I would never claim to be a good UI designer.  What I know of design is from personal use.  One principle that applies to both code and UI design is that consistency is king.  I often look to widely used commercial software as models for UI design.

Of course, one of the software packages I use most often is the Delphi IDE.  That’s why it’s particularly frustrating to see that when attempting to add a new unit test case to a project right clicking the project and choosing Add New -> Other… invokes the New Items Delphi dialog as shown below:

New Items Dialog invoked from Project Manager local Menu

If I choose File -> New -> Other from the main menu I get the following New Items dialog, that does include the Unit Test folder in the tree, and provide a Test Case item.

New Items Dialog invoked from IDE Main Menu

Now considering the project I have selected in the project manager is a Unit Test project, one might think the Unit Test item should appear on the Add New local menu flyout.

Add New Flyout Menu

I thought I could work around the initial limitations of the menu by Customizing it, but after adding the Test Case item using the Customize Dialog, it still doesn’t appear on the local menu.  It only appears on the main menu.

Customize New Menu Dialog

You might also notice the label “Default Application in Startup”.  To me this label is very confusing, so I invoked the help which indicates:

“If you want to set a default application type, drag the item that represents the application type from the center pane and drop it on this button. To remove the default application, click the button.”

Not only is the help incomplete, it is also inconsistent.  Within a single sentence it conveys conflicting semantics.  An application type is not the same as a default application.  It doesn’t mention anything to do with “Startup” as the label indicates.  In short, it does not sufficiently describe the functionality to which this option pertains.

I decided to experiment, so I changed the default application to a console application, closed all projects, closed the IDE, and re-launched it.  A new console application project was in fact created.  How this pertains to Menu customization is beyond me.  Personally, I don’t care if the IDE creates a new project because most of the time I am loading an existing project to work on it, or I explicitly create one.

In short, just as a poet carefully chooses his words, developers and documentation writers also have to do likewise.  In the case of documentation, it also makes more sense to be overly explicit to ensure the reader cannot misinterpret your prose.  Consistent UIs with logical grouping of functionality, meaningful hints and labels and discover-ability are also important in an age where users don’t read manuals, expecting software to be intuitive.  Of course it helps to dog food your own product, as if you were a an actual end user…

XE5 Update 2 broke the Android System.ByteStrings.o file. So I recompiled it with XE5 Update 2 and now you can use the Byte-Strings (UTF8String, AnsiString, RawByteString, ShortString) also with XE5 Update 2.

The unit System.ByteStrings reintroduces:

• ShortString
• AnsiString
• AnsiChar
• PAnsiChar
• PPAnsiChar
• UTF8String
• PUTF8String
• RawByteString
• PRawByteString

Usage:
Add the System.ByteStrings.dcu’s path to the compiler’s search path and add the unit to your uses clauses.

There is no *.PAS file because the DCU is patched with a hex editor to get access to the hidden types.

In case anyone interested in FMX isn’t aware, Woll2Woll’s InfoPower grid for FireMonkey can be got free with XE5. OK, no source, but it’s much, much better than the standard offering:

If you want to see the Android targeting in action, Woll2Woll have a demo on Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.woll2woll.IP2SearchGridDemo&hl=en).

That said, one small issue I’ve found is that the setup file available on ‘My Registered Downloads’ at Embarcadero’s site is a bit outdated – on opening one of the iOS demos and building, I got a compiler error:

[DCC Fatal Error] SearchGrid.pas(10): F2051 Unit fmx.wwlayouts was compiled with a different version of FMX.Effects.TEffect

Presumably this is due to update 2 breaking DCU compatibility for iOS targets (this issue is mentioned in the update 2 readme files). To fix, I downloaded the latest setup file from Woll2Woll’s website and installed over the top of the original installation – see the top link here:

http://www.woll2woll.com/download-infopower-release-versions.html

Having done that, the iOS demos now compiled fine.

Since version 2007 Delphi supports pre- and postbuild events for projects. If you only want to start programs or one batch file it’s a simple matter of adding the call to the respective section of the project options dialog. I use it to manage version numbers in the program resources and manifest files in prebuild and append translations and jcl debug info in postbuild and it works fine.

