Putting Delphi Application inside web page

[Robert Gilland 5]

I have been given this system to look at in order to place a Delphi app inside a web browser: https://thinfinity-vui-v3-docs.cybelesoft.com/

 

Has anyone else tried to do this?

Has anyone tried to use thinfinity?

 

 

 

[Ian Branch 127]

Yep.  Use it all the time.  So do my Customers.

It means that I only need to maintain one App and it can be accessed via LAN, WAN, RDP or WEB.

It is accessed on the WEB via any Browser.

The only issues I have had was more of issues with portable devices/tablets and some compatabilities that need to be accepted or worked around.  Particularly mousing.

[Die Holländer 45]

59 minutes ago, Ian Branch said:

Yep.  Use it all the time.

Looks very nice but hard to find what the cost will be.. Ian?

 

[Ian Branch 127]

Sorry, no idea what the current pricing is.  I got it when it was at KickStarter stage way back in 2014. 🙂

Cost is based on what options you select and how many Users.

I have the Developer Pro version but my Customers have the Standard version with 15 Users.

IIRC my renewal was around US$30.

Drop a line to Cybele and ask.

 

Ian

[TigerLilly 16]

I too tried to get some pricing infos. But they insist on having a call, getting details on the project (kind of "validating") and are not willing to outline any licensing infos without that.

 

@Ian Branch Do you use that system on a daily basis? Are you willing to share some background infos, eg number of users, kind of software, hardware requs?

[Keesver 23]

We are also a satisfied user of Thinfinity. We have a 40 user license and run 2 VM's behind a gateway (also part of Thinfinity). Works pretty good. Support is good. Pricing is ok, especially since users are counted as 'concurrent' users (as opposed to named users).

[Ian Branch 127]

 

1 hour ago, TigerLilly said:

Do you use that system on a daily basis? Are you willing to share some background infos, eg number of users, kind of software, hardware requs?

As a Developer I use it to create Apps and test them.  Not daily but regularly.  Win 11, 64GB RAM, D12.2, 32 bit apps.

My Customers have it running 24/7 so their own staff as well as their Customers can access respective Apps.

IIRC, they are using a Windows Server 2012 R2 PC. 2 running an Intel Xeon X3450.  2 x HDD in Raid 1.  16GB RAM.  Up to 15 Users att but that may increase soon.  RAM usage has got close a couple of times but never got in the road.

[corneliusdavid 213]

I tried this a few years ago with a Delphi XE application and it worked but we decided not to go with it. The client had very few users and I was only charging T&M so this added an ongoing cost they wouldn't have had previously plus they all had Windows desktop computers anyway so they just left it as it was. It was really cool to see it working though.

[Ian Branch 127]

This is a Web Page one of my Customers has.

It is a generic page created by TF.

Edited October 25 by Ian Branch

[RHS 0]

I am still in the testing phase, everything is OK so far. Magic.

[RHS 0]

I don't understand why Thinfinity Virtual UI is not widely used. For the extra price? This is covered with the blitz development in VCL.

[Ian Branch 127]

Just now, RHS said:

I don't understand why Thinfinity Virtual UI is not widely used.

I agree with your comments.

I suspect it is a visibility/awareness issue.  I have spoken with many of my peers and they were not aware of it.

I also think that developers are focussing on Apple & Android for Apps on thos devices rather than what can be done within the PC realm.

 

[Rollo62 536]

Not sure if it meets your "app in a website" needs, but there is also TMS WebCore ...

https://www.tmssoftware.com/site/tmswebcore.asp

Edited November 7 by Rollo62

[RHS 0]

TMS WebCore is totally different, but it is very welcome as with everything that comes from TMS, without which I would have a very difficult life in application development.

With Thinfinity Virtual UI, you only slightly adapt the code of an existing VCL application and you can then publish it as a Web application.

[Die Holländer 45]

53 minutes ago, RHS said:

I don't understand why Thinfinity Virtual UI is not widely used. For the extra price? This is covered with the blitz development in VCL.

Maybe they should be clear about the costs instead of you must contacting sales.

I think this is a hurdle for many developers. (Normally you see this when the costs is high..)

Just put some system senarios on the webpage with the costs needed.

Even with (bit complex) MS-Azure subscription, for example, it is possible to do an overview of the costs.

