Thanks I've awarded you the points.
Main Topics
Browse All TopicsHi,
I am looking into migrating software developed in C++ (using Borland C++ version 5 and OWL libraries) to a more up to date IDE/compiler.
The main IDE's I've looked at are Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Borland C++ BuilderX however I am open to other suggestions.
I'd be grateful if someone could help identify the advantages and disadvantages of the migration and any problems I may encounter.
The software is a set of Windows based applications for communicating (via serial RS 232) with down hole tools (drilling oil/gas industry).
Thanks for your time.
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
.NET 1.1 (VS.NET 2003) does not DIRECTLY support RS-232 communications.
You'll need to resort to API calls, or just buy a communications component.
Lot's of help is available though:
http://search.yahoo.com/se
Hi, (sorry my English)
I have a project (MDI/Win32 App) developed in BC5.2 and I want use VC++ 6.0.
How can I do that?
I create a new project (MDI/VC++6.0) with the same charatectritics and add some old BC project files that use OWL classes. My idea is ignore OWL classes and try mapping them to use like MFC derived classes.
What you think about this. Have I other solutions?
Thanks.
Hi,
If your application uses OWL classes, like TApplication, TWindow, TMDIChild, etc.,
I think the task of replacing these classes with the similar MFC ones, like CWindow will be very very hard.
It will be better to rewrite the application from scratch using MFC.
Much easier is to upgrade to OWLNext, and then rebuild OWLNext and your application with VC6 - it is done by many people.
See OWLNext site and the it's mailing list archives for more information.
Jogy
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: JogyPosted on 2004-02-10 at 07:03:10ID: 10322697
Hello,
Take a look at the OWLNext project: www.owlnext.org
It is a free upgrade for OWL 5, and is ported to various compilers,
including C++ Builder 6, GCC, Visual Studio 6 and Visual Studio .NET
Probably it will be ported to C++Builder X too.
My suggestion is to first migrate to OWLNext under Borland C++ 5.x,
it should not be much work, and then decide which IDE to use.
Jogy