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Looking for programmer to review and maintain mature Delphi D4 project
PStechPaul:
I have a rather large project written in Delphi Pro V4 which I purchased in 1998, and started using around 2002 for an application that reads data from a USB serial port for analysis and report generation. It uses the Borland BDE and originally the SerialNG component. But that did not work on Windows 10, so I tried COMDRV32, but it causes crashes. I am transferring the project to an associate as I am now semi-retired and working part-time on other projects. I have only used Free Pascal and Lazarus for a couple of simple projects, and I don't know if they will work for my project. I would also like to try using the TLzComPort component to see if it works on Win10.
As to compensation, that would depend on what my associate would feel is appropriate. This software is part of a system called "Ortmaster" and it sells for a list price of $3995, but there are only about 50 systems in the field and future sales may be only a couple per year. So there is potential for perhaps a couple thousand dollars and some continuing work for bug fixes, maintenance, and new features.
This was my first major Windows GUI application and I learned Delphi "on-the-fly", so it is not well organized and documented. Prior to Delphi I wrote MSDOS console applications using Borland C, and I am primarily an electronics engineer with experience in Z80 assembly and Microchip PIC programming in C.
You may learn more about the product at http://www.ortmaster.com, and you can download the latest stable version as well as the latest version which works on Win10, but the problems are in the COM port driver and requires proprietary hardware for the serial port. The software will run in demo mode using waveform files instead of real data from the serial port.
I'd appreciate any advice you may be able to provide. Thanks!
Phil:
--- Quote from: PStechPaul on April 15, 2017, 02:43:00 am ---I'd appreciate any advice you may be able to provide. Thanks!
--- End quote ---
With BDE dependency, unknown report components, and bugs in the serial code, my initial reaction would be that it needs a complete rewrite.
I like the name, though.
How many lines of code? How many forms? How many and what non-Delphi VCL or reporting components does it use?
PStechPaul:
I can only give a rough estimate. There are about 16 forms with 171 kB, about 25 PAS files with 491 kB, and about 9 database files in dBase4 format. The main PAS file has about 1200 lines and is 40 kB. So I estimate the 491 kB of all files would be about 15,000 lines. But that includes a lot of whitespace, comments, and some unused code.
Here is the project file:
--- Code: ---program Ortmaster;
uses
Forms,
SysUtils,
Windows,
OrtImage in 'OrtImage.pas' {fmOrt560},
OrtData in 'OrtData.pas' {fmReclData},
OrtResults in 'OrtResults.pas' {fmOrtResults},
OrtCurve in 'OrtCurve.pas' {fmOrtCurve},
OrtMain in 'OrtMain.pas' {fmOrt},
OrtHelp in 'OrtHelp.pas' {fmOrtHelp},
OrtUpdate in 'OrtUpdate.pas',
hh_funcs in '..\delphikit\hh_funcs.pas',
hh in '..\delphikit\hh.pas',
Comm in '..\PStechLib\Comm.pas' {fmComm},
Debug in '..\PStechLib\Debug.pas' {fmDebug},
Waveform in '..\PStechLib\Waveform.pas' {fmWaveform},
xygraph in '..\PStechLib\xygraph.pas',
DelayForm in '..\PStechLib\DelayForm.pas' {fmDelay},
VersionInfo in '..\PStechLib\VersionInfo.pas',
OrtDatabase in 'OrtDatabase.pas' {fmOrtDatabase},
Setup in '..\PStechLib\Setup.pas' {fmSetup},
Cal in '..\PStechLib\Cal.pas' {fmCal},
Pass in '..\PStechLib\Pass.pas' {fmPass},
Delays in '..\PStechLib\Delays.pas',
USB in '..\PStechLib\USB.pas' {fmUSB},
OrtMeter in 'OrtMeter.pas' {fmOrtMeter},
OrtReport in 'OrtReport.pas' {fmOrtReport},
AnalogMeter in '..\PStechLib\AnalogMeter.pas';
// AnalogMeter in '..\PStechLib\analogmeter\AnalogMeter.pas';
{$R *.RES}
var ProgName: String;
begin
Application.Initialize;
ProgName := ExtractFileName (ParamStr(0) );
Application.Title := 'Ortmaster for Windows';
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrt560, fmOrt560);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtReport, fmOrtReport);
if Uppercase(Progname) <> 'ORTRUN.EXE' then begin
if ( (ParamCount = 0) or (ParamStr(1) = '!') ) then begin
fmOrt560.Show;
While fmOrt560.Visible do begin
Sleep(100);
Application.ProcessMessages;
end;
end;
end;
fmOrt560.Release;
Application.CreateForm(TfmDebug, fmDebug);
Application.CreateForm(TfmDelay, fmDelay);
Application.CreateForm(TfmSetup, fmSetup);
Application.CreateForm(TfmCal, fmCal);
Application.CreateForm(TfmPass, fmPass);
// Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtMeter, fmOrtMeter);
Application.CreateForm(TfmUSB, fmUSB);
Application.CreateForm(TfmComm, fmComm);
Application.CreateForm(TfmWaveform, fmWaveform);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtMeter, fmOrtMeter);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrt, fmOrt);
// Following three may be created and destroyed as needed
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtDatabase, fmOrtDatabase);
Application.CreateForm(TfmReclData, fmReclData);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtResults, fmOrtResults);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtCurve, fmOrtCurve);
Application.CreateForm(TfmOrtHelp, fmOrtHelp);
OrtMain.ProgName := ProgName;
Application.Run;
end.
