15 replies to this topic

[Trif]

Hi, (i'm a total learner programmer aiming to learn fast tho :) )

i currently have a SQL database with a Delphi frontend which was written in 1998 and had run happily since, but it lacks a fair bit of functionality and working around this is causing more and more work,

the database itself is probably about 400,000 records now, in a few different "sections" such as "quotes" "customer orders" "purchase orders" and "stock" etc

the delphi bit is really fast, since its so old and i guess was written to be lightweight, i'd like to keep that sort of speed, just make the sections talk to eachother a bit, so you can transfer a quote into a purchase order without re-entering all the data etc, you know, sensible stuff like that :)

basically i was wondering if i should keep it in delphi (which i'd learn and code) or if i should port it into something else like C# [which i'd learn and code instead] and how easy this would be to do and what effect it would have on perfomance etc.

basically just need advice on which would be easier,

thanks,

[WingedPanther]

You'll need to learn Delphi either way. What type of SQL database is it? Paradox vs Interbase vs Oracle is a huge difference, and migrating your data to a more stable platform could resolve all your issues.

[Trif]

ok, so i might as well just edit the current delphi code instead of learning two languages?

erm, how do i find out the kind of database its on? got access to the server its hosted on, just never had to do this kind of thing before

n what do you mean to a more stable platform?
(how do you mean more stable?)
(i thought SQL was one of the best types of database to use?)
(i dont have any stability issues atm, its just function i want to improve?)

sorry, ill probs ask lots of questions, i'm very curious about everything ^^

[WingedPanther]

SQL is a language, not a database. SQL Server (by Microsoft) is pretty stable. If that's the case, you may want to use SQL profiler to see if you need to add some indexes to speed up queries. It's very possible that's the only issue.

[Trif]

yea, it looks like its Microsoft SQL server,

the queries are fine, physically its working fine as it is, but from a human processing point of view its poor, there are seperate sections which were never made to talk to eachother when they should have been (bad database design i guess) which i'd like to improve (thats the aim of my project, improving the convenience for the user)

[WingedPanther]

You have three areas that you will need to look at.
1) The application itself. Without knowing what types of queries/interactions it uses, there may be a lot of room for improvement or not much.
2) The database. Look at performance profiling to get an idea if there are any particularly bad queries that can be improved.
3) The network between the two. Sometimes, networking issues can cause performance problems.

Delphi + SQL Server can be very very robust and responsive as long as everything's configured well.

[Trif]

sorry, i dont think i've been clear, currently the database functions correctly, it is very robust and super quick compared to most modern things

i just want to add more fuctions to the delphi front end (and probably more fields to the database)

[WingedPanther]

Learn Delphi. :)

[Trif]

which version of delphi should i learn? also can you point me at any good tutorials?

thanks,

[WingedPanther]

I would start by finding out what version of Delphi your app was coded in. That can make a huge difference if it uses third party components. You can use the free version of Turbo Delphi to get started. If you search for "Delphi [concept]" you will find a ton of resources out there.

[Trif]

Apparently its borland delphi 3, is that a bad thing? (I’m guessing it won’t be very compatible with Turbo Delphi 2006?)

Also I was thinking about what features would be useful, a couple of hard ones to code came to mind, how feasible do you think they would be:

a sandbox where people can make their own queries/forms to do things with the data that i don’t think of in the initial design (these would probably only be read and export to excel style so people can't break the database)[maybe include an option for an administrator to run one of these to edit the database itself, probably with a preview option]

also a type of customizable import, where you select a spreadsheet then get a few options of how to manipulate it to allow you to enter a large amount of data from a spreadsheet quickly and in the exact way you want

Edited by Trif, 16 June 2009 - 03:07 AM.

[WingedPanther]

You may have to do a little work to make the D3 code compatible with D2006.

Both of your ideas can be (and I have seen) done.