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 Dr.Bob's Delphi 8 for .NET Clinic
 Dr.Bob's Delphi 8 for .NET Clinic contains information related to Delphi 8 for .NET using ASP.NET, VCL.NET and more.
See Also: Delphi Papers and Columns

For more recent news, see Dr.Bob's Delphi for .NET Clinic.

2008/12/01 - Delphi 8 De-Supported
Delphi 8 is now officially de-supported, and is no longer eligible for Technical Support.

2008/10/27 - Delphi Prism Announced
Embarcadero announced Delphi Prism, the new .NET development solution from Embarcadero Technologies. Using Delphi Prism (a Visual Studio Shell plugin based on the Oxygene compiler technology from RemObjects Software) we can use existing Delphi programming skills to build .NET applications, taking advantage of the latest and greatest .NET technologies such as WinForms, WPF, Silverlight, ASP.NET and LINQ. Delphi Prism will also contain familiar dbExpress functionality and .NET clients that connect to native DataSnap servers.
Delphi Prism Architect will include database modeling and design capabilities based on ER/Studio that enable developers to design, model, and better understand their databases.

Delphi 8 for .NET Courseware Manuals
Delphi 8 for .NET Essentials and Delphi 8 ASP.NET Essentials courseware manuals were licensed by Borland for the official Borland Professional Services (world-wide), used for a 3-day training course, but also for self-study.
Updated courseware manuals, using recent versions of Delphi, can be ordered using my electronic courseware on-line application (an ASP.NET application written using Delphi, of course).

2005/04/17 - BorCon 2004 Papers
The Borland Developer Network site now also contains the session papers from BorCon 2003 and 2004. The 2003 papers were available earlier, but the 2004 papers are new. My four BorCon 2004 session papers are as follows:

2005/03/30 - Namespace Support
The Delphi 8 for .NET namespace support is - to be honest - less then ideal, with the mapping of one unit per namespace. This was changed and made more flexible in Delphi 2005, where multiple units can be part of a namespace, with the rule that the left-most part of the unitname defined the namespace.

2005/02/28 - Dr.Bob Examines... TADONETConnector
In this paper, I will demonstrate how to use the hardly documented TADONETConnector component to feed (ADO).NET DataSets to VCL for .NET clients, where you can show and work with the contents in regular data-aware controls from the VCL (for .NET).

2005/01/31 - Dr.Bob Examines... SetFocus in ASP.NET
In my latest Dr.Bob Examines paper, I will demonstrate how to generate and include the right JavaScript code in order to set the focus to a specific control in an ASP.NET web page built with Delphi for .NET.

2004/12/23 - Delphi 8 Update #3 Public Beta
As some of you may have experienced: installing SP1 of the .NET Framework 1.1 will break the Delphi 8 for .NET compiler (not the IDE or compiled applications, but "only" the compiler itself - or more accurately the references to assemblies).
A Public Beta of Delphi 8 Update #3 has been released which will address the changes required for SP1 of the .NET 1.1 Framework. Please make sure to read the information before applying the update.

2004/12/05 - Delphi 8 Update #3
According to Danny Thorpe, te Delphi 8 update 3 to resolve versioning issues with the .NET 1.1 SP1 release has been going through internal testing for the past weeks.

2004/11/16 - What's New in Delphi 2005?
I've written a technical white paper describing What's New in Delphi 2005 which is now published on the Borland Developer Network.
My top 10 reasons for upgrading to Delphi 2005 are as follows:

For more information you can visit my Delphi 2005 specific section, and/or attend one of my Delphi 2005 training days in The Netherlands.

2004/10/31 - RemObjects SDK 3.0 for .NET
RemObjects SDK, the award winning remoting framework for Delphi and Kylix, is now available for Microsoft .NET. RemObjects SDK 3.0 for .NET allows you to build fully managed multi-tier servers and clients for .NET and Mono, while preserving full wire compatibility with RemObjects SDK for Delphi so that you can easily combine servers and clients from different platforms.
With full C# code, RemObjects SDK 3.0 for .NET integrates into the Visual Studio and Borland Developer Studio IDEs, is built on RemObjects Internet Pack for .NET, and offers support for C#, Chrome, and Delphi for .NET among others.

2004/10/26 - Dr.Bob Examines... Delphi Database Development
In this Dr.Bob Examines paper, I will use Diamondback (aka Borland Delphi 2005) and explain what techniques are available to connect to and work with databases. For each of the techniques, I will briefly show how it works, and which databases can be accessed through it. We'll also examine the data migration capabilities of the Data Explorer and the BdpCopyTable component.

2004/10/19 - Delphi 8 vs .NET 1.1 SP1 status update
In his blog, Danny Thorpe writes that the fix for the Delphi 8 compiler to support .NET 1.1 SP1 is not going to be a simple as he had hoped. An informal build will be out of the question, so we're looking at a significant update.
Note that this versioning issue is within the compiler cached symbols only. It does not affect the assemblies produced by the Delphi compiler - they will run just fine on .NET 1.1 as well as .NET 1.1 SP1.

2004/10/12 - Borland Delphi 2005 Announced
Borland has announced Delphi 2005, the latest version of Borland Delphi with support for Delphi Win32, Delphi for .NET and C# personalities. Borland Delphi 2005 will be available in several editions: Architect, Enterprise and Professional.
A white paper with an Overview of Delphi 2005 is available now, and will be followed by a detailed white paper covering What's New in Delphi 2005 shortly.

2004/09/30 - Work with BDP and SQL in Delphi 8
This new article for the IBM DB2-Borland web portal, a follow-up to the SQL DDL article, Using Delphi code to create/drop DB2 UDB database tables, focuses on the use of SQL queries to build simple and more complex SQL SELECT queries to end up with master-detail relations. I also examine SQL joins in detail, covering examples of inner joins, left/right outer joins, and the differences between these joins.

