Configuring the Delphi IDE

Delphi is great ... but the IDE (the user interface) can be improved (a little).

These are some of the changes I like - what I like and what you like will be different.

Toolbars

The Delphi IDE provides 6 configured toolbars - you should make an effort to understand the use of each option.

To edit the toolbars

Right click anywhere in the toolbar area (except on the Form Components toolbar)
Select Customize...
Select the Commands tab
Drag any command in the Commands window to any toolbar

Basically, I place any function that I use 3 or 4 times an hour on a toolbar.

(This is also available from the menu via View / Toolbars / Customize...)

Apparently, there is no way to add additional toolbar sections.

It is also possible to rearrange (move) the toolbars.

Each toolbar starts with 2 vertical bars
Left click the bars and drag them to another location

You can identify the toolbar names by turning off the associated checkboxes on the Toolbars tab.

Debug Toolbar

The default Debug Toolbar is pretty good, but using the instructions above, I add the following commands

Run / Program Reset	Stops the current debug session
Run / Run Until Return	If you accidentally step into a routine, this will get you out. There are some issues with Delphi subroutines that call assembly language code.
Run / Run to Cursor	Good for running to the end of the current loop
Debug / Local Variables	A real time saver for routines with only a few local variables

Because this toolbar is now longer, I drag the View Toolbar from the left of the Debug Toolbar to the empty space in the upper right of the IDE and move the Debug Toolbar all the way to the left. To make things look right (balanced with no empty spaces), I add a vertical bar between Run to Cursor and View Local Variables and Use Unit to the Standard Toolbar.

View Toolbar

Using the instructions above, I add the following commands

View / Next Window	Cycle thru the windows in order
View / Object Inspector	Allows you to edit component properties

Rearrange Toolbars

Depending on your screen resolution, it may be possible to delete the Desktops Toolbar and move the rest to the top line ... next to the menu. Then I move the Component Toolbar all the way to the left so that I don't need to scroll it.

Component Toolbar

Instead of moving the toolbars around, you may prefer to change the order of the tabs on the Component Toolbar

Right click the Component Toolbar
Select Properties
Use the buttons to change the tab order

I use this order (once again, if you use it more than once a day, make it easy to use).

I don't change the first 4 - Standard, Additional, Win32, System
Dialogs
Data Access, Data Controls, Interbase
Internet
mc - My components
KA Dao - free 3rd party components to access MS Access databases
The rest go here

Remember, the actual order is not important ... just be sure that you don't have to scroll.

Colors

I use colors to help find typing errors. For instance, select Tools / Editor Options... / Color and set

Symbol to red - := ( ) , ;
String to blue - 'some string'
(sometimes I use dark green ... depending on the monitor)

The exact color you use depends on your monitor - some combinations work very good on one monitor and are unreadable on another. The object is to pick colors that make it easier to see problems (like a missing string quote).

To set the background color, right click.

Author: Robert Clemenzi - clemenzi@cpcug.org