But a few days ago, I wanted, in addition to the above, to copy some dlls that the program needs to the output directory. So I went and added another batch file like this:

..\..\buildtools\postbuild.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)$(OUTPUTNAME)
..\copydlls.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)

To my astonishment I found that only the first of the batch files was executed. After looking for the obvious problems (like typos, wrong paths etc.) and adding some debugging code to the batch files which confirmed the assumption, a question on StackOverflow seemed to be in order (which usually works much better than posting to the Embarcadero forums, because of the great guys frequenting it.) While I was waiting for an answer I continued to experiment and found one workaround:

%comspec% /c ..\..\buildtools\postbuild.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)$(OUTPUTNAME)
%comspec% /c ..\copydlls.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)

This was like a flashback to the bad old days of DOS, but it worked. I added this result to my question and while I was at it, checked for answers. Still none (but then it had been less than 5 minutes since I posted it. So I started looking for similar questions on StackOverflow that were not tagged Delphi but MSBuild. I found this answer and tried it:

call ..\..\buildtools\postbuild.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)$(OUTPUTNAME)
call ..\copydlls.cmd $(OUTPUTDIR)

It also worked so I added it to my question as well. It looked like a more elegant solution than the %comspec% hack to me, so after more digging didn’t turn up anything else, I posted it as an answer to my own question and went on with my work.

Around half an hour later I looked at the question again and found that it had been answered by David Hefferman. I posted the question at 15:19 and got his answer at 15:36 which is not unusual for StackOverflow (At least this time he didn’t beat me to the solution, but hey, I was actively working on that problem while he was probably doing something completely different.).

At work and also on my private computer I am maintaining multiple Delphi projects that are (currently) managed in subversion repositories. They have a general structure like this:

projectname
  \- buildtools (-> svn:external)
  \- src (project sources)
  \- libs
    \- dzlib (-> svn:external)
    \- some other libraries, all svn:external

Being a lazy bastard (deutsch: faule Socke) I don’t want to start Delphi just to compile the projects or check whether they still compile but have a build script to do that. Also, I don’t want to right click and svn update all the time (and build after that) so I have got an autobuildcheck script. And last but not least, since on my computer all Delphi versions since version 6 are installed, I need a method to automatically launch the correct IDE for each of the projects.

First, auto_build_check.cmd:

That one is simple. It needs to

• svn update
• call the build script
• revert the build number increment which the build script automatically made
• if no error occurred, just exit, otherwise pause to let me examine the error message

rem Update sources from repository
rem Build them
rem in case of error(s): Stop and show the error
rem revert the automatic build number incrementation

svn update
if errorlevel 1 goto Error

set BatchBuild=1
call _BuildProject.cmd

if not exist src\*_version.ini goto :eof
svn revert src\*_version.ini
if errorlevel 1 goto error

goto :eof

:error
echo ***** ERROR *****
pause

Next, _buildproject.cmd:

It needs to

• determine the project name from the current directory (I don’t want to write different build script for each project, lazy bastard again)
• determine the Delphi version to use for building (this one only supports Delphi 2007 and later)
• call msbuild
• if an error occurs, show that error
• pause, to let me examine the results

rem @echo off
REM - assumes that the parent directory is also the project name, extracts it
REM - and calls msbuild with %project%.dproj

setlocal

rem Has the project been passed as parameter?
set project=%1
if not "%project%"=="" goto projgiven
rem Is there a __SetProjectName.cmd which supposedly sets %project%?
if exist __SetProjectName.cmd call __SetProjectName.cmd
if not "%project%"=="" goto projgiven
rem Still no project, use the parent directory name to get it
call :GetLastDir %0
set project=%result%

:projgiven

call buildtools\delphiversions.cmd

set DelphiVersion=Delphi 2007
set DelphiDir=%Delphi2007Dir%
if exist __SetDelphiVersion.cmd call __SetDelphiVersion.cmd

set OldPath=%PATH%
echo building project %project%.dproj using %DelphiVersion%
call "%DelphiDir%\bin\rsvars.bat"

if NOT "%DelphiVersion%"=="Delphi 2007" goto no2007
rem Delphi 2007 sets the FrameworkDir incorrectly on 64 bit Windows, so we fix this here
SET FrameworkDir=%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\
SET PATH=%FrameworkDir%%FrameworkVersion%;%FrameworkSDKDir%;%OldPath%
:no2007

pushd src
msbuild %project%.dproj | ..\buildtools\msbuildfilter ..\errors.txt
popd
if errorlevel 1 goto error

endlocal
if "%BatchBuild%"=="1" goto nopause
pause
:nopause
goto :eof

:error
echo ************************************
echo ***** Error building %project% *****
echo ************************************
if "%MAILSend%"=="" goto nomail
%MAILSend% -sub "Error building %project%" -M "Build Error" -attach errors.txt,text/plain,a
endlocal
goto :eof