2004/09/23 - BDP Development docs - First Draft
Ramesh Theivendran (Borland) has published the first draft of the BDP Development documentation, available from CodeCentral. Ramesh welcomes feedback and suggestions by e-mail. The final paper will be published on BDN.

2004/09/21 - DO NOT INSTALL .NET 1.1 SP1
Borland Delphi 8 for .NET users should not install the SP1 for the .NET Framework 1.1 (and note that it's installed automatically with Windows Update, as I found out myself).
Originally, Allen Bauer posted a shotgun-fix (based on information from Roy Nelson among others), but Danny Thorpe has posted a more detailed analysis which just results in the knowledge that we should wait until Borland provides us with a patch for the compiler.

2004/09/11-15: Borland Conference 2004 Report
Like previous years, I have written a "live" Conference Report on this website including details of all major events, Borland and 3rd-party announcements and session details.

2004/08/10 - New Diamondback for-loop Syntax
According to Danny Thorpe's latest weblog entry, "in the next release of Delphi, the compiler will support a new kind of for loop, dubbed the "for..in" loop. A "for..in" loop works just like a regular Delphi for loop except that you don't have to deal with a loop index variable.".
This sounds a lot like the C# foreach feature. And the best thing is: it will even be available in the Win32 Delphi compiler as well.

2004/08/05 - Dr.Bob Examines... Enterprise Core Objects
In this monthly Dr.Bob Examines column, I will explore the Enterprise Core Objects (ECO) of the Architect edition of Delphi 8 for .NET, covering the EcoSpace Object Model, UML (Unified Modeling Language), Classes, Attributes, Operations, Associations, Generalizations and Implementations, the PersistenceMapperXML, PersistenceMapperBdp, and Database Scripts.

2004 August - The Delphi Magazine #108
My Under Construction column in the August issue of The Delphi Magazine is about Delphi Language Enhancements. In this article, I outline the additions to our beloved language that arrived with Delphi 8, and discuss which of these might make the transfer from .NET to Win32 in a future Delphi version.
TDM #108 also prints an article about .NET Security: Signing Assemblies from me. In that article, I explain why you may want to sign your Delphi-developed .NET assemblies and how to go about it, including delay signing and other handy hints.
Finally, I've also written a book review: Delphi For .NET Developer’s Guide by Xavier Pacheco - the only Delphi 8 for .NET book currently in existence.

2004/07/20 - Delphi 8 for .NET and Assemblies
In this monthly Dr.Bob Examines column, I will explain what .NET Assemblies are, how we can use them in Delphi 8 for .NET applications, and especially how we can make them ourselves. It actually turns out that there is more than one way (and even some special way to use some of them in Win32 applications).

2004/07/11 - Delphi 8 at TechEd 2004 Europe
Delphi 8 is the best developer tool, so says Windows & .NET Magazine, SQL Server Magazine, and Microsoft. The ceremony, held at TechEd Europe, judged the industry's best products in 9 categories. Delphi 8 won the "Developer Tools" category.
The following Borland solutions were finalists in their respective categories: Janeva for "Software Components", and StarTeam for "Productivity and Collaboration".

2004/06/26 - Dr.Bob Examines... .NET Remoting and DataSets
In the June 2004 Dr.Bob Examines column, I'll continue our coverage of .NET Remoting techniques, using it to build a simple multi-tier application passing a DataSet from the Server to Clients, and updates back to the Server.

2004/06/18 - Delphi 8 for .NET Help as PDF
Registered users can now download the Delphi 8 help file in PDF-format (English only), offering conceptual, procedural, and Language Guide topics in PDF format.

2004/06/17 - Delphi 8 ASP.NET Informal Update
Jim Tierney of Delphi R&D has posted an informal update which addresses the problem of the IDE deleting code from .aspx files. The update is available on CodeCentral.

2004/06/13 - How Microsoft Lost the API War
Joel on Software has written an interesting article about How Microsoft Lost the API War, which also mentions the fact that Longhorn's XAML will break compatibility with .NET's WinForms.

2004/05/25 - Delphi 8 HelpKit
The Delphi 8 HelpKit describes how to automate a number of basic Help maintenance tasks, including installation of new files, for a Help 2.0 file set within the framework of a Borland Help collection. These instructions, along with the script and example files packaged with this document, are intended to assist developers who have written applications or components that extend the design-time functionality of specific Borland development products.

2004/05/13 - Borland Developer Studio
At the Dutch Software Developer Conference (SDC) Danny Thorpe had an evening session about "A Brief History of Delphi 8 for .NET", where he also briefly mentioned the future of Delphi. Danny mentioned that the next release of Delphi would contain both .NET and Win32 in the same box and even in the same IDE (the Borland Developer Studio IDE), and that it could also contain C#.
Dr.Bob says... Since C#Builder is actually "BDS 1.0" (the C# personality) and Delphi 8 is "BDS 2.0" (the Delphi personality), it would appear that a future edition of BDS would contain multiple personalities like Delphi (Win32 as well as .NET) and perhaps even C#.
Note that there has been no official word from Borland on this, so at this time it's only hearsay (but very promising hearsay at that ;-)

2004/05/07 - A tale of two CodeDOMs
Read the story of building a web service that uses the C#Builder and Delphi 8 for .NET CodeDOMs to instantly convert C# code samples to Delphi code.
You can download the complete WinForms project from CodeCentral.

2004/05/01 - Dr.Bob Examines... .NET Remoting
In the May 2004 Dr.Bob Examines column, I'll cover an introduction to distributed applications and Delphi 8 for .NET, using the remoting techniques of the .NET Framework, also known as .NET Remoting.

