Delphi incremental changes? From D7 to D2009 - delphi

Is there a website or documentation that details the changes made from each version?
Say, D7 -> D2005 -> D2006 -> D2007 -> D2009
Language features?
DB features?
RTTI?
IDE?

Had to look at Google Cache for a couple of these.
What's new in Delphi 2005
Delphi 2005 Reviewer's Guide
What's new in Delphi 2006
Borland Developer Studio 2006 Reviewer's Guide
What's New in Delphi 2007 for Win32
RAD Studio 2007 Reviewer’s Guide
What's New in Delphi 2009
Delphi 2009 Reviewer's Guide

Yes, but not about all versions.
What's New

A lot of the changes since Delphi 7 are covered here, but the version where features/changes were introduced isn't always mentioned.

New VCL features since Delphi 7
New Delphi language features since Delphi 7
New IDE features since Delphi 7
Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade From Delphi 7
PS: I those articles don't list the new features in Delphi 2007, 2009 and 2010
(edn.embarcadero.com seems to be a bit slow today. Google cache might help)

Also see here for more in-depth reviews of the new features of RAD Studio 2010.

Related

Will programs developed using Embarcadero Delphi XE3 work with Embarcadero Delphi 2010

We are trying to develop a form that will be added to a project written and created using Embarcadero Delphi 2010 , We will use Embarcadero Delphi XE3 as our Development Environemt, will the code that we will write work on Embarcadero Delphi 2010 ?
If not where can I download Embarcadero Delphi 2010, I can't find it on the Embarcadero official site.
Thanks
Previous versions can be downloaded here:
http://www.embarcadero.com/xe3-earlier-versions
Depends ....
if you don't use rtti and generics and remove qulified namespaces, restrict the use of foreign components it could work, but i think it's not recommended.
If you are properly registered you have an edn account:
Pick Downloads / Registered User Downloads
It is in there. You should be able to go back to Delphi 7. 2010 is at the bottom of the page.
The latest stuff in XE3 is highly recommended. The improvements over the last few years are definitely worth it, and the upgrade will pay for itself in very short time even if you only gradually learn and use the new stuff.

