Delphi

in VCL Magic :: A simple "Panel1.Visible := false;" will make a panel invisible, but why not make it more eye candy by providing a hiding animation.

Read the full article to learn how to Use AnimateWindow API To More Nicely Hide and Show Delphi Controls

Related:

• How to Animate (Scroll) Delphi Application Title on the TaskBar
• How to Add Size Handles to Controls being Resized at Run-Time
• Fake Creating a New Delphi Control - Captionless Panel

in For Beginners :: I've updated some of the oldies to include the latest info on what Delphi has to offer. If you are asking yourself "what is Delphi?", "what can I develop in Delphi?", "is there a future in Delphi?", "how do I start?" and alike ... here are some articles to guide you:

About Delphi Programming - for Novice Developers and First Time Visitors

What Is Delphi And What Can You Do With It (Better: What Delphi Can Do For You)

The Building Blocks Of A Delphi Application

Delphi History - from Pascal to Embarcadero Delphi XE 2

What Happened to "Borland Delphi"? What is CodeGear? What is Embarcadero?

Related:

• Delphi History
• Why Delphi?
• Before You Start a New Delphi Project

in Delphi and XML :: XPath uses a path notation, similar to that used in file systems and URLs, to specify and match pieces of the document. In Delphi, the XPath implementation in included in the xmldom.pas unit.

The IXMLNode does not have a way of selecting child nodes into a node collection by node name. You can iterate through all the nodes and if TXMLNode.NodeName matches "name" process it. A far better approach is to take advantage of the powerful node processing features in XPath.

Read the full article to learn how to Get IXMLNodeList Using XPath's IDomNodeSelect

Related:

• Reading and Manipulating XML files (RSS feeds) with Delphi
• Format XML Data Using Delphi - Properly Indent TXMLDocument XML Tags Without doNodeAutoIndent
• Create the !DocType and ?XML Elements using TXmlDocument Delphi component

in Delphi TIPS :: When a users right-clicks on a folder in Windows Explorer a context popup appears. Beside standard items you can add an item for your application. When a user click the item - your application gets started and you can send it (as a parameter) the folder selected.

Read the full article to learn how to Add Your Delphi Application as Item to Windows Explorer Folder Shell Menu

Related:

• Running Delphi Applications With Parameters
• Parsing Command Line Parameters with Delphi
• How to Run your Application by Double-Clicking on a File

in Delphi TIPS :: For TTabSet and TTabControl there's only "one" Hint property you can set and this hint will appear for the entire control - not taking into account the selected tab or alike. Here's how to have different hints when the mouse hovers over a specific tab of the tab control.

Read the full article to learn how to Implement Custom Hints For Each Tab in Delphi's TTabSet or TTabControl

Related:

• Get Selected Tabs of a Multiselect TTabControl in Delphi
• Hide the Tabs of the TPageControl Delphi control to Create a Wizard-Like UI
• Select Which Panel Displays AutoHint in Delphi's TStatusBar

in VCL Ideas :: The TSplitter Delphi control does a nice job of allowing the user to resize user elements like panels on a form to make the user interface more flexible. A nice to have for a splitter would be to have a grab bar - and here's how to easily paint one on all your splitters - without having to redesign your user interface.

Read the full article to learn how to Upgrade Your Delphi Application Resizable User Interface In Seconds

Related:

• Using the Margins and Padding Properties in Delphi's VCL
• Monitoring Mouse Activity in Delphi applications
• Move the mouse cursor to the focused control when the form is displayed

in Delphi TIPS :: Even when you tab out of a check list box (where focus gets shifted to another control) there will still be a visual indicator for the selected item.

I am not interested in what is the selected item (if there is one) nor I want the visual indication of which item is selected when focus shifts to another control.

Read the full article to learn how to "Hide" The Selected Item When Focus Shifts Out Of A TCheckListBox

Related:

• Selecting Delphi's TListView Item on Item Check / UnCheck
• Delete Multiple Selected Items in a TListBox Delphi Control
• How to Jump to the Last Item in the TListBox Delphi component

in MDI development :: Even though MDI as a concept was designed decades ago, there are still new applications being developed using MDI approach - or old applications that you need to maintain. Providing shortcut keys for some common actions in your MDI child forms is something that will make your application more user friendly. Do you know there are some shortcuts you cannot use?

Read the full article to learn about Predefined Windows MDI Shortcut Keys - Or "Why CTRL+F4 closes my child form?"

Related:

• Implementing OnActivate / OnDeactivate for MDI Child Forms in Delphi
• Avoid New MDI Child Resizing Animation (and Delay) in Delphi MDI Applications
• Count MDI Children By Child Class Name in Delphi MDI Applications

in VCL Ideas :: There's a group of controls on a tab sheet of a page control. There's a group of controls on a panel. Here's how to undock the controls from their original parent and make them float in a floating form / window. And unfloat / dock again. No dragging, no docking sites, easy and scalable.

Read the full article to learn how to Dock And Float Forms In Delphi - No Dragging

Related:

• Custom Hints For Each Tab in Delphi's TTabSet or TTabControl
• Move the mouse cursor to the focused control when the form is displayed
• Owner vs. Parent in Delphi Applications

in TListView Ideas :: I needed to have a way to allow a user to select / check / mark one item from the list. I could not use the Selected property as it was also needed that one item can be selected while the other can be checked. The Checkboxes property was not of help. Checkboxes allows checking several items at a time. What I needed is something like a radio group where only one list item in a list view can be checked at a time. I also needed for some items to be non-checkable.

Read the full article to learn how to Change the State of a List Item By Clicking on the State Image (htOnStateIcon)

Related:

• Selecting Delphi's TListView Item on Item Check / UnCheck
• How to Implement the On Item Checked Event for the TListView Delphi control
• TListView.SubItem.Hint : How to Display Custom Hints for TListView Sub Items