XIII Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2021

Abstracts: The article provides an overview of modern systems for converting Delphi applications to the .NET Framework platform. The comparison of two existing application conversion systems: Ispirer and Netcoole is made. Their main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages are considered. The problems and prospects related to the application of the systems are analyzed.

Keywords: data conversion, application conversion systems, Delphi, .Net Framework, Ispirer, Netcoole.

The area of software development is currently rapidly expanding and evolving. The development of information technology contributes to the emergence of new programming languages, while many of the already existing languages are losing their relevance. Similar circumstances encourage software developers to think about reorienting themselves to writing programs using languages that are relevant in the current reality. This problem is increasingly faced by companies that support the development of their product in the Delphi programming language, which has lost its relevance. In this regard, it becomes obvious that a decision has been made to reorient and convert the program code into a more modern language. An example of such a language is C#, which supports the object-oriented paradigm, like Delphi, while being a part of the .NET language family. C# was created as an application development language for the Microsoft .NET Framework and it is currently one of the primary programming languages for the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE.

There are two fundamentally different approaches to solving the problem of converting program code: manually rewriting the source code and using specialized conversion systems. The first approach involves the use of manual labor and the involvement of additional programmers to complete the task. However, such decisions lead to slowing of the code rewriting process due to the human factor, the increase of additional labor costs and delay in debugging and implementing. In this regard, the option of using automated conversion systems is becoming more and more relevant in modern conditions, as that allows you to more accurately calculate and control financial costs, and also significantly reduce the time for the implementation of this task.
Today there are several companies offering services for converting applications from the Delphi platform to the .NET Framework platform. The article offers the analysis of the software products of two companies, Ispirer and Netcoole; considers the main characteristics of each system and identifies the advantages and disadvantages.There has been made the analysis of the problems and prospects of using such tools for commercial projects; the analysis being based on the data obtained.

The Ispirer Migration Studio application conversion system is developed by Ispirer and is a package of applications with several main features:

- conversion of the full Delphi project;

- conversion of individual Delphi project structure files (.dpr, .bdsroj,. pas,. dfm, .dfo,. res, .dsk,. dcu);

- conversion of individual fragments of Delphi code.

The application is constantly updated and currently supports the latest Delphi and C# language standards. Ispirer Migration Studio is able to convert about 90% of the program code, which is a very high indicator. Language constructs that are difficult to translate from Delphi to C#, such as pointers, arrays, variable declarations, module initialization, and parameter passing, are fully implemented. If it is not possible to convert part of the code, the program creates an exception and marks the fragment with a comment. This makes it possible to analyze the problem area and fix it manually. You can also add custom conversion rules, which allows you to configure the system more subtly. An additional advantage is the fact that there are technical support specialists who accompany the project conversion and advise on emerging issues [1].

However, despite the advantages and versatility of the Ispirer Migration Studio system, there is a number of disadvantages. One of the most important of them is the lack of clear documentation. This disadvantage is partially compensated by the availability of the trial version, but, despite this, its use is fraught with difficulties due to a number of restrictions. The second disadvantage is a slow conversion speed and poorly optimized use of RAM resources. Depending on the number of lines of code, the conversion process can use up to 2 GB, which significantly loads the operating system. Another serious drawback is the lack of information about the cost of the proposed product. The price decision can only be obtained individually by providing information about the program code of your project, which, in turn, may be unsafe, although it allows you to calculate the cost of the service more accurately.

The Delphi2CS application conversion system was developed by Netcoole and is an application for converting files from the original Delphi project (.dpr) to a new C# project (. csproj). The program processes the code line by line, and the RAM usage does not exceed 1 GB. After the conversion is complete, Delphi2CS generates a report with a detailed description of the conversion process, and also marks the Delphi language constructs that have not been converted. The company's website provides extensive user documentation, where you can get acquainted with the program's capabilities in terms of converting individual language constructs. You can also test the program using the trial version without any restrictions. All this is a great advantage and allows you to analyze the need to purchase a software product in advance. In addition, the cost of the tool is clearly defined and is 300$ [2].

Like Ispirer Migration Studio, the Delphi2CS application has its drawbacks. Despite the extensive user documentation, the system offers a rather limited functionality for code conversion, there is no possibility of fine-tuning the user and creating your own conversion rules. The volume of successfully converted code is about 60-70%, which indicates that not all language constructs are successfully converted.

Thus, in the current reality, there are already full-fledged and affordable conversion systems that allow you to minimize the use of manual labor to solve the problem of updating outdated program code in the Delphi language. The systems presented in this article have both advantages and disadvantages, and decisions on their application should be based on the needs of a particular company. The Ispirer Migration Studio system, which has a wide range of features and a set of tools, is more suitable for large projects that support huge amounts of code and require a comprehensive approach to converting their software products. The Delphi2CS system is suitable for small projects that need a fast and inexpensive conversion solution.

List of references:

Ispirer – Convertation from Delphi to C#.NET, – http://www.ispirer.ru/application-conversion/delphi-to-dotnet

Netcoole – Migrates from Delphi to C#, – http://www.netcoole.com/delphi2cs.html