I used a trial version of FinalBuilder 4 a few years back, and was thinking again about buying this tool.
So I downloaded the latest trial. I added one of my projects (it looks like you have to specify the .dpr file, not the .dproj file as the main project file) and tried to build it from inside final builder. I think I have set all the options up correctly (mainly it takes all the settings from the delphi project).
Then I try to build, it appears to run the Borland Resource Compiler first, which works, it says Resource Compiled Ok, then it says "Error Creating cfg file.". Then it says:
--> Error expanding variables in Library Path : Variable : DELPHI - does not exist!
What is that about? I assume it's barfing on the $(DELPHI) items in the library path. I have enough prior experience on FinalBuilder 4 trial to know that this all just "worked" in FB4.
This issue here is that there is no variable named DELPHI, even in D2009. FinalBuilder does support the $(BDS) variable when D2009 is selected as the compiler version. Delphi 2009 doesn’t support $(DELPHI) in the Library or Search path either, so I assume you have defined an Environment variable in the IDE called DELPHI? If this is the case, the in the FinalBuilder Options, Under Compilers\Borland Delphi, turn on the option to “Use RadStudio 2009 Environment Variables at Startup” and then restart FinalBuilder. That will cause FinalBuilder to add any RadStudio 2009 environment variables as System variables in FinalBuilder.
Well what's confusing me is that I didn't use $(DELPHI) anywhere in my library path in the delphi 2009 project settings, but yet, Final Builder seems to have imported project options for Delphi 7 library path (from the .cfg file maybe?) instead of from the .dproj file, even though I told it, it was a delphi 2009 project. I wonder if having old .cfg files around confuses final builder when opening a project that used to be a Delphi 7 project (many years ago) but is now a delphi 2009 project?
It turns out that Delphi’s own IDE will silently pass by these invalid $(SYMBOL) expansions and that Final Builder dies when it encounters them.
This in turn motivated me to clean up my project configuration settings which seem to have accumulated way more cruft in them than I ever imagined. So it’s All Good on that account now.