2004 May - The Delphi Magazine #105
My Under Construction column in the May issue of The Delphi Magazine is about ASP.NET User And Custom Controls. In this article, I explain the two ways to implement custom ASP.NET controls: adding them to an existing ASP.NET web forms application (in which case they are called ASP.NET user controls), or creating a complete new package for them (which is called a Web Control Library) and thereby ending up with an ASP.NET custom control.
In another article about ASP.NET Security, I show how authorisation and authentication work in the .NET Framework, and put the theory to good use to demonstrate how to limit access to areas of your website with some straightforward ASP.NET code, making use of ASP.NET forms authentication.

2004/04/28 - Updated Delphi 8 License
An Updated Delphi 8 License is now available from Borland Developer Network. The major change involves point 3 ("Compiled Programs and Redistributables") which not only gives you the right to distribute the redistributable files from Borland (as part of your component or application), but now also gives you the ability to sublicense to your end users the rights to distribute the redistributables. Moreover, 3.6 specifically targets component developers with a special agreement that allows them to grant rights to the components customers (the only thing I'm not sure about is what to do with freeware or Open Source components built with Delphi 8 for .NET).
The bottom line is that we can safely distribute the Borland redistributable files as part of our components or applications.

2004/04/13 - Dr.Bob Examines ASP.NET with Delphi 8 for .NET
In the March 2004 Dr.Bob Examines column, we'll take a close look at building and working with ASP.NET Web Services using Delphi 8 for .NET, and in the April 2004 column we'll build ASP.NET Web Forms applications using Delphi 8 for .NET and the DB Web controls from Borland.

2004/04/09 - Delphi VCL data-aware controls and DB2
This article on the IBM DB2-Borland portal uses Delphi 8 for .NET, dbExpress and the data-aware controls from the Visual Component Library (VCL) to connect to and work with IBM DB2 UDB tables.
The same project is also compiled with Delphi 7 to a Win32 executable with minimal changes.

2004 April - The Delphi Magazine #104
My Under Construction column in the April issue of The Delphi Magazine is about MDA And Enterprise Core Objects. In this article, I cover MDA, which stands for Model Driven Applications, and how we can use the Architect edition of Delphi 8 for .NET to put MDA into action with Enterprise Core Objects (ECO).

2004/03/23 - Delphi 8 for .NET Architect Trial
The Delphi 8 Architect 30-day Trial edition is now available for download. A trial edition of InterBase is also available for download.
Note that the Delphi 8 Architect Trial is a two-part download. The recommended procedure is to download Part 1 first (83,643,156 bytes), this contains extras including Component One, Wise Owl Demeanor, and MDAC as will as a set of configuration files for use with C#Builder, then download and run Part 2 (88,285,589 bytes), the main Delphi 8 install. The extras and main Delphi 8 packages should be extracted to the same location on the local machine.

2004/03/22 - Automated IDE Incident Reporting
Allen Bauer has just released a Delphi 8 IDE Add-in that provides the user with the opportunity to report directly into Quality Central, Delphi IDE exception incidents.

2004/03/19 - TeeChart Pro VCL / CLX version 7
Steema Software has released version 7 of TeeChart Pro VCL / CLX (including free and evaluation versions). New features include Delphi 8 VCL.NET support, 360 degree rotation, new Series styles, improved GIS-Mapping features, more Tee Functions and Chart Tools, Themes and color palettes, OpenGL gradients and export to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).

2004/03/11 - Delphi 8 for .NET Update #2 & Doc Update
We can now download Delphi 8 Update 2 as well as a Rave Reports Update, InterBase 7.1 SP2 Update, and a special Documentation Update from the Delphi 8 for .NET download site.
Also, Michael Swindell has posted a new message regarding future updates (including an upcoming Delphi 7 update).

2004/03/08 - Delphi 8 for .NET Update #2
According to Anders Ohlsson's Blog we can almost download the second update from the Delphi 8 for .NET download site. This update fixes a lot of issues!

2004/03/05 - Delphi 8 for .NET and multi-tier apps (2)
The Borland-IBM DB2 portal has just published the second part of the 2-part article on Delphi 8 for .NET and multi-tier (ASP.NET web service) database applications. This second part shows how to extend an ASP.NET Web Service application (covered in the previous article) to let clients update the database.

2004 March - The Delphi Magazine #103
My Under Construction column in the March issue of The Delphi Magazine is about Delphi 8 For .NET And ASP.NET Web Services. In this article, I discuss ASP.NET web services, considered by many to be the best part of the .NET framework. I also explain how to migrate your existing Delphi web service engines to ASP.NET in such a way that the resulting project can be compiled with both Delphi 7 and Delphi 8 for .NET.

2004/02/26 - Delphi 8 for .NET and multi-tier apps
The Borland-IBM DB2 portal has just published the first part of a 2-part article on Delphi 8 for .NET and multi-tier (ASP.NET web service) database applications.
The first part shows how to use Delphi 8 for .NET to build an ASP.NET Web Service application that publishes data tables from a database (in this case the DB2 UDB SAMPLE database) to the outside world, including WinForms clients.

2004/02/23 - Danny Thorpe on VCL for .NET
Danny Thorpe has written an excellent article on the Borland Developer Network answering the question Why VCL for .NET?. Highly recommended!

2004/02/17 - Migrating to Delphi 8 for .NET
A white paper that I wrote about Migrating Borland Delphi applications to the .NET Framework with Delphi 8, has been published on the Borland website (in PDF format). The difference between Windows Forms and VCL for .NET is covered, as well as several example migrations from existing Delphi Win32 VCL applications to Delphi 8 native .NET applications.

