Experts and Wizards in Delphi

Use some 'magic' to extend and enhance the way you work with the Delphi IDE

Whenever we create a new Project or Form through the File-New menu of the Delphi IDE we are just one step away from some magic.

Built-in Wizards

Delphi has several built-in Wizards designed to guide you through the application creation process. Some of these are Dialog Wizard, Application Wizard, Database Form Wizard, Quick Report Wizard, WebServer Application Wizard, ActiveX Control Wizard, etc.

If you've ever tried an Wizard (like Database Form Wizard), you know what power they can bring to you. If you weren't, you should really try one; wizards will enhance your development experience, trust me.

Custom Wizards

Unfortunately, developing custom Wizards isn't documented in the manuals or on-line help files. However, if you want to familiarize yourself with developing custom Wizards than following articles will help a lot:
 

Delphi 2005 OTA

More than in the past, the Delphi IDE allows programmers to write their own wizards and plug-ins. This article covers the Open Tools API (OTA) of Borland Developer Studio. This API is basically an extension of the interfaced-based API available since Delphi 5 (and often technically called “IOTA interfaces”). The level of integration you can obtain with the Delphi IDE is very high: you can interact with designers, work directly on the editor, and obviously open up your own windows to let the user perform complex operations in a breeze.

Opening doors - getting inside the IDE

This article, by Delphi R&D member, provides an overview of the ToolsAPI. Readers will learn how to enhance the Delphi IDE.

Opening Doors: Notes On the Delphi ToolsAPI by its Creator - Part 2

The second Delphi Open ToolsAPI article, by Delphi R&D member, gives developers a "cookbook" format, with step-by-step instructions, for creating an IDE extension in Delphi.

Opening Doors: Docking in the IDE - Part 3

Showing how to create a form that will be able to dock with the rest of the IDE.

OTA: Visual design of Wizards

This article describes how to implement OpenTools wizards as data modules and creators as components so they can be desinged visually in the IDE.

Using the Open Tools API in Kylix

How to extend and customize the Kylix IDE.

Creating a Web Search Wizard using the OpenTools API

How to create a wizard the remembers its position and state in the desktop speedsettings.

Delphi Debug Expert

Use this Open Tools expert for Delphi to add a "Run with Debug" and "Run Without Debug" menu item to your IDE.

Extending Delphi with the OpenTool API

Review of the interfaces available in Delphi Open tools API, and a look at an Expert for making the development of experts easy: the Expert Expert.

How To Write Delphi Wizards

Use Delphi to extend the IDE with four kinds of Experts: Standard, Project, Form and AddIn Experts. This article has focus on writing and integrating Wizards with Delphi.

"Hacking" the Delphi Environment

"What we really want to do is create a single wizard that we can use to customize the Delphi environment in many different ways."

Delphi Open Tools API

"Whether you need to automate repetitive tasks, create powerful, interactive template for creating forms and projects, or extend Delphi's IDE, the Tools API is your ticket to making your programming job easier."

How to create and add new menu item to Delphi IDE

How to create and add new menu item to Delphi IDE.

Open Tools API FAQ

The purpose of this FAQ is not to teach somebody how to use the Open Tools API, but rather it is a reference that is intended to answer many of the questions you will have as you work with the Open Tools API.

   And now: Magic
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