advice for a future project

[Dan Barclay]

Howard,

On 29 Jul 2002 21:35:39 -0700, "Howard" <HowserLL@aol.com> wrote:

>The main question I have is that the program is written in DOS
>BASIC and in order for me to make this program profitable and to be a program
>of the future it will have to be converted to a WINDOWS Version. It this
>possible?

Yes, it is possible, but the degree of difficulty can vary a *lot*.
It can be trivial, or it can be so difficult that it would be easier
to start from scratch.

>And if so can you help me?

I can't (well, everything has a price but I'm fully engaged right now
so I'm sure I wouldn't be worth what it would take). Perhaps someone
else can help.

>Is there any way to find out how much
>would be involved in the conversion without purchasing the source code to
>see if it would be worth my money and time.

I don' t know how to determine the degree of difficulty without
looking at the source.

This answer probably isn't much help, but my guess is that my answers
don't surprise you.

Good luck,
Dan

Language Stability is a *feature* I wish VB had!
(#6)
Error 51
Error 3
Error 9
....

[Howard]

My name is Howard Lesmeister. I'm in the process of buying a software program.
The program is a Handicapping program for Horse Racing called Multi-Strats.
The owners of the program where forced out of business 5 years ago due to
personal problems. Before I make the purchase and receive the Source Code
I am doing a lot of homework on the program and trying to get the best answers
as possible. The main question I have is that the program is written in DOS
BASIC and in order for me to make this program profitable and to be a program
of the future it will have to be converted to a WINDOWS Version. It this
possible? And if so can you help me? Is there any way to find out how much
would be involved in the conversion without purchasing the source code to
see if it would be worth my money and time. Please let me know. Thanks Howard

[Mike Mitchell]

On 29 Jul 2002 21:35:39 -0700, "Howard" <HowserLL@aol.com> wrote:

> My name is Howard Lesmeister. I'm in the process of buying a software program.

[snipped]

Howard, there are several points that come to mind:

If the software is five years old (assuming development stopped when
they went out of business), how valid is it still today? If not quite
up to scratch with latest requirements (I know nothing about horses),
how amenable to change is the DOS version? That is, if the authors
originally designed in some future-proofing, that's a good sign. On
the other hand, the program may not be amenable at all to change, so
you'd have to rewrite anyway.

As to converting it to a Windows program, let's assume you decide to
go ahead and do this. You then have to decide what Windows programming
language and platform you're going to use. There are a number of
choices from various vendors. You'll have to ask a lot of searching
questions of prospective developers, because they will all have their
pet hates and preferred choices. Don't be "sold" on something you
later regret because someone told you that their's was the "only" way!

You'll have to rewrite it, I'm afraid. Although there may be
algorithms in the code that will work just as well in, say, Visual
Basic 6, and you'd be able to re-adopt those in the Windows version,
trying to convert a whole program is usually not the best approach.
Your developer(s) will want to take advantage of the particular
Windows language's best strengths, which would almost certainly mean
redesigning the app from scratch.

Finally, you probably already have an idea how much of a commercial
proposition this is, but it *will* cost you a lot to have a decent
Windows program developed. Don't try to cut corners by getting some
college kid to "do it in his spare time". That usually is a waste of
time, and the pull of young, nubile college females can destroy
timescales!

MM