2004/02/13 - Delphi 8 for .NET and ASP.NET Input Validators
ASP.NET contains six built-in input validator controls: RequiredFieldValidator, CompareValidator, RangeValidator, RegularExpressionValidator, CustomValidator, and ValidationSummary, all found in the regular "Web Controls" category of the Tool Palette.
A new Delphi 8 for .NET article from me has just been published on the IBM DB2-Borland web portal, this time about the Data Entry Input Validation controls (and the DB Web controls).

2004/02/12 - Delphi Newsgroup Changes
John Kaster has just published a quick guide to the recent changes in the Delphi newsgroups on the Borland public newsgroup server. These changes were made to provide areas for discussions regarding both Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET framework, and for Delphi's Win32 support.

2004/02/06 - Delphi 8 for .NET Update #1
According to the Borland Developer Network (where you can also read the readme), registered users of Delphi 8 for .NET can now download the update from the Delphi 8 for .NET download site. This update fixes some issues with the compiler and the debugger.
Please also see Danny Thorpe's addendum to this update, since the Feb04 Delphi 8 for .NET compiler update contains a fix that may affect you if you are in the habit of rebuilding the VCL for .NET source code from scratch.

2004 February - The Delphi Magazine #102
My Under Construction column in the February issue of The Delphi Magazine is about Delphi 8 For .NET And Data Access Technologies. In this article, I discuss several solutions for data access on .NET, both for VCL applications and those which do not use VCL for .NET, and explain when to use what, including an introduction to ADO.NET.

2004/01/31 - Dr.Bob Examines Delphi 8 for .NET
In this article, I'll give you an overview of Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework (or just Delphi 8 for .NET as I will personally call it). I'll tell you how to "tweak" the Welcome Page, where to find more information (like some articles I wrote earlier), and refer you to helpful resources like websites, papers, training, and more.

2004/01/30 - Michael Swindell on Delphi 8 Updates
Michael Swindell has posted a message on the borland.public.delphi.non-technical newsgroup about Delphi 8 Updates - the first one of which we can expect to be available in the coming days - not weeks!

2004/01/30 - Delphi 8 for .NET and Enterprise Core Objects
This article demonstrates how to use the Architect edition of Borland Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework, and specifically the functionality found in the Borland Enterprise Core Objects section, to design an Object Model that is made persistent inside the DB2 UDB SAMPLE database.

2004/01/29 - Delphi 8 for .NET and DB2 with ASP.NET
This article shows how to use Borland Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework to build ASP.NET Web applications that connect to IBM DB2 Universal Database tables; display the data in a special ASP.NET DataGrid control; and edit, apply, or undo changes in these database tables.

2004/01/28 - Borland Data Providers for .NET
The Borland Developer Network has just published a White Paper written by Ramesh Theivendran about the Borland Data Providers for .NET. The source code is C#, but it's very insightful for Delphi developers, too.

2004/01/27 - Delphi 8 for .NET newsgroups
The Borland news server now contains additional newsgroups that can be used for discussion of Delphi 8 for .NET topics. Note that the existing public.delphi.* groups have been extended with new groups - there is no separate public.delphi.dotnet.* tree (and the public.delphi.netpreview.* groups are now marked read-only).

2004/01/18 - Enterprise Core Objects Tutorial
There's a new tutorial about Enterprise Core Objects (ECO), the Model Driver Architecture and Object Persistence framework available in the Architect editions of Delphi 8 for .NET.

2004/01/09 - Delphi Bugs in QualityCentral
If you have encountered any bugs with Delphi 7 or Delphi 8 for .NET, then this is your chance: please put them into QualityCentral as soon as possible. At the end of this week, Borland will be compiling a list of bugs to fix for both Delphi/Win32 and Delphi/NET so the R&D team can allocate resources to work on them.

2004/01/07 - Delphi 8 for .NET on Quality Central
To request features, report problems, and collaborate on the postings, there is now a Delphi.NET project available in Quality Central.
The Borland newsgroups required for Delphi 8 for .NET should be appearing next week.

2004/01/05 - ASP.NET Development and Win32 migration
The latest BDNtv episode shows the development of an ASP.NET Web Application using the Borland Data Provider for InterBase and the Borland DB Web Controls. Apart from that, it shows how easy it can be to migrate a Delphi Win32 application to the Microsoft .NET Framework with Delphi.

2004 January - The Delphi Magazine #101
My Under Construction column in the December issue of The Delphi Magazine is about ASP.NET And DB Web Controls.
In this article, I start with the Borland Data Providers for .NET, an open layer on top of ADO.NET providing support for multiple databases, and then uses them in an ASP.NET web forms application, using the new DB Web controls.
I also wrote a review about RemObjects’ Data Abstract, a new data access framework, which the developers claim allows you to work with databases in a DBMS- and driver-independent way, creating multi-tier applications with no need for DataSnap licence fees.

2003/12/31 - Delphi 8 Partner CD
The Delphi 8 Partner CD is available now for everyone. You can browse the index, or get the zipped image all at once.

2003/12/23 - .NET controls in VCL for .NET apps
This article by Tim Jarvis and John Kaster consists of a step by step guide using the WinForms Control Import Wizard to importing a BCL Winforms component into a VCL for .NET package for use in a VCL for .NET application.

2003/12/22 - Delphi 8 for .NET shipping
Just before Christmas: Delphi 8 for .NET is now shipping, and available in three editions: Professional, Enterprise and Architect (see also the Feature Matrix). A Personal edition will most likely also become available (just like trial versions), so stay tuned.

2003/12/19 - Accessing DB2 with Delphi 8 for .NET
In this article for the IBM DB2 - Borland web portal (in cooperation with IBM and Borland), I show how Borland Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework lets you build native .NET applications that connect to IBM DB2 UDB tables, display the data in a DataGrid, and edit, apply, or undo changes in the database tables.
As data access technology, I use both dbExpress - a cross-platform data access framework - and the new Borland Data Providers for ADO.NET, both of which contain drivers for DB2 UDB.

