> Hi, > I'm thinking of writing a new application to use in my business > that would encompass accounting, ordering, inventory, sales, etc. > > The last one I wrote was all one exe file but I've been thinking > of something that had modules that could be added or updated > or even removed at some time after the original compilation.
My last job was on a similar project: if the program is not too big you could simply recompile the whole thing, adding the new modules and allow for different users to use various parts depending on access rights: If the program is large, you can use DLL's containing the modules, launched by the parent program: in the program I described, there was a simple .exe menu program, which, when clicked, launched the appropriate DLL, which planted its principle work panel on the main panel of the menu program: it looks just like clicking opening a panel in the current program; you can develop the separate modules in the normal way (single executable file), and in the meantime, learn how to create the DLL's (it should be possible to develop them so that the original unit is not modified: the main unit for the DLL will include the original module, but does not change its content): it should be possible to have a DLL version and a non DLL version from the same source; You can put the DLL file names in a configuration file and have them loaded by the menu program, even if they were created after the menu program was compiled: the config file can contain a string to display on a button or whatever in the menu (dynamically created) and a following string which lists the name of the DLL itself which is loaded on the click; The best I think you could do is to study how to create DLL's and how to use them; A good tip is to write a test program which launches each small module for development and testing (non DLL) and another which launches it as a DLL; (warning you need to handle memory correctly, since a DLL may launch well once, but when you unload it it can mess up the memory on a second reload, and can make other DLLs behave badly: I had a program with twenty DLL's like this and I had to get each one extensively tidied up so as to avoid conflicts with other DLL's: very messy!!) ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Duffy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 1:17 PM Subject: Modular Program _______________________________________________ Delphi mailing list -> [email protected] http://www.elists.org/mailman/listinfo/delphi
