shipping the finished software...

[Phil]

Do you have a link for Chemistry Workbench?

[Edwin Martens]

No but I can send you a copy of the 3.0 branch.
Ill have to install delphi 3 and recompile it since I only have the source and some old installs that won't work on a modern os anymore.
I want to use it and a partly implemented C++ version as a starting point for a relaunch. The C++ version can handle multiple molecules in one drawing as wel as more complicated structures. Aminoacids, proteines etc.  not fully implemented but the detection routines work.

[Phil]

No need, I'm not interested in the code per se.

I would suggest you start looking at what it would take to port to Lazarus. For example, what VCL controls do you use? Any custom controls?

Win32 API references will have to be eliminated, of course, if you want to compile it for Mac or Linux.

[Edwin Martens]

It uses a speedbar with custom bitmaps ( glyphs ? ) and a menu. (Like most good drawing programs) . The Delphi version I used had no double buffering out of the box so I used a bitmap as an offscreen buffer. The heart of the program is just delphi style pascal. If Lazarus has good components for drawing, preferably with scrolling and zooming , I'd like to know. ..

And I'll need something like a dictionary (C++ STL) To internationalize the program. The prev versions where Dutch... and that's quite a small market

[Thaddy]

Lazarus has almost everything that Delphi standard has in a compatible way and then some more:
There are several native garphics solutions that come with Lazarus as standard .
There are also a few if not many natively coded third party graphics components with full sourcecode.
In ALL these cases there wil be no dependencies on external things. None whatsoever.

Check out my paricular favorites:
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Eye-Candy_Controls
http://wiki.freepascal.org/BGRAControls

But Lazarus  and FPC have also bindings for graphics libs in other languages. These require  these libraries to be installed , of course.

[Thaddy]

As far a localization, NOT internationalization (they mean the opposite) goes:
Also see the wiki:
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Localization

There are also( generic) dictionaries or maps  available.
The nicest one in the rtl-generics package, but that is cutting edge and I think only in trunk.
See also this recent thread: http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,33508.msg217344.html#msg217344

[Edwin Martens]

That TECslider is very nice for audio programs.
With my Win95 computer came an audio mixing program with nice sliders ans clicking buttobs. It reminds me of it.
I always likes the "true buttons ans switches" style in user interfaces.

[Edwin Martens]

As far a localization, NOT internationalization (they mean the opposite) goes:
Also see the wiki:
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Localization

There are also( generic) dictionaries or maps  available.
The nicest one in the rtl-generics package, but that is cutting edge and I think only in trunk.
See also this recent thread: http://forum.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,33508.msg217344.html#msg217344

Thanks, .. however I'll need to have some custom localization thing I'm afraid.. since the resulting IUPAC names should be translated as wel to some extend...-zuur will become -acid in english etc...
for that to work I'll need some translation system.. Plugin wise since I'm definitely NOT gonna type every name part of every language in the world.... ;-)

[Thaddy]

Thanks, .. however I'll need to have some custom localization thing I'm afraid.. since the resulting IUPAC names should be translated as wel to some extend...-zuur will become -acid in english etc...
for that to work I'll need some translation system.. Plugin wise since I'm definitely NOT gonna type every name part of every language in the world.... ;-)

Delphi doesn't have this out of the box either. They simply nprovide means, just like Freepascal.

However... since it IS possible to some extent and you will definitely have the code for it.... use the google translate api that comes with Freepascal and combine it with the user locale
In theory your problem should be solved.
You can do that out-of-band, i.e. without the user having to have an internet connection, by doing this beforehand. That can be automated with the google api. Or do it inside the application at program startup, or....

But there is no ready solution for your problem.

E.g. my former employers BinckBank and Cyco software use professional translators or native speakers that are given translation  tools to work with so the end-product is  readily usable as a resource.
A lot of strings regarding the normal OS are already available through the locale setting, btw.

[Thaddy]

If you really want to internationalize your market and therefor want to localize your product look at including resource only shared libraries. Even if translated through the google api
It may be that for your subject dictionaries in the language sense, not as I understood in the programming language sense, other open source software may already provide wordlists if that is what you mean. Hard to find....

[shobits1]

Or you can give free license for those who help you translate the program to their native language and with it you get chemists (know what needs translating) helping with translation process,, imo, it's the best way to do it.

[Phil]

On a different note, one thing this discussion makes obvious to me is how important it often is to team up with someone for developing specialized software. It appears as though Edwin is fortunate enough to be able to combine both scientific expertise and programming skills. For those of us who are "only" programmers without domain-specific skills (gaming and comics don't count), it often makes sense to find someone who is and together produce something interesting.

-Phil

[Edwin Martens]

For that I thank my chemistry & Physics teacher in my "highschool" years.
The first lesson he said " This is your opertunity to be like a wizard and change the world around you"  and he did look a lot like gandalf   he he he.


That said, I might team up later on the path when it comes to 3D development.
It would be cool to be able to see the molecule in true 3D from the drawn formula