2003 December - The Delphi Magazine #100
My Under Construction column in the December issue of The Delphi Magazine is about RSS With Delphi 8 For .NET (see also my own RSS Channel at http://www.drbob42.com/RSS.xml).
In this article, I continu my coverage of RSS channels and feeds, but this time using Delphi 8 for .NET. I focus on Delphi 8’s XML and database support as it relates to this project, as well as the migration path for existing VCL applications.

2003/11/24 - Delphi 8 for .NET Sneak Peek
This 5 minute sneak peek, presented by John Kaster and Anders Ohlsson, shows some of the features of Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework, including VCL for .NET, Windows Forms, Borland Data Providers, and the DB Web Controls for ASP.NET (that I demonstrated for the Delphi 8 for .NET launch at BorCon Europe in Amsterdam).

2003/11/14 - What's New in Delphi 8 for .NET
The Borland Delphi website now contains information about the three Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework editions: Architect, Enterprise and Professional (no Personal, yet) as well as links to PDF files with the Data Sheet, the Tech Overview, the System Requirements and FAQ.

2003/11/11 - Delphi 8 for .NET Launch
On Tuesday evening, 11th November 2003, Delphi 8 for the Micrsoft .NET Framework was launched in The Netherlands at the European Borland Conference in Amsterdam. I had the priviledge to be allowed to demonstrate the ASP.NET functionality during this launch event, by building and consuming an ASP.NET Web Service, and showing how to make ASP.NET Web Forms with the Borland Data Providers and some very cool DB Web components.

2003/11/1-5: Borland Conference 2003
The 14th annual Borland Conference (and Borland's 20th Anniversary) was held from Saturday (Nov 1st) until Wednesday (Nov 5th), in San Jose, CA (USA). I've done a pre-conference tutorial (on XML & SOAP), a session about dbExpress, and a Birds-of-a-Feather session on RemObjects SDK.
The latest Delphi 8 for .NET news and updates were reported "live" from BorCon in San Jose and can be read in my special BorCon Report at http://www.drbob42.com/BorCon.

2003/10/14 - Octane Preview Teaser #1
John Kaster and Anders Ohlsson demonstrate how quickly and easily you can build .NET WinForms applications with Delphi 8 for .NET. Delphi 8 for .NET is a complete solution for Microsoft .NET application development, for WinForms applications, ASP.NET applications, Web Services, servers, or any other kind of software you can build for .NET. The Delphi 8 for .NET compiler produces fully managed .NET applications.

For more information on Octane, come to BorCon 2003 in San Jose (or BorCon Europe in Amsterdam - I'll be at both events myself).
If you want to be sure you get Octane as soon as it is available, you can purchase the Delphi 7 Special Edition with Software Assurance right now, and continue to receive all updates to Delphi for both the .NET and Win32 versions for the next 12 months. Or, you can come to BorCon 2003 and purchase Octane at a 50% discount off the list price. Delphi 7 will be bundled with Octane. If you purchase Software Assurance for Octane, your updates will also updates to the Win32 version of Delphi.

2003/10/02 - Octane: (only) Delphi 8 for .NET
Simon Thornhill has just published a revised Open Letter on the Borland Developer Network in which he addresses a change in plan for Octane, which will now include Delphi 8 for .NET, but no Delphi 8 for Win32. In his Open Letter, Simon mentions Octane - the codename for the new version of Delphi - which will "include a complete Delphi language implementation for .NET, a full .NET implementation of the VCL framework and designers, full support for Windows Forms and ASP.NET Web Forms, Web Services, ADO.NET, ECO Model Driven development and much more."
For more information, see also the Octane and Delphi Q&A.

2003 October - The Delphi Magazine #98
In the October 2003 issue of The Delphi Magazine I have written an article about Moving To Delphi 8 For .NET Today! In this article, I show how to modify your Delphi projects to get them working with the Delphi 8 for .NET preview compiler and so be ready for the full-blown Delphi 8 for .NET when it arrives.

2003/09/26 - Octane Preview: Delphi 8 for .NET
Anders Ohlsson and David I have shown previews of Octane at EKon 7 as well as the special Borland day in The Netherlands (yesterday). An article on Borland Developer Network covers in some more detail what was shown.

2003 September - The Delphi Magazine #97
In the September 2003 issue of The Delphi Magazine I have written an article about InterBase 7.1 and the Borland Data Providers for ADO.NET. In this article, I describe how to use the recently introduced Borland Data Providers for ADO.NET in the Delphi for .NET command-line preview compiler to access InterBase databases.
In the same issue, I have reviewed Essential .NET Volume 1 – The Common Language Runtime by Don Box with Chris Sells.

2003/09/01 - Borland Conference Europe
The 2003 European Borland Conference, has been rescheduled to November 10-12 in Amsterdam. I'm part of the Advisory Board, and we've selected good sessions from well-known and respected Speakers, for Borland Developers from all over Europe, enabling access to the latest information on .NET and Borland.

2003/07/14 - Dr.Bob Examines C#Builder
In my latest Dr.Bob Examines article, I'll cover Borland C#Builder, the C# development environment from Borland to build native .NET Framework 1.1 applications. I'll tell you where to find more information (like some articles I wrote earlier), and refer you to helpful resources like user groups, journals, training, and more.

2003 July - The Delphi Magazine #95
My Under Construction column in the July issue of The Delphi Magazine is about ASP.NET Web Services. In this article, I show how to build, test and deploy a Delphi for .NET web service on the .NET framework, as well as how to import such web services with Delphi 7 in order to illustrate some potential compatibility issues between Delphi 7 and Delphi for .NET.

