PC and Mac Cross Platform App

[Code Doc]

Here's a slightly edited excerpt I received from a potential buyer:

"An editor is planning four small book/CD packages over the next 12 months... These CDs would have to be cross platform hybrids for MAC and PC. If you’re interested, can you give me cost estimates as soon as possible?"

I responded that I was unaware of any single language or installer that would work "out of the box" with Windows back to '95, Vista, and all Macs. I was told that the product would have to do that in order to bid on it. I advised that it would be best to supply two separate CD products, one for Windows and Vista and the other for the Mac.

Being a VB6 programmer (and potentially Vb.net) and an App developer for Windows and Vista, was I correct? Please advise and TIA.

[Tom Sawyer]

Some of the links here might help you:

Cross Platform Utilities

[Code Doc]

Some of the links here might help you:

Cross Platform Utilities

Well, Tom, based on what I see at this site, my conclusion is still correct.

1) The Mac would have to be programmed and an App written for it. No simple translation exists from VB6 or VB.Net to whatever language the Mac wants to see.

2) I'd be lucky to hang on to all the special controls I use, and the RTF file structure I use for text and picture data is also questionable.

3) Another installer would have to be included.

In short, I think we are talking about two products, not one as the buyer thinks that he can put together.

[si_the_geek]

It depends on what kind of application is wanted.. for about 10 years now cross-platform programs have been on some music CDs, which usually allow you to look at lyrics/photos/videos on them (all within the application itself, rather than using separate applications).

These are generally based on Mac software (which often also runs on PCs) rather than PC software (which is rarely designed to run on Macs).


The .RTF file structure (just like .TXT and .CSV) should be acceptable to all operating systems.

[Code Doc]

It depends on what kind of application is wanted.. for about 10 years now cross-platform programs have been on some music CDs, which usually allow you to look at lyrics/photos/videos on them (all within the application itself, rather than using separate applications).

These are generally based on Mac software (which often also runs on PCs) rather than PC software (which is rarely designed to run on Macs).

The .RTF file structure (just like .TXT and .CSV) should be acceptable to all operating systems.

Si, the software would be text and picture related and require extensive user interaction in a tutorial mode. No music is involved, but lots of disk I/O using read and write would be involved. Character attributes are also a must for text display.

I also use custom controls for resizing the forms and controls within. VB6 can handle it all. I have no idea what language on the Mac would work on both machines to do either what I now do on the PCs with VB6 or could do with VB.Net.

The Mac might envelope at most 10% of the users of this App--5% likely. Considering the development time, the cost involved, and the lack of a compatible language, I have a hard time justifying the cross platform work.

[si_the_geek]

It sounds to me as if it will be very similar to the kind of software on some music CD's (just leaving out the music).

I can't remember the name of the development software which is usually used, but I think the most popular ones are by Macromedia and possibly QuickTime.


As you apparently don't use them already, it is probably not worth trying to compete with those who do (due to the extra cost and time etc), especially for a single project.

[Code Doc]

It sounds to me as if it will be very similar to the kind of software on some music CD's (just leaving out the music).

I can't remember the name of the development software which is usually used, but I think the most popular ones are by Macromedia and possibly QuickTime.

Si, perhaps I am not making the issue clear. The buyer is probably looking at my VB6 tutorial software that I have built for numerous other titles. This program is rather extensive, over 20,000 lines of code with a dozen or so intertwined forms with questions and answers covering numerous topical areas.

The program tracks and reports performance as interactive learning progress is made. Spreadsheets, charts, statistics, and information retrieval are all incorporated. So, we are not looking at one control interface, such as QuickTime or Macromedia that can do these things. Lots of logic code and extensive computations are involved.

Somehow, all of these features would have to be included in one program that operates and installs in Windows, Vista, and the Mac. To my knowledge, VB6 and VB.Net will not allow this compatibilty. My gut feeling is that the VB6 code would have to be translated and mimicked in a Mac language such as Pascal. When that is done, I believe you immediately set up a performance compromise and thus two separate products. That is, of course, unless there is a language out there that will handle all this and interface with all three operating systems.

Thus far, I have found no language or installer that can do all this in one swallow using a CD ROM to connect.

[si_the_geek]

I wasn't aware that you had a similar VB6 program, but I'm afraid it isn't really relevant to the actual issue of creating a multi-platform application (as VB6 can't do it).

I'm not sure what kind of functionality the Macromedia/QuickTime products offer, as I have never used them myself - but I suspect there are ways to do what you want, and they are definitely multi-platform. It is possible that you could use Java instead, but I'm not sure what steps to take there either.

Windows, Vista, and the Mac

Erm.. Vista is just a particular version of Windows. It has tighter security than earlier versions (it enforces guidelines that have been publicly available for many years), but it is still just Windows.

Thus far, I have found no language or installer that can do all this in one swallow using a CD ROM to connect.

The installer is at best a minor concern - it will only install your program, it wont change the behaviour of it.

The fact it will be on CD is virtually irrelevant, as that is just a way to get the files (of the program/installer) to the user. A most it will mean spending a few extra minutes creating auto-run functionality.

a Mac language such as Pascal.

Pascal is definitely not a "Mac" language (I used to use it on PCs, about 15 years ago), and that isn't really relevant anyway.

The important thing is output of the language (which doesn't necessarily need to be a proper programming language). What counts is whether the compiled program can be run on multiple platforms (Windows and Mac, possibly *nix too), or you can at least compile different versions from the same code base (and include them all on the CD).

[penagate]

Anything that's interpreted (Flash) or JIT-compiled (Java, .NET) can potentially run on multiple platforms without recompilation. Java is probably your best bet.

You can make CDs that contain both Mac and PC software. The auto-run facilities are different and won't conflict with each other.