Edited November 7 by Die Holländer

[Murat Ak 0]

Best virtualization software, application server - terminal services and RemoteApp alternative - Winflector.com

 

[Rollo62 536]

24 minutes ago, Murat Ak said:

Best virtualization software, application server - terminal services and RemoteApp alternative - Winflector.com

 

That looks interesting, they seem to have fair conditions.
What only puzzles me is, that they have not even a real snd proper impress & terms page, even if they were probably an EU company.

At least I have not found
 

Distribution and technical support for Winflector:
OTC S.A. Krakow Poland
OTC S.A.
ul. Skotnicka 189, 30-394 Cracow, Poland
Telephone: +48 12 626 36 36
WWW: www.otc.pl

E-mail information: office@winflector.com
Technical support: support@winflector.com
Find us on Facebook: WinflectorCom

Are they developer or distributor, who is the developer, who owns the software?

That already gives a lot of pre-front negative impression and usually prevents me from even tests soutione like this.

 

[Die Holländer 45]

31 minutes ago, Rollo62 said:

Are they developer or distributor, who is the developer, who owns the software?

Link to otc.pl

[Brian Evans 105]

5 hours ago, Die Holländer said:

Maybe they should be clear about the costs instead of you must contacting sales.

I think this is a hurdle for many developers. (Normally you see this when the costs is high..)

Just put some system senarios on the webpage with the costs needed.

Even with (bit complex) MS-Azure subscription, for example, it is possible to do an overview of the costs.

That has always annoyed me - step one of looking for products/solutions is to survey what is out there and compile a list with basic information. I usually just ignore/skip anything where the information is hard to come by as I have been burned too many times. Far too many companies' think their product is good for X when feature wise that would be true, but price or licensing terms make it not. I want to know that from the start not after wasting hours evaluating a product and dealing with sales calls. Most of the time 'contact sales' means the product has runtime fees, weird tiered pricing or terms making it unsuitable for a lot of scenarios. 

[corneliusdavid 213]

8 hours ago, RHS said:

I don't understand why Thinfinity Virtual UI is not widely used. For the extra price? This is covered with the blitz development in VCL.

It's not just a one-time price of the library and a modification to your code--that's the small part. For Thinfinity to work, it communicates with a server part installed on your web server; this has an ongoing per-user cost. It's reasonable but adds up over time so you have to figure that in. 

[RHS 0]

On 11/7/2024 at 4:59 PM, corneliusdavid said:

It's not just a one-time price of the library and a modification to your code--that's the small part. For Thinfinity to work, it communicates with a server part installed on your web server; this has an ongoing per-user cost. It's reasonable but adds up over time so you have to figure that in. 

Yes, some costs are added with the server, which we would have partially had anyway with a web application. For me, who has a complex application in Delphi, these costs are worth it. If I think about another complex application, it would be worth it because I develop it very quickly in VCL. So it depends on the application and the price at which it is sold.

[RHS 0]

Anyone still using or testing Thinfinity Virtual UI? I wouldn't want to test it completely by myself. What do you think about security?

[corneliusdavid 213]

6 hours ago, RHS said:

Anyone still using or testing Thinfinity Virtual UI? I wouldn't want to test it completely by myself.

I haven't for a long time but am thinking of trying it again as I have a different user for which it might work well (they're currently using Remote Desktop). 

6 hours ago, RHS said:

What do you think about security?

My recollection is that there are multiple layers and methods of security possible. You can use a simple username/password over HTTPS, use MFA, and even lock it down further; it's been a while but I remember being quite impressed with its flexibility.

[RHS 0]

31 minutes ago, corneliusdavid said:

I haven't for a long time but am thinking of trying it again as I have a different user for which it might work well (they're currently using Remote Desktop). 

My recollection is that there are multiple layers and methods of security possible. You can use a simple username/password over HTTPS, use MFA, and even lock it down further; it's been a while but I remember being quite impressed with its flexibility.

First thank you very much for your book. I will glad to give you next week access to a Windows Server with 2 concurent Thinfinity Licenses if you want to test it, for a while. Until now i am afraid about security and about freezing of the service but i am in an early test. Otherwise the Delphi App behaves well and i have access to the local printer from it.

[Die Holländer 45]

47 minutes ago, RHS said:

Otherwise the Delphi App behaves well and i have access to the local printer from it.

Interesting will be how to handle files (save, loadfrom) and database access via FireDac.