How do I determine the Delphi version which created a Delphi project

I am trying to automatically figure out which Delphi version (of Delphi 5 to XE2 installed on my computer) to use to open a given project without upgrading that project by mistake.
Up to Delphi 7 there is a .dof file in .ini format for each project.
Delphi 5 does not have any entry which might help, but starting from Delphi 6 there is a [FileVersion] section which contains the following values:
Delphi 5: N/A
Delphi 6: 6.0
Delphi 7: 7.0
So I guess that settles that, since older Delphi versions do not concern me.
For Delphi 2005 and 2006 there is a .bdsproj file in XML format containing a version entry:
\BorlandProject\PersonalityInfo\Option\Option
In Delphi 2005 it looks like this:
<Option Name="Version" Type="String">1.0</Option>
In Delphi 2006 like this:
<Option Name="Version">1.0</Option>
So I could look whether the attribute "Type" exists and depending on that decide on Delphi 2005 or 2006.
Could somebody please have a look at his Delphi 2005 and 2006 projects and verify this difference? (Or do you maybe have got a better idea?)
edit: I just tried to verify this and found, that Delphi 2005 does not always add the Type-Attribute. So now I am stuck.
edit: Maybe the GUID stored there is unique to the Delphi version?
Delphi 2005: {87D03616-A4C7-4B5A-AF0F-0164EA60BC59}
Delphi 2006: {CFE1BEE6-6FDE-4241-8CA5-D38D14EAA768}
Somehow I doubt it, I am afraid that the GUID may represent different SKUs (Professional / Architect etc.). But maybe you could verify this?
Starting with Delphi 2007 there is a .dproj file in a different XML format. The Delphi 2007 format does not contain any version entry I could find, but from Delphi 2009 on there seems to be the following entry:
\project\PropertyGroup\ProjectVersion
These are the values I found in my .dproj files:
Delphi 2007: N/A
Delphi 2009: 12.0
Delphi 2010: 12.0
Delphi XE: 12.3
Delphi XE2: 13.4
If these are correct, I could reliably determine Delphi 2007, XE and XE2. But how do I distinguish between Delphi 2009 and 2010?
Also, these numbers look odd to me. Does anybody know whether there are any differences between the various updates of Delphi, e.g. did the original Delphi XE2 release maybe start with 13.0 and with each update increment the number after the dot? But if that's the case, how did Delphi XE get 12.3?
(There is a similar question How can I tell what version of Delphi was used to create a project but the single answer there is quite limited.)
Just in case anybody else needs this: I have just added a page to the Delphi Wiki which summarizes all answers and adds information for newer Delphi versions (currently up to Delphi 10.4.1).
I have now compared the .bdsproj files of Delphi 2005 and 2006 and there is no difference. Also, there is no difference between the .dproj files created by Delphi 2009 and 2010.
So the answer is:
if a .dproj file exists -> read \project\PropertyGroup\ProjectVersion
empty -> Delphi 2007
12.0 -> Delphi 2009 or 2010
12.2 or 12.3 -> Delphi XE1 (according to Uwe Schuster)
13.4 -> Delphi XE2
if a .bdsproj file exists -> Delphi 2005 or 2006
if a .dof file exists -> read [FileVersion]\version
empty -> Delphi 5 (or possibly older)
6.0 -> Delphi 6
7.0 -> Delphi 7
Unfortunately this does not allow me to write a program that automatically starts the correct Delphi version for a given project.
Maybe I will let the program ask the user if there are two possibilities and store his answer in a .ini file so the next time the program knows which Delphi version to start.
btw: The reason I was looking into this is that I have several times accidentally opened Delphi 2007 projects with a later Delphi version which upgraded it and I had to reverse these changes by hand. This has become so annoying that I wanted to prevent it by registering my own program as handler for .dpr files.
The version numbers in the *PROJ files are not bound to releases or updates and not all versions hit the streets.
Delphi XE RTM used version 12.2
Delphi XE Update #1 uses version 12.3
Delphi XE2 (RTM till Update #4) uses 13.4
Just installed XE3 (RTM).
14.3 XE3 (C++ & Delphi)
Today I find this topic googlin about Delphi edition (Standard, Professional, Enterprise).
Anyway I checked some .dof files spread in mine machine and there is facts related to ancient delphi versions:
if a .dof file exists -> read [Directories]/Packages
Delphi 3
[Directories]
OutputDir=
UnitOutputDir=
SearchPath=
Packages=VCLX30;VCL30;INETDB30;INET30;
Delphi 5
[Directories]
OutputDir=.
UnitOutputDir=.
PackageDLLOutputDir=.
PackageDCPOutputDir=.
SearchPath=
Packages=Vcl50;Inet50;Inetdb50;Vclx50;Indy50;
Additional info can be finded near end of dof file:
D3:
[Excluded Packages]
C:\Program Files\Borland\Delphi 3\Bin\DCLDSS30.dpl=Delphi Decision Cube Components
C:\PROGRAM FILES\BORLAND\DELPHI 3\BIN\DCLTEE30.DPL=Delphi TeeChart Components
D5:
[Excluded Packages]
$(DELPHI)\Bin\CorIde50.bpl=Borland Core IDE Package
$(DELPHI)\Bin\direct50.bpl=Borland Direct IDE Package

ADO components are present in the Delphi 2009 Professional Version?

ADO components are present in the Delphi 2009 Professional Version? Currently I'm using delphi 5 professional version which does not include the ADO components.
thanks for help.
Yes, the Ado components are present in All the versions of delphi 2009.
Check the feature matrix of delphi 2009 and look for
dbGO™ for ADO connectivity for Win32 (MDAC 2.8)

The free Delphi 2006 compiler

On Wikipedia I read:
Borland Delphi 2006 [...] Each version is available in two editions:
Explorer—a free downloadable
version—and Professional
Is this edition still available? Or are people who grabbed it in 2006 lucky and the others not that much?
Unfortunately there are no free Delphi versions now. You can use free Turbo Delphi only if you already have the product keyfile, but you can't obtain new free Turbo Delphi keyfile anymore.
Lazarus Free Pascal is free and OpenSource, it is very similar to Delphi.

Delphi 6 alongside RAD Studio 2009

I need to migrate to RAD Studio and have this installed on a new workstation. At the moment I still need to develop with Delphi 6 until we get all the necessary control updates and sort out the version control.
So my question is can I just install Delphi 6 on the same machine with no adverse impact for either product?
Thanks in advance.
There are no problem to install D6 and RAD 2009 at the same machine.
I think that it's better install first the previos version (first D6 and after D2009), but it's not absolutly necesary.
Regards and excuse for my bad english.
Installing them on the same system is no problem at all.
For migration, our clients have good experience with migrating to Delphi 2007 first, then do the Unicode migration to Delphi 2009 or Delphi 2010 second.
Doing both migration at the same time can work, but usually result in a migration that is too complex to do in one step.
--jeroen
I have delphi 3 to 2009 installed in my machine and I dont have any problem with any of the the Delphi IDEs. Only the BDS 2006's C++ IDE does not work anymore. There is a problem when C++ builder 2006 and 2007 installed in the same machine.

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