Old ProfGrid component: modernize or migrate away?

[BeeGee 0]

I have inherited a very old VCL application my predecessor developed in C++ Builder XE. My goal is to get the application building in C++ Builder 12. Modernizing the project has mostly been straightforward, but I have hit a major roadblock: a third-party grid component called ProfGrid, which the application uses extensively. ProfGrid ceased development many years ago, and I'm trying to determine the best path forward.

 

Option 1: Migrate to a modern grid component. DevExpress TcxGrid looks like the most promising option at present. But it will require significant effort to adapt the existing ProfGrid code to the TcxGrid paradigm. So I'd really prefer Option 2 if possible...

 

Option 2: Modernize ProfGrid. I have the ProfGrid Pascal source code (version 3.4.4.11). After updating a few string-handling methods to their modern versions, I got it to build in C++ Builder 12. However, it throws numerous assertion errors at design-time, most of which are related to the use of pointers to access fields in relevant structures. Based on my limited research (there seems to be very little information about ProfGrid on the web!), this pointer-heavy code may be a vestige of the transition from 16-bit to 32-bit applications/processors. In any case, I have very little experience in Pascal. So I'm unsure whether modernization is even possible and if so, how much effort it would require.

 

If anyone has experience with ProfGrid, or more general thoughts on the above, I'd greatly appreciate any wisdom you have to share! I am happy to provide more details if needed, but figured I'd start with the broad strokes.

[Anders Melander 1820]

I would go with option 1; Get rid of the technical debt once and for all.

Even if you managed to get ProfGrid working now (which is probably possible, given enough effort) you would then have to maintain it yourself going forward and since you don't have Pascal expertise this doesn't sound sustainable.