5 replies to this topic

[MarzZ]

Hello,

I have a program written in VB. (I did not write it, my father did) It is basically a program that integrates MS Word (2000/2003) and a proprietary application that reads an input from an external shorthand keyboard and uses MS word macros. I should also state that I myself am not a programmer.

It works well in XP, its not fully tested on Vista and Windows 7 is around the corner. It is not compatible with Word 2007 due to its major changes. I am wondering if it makes sense to migrate it to C? Would this require a complete rewrite of the code? The code is well documented.

I am wondering if anyone could estimate the cost of such a rewrite? Also how long it would take and it also needs a fresh look.

I am also open for it to stay in VB as long as it can be made to work with Vista/ 7 and Word 2007 and beyond.

Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions!

[WingedPanther]

If it's VB.NET, I would not try to go to C. C# would make more sense, but still not a lot of sense. If it's VB6, I would pick a .NET language.

Going from VBXXX to C just screams for frustrations, especially if you aren't a programmer. Estimating the time to rewrite the application is almost impossible with your current description. The details you've provided make it impossible to estimate the cost. This is something that could be a one month or one decade project, depending on the details.

[MarzZ]

What info would someone need in order to give a more accurate estimate? I believe it is VB.NET. Given that it's VB.NET, and you don't recommend a migration; could the program be made to work under Vista and 7, plus be ported to work with Word 2007 without getting a second mortgage?

I appreciate any help from someone to point me in the right direction. It is an unfortunate situation because my father was the programmer and died last year rather suddenly from cancer.

[WingedPanther]

If it's in VB.NET, there's a good chance it already works under Vista and 7. That would reduce you to just making it work with Word 2007. How complicated that would be, I'm not sure (not a VB programmer, and I hate Word 2007).

You're probably going to have to explain what exactly the program does, and what error messages you're getting with Word 2007.

[MarzZ]

WingedPanther said:

If it's in VB.NET, there's a good chance it already works under Vista and 7. That would reduce you to just making it work with Word 2007. How complicated that would be, I'm not sure (not a VB programmer, and I hate Word 2007).

You're probably going to have to explain what exactly the program does, and what error messages you're getting with Word 2007.

+1000 on Word 2007! WTF was MS thinking?:confused:

It's a court reporting program that records the stenographers shorthand in real-time from their keyboard via serial/usb connection. It translates the keystrokes to regular language in MS WORD. It also has a module (freeware) that records audio in time with the keystrokes. That can be used later just by highlighting a sentence and the audio will playback from that exact time.

I will PM you a link to the product if you are interested. My posting count is not high enough yet.

Assuming that it will not need to be ported, I wonder how hard and possibly how much it would be to give the GUI a refresher to bring it up to date?

Thanks

[WingedPanther]

Since I'm not a VB programmer, I won't be the one to help. Hopefully someone who has VB experience can offer to help.