Case Study: Mitov Software and FinalBuilder
Boian Mitov, owner of Mitov Software, explains how FinalBuilder has reduced build times by 88% and delivered a dramatic improvement in productivity, so that it is now essential for their software development process. Mitov Software supplies developer components and custom solutions for audio, visual and signal processing, computer vision, and data visualization.
Challenges faced
“Before we started using FinalBuilder, we were running a combination of manual build steps and custom .BAT files. The creation and maintenance of the .BAT files was a huge challenge, especially when dealing with Visual C++ 6.0 .”
Why we chose FinalBuilder
“FinalBuilder is very reasonably priced, has a comprehensive feature set, and comes with very good support. We had some issues when we started using the product, mainly due to our lack of knowledge of the available features, but we received very quick and precise directions from the FinalBuilder team. It was great to see that all of the features we requested were delivered in the following release! I like how the trial version of the next release is fully functional, allowing easy and complete evaluation prior to purchase. It’s turning out to be a fantastic product!”
FinalBuilder cost recovered in less than one week
“FinalBuilder reduces our build time for a product line from around 3 days to less than 3 hours. It returned the money invested during the first week we used it. Because some basic testing is performed during the build we can discover and fix bugs within a matter of hours. It also allows us to easily run periodic builds as a quality control, and helps us discover issues at an early stage. We have reduced the incidence of missed steps and wrong order of build steps to practically zero!”
How we use FinalBuilder
“We use a lot of action lists. In our build we need to build 18 packages each under Delphi 5, Delphi 6, Delphi 7, Delphi 2005, C++ Builder 5, C++ Builder 6 and BDS 2006. By using Action Lists we can pass the package name as a parameter and have it built with all the compilers. The same applies for our demo applications.
As part of our process we perform 138 package builds, 322 Delphi and C++ Builder demo projects, 3 Visual C++ libraries, 1 Delphi, 1 C++ Builder and 2 Visual C++ DLLs, 1 .NET library, and 138 Visual C++ examples, 15 Installs, 18 Help files.
During the build we use FinalBuilder to automatically generate sections of the Installer. We also automatically generate the Visual C++ files for all of our components, and all the Visual C++ help files by performing a custom process over the existing Delphi and C++ Builder help files and sources. In addition our script automatically extracts all the component images to be used by the help service and by our web site.
Finally, we use FinalBuilder to automatically generate and build several test projects to confirm the validity of our libraries. These auto generated test projects include all the components in our packages.”
FinalBuilder compatibility
“We use FinalBuilder with Delphi – Versions 5, 6, 7, 2005, C++ Builder 5 and 6, and BDS 2006, Visual Studio 6.0, 2003 and 2005, InnoSetup, and Doc-O-Matic. We also use a number of custom actions and command line utilities written by us for parts of the build process.”
Ease of use
“FinalBuilder projects are very easy to create and maintain. It takes just one part-time person to maintain the process. As our products evolve we are adding more and more functionality into the build project, and this is greatly assisted by FinalBuilder’s range of functions”.
Recommendation
“I highly recommend FinalBuilder to anyone. The tool is very easy to work with, very intuitive, flexible and powerful.”
Competitive Edge
“With FinalBuilder we can now develop and maintain 10 different large products with very minimal effort. It also gives us time and the efficiency to develop new products, because it significantly reduces the time we have to spend on building and testing. Therefore FinalBuilder has helped to significantly expand and further develop our product range and has strengthened our competitive position.”
Conclusion
“FinalBuilder is extremely valuable tool in our arsenal. In fact it’s one of the most important tools we use because it allows us to consistently release high quality products.”
About Mitov Software
Mitov Software is a very small privately owned company focused on development of Visual C++ libraries, and Delphi, C++ Builder and .NET component packages for very fast Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Video capture and Image Processing, Audio recording and processing, Data Visualization and Basic Computer Vision. We also provide a number of consulting services and custom development in these areas, as well as in Very Fast Data Acquisition and Process Control.
About Mitov Software products
Mitov Software currently offers 10 commercial products:
5 Delphi and C++ Builder VCL component libraries:
Video Lab VCL – very fast video capture, processing playback and visualization
AudioLab VCL - very fast audio record, processing playback and visualization
SignalLab VCL – Digital Signal Processing and visualization
VisionLab VCL – basic computer vision
PlotLab VCL – data visualization
We also offer the same products in Visual C++ versions:
Video Lab VC++ – very fast video capture, processing playback and visualization
AudioLab VC++ – very fast audio record, processing playback and visualization
SignalLab VC++ – Digital Signal Processing and visualization
VisionLab VC++ – basic computer vision
PlotLab VC++ – data visualization
We are in the final stages of development of .NET versions of the above products.
We are also working on a free Open Source project:
OpenWire VCL – allows RAD codeless component development.
About VSoft Technologies
VSoft Technologies have been in business since 1996, and are focused on developing automation software for software developers, software configuration managers, system administrators, network administrators and IT professionals. Both FinalBuilder and Automise save time and money by providing easy to use, flexible and powerful solutions to automation tasks.
Visit our website at either https://www.finalbuilder.com to find out more information and to download fully functional 30 day evaluation editions.
FinalBuilder™ is a Trade Mark of VSoft Technologies Pty Ltd. All other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.