2003/06/30 - RemObjects Client SDK for .NET
RemObjects has just announced the availability of the RemObjects Client SDK for .NET, that can be used to build native .NET clients for your RemObjects SDK Servers. The Client SDK support .NET Framework 1.1 and the Compact Framework, so you can target both Windows based desktops as well as Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition.

2003/06/25 - Delphi Language View for Reflector
Lutz Roeder's .NET Reflector now has a DelphiLanguage view (so you can browse and decompile .NET assemblies to Delphi source). Make sure you download the Reflector SDK as this is where the Delphi Language View is "hidden".
It comes with source, was written by Peter Sawatzki, and you can download the latest version from Peter's website It would be nice to get some feedback from users for further enhancement.

2003/06/17 - Borland releases InterBase 7.1
Borland has just introduced Borland InterBase 7.1, a high-performance, cross-platform embeddable database with support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003. New in this release is an InterBase edition of the Borland Data Provider for ADO.NET, which can be used with C#Builder, Visual Studio .NET, as well as Delphi for .NET. You can also download the trial version of InterBase 7.1.

2003/06/03 - Dr.Bob Examines VCL for .NET
In this latest Dr.Bob Examines article, I'll show how to migrate a VCL application (the game of Memory) to VCL for .NET, and finally to WinForms on .NET, all using the Delphi for .NET Preview command-line compiler (including a special section on the Dfm2Pas migration utility).

2003/05/09 - Binary Serialization with the Microsoft .NET framework and Delphi for .NET
Marcel van Brakel has written an in-depth article on the Borland Developer Network about Binary Serialization with the Microsoft .NET framework and Delphi for .NET, which explains binary serialization, complete with Delphi for .NET and C# source code.

2003 May - The Delphi Magazine #93
My Under Construction column in the May issue of The Delphi Magazine is about DCon Planning With Delphi And ASP.NET, where I continue to work on my schedule-choosing web application for DCon 2003, but this time I'm using Delphi as an ASP.NET scripting language, courtesy of the Delphi for .NET preview compiler (and a lot of head scratching to work round the problems which came to light).

2003/04/14 - Dr.Bob Examines ASP.NET Web Services
Two months ago, we explored the Delphi for .NET as scripting language for ASP.NET applications. This time, in my April 2003 Dr.Bob Examines column, I'll show that apart from producing server side scripted web pages, Delphi for .NET and ASP.NET can also play an important role when it comes to .NET web services.

2003/04/02 - Delphi for .NET and ASP.NET Code Behind
I've now managed to produce a non-trivial ASP.NET web form - the DCon2003 schedule planner - using Delphi for .NET as scripting language in combination with Code Behind as well as an external unit, and deployed it on my eBob42.com domain hosted by the TDMWeb web server. See http://www.eBob42.com/cgi-bin/DCon2003.aspx (or DCon.aspx for the non-Code Behind version).
The May issue of The Delphi Magazine will feature an article explaining in detail how to configure ASP.NET and Delphi for .NET on a web server (without actually installing Delphi for .NET itself), as well as the steps to implement Code Behind and some issues that had to be solved (like the Daylight Savings Time problem).

2003/03/26 - Delphi for .NET and ASP.NET
I've just deployed the first ASP.NET example (the good-old Celsius-to-Fahrenheit converter) using Delphi for .NET and Code Behind (i.e. a single .aspx file without any source code at all, and an accompanying .pas file with the Delphi for .NET source code that implement the behaviour).
A more detailed article describing the techniques behind this (and actual deployment instructions) will be published in an upcoming issue of The Delphi Magazine, so stay tuned.

2003/03/14 - Dr.Bob Examines Assemblies and DLLs
In my Dr.Bob Examines #39 article, I've examined Delphi for .NET and specifically experimented with .NET assemblies and "regular" DLLs, discovering the differences between them (assemblies can hold classes) and how to use them (in different ways).

2003/03/03 - Review: dataWeb's TurboDB.NET
In this review I take a closer look at dataWeb's TurboDB.NET - a data access solution for the .NET platform, using the Delphi for .NET preview command-line compiler to work with it.

2003/02/22 - Multiple Inheritance for Interfaces
The new update for the Delphi for .NET preview command-line compiler also supports Multiple Inheritance for Interfaces, as described in this new article on the Borland Developer Network.

2003/02/20 - Delphi for Microsoft .NET Preview Update
The Borland Developer Network features information and a link to the Delphi 7 Registered Users page from where we can download the new Delphi for Microsoft .NET Preview Update.
This 14.6 Mb update includes additional new Delphi RTL and VCL units, a dfm2pas.exe that enables you to convert dfm files to pas files for the .NET framework, as well as a "GUI" interface (plug-in) for a more convenient approach to .NET application development. This accumulative update to Delphi for .NET Preview includes the previous update that was available in November of 2002.
I'm preparing some new articles about the new Dfm2Pas tool as well as more advanced ASP.NET stuff like Code Behind etc.

2003/02/14 - Jason Vokes (Borland) on Borland and .NET
Jason Vokes, Borland European Product Manager for RAD Solutions, has not only sent me the first two screenshots of SideWinder, but also kindly participated in a little on-line/e-mail interview with me.
In this interview, Jason talks about the .NET developments at Borland, including SideWinder and Delphi for .NET.

2003/02/04 - Borland SideWinder: a C# IDE for .NET
According to InfoWorld and CNet News.com, Borland is getting ready to go up against Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net with an IDE (integrated development environment) for the Microsoft .Net Framework.
The IDE with codename Sidewinder does not yet have a formal product name and will not ship until this summer. Sidewinder is a C#-based development environment for building applications on the .Net Framework, including on ASP.Net, ADO.Net, and WinForms, according to Borland.

2003/02/03 - Dr.Bob Examines ASP.NET I've written a number of articles about the Delphi for .NET Preview command-line compiler. While it's currently still a preview version, you'll be surprised at how functional it is already! In this article, I show you how to use Delphi as the language for your ASP.NET Web applications.