--- End code ---
Phil:
--- Quote from: PStechPaul on April 15, 2017, 03:49:52 am ---I can only give a rough estimate. There are about 16 forms with 171 kB, about 25 PAS files with 491 kB, and about 9 database files in dBase4 format. The main PAS file has about 1200 lines and is 40 kB. So I estimate the 491 kB of all files would be about 15,000 lines. But that includes a lot of whitespace, comments, and some unused code.
--- End quote ---
Doesn't sound too bad to rewrite from scratch, maybe even make it cross-platform. Is the xygraph unit your own code or does it use a graphing component? Also, I see that you use Access to generate at least one of the reports. Have you tested to see if that still works with the latest versions of Access? I used to use Access for reports years ago, but they tend to stop working the further you get from the version of Access you used to develop them (in my experience).
Actually, this might be one are where desktop software development is still thriving: highly technical, highly specific software that few can write, so you charge accordingly. Certainly keeping 2 users happy at $3995 a pop is probably easier than keeping 2,000 users happy at $3.95 a pop.
Maybe before you do much else, have you thought about ways to expand the market for this software? For example, to 10-20 sales per year. Maybe by generalizing it so you can attract new users. Or maybe there's some way to do it on a cheap tablet? Or add new functionality in a Web app? Etc. So you can get upgraders and new users. Maybe you've already thought a lot about that, even agonized over this question, but I thought I would throw that out there just in case you haven't.
Another thing to consider if you want to do a complete rewrite is going to a contract software shop and let them do a complete requirements and design analysis. Would probably cost about one sale but could very well be worth it if you're going to have somebody do a rewrite in mistakes avoided, etc.
Dbase is certainly an obsolete db format and your app does have that late 20th century vintage look, so it might be time to give it some real love (read: $ investment).
Also, developers of desktop software are quickly becoming the COBOL programmers of our era. They're not disappearing and they'll be needed for years to come to maintain all the desktop software developed for Windows over the last 20 years, but few young programmers aspire to do that kind of development. So I would think anything you can do to "modernize" the app would help in keeping a programmer interested and engaged.
PStechPaul:
More information stemming from a PM:
It is difficult to say how much income this might generate. It is a "mature" application that has been working well for as many as 50 customers, and there is a potential market for perhaps 50-100 more. I have never advertised the product, and my sales over the past ten years have been all word-of-mouth and through searches that found my website. This system replaces an earlier version that used MSDOS and the parallel port for data acquisition, and as many as 150 of those systems were sold. Most of my sales have been retrofits for customers who needed to update their systems to Windows platform and the USB port.
Much depends on my associate who is taking over the product line, and he may start advertising and contacting previous customers. If that is successful, I would think perhaps 20-30 units a year could be sold for a few years until the niche market saturates. But there is a good profit margin and I would expect a good rewrite of the software could amount to several thousand dollars over a few months.
[edit] In answer to the previous post, this is a highly specialized application and system which is used by technicians who test Oil Circuit Reclosers that are used by utilities and electric co-ops on their transmission and distribution lines. The previous software in MSDOS was very ugly and primitive, but many of the techs are not very computer-savvy and preferred something stupid-simple. I had been working with an associate who wrote part of the software in old MSDOS Visual Basic, and he handled the sales and service of the product except for the hardware which I designed and built.
He hired some people to make new software for Windows using Visual Basic and IMHO it was truly ugly and problematic. We could not come to agreement so we went separate ways and customers were begging me to supply something, so I built a new interface and a completely new GUI using Delphi. It is admittedly complex but it has been used by many techs and they seem satisfied with it. But I agree that it could use some visual improvement.
The software will run on a WinBook tablet, but it usually runs on a laptop computer that may be dedicated to the test station. I don't know how much people use the database and report functions, and perhaps only a few use MS-Access. I only did that as an option, importing the database tables and creating a custom report. That's an area that could use improvement.
There is another program, BTSA-3T, based on the Ortmaster hardware and software but with a different GUI. It is used by my associate at ETI who is assuming responsibility for the project. That will also need some work, but I think it works on Win10, although not reliably. Here is a picture of the PCB and the application running on my WinBook:
http://enginuitysystems.com/pix/electronics/BTSA3-Winbook_3037.jpg
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