My question is about how to organise my code, so that I can
a) use a development environment that will create apps that will run in any version of Windows.
b) introduce "version management" and start to deploy my apps,

My Delphi 6 apps are currently developed in a WinME environment, but I will soon be upgrading to XP (still D6). I have just set up a number of Windows machines ready to test my apps across all versions of Windows (Win 98, ME, XP for now, NT and 2000 soon).

COMPATABILITY ISSUES.....
Will my Delphi 6 apps (developed in ME) run in any of the above Windows ? Initial testing seems to prove ok.

Does it matter which Windows they were compiled in (ie, are there upward compatibility isses in Windows that mean its best to compile in Win98 and deploy upwards from there thru the newer versions of Windows - or will a Delphi 6 app compiled in WinXP run in a Win98 environment ok ?).

VERSION MANAGEMENT .......
I wish to organise the location of my source code and executables such that I can introduce version management for my apps, but I don't know how to do this (ie, separate out my souce code into "development" and "production" environments, and "release" a version periodically up into one of the production environments).

I'm hoping that I might only need :

i) one common place to keep the code currently under development, (so any of these machines can compile the apps, in theory). I don't really want to manage replicas of my code across all my Windows machines, and recompile them in each Windows environment.

ii) a second area to keep the applications "deployed" into production.

As well as advice, I'd appreciate any pointers to discussions on these subjects as my various "Delphi Developers Guides" say very little about managing and deploying code, and compatibility across Windows versions.

Finally, are there any products (including free/shareware ones !) that can help with version management ?

Advice much appreciated.

The version system I like to use is FreeVCS. It's free and of a very high quality.
http://www.freevcs.de

: My question is about how to organise my code, so that I can
: a) use a development environment that will create apps that will run in any version of Windows.
: b) introduce "version management" and start to deploy my apps,
:
: My Delphi 6 apps are currently developed in a WinME environment, but I will soon be upgrading to XP (still D6). I have just set up a number of Windows machines ready to test my apps across all versions of Windows (Win 98, ME, XP for now, NT and 2000 soon).
:
: COMPATABILITY ISSUES.....
: Will my Delphi 6 apps (developed in ME) run in any of the above Windows ? Initial testing seems to prove ok.
:
: Does it matter which Windows they were compiled in (ie, are there upward compatibility isses in Windows that mean its best to compile in Win98 and deploy upwards from there thru the newer versions of Windows - or will a Delphi 6 app compiled in WinXP run in a Win98 environment ok ?).
:
: VERSION MANAGEMENT .......
: I wish to organise the location of my source code and executables such that I can introduce version management for my apps, but I don't know how to do this (ie, separate out my souce code into "development" and "production" environments, and "release" a version periodically up into one of the production environments).
:
: I'm hoping that I might only need :
:
: i) one common place to keep the code currently under development, (so any of these machines can compile the apps, in theory). I don't really want to manage replicas of my code across all my Windows machines, and recompile them in each Windows environment.
:
: ii) a second area to keep the applications "deployed" into production.
:
: As well as advice, I'd appreciate any pointers to discussions on these subjects as my various "Delphi Developers Guides" say very little about managing and deploying code, and compatibility across Windows versions.
:
: Finally, are there any products (including free/shareware ones !) that can help with version management ?
:
: Advice much appreciated.
:
:
There might be upward compatibility issues, depending on the nature of the programs. If your programs use some low-level methods of running under Win9x (including WinMe), then they might not run on WinNT (+WinXP & Win2k).
If a certain program has troubles running, I would suggest that you wrap that part in an object and create two descendants of it: 1 for Win9x and 1 for WinNT. There are several ways of detecting on which OS the program runs. This way you create just 1 program with 2 different codes, which are selected at run-time instead of design-time.