2003/01/29 - Critical Update for Microsoft .NET Framework SDK 1.0 Users
The .NET Framework SDK version 1.0 optionally installs an application-specific instance of MSDE 2000 as part of the QuickStart feature. Users of the .NET Framework SDK 1.0 or Visual Studio .NET 2002 who installed this feature need to apply a specially adapted SQL Server Service Pack 3 to protect MSDE 2000 from attack by the recent Slammer virus.

2003/01/28 - Borland licenses Microsoft's .NET Framework SDK
Interesting articles on InfoWorld and CNET News.com/ZDNet News describes that Borland has licensed a key piece of Microsoft's .Net software (the .NET Framework SDK) and will release a new line of programming tools for .Net later this year. Last year, Borland acquired TogetherSoft, which makes application modeling and design tools. The forthcoming Borland products that incorporates the .Net Framework SDK will include an enhancement to TogetherSoft's current .Net product.
The official press release from Borland is also available now.

2003/01/23 - Lino Tadros: .NET Remoting
Lino Tadros has written a new article for the Borland Developer Network that will explain and demonstrate the .NET Remoting framework and build Remotable Objects, Hosting servers and Clients to exercise the different activation models.

2003/01/15 - Borland ponders strategy for 2003 and 2004
An interesting article by ComputerWire on The Register writes that Borland executives will spend the next three months evaluating the impact of recent acquisitions (TogetherSoft Corp, Starbase Corp and BoldSoft MDE AB) and plot strategic goals for the next two years. The acquisitions are designed to make Borland's Java and .NET development environments more appealing to developers.
According to the article, Borland will launch its long-awaited .NET Development Environment this summer.

2003/01/11 - Overview of the VCL for .NET
This article provides an overview of the architecture, design, and intent of the Visual Component Library for .NET included with the Delphi for .NET preview.
Borland has included experimental versions of the VCL (Visual Component Library) for .NET in an update to the Delphi for .NET preview, which is available for download by registered users. Even with access to this source code, many Delphi users are still confused about exactly what the VCL for .NET is and how they can use it - hence this article to clear up some of the confusion.

2003/01/09 - Building and running Delphi for .NET projects using DLite
The Delphi for .NET preview included with Delphi 7 gives us an excellent peek at the .NET world from the Delphi point of view. This article shows you how to use DLite to help you build, verify and run your Delphi for .NET projects.

2003/01/01 - Dr.Bob Examines COM in .NET
In this new article about Delphi, COM and .NET, I show you how to make the final move to .NET and see if - and if so how - you can take your COM knowledge (and, more important, objects) with you to the .NET world.

2002/12/19 - Object Destructors and Finalizers in .NET
Brian Long has written an article about Object Destructors and Finalizers in .NET Using C# and Delphi for .NET. This in-depth article looks at the role and usage of destructors (or equivalent) in the managed world of .NET. It examines in detail the areas of garbage collection, finalizers, the dispose pattern and language specifics, using both C# and Delphi for .NET.

2002/12/14 - Lino Tadros: DotNet Buzz Words Explained
This article will explain the different buzz words in the DotNet world like CTS, CLS, VES, Managed Code, Managed Data, Unmanaged Code, Assemblies, Metadata, Manifest, Strong Names, etc.

2002/12/10 - Memory: from VCL via VCL for .NET to .NET
In this article, I'll show how to migrate a VCL application (the game of Memory) to VCL for .NET, and finally to WinForms on .NET, all using the Delphi for .NET Preview command-line compiler (Update 1).
You can download the complete source code from the Delphi for .NET Samples page, with the complete implementation of the VCL, VCL for .NET, and WinForms editions of Memory.

2002/12/09 - Delphi for .NET Web Service
My first Delphi for .NET (preview command-line compiler) "Euro Conversion" web service is up and running using ASP.NET. You can see the simple source code, and import the WSDL with Delphi, C++Builder, JBuilder, C# or any other SOAP-enabled development environment.

2002/12/08 - Delphi for .NET Web Forms
My first Delphi for .NET (preview command-line compiler) "Temperature Conversion" web form is up and running using ASP.NET. You can see the simple source code and try it for yourself in the ASP.NET web form. A more detailed article will be printed in an upcoming issue of Hardcore Delphi (previously known as Delphi Developer).

2002/12/02 - Dr.Bob Examines NET as COM
This is the first of a number of articles about Delphi and .NET, starting off with a demonstration of how to use .NET assemblies in "old" Win32 applications by importing them as COM Objects using Delphi 7 Studio.

2002/11/24 - Lino Tadros: CLR, startup your engines!
The Common Language Runtime is the solid rock on which the .NET Framework was built. From it's many features, Lino's latest .NET article starts with one that defines the way CLR starts .NET applications.

2002/11/22 - Delphi for .NET Update
The VCL for .NET update to the Delphi for .NET Preview Edition has now been posted for public availability. Developers can get access to this through the Delphi Registered users site. This update to the RTL compiler also includes core VCL technology!
An article on the Borland Developer Network contains more details (and the readme).

2002/11/11 - Lino Tadros: Caught in the .NET
A new column called Caught in the .NET written by Alain "Lino" Tadros has appeared on the Borland Developer's Network. Lino will write about several .NET topics, such as: What is the CLR? And how does it work? * What is the CTS? How important is unified Type systems? * What is IL and how is it different from Assembly? * IL is Compiled, only ONE linker to do the job for everyone. * Delphi Vs C# Vs Visual Basic Vs VC++ in the .NET arena. * Reflection, Run Time Type Information, WOW! * Remoting, Bye Bye DCOM. * Globalization, built in? Oui! * Component Writing in .NET. * Design time functionality for Components. * ASP.NET, Fly baby Fly!
This promises to be an interesting series indeed!

