General Info	A lot of Delphi info is available via my general Languages page (which shows how to implement various common constructs in various languages) and my general Database page.
Writing your own Components	The ability to write your own components IS what makes Delphi the superior language. However, the learning curve is very steep. Creating a Component discusses just the basic mechanics of how to create one. Component Directory Structure describes (and explains) one of the structures I use. Writing your own Components covers what goes into a component. Component Properties shows various techniques - also see Icons and Overriding Properties. Property Editors shows various techniques. How to handle ScrollWheel events. Composite components Using a TFrame to reuse a collection of existing components and related code. This discusses several ways to create composite components and explains how to provide operational design time handles. Component Notification describes how to use properties to link several components via the IDE without crashing the Delphi IDE. Component Testing describes some additional tests required for components. Style Guides discusses ways to make your code easier to read. Component Naming Conventions provides some guidance. Component Guidelines includes additional ideas that apply mostly to components. Creating and Installing Packages - If you want your component to have a design time presence (placed on the toolbar - Component palette - and be able to set parameters via the Object Inspector), then they must be placed in a package and installed in the IDE. They will also need a Register function that calls RegisterComponents. Component Debug describes a few problems that might occur at this stage. Based on the provided instructions, I found writing the associated help file to be more difficult than developing a component. (A component without a help file is worthless.) Writing Help Files with MS Word covers the basics and suggests several ways to configure and use MS Word to actually write and edit help files. A Help File Style Guide provides details on creating help pages which look like Delphi's. Table of Contents explains how to produce *.cnt and *.toc files which allow you to integrate your help files with Delphi. There are several examples and instructions on running OpenHelp. MS Help Workshop explains how to actually compile your help files. The Delphi Help Generator reads an *.pas file and automatically creates an *.rtf file that you can edit using MS Word. The Checklist - a simple set of instructions to get you started using the Delphi Help Template Generator More Tips - Just some stuff that did not fit anywhere else
Drawing on a Form	Using a Canvas to draw images
Web Servers	How to build Delphi exe's and dll's that are designed to be called by a web server (such as PWS/IIS) and displayed in a web browser.
Database Access	How to read and write databases.
File I/O
File I/O Component	This component encapsulates all the normal File I/O commands. It also includes Open and Save dialog boxes and Actions that simplify menu design.
Streams	Includes information on a Windows XP design problem
Serial I/O	How to interface with the Serial Port (ComPort)
Images	How to display images (bmp, ico, jpeg ...) on a form. Additional icon, jpeg and png info.
Methods	Notes on declaring methods.
User Interface Design	Menus, Toolbars, and Actions Logo Applications - User interface standards that make your applications look like Microsoft Office applications. Toolbars - A basic toolbar is described under User Interface Design, this provides other options Basic Menu information - AutoHotkey issue Keyboard Shortcuts - copy and paste - ctrl-C, ctrl-Ins, and the like ReadOnly - How to make a TComboBox ReadOnly
Resources	Delphi programs contain various resources - bitmaps, icons, cursors, and form descriptions (dfm files).
Linked Lists	How to implement a linked list using Previous and Next pointers. This includes a comparison with TList and TStringList.
TreePanel	How to display an hierarchical list of nodes - similar to the directory view in Windows Explorer
Printing	Printing via the TPrinter Canvas - How to print without using report components How to fix the DeviceCapabilities error
Buffers	Many commands, particularly Windows API commands, require buffers - a memory block of a specified size.
Dynamic Components	How to create and/or link Components at runtime
Global Objects	There are a number of classes that should be instantiated only once and then used globally. For example - a dynamic list, an object to produce log files, the object that provides version info.
Window Handles	How to obtain the handle of application windows and their controls - buttons and the like.
Capture a Window Image	How to capture images from the screen using a windows handle
Branding	Stuff you should add to your application to identify it - icons, version information, copyright info, text shown by Windows
Configuring the IDE	Delphi is great ... but the IDE (the user interface) can be improved (a little).
Tools	Various tools you should know about
BreakPoints	How to debug your code
Delphi Versions	Read this before upgrading or trying to use 2 versions at the same time Info on Delphi 2005 Delphi 2006
Vista Form Size	Without these changes, many of the programs I write were unusable in Vista
Moving from VB to Delphi	A paper by Borland
Blank Template	Used to create new pages with the correct header and footer info

Free updated help files can be downloaded from Borland/Inprise. (For Delphi 2 and 4.)

