Hmmmm -- I didn't do *enough* research -- Apparently, the latest does *not* have native unicode support -- (and it appears a number of people have complained about that) BUT -- TntWare has unicode components for Delphi, and although I can testify that they *won't* compile in Delphi 5 (even though they claim to -- but hey, Delphi 5 is 10 years old now) -- I've seen various references to their specific product, always positive, so it will *probably* work with Delphi 6 on up. http://www.tntware.com/delphicontrols/unicode/downloads.htm Take heed -- I can not vouch for anything I haven't tried. However, I think you ought to be able to get a free download trial version of Delphi, then download the free Tnt stuff, and try it out. As for myself, it appears my company is just going to switch to Java for anything that requires international characters. Hope that's helpful. well about tnt they have version which compiles with delphi 5 and it works fine just don't forget to convert strings to widestrings! good luck Back to top ThanksButNo Guest Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:11 am    Post subject: Re: Converting an application to Unicode On Mar 20, 3:21 am, "Dajazas" <daja...@gmail.com> wrote: Quote: On Mar 15, 4:18 pm, "ThanksButNo" <no.no.tha...@gmail.com> wrote: On Mar 14, 3:51 pm, "Richard" <r.tel...@e-tabs.com> wrote: So just break down and shell out the money needed to get the latest version of Delphi, which already has unicode support. Many thanks for the info. But... DOES the latest version of Delphi actually have full Uncode support? I seem to be reading that neither Delphi 2006 or 2007 do that with VCL. Hmmmm -- I didn't do *enough* research -- Apparently, the latest does *not* have native unicode support -- (and it appears a number of people have complained about that) BUT -- TntWare has unicode components for Delphi, and although I can testify that they *won't* compile in Delphi 5 (even though they claim to -- but hey, Delphi 5 is 10 years old now) -- I've seen various references to their specific product, always positive, so it will *probably* work with Delphi 6 on up. http://www.tntware.com/delphicontrols/unicode/downloads.htm Take heed -- I can not vouch for anything I haven't tried. However, I think you ought to be able to get a free download trial version of Delphi, then download the free Tnt stuff, and try it out. As for myself, it appears my company is just going to switch to Java for anything that requires international characters. Hope that's helpful. well about tnt they have version which compiles with delphi 5 and it works fine just don't forget to convert strings to widestrings! good luck Well -- maybe it did for you -- for me, it kept needing components that I didn't have and couldn't find, and it wouldn't compile without 'em. Never even got to the point where I could add strings of any sort. We just don't have the time to debug the documentation and/or the setup, particularly since it appears to have been "EOL'ed" anyway. We're just going to use Java for our unicode apps, since it's already there. < Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         BorlandTalk.com Forum Index -> Delphi Internationalization All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum C++ Builder Newsgroups----------------C++ BuilderC++ Builder (ActiveX)C++ Builder (Announcements)C++ Builder (Command Line Tools)C++ Builder DatabasesC++ Builder Databases (ADO)C++ Builder Databases (Desktop)C++ Builder Databases (InterBase Express)C++ Builder Databases (Multi-Tier)C++ Builder Databases (SQL Servers)C++ Builder (Graphics)C++ Builder (IDE)C++ Builder (Internet)C++ Builder (Internet Socket)C++ Builder (Internet Web)C++ Builder (Jobs)C++ Builder (Language)C++ Builder (Language C++)C++ Builder (Compatibility with MFC)C++ Builder (Native API)C++ Builder (Non-Technical)C++ Builder (Students)C++ Builder (Third Party Tools)C++ Builder (Upgrade)C++ Builder (VCL)C++ Builder (VCL Components Usage)C++ Builder (VCL Components Development)C++ Builder (VCL Usage)C++ Builder (WinAPI)C++ Builder Installation Delphi Newsgroups----------------Delphi (General)Delphi ActiveX Controls UsageDelphi ActiveX Controls DevelopmentDelphi As400Delphi DatabasesDelphi Databases (ADO)Delphi Databases (dbExpress)Delphi Databases (Desktop)Delphi Databases (InterBase Express)Delphi Databases (Multi-Tier)Delphi Databases (SQL Servers)Delphi DeploymentDelphi GraphicsDelphi IDEDelphi InternationalizationDelphi InternetDelphi Internet Isapi-WebBrokerDelphi Internet WebSnapDelphi Internet WinsockDelphi JobsDelphi Language BASMDelphi Language ObjectPascalDelphi Model Driven Architecture (General)Delphi Model Driven Architecture (Third Party)Delphi MultimediaDelphi Native APIDelphi Non-TechnicalDelphi ObjectPascalDelphi OLE AutomationDelphi OO designDelphi OpenToolsAPIDelphi Reporting-ChartingDelphi RTLDelphi StudentsDelphi TeamSourceDelphi Thirdparty ToolsDelphi Thirdparty Tools (General)Delphi Thirdparty Tools (IntraWeb)Delphi Thirdparty Tools (RaveReports)Delphi UpgradeDelphi VCLDelphi VCL ComponentsDelphi VCL Components UsingDelphi VCL Components WritingDelphi WebServices SOAPDelphi WinAPIDelphi XMLDelphi Installationcomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.misccomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.usagecomp.lang.pascal.delphi.components.writingcomp.lang.pascal.delphi.databasescomp.lang.pascal.delphi.misccomp.sources.delphi JBuilder Newsgroups----------------JBuilderJBuilder AnnouncementsJBuilder Applet IssuesJBuilder As400JBuilder CompilerJBuilder CORBA/RMIJBuilder DatabasesJBuilder DB SwingJBuilder DebuggerJBuilder DeploymentJBuilder DocumentationJBuilder EnterpriseJBuilder HandheldJBuilder IDEJBuilder JavaJBuilder JavaAPIJBuilder Java LanguageJBuilder Java SwingJBuilder Java BeansJBuilder Java Beans UsageJBuilder Java Beans DevelopmentJBuilder JBCLJBuilder JDataStoreJBuilder JobsJBuilder LinuxJBuilder MacintoshJBuilder & MobileSetJBuilder MultiLingual AppsJBuilder Non-TechnicalJBuilder OpenToolsJBuilder Servlets (JSP)JBuilder StudentsJBuilder Team DevelopmentJBuilder Thirdparty ToolsJBuilder UpgradeJBuilder Installation InterBase Newsgroups----------------InterBaseInterBase Bug DiscussionInterBase GeneralInterBase IBConsoleInterBase OpenSourceInterBase ReplicationInterBase SQLInterBase ThirdpartyInterBase Installation Miscellaneous Borland Newsgroups----------------AppCenterAppServerEnteraVisiBroker  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2006 phpBB Group SEO toolkit © 2004-2006 webmedic.