At the end of 2011 I set out to automate the process for my own benefit. The resulting Windows utility proved so useful I decided to make it available to other developers. I’ve called it SourceMaid. The initial release works with generic projects created with wildcard listings, and Delphi projects for which it parses the .dpr and .pas files.
The fun parts
I’ve built up quite an application toolkit as I’ve written projects for other clients. This is the first time I’ve used so many of these building blocks in a project of my own, and it was delightful to see how quickly it took shape.
The tricky bits
Excluding files distributed with Delphi required some lateral thinking. In the end SourceMaid makes those decisions against a list of application directories created by the Delphi installer.
The future
I’ll add support for automated parsing of other development environments. On the list at the moment are java, c, c++ and c#. I’d also like to export the project to Lazarus and create versions for Linux and OS X.
Try it for free
SourceMaid can be downloaded for a free 28 day trial. The standard price is USD29.00 if you decide to purchase. Download and enjoy. The website also has links to the SourceMaid help resource if you want to know more about how it works and exactly what it does.
Leigh is repaying karma from a previous life by working out this one in IT. She’s a project manager, developer, writer, musician … and a recovering soccer player.