2002/10/01 - Delphi for .NET in the Delphi 7 IDE
An Open Tool binary package (Wizard) is provided on CodeCentral for Delphi 7 developers to use the Delphi for .NET preview compiler inside the Delphi 7 IDE. John Kaster has written an article about it on the Borland Developer Network. The readme contains extensive information on installing, uninstalling, customizing, and using the OTA.

2002/09/22 - Delphi for .NET Preview newsgroups
Five newsgroups have been created for the Delphi for .NET preview command-line compiler:

2002/09/11 - Delphi 7 Launch in The Netherlands
Delphi 7 Studio was launched today in the Isala Theater at Capelle a/d IJssel, The Netherlands on September 11th, 2002. Right after the launch, I published the latest issue of the Dutch Delphi OplossingsCourant with articles on Delphi 7 Studio and the Delphi for .NET Preview command-line compiler.

2002/08/30 - Delphi 7 Architect 30-Day Trial Edition
A 30-day Trial Edition of Delphi 7 Studio Architect is available as a download now (at 169MB). Note that his trial edition does not contain the Delphi for .NET Preview command-line compiler!

2002/08/27 - Delphi for .NET preview website
http://dotnet.borland.com is now available as a resource for Delphi for .NET Preview samples. This will be an ever-increasing repository of sample applications, code, components, and utilities to use with Delphi for .NET, and other areas of .NET development supported by Borland.

2002/08/24 - Borland Galileo
Tech News on CNET.com mentions the upcoming Borland Galileo - a new IDE that will host multiple development languages, including Delphi (for .NET).

2002/08/20 - Delphi-dotNet mailing list
eLists.org is pleased to announce the availability of a new moderated list: Delphi-dotNet. This new list is designed for Borland Developers to discuss Microsoft .Net Framework and SDK, and how it will effect their use of Borland products. Major emphasis is currently on the dccil compiler bundled with Delphi 7 and the up coming Delphi for .Net. Discussion on the latter will be restricted to publicly available information. Whilst this list is not designed to be a support forum for C# and other .Net Languages, discussions on how they differ from current Borland Languages are appropriate.

2002/08/07 - Delphi for .NET compiler preview
The Borland Developer Network now features an article with a first look at the Delphi for .NET compiler features and new language syntax by John Kaster and Danny Thorpe, as well as an article about using Delphi for .NET as a script language for ASP.NET.

2002/07/22 - .NET FrameWork version 2
According to eWeek Microsoft is working on version 2.0 of its .Net Framework (codename Whidbey), with features to make it easier to deploy .Net applications and Web services. Coding on .Net Framework 2.0 starts this month, with a first beta targeted for January 2003, a second beta set for August 2003, and the final version can be expected around December 2003.
In the meantime, Microsoft will release an interim .Net Framework, version 1.1 (codename Everett) later this year.

2002/05/29 - Delphi OplossingsCourant - vol.4 no.2
Delphi OplossingsCourant is a Dutch newsletter (in PDF format) with articles about Delphi and Kylix, written by Bob Swart. In this new issue, I write about the deprication of SQL Links (and dbExpress, which is recommended as replacement), as well as news from CttM 2002 (my interview with Jason Vokes from Borland EMEA), and especially the latest news from BorCon 2002 last week in Anaheim, covering Kylix 3, Delphi 7, and the much anticipated Delphi for .NET (of which a preview command-line compiler edition with "VCL for .NET FrameWork" will be included with Delphi 7).

2002/05/26 - BorCon 2002 Delphi News
Summary: Kylix 3 (codename Cortez) will ship in 2002, and will contain a Delphi as well as C++ IDE. Delphi 7 (codename Aurora) will ship in (the second half of) 2002 (and will contain a preview edition of Delphi for .NET, consisting of DCCIL command-line compiler and VCL for .NET). A .NET Development Studio (codename Galileo) will ship in 2003 - supporting multiple populair .NET languages (including Delphi for .NET). Finally, Borland previewed a programming language for Web Services creation & scripting (codename Charlotte).

2002/05/14 - Borland's .NET command-line compiler
At the CttM in The Netherlands, Jason Vokes of Borland EMEA talked about the .NET command-line compiler (that was also shown at TechEd in April 2002). Jason even showed how to use the command-line compiler to produce a .NET Windows Forms application that can convert temperatures. According to Jason Vokes, "the .NET compiler will be productised and made available in the second half of this year" (or when its ready).
For those who can read Dutch, I have written a more detailed report (which also mentions Kylix 3 with C++Builder for Linux) on my eBob42 website.

2002/05/02 - Preview screenshot of Delphi.NET
Delphi.NET was previewed at SD West (where Borland received the Jolt Hall of Fame award), and we can now take a look at a screenshot of some Delphi.NET source code (using namespaces it would seem), the command-line compiler (called dccil), and a Delphi.NET compiled application ConvertIt.
More news will be made available at the Borland Conference, and will presented in my BorCon 2002 report (for those of you who will not be in Anaheim themselves). Stay tuned for more news.

2002/04/11 - Borland Development Studio for .NET
Borland has just announced that it will preview a development studio for the Microsoft .NET Framework at the 2002 Microsoft Tech-Ed Conference. More information will follow later.

2002/02/13 - Borland's .NET Strategy
Borland has announced its .NET Strategy, which can also be read on the Borland Community website. According to this, the Borland strategy for the .NET platform features Delphi, C++Builder, Kylix and JBuilder, that support the capabilities of the Microsoft .NET Framework, including ASP.NET and application interoperability through XML Web Services. During the second half of 2002, Borland plans to release development products that support the .NET platform optimized on Intel Architecture.
For more information, read the comments by SD Times, and the FAQ on the Borland .NET website, or my own .NET section.

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