: : My question is about how to organise my code, so that I can
: : a) use a development environment that will create apps that will run in any version of Windows.
: : b) introduce "version management" and start to deploy my apps,
: :
: : My Delphi 6 apps are currently developed in a WinME environment, but I will soon be upgrading to XP (still D6). I have just set up a number of Windows machines ready to test my apps across all versions of Windows (Win 98, ME, XP for now, NT and 2000 soon).
: :
: : COMPATABILITY ISSUES.....
: : Will my Delphi 6 apps (developed in ME) run in any of the above Windows ? Initial testing seems to prove ok.
: :
: : Does it matter which Windows they were compiled in (ie, are there upward compatibility isses in Windows that mean its best to compile in Win98 and deploy upwards from there thru the newer versions of Windows - or will a Delphi 6 app compiled in WinXP run in a Win98 environment ok ?).
: :
: : VERSION MANAGEMENT .......
: : I wish to organise the location of my source code and executables such that I can introduce version management for my apps, but I don't know how to do this (ie, separate out my souce code into "development" and "production" environments, and "release" a version periodically up into one of the production environments).
: :
: : I'm hoping that I might only need :
: :
: : i) one common place to keep the code currently under development, (so any of these machines can compile the apps, in theory). I don't really want to manage replicas of my code across all my Windows machines, and recompile them in each Windows environment.
: :
: : ii) a second area to keep the applications "deployed" into production.
: :
: : As well as advice, I'd appreciate any pointers to discussions on these subjects as my various "Delphi Developers Guides" say very little about managing and deploying code, and compatibility across Windows versions.
: :
: : Finally, are there any products (including free/shareware ones !) that can help with version management ?
: :
: : Advice much appreciated.
: :
: :
: There might be upward compatibility issues, depending on the nature of the programs. If your programs use some low-level methods of running under Win9x (including WinMe), then they might not run on WinNT (+WinXP & Win2k).
: If a certain program has troubles running, I would suggest that you wrap that part in an object and create two descendants of it: 1 for Win9x and 1 for WinNT. There are several ways of detecting on which OS the program runs. This way you create just 1 program with 2 different codes, which are selected at run-time instead of design-time.
:

can you advise on a reliable code to identify which OS is running, that will work in any version of Windows, please ?
many thanks.

: : : My question is about how to organise my code, so that I can
: : : a) use a development environment that will create apps that will run in any version of Windows.
: : : b) introduce "version management" and start to deploy my apps,
: : :
: : : My Delphi 6 apps are currently developed in a WinME environment, but I will soon be upgrading to XP (still D6). I have just set up a number of Windows machines ready to test my apps across all versions of Windows (Win 98, ME, XP for now, NT and 2000 soon).
: : :
: : : COMPATABILITY ISSUES.....
: : : Will my Delphi 6 apps (developed in ME) run in any of the above Windows ? Initial testing seems to prove ok.
: : :
: : : Does it matter which Windows they were compiled in (ie, are there upward compatibility isses in Windows that mean its best to compile in Win98 and deploy upwards from there thru the newer versions of Windows - or will a Delphi 6 app compiled in WinXP run in a Win98 environment ok ?).
: : :
: : : VERSION MANAGEMENT .......
: : : I wish to organise the location of my source code and executables such that I can introduce version management for my apps, but I don't know how to do this (ie, separate out my souce code into "development" and "production" environments, and "release" a version periodically up into one of the production environments).
: : :
: : : I'm hoping that I might only need :
: : :
: : : i) one common place to keep the code currently under development, (so any of these machines can compile the apps, in theory). I don't really want to manage replicas of my code across all my Windows machines, and recompile them in each Windows environment.
: : :
: : : ii) a second area to keep the applications "deployed" into production.
: : :
: : : As well as advice, I'd appreciate any pointers to discussions on these subjects as my various "Delphi Developers Guides" say very little about managing and deploying code, and compatibility across Windows versions.
: : :
: : : Finally, are there any products (including free/shareware ones !) that can help with version management ?
: : :
: : : Advice much appreciated.
: : :
: : :
: : There might be upward compatibility issues, depending on the nature of the programs. If your programs use some low-level methods of running under Win9x (including WinMe), then they might not run on WinNT (+WinXP & Win2k).
: : If a certain program has troubles running, I would suggest that you wrap that part in an object and create two descendants of it: 1 for Win9x and 1 for WinNT. There are several ways of detecting on which OS the program runs. This way you create just 1 program with 2 different codes, which are selected at run-time instead of design-time.
: :
:
: can you advise on a reliable code to identify which OS is running, that will work in any version of Windows, please ?
: many thanks.
:
It is already stored in the Win32Platform variable (SysUtils unit). See the help file for more info.
There is also the function GetVersionEx(), which provides you with the same info.