How to migrate Borland C++ 5.02 application to Windows 7?
Currently we are migrating our applications developed in Borland C++ 5.02 on Windows XP to Windows 7. While executing the application on Windows 7, I am getting the error message
VBX library init Failure.
While trying to find the cause on the Internet, I was able to identify the error was because of BIVBX31N.EXE and BIVBX31N.dll.
How can I port a Borland C++ 5.02 application to Windows 7, solving the BIVBX31N.EXE and BIVBX31N.dll related issues?
Answer
If you're stuck using this product, here is what I recommend.
Simple answer: Don't use the IDE, but continue to use the command line tools:
bcc32.exe(the compiler) still works fine in Windows 8.ilink32.exe(the linker) still works fine as well.
Both can be found in the bin sub-folder.
You can get some of the command line information by opening the IDE (project) file in Notepad or a hex editor (it isn't a text file, but you can read most stuff in Notepad). Or if you do have access to Windows XP you can open it there just to copy the settings for usage in the command-line tools.
Just use some other IDE or editor like Notepad++ to edit your source files. You can use an older version of Visual C++ to edit the RC files, or Notepad or other tools.
If you want really want to make it slick, set up your IDE to run an "external tool" when you click a toolbar button, to have it run your command-line tools to compile + link (and optionally run the EXE file). You can probably find a debugger tool as well, but I haven't needed that yet, so haven't checked.