Use Ctrl-Shift-Space to list the types of properties that a method expects.

When creating components, Ctrl+Shift+C helps to complete a class. (See Class completion in the help.)

• With the cursor in a class definition (in the interface section), it creates any read or write methods you haven't yet defined, it adds a declaration for any unspecified property data fields, it creates dummy methods in the implementation section
• In the implementation section, it produces method prototypes in the class definition.

Warning:

If a property is defined as write-only, Ctrl+Shift+C will automatically add a read directive AFTER the write directive. However, since the compiler requires the read directive to be BEFORE the write directive, you will get a

';' expected but identifier 'read' found

error the next time you compile. This is annoying, but at least it throws a warning so that you can delete the reads you really don't want ... assuming you know that this is what is happening.

Use Ctrl-J to display the list of defined code templates.

Use Ctrl-Shift-UpArrow (or Ctrl-Shift-DownArrow) to toggle between the implementation and interface sections. For example, place the mouse cursor on a method prototype in the class definition and press Ctrl-Shift-UpArrow to see the code that implements that method.

Use Ctrl-UpArrow and Ctrl-DownArrow to scroll your code. Sometimes, this is easier than using the mouse and scroll bar.

List of keyboard shortcuts

• Symbol to red - := ( ) , ;
• String to green - 'some string'

In order to re-name a unit, you must change the filename AND change the name in the first line of the file

unit Filename;

The easiest way to do this is to use File / Save As. However, it leaves the old copy of your files on the drive.

Files related to a unit - pas (code in ASCII), dfm (form), dcu (Delphi Compiled Unit)

uses
  Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Classes, Graphics, 
  Controls, Forms, Dialogs;

C:\Program Files\BORLAND\Delphi5\Lib

When you write your own component, you include it by adding the name of the dcu file to the uses classes. Then you have to tell Delphi where to find it. From the menu, select

Project / Options... / Directories

The other technique is to place your components in packages and install them.

  UIRichEdit.SelAttributes.color := clGreen;

  Canvas.TextOut(20, 20, 'Output Text');  

ScrollBar1.Max := 1000;
ScrollBar1.Min := 500;
ScrollBar1.Position := 750;

Clipbrd.dcu    8 Kb
Windows.dcu  320 Kb
Messages.dcu  19 Kb
Classes.dcu   81 Kb
Graphics.dcu  64 Kb

When opening the exact same source files on two different machines, I noticed that the size of the form with respect to the components on it was significantly different.

This does not happen when the left button is pressed, just with the right button. With the left mouse button, it does not matter where the mouse is pointing when the button is released, it still calls the mouse up event for the same control where the mouse down was called.

From Buttons.pas

 When the left button is pressed, the following are set
    FState := bsDown;
    FDragging := True;

Since MouseDown calls Inherited MouseDown, which calls OnMouseDown, I even tried modifying the passed Button parameter - no effect. It appears to be passed by value, not by reference (ie, the value is placed on the stack, not the address).

• The Unofficial Newsletter of Delphi Users is an excellent source of Delphi related info with lots of examples.
• Unofficial Delphi Developer's FAQ has lots of examples.
• efg's Computer Lab contains a large selection of practical examples.
• Teach Yourself Borland Delphi 4 in 21 Days, good reference. mirror1 mirror2 mirror3
  Creating Components, Converting Delphi to Borland C++ (both are very good)
  As of 6-13-01, the .ru links won't work, and mirror1 requires a login. Added mirrors 2 & 3.
• ZDNet provides several utilities with Delphi source code. RegEdit+ by Neil J. Rubenking. is a RegEdit wrapper which keeps track of any changes you make, and provides a way to undo them. It also provides a Favorites list so that you can jump directly to a specific key. There is also an excellent write up explaining the various Delphi code techniques used to implement features.
• Delphi 3000 (requires a free account)
• Dirk's Delphi Pages - lots of freeware with source code :) Includes TCommPort, and lots of TCP/IP components.
  (Please let me know if you have a new link for this.)
• Links to 27 Delphi Tutorials.
• DelphiX Tutorial - How to use the free DirectX wrapper.
  DelphiX Game Tutorial One - Creating an isometric tiling engine
• Delphi tips and FAQs - These are great, way too many to list here.
• Tutorial for making Service Applications using Delphi by Finn Tolderlund.

URL: http:// mc-computing.com / Languages / Delphi / index.html