Assess what survives
- Inventory DPR/DPROJ, PAS, DFM, project groups, resources and installer projects.
- Identify compiler version from project metadata, binaries and surviving toolchains.
- Map packages, third-party components, DCUs, DLLs and design-time dependencies.
- Preserve database files, BDE aliases/clients, configuration and external services.
- Compare source outputs with the deployed executable before assuming source is current.
Select the recovery target
| Binary operates | Stabilize deployment and dependencies before attempting a rebuild. |
|---|---|
| Source complete | Recreate the exact toolchain and produce a controlled baseline build. |
| Source partial | Recover missing behavior from binaries and operation; exact reconstruction may be impossible. |
| Data unavailable | Repair database/runtime access separately from application compilation. |
Do not upgrade compiler, database and components simultaneously during recovery. First establish an unchanged behavioral baseline.
Use Delphi build-environment recovery for the toolchain, source analysis for completeness, Delphi reverse engineering for missing evidence, and the Delphi pillar.