:nomail
endlocal
pause
goto :eof

:GetLastDir
rem extract path
set directory=%~p1%
rem remove backslash (=last character)
set directory=%directory:~0,-1%
rem extract "filename" (= last directory of path)
call :LastItem %directory%
goto :eof

:LastItem
set result=%~n1%
goto :eof

Actually, this script does some more things:

• It allows me to pass the project name as a parameter.
• If no parameter is passed, it looks for a file called __SetProjectName in the current directory, which can set %project%.
• If that doesn’t exist either, it calls the GetLastDir subroutine to get the last part of the current directory and uses that as the project.
• next, it calls buildtools\delphiversions.cmd which is a script that knows where all my Delphi versions are installed and sets the base directories for them as Delphi2007Dir, Delphi2009Dir etc. environment variables.
• Determine wichh Delphi version it should use. It assumes Delphi 2007 (which I still use for the majority of my projects), looks for __SetDelphiVersion.cmd in the current directory, which is supposed to set %DelphiVersion% and %DelphiDir% if a different version is to be used.
• If Delphi 2007 is to be used, it implements a workaround to fix a problem this version has with setting %FrameworkDir% on 64 bit Windows.
• It calls rsvars.bat (which is a script installed by Delphi)
• It switches to the src subdir
• It calls msbuild for %project%.dproj (msbuildfilter is an internal tool that filters the output and counts hints, warnings and errors)
• If there is no error it either pauses, or if in batchbuild mode, it just exists.
• If there is an error, it checks whether it should send an e-mail and does that (I’ll come back to that in a future blog post.).
• If it sent an e-mail, it exists, otherwise it pauses to let me examine the error.

Last, _OpenInIde.cmd

It needs to:

• Determine the project name (see above)
• Determine the Delphi version to use (again: see above)
• Call the IDE of that version and pass it the appropriate .dproj file

@echo off
REM - assumes that the parent directory is also the project name, extracts it
REM - and calls the IDE with %project%.dproj

setlocal

rem Has the project been passed as parameter?
set project=%1
if not "%project%"=="" goto projgiven
rem Is there a __SetProjectName.cmd which supposedly sets %project%?
if exist __SetProjectName.cmd call __SetProjectName.cmd
if not "%project%"=="" goto projgiven
rem Still no project, use the parent directory name to get it
call :GetLastDir %0
set project=%result%

:projgiven

call buildtools\delphiversions.cmd
set DelphiVersion=Delphi 2007
set DelphiDir=%Delphi2007Dir%
if exist __SetDelphiVersion.cmd call __SetDelphiVersion.cmd

start "%DelphiVerson%""%DelphiDir%\bin\bds.exe" -pDelphi src\%project%.dproj
endlocal
goto :eof

:GetLastDir
rem extract path
set directory=%~p1%
rem remove backslash (=last character)
set directory=%directory:~0,-1%
rem extract "filename" (= last directory of path)
call :LastItem %directory%
goto :eof

:LastItem
set result=%~n1%
goto :eof

So, am I lazy? I don’t really know. Writing the scripts described above was quite a lot of work. On the other hand, that was interesting work and it keeps me from making stupid errors again and again, like opening a project with the wrong Delphi version and having to revert the changes done by that version, or forgetting to do svn update before checking if the project still compiles. Also, they allow me to run a continuous build server to automatically find compile errors caused by incompatible changes to one of the libraries used, before I or my coworkers forget the reason for that change.

But why have copies of these scripts in all my projects rather than having them in buildtools and only small stubs in the project, that call these scripts? So that’s the next step.

If you want to use these scripts in your own projects or roll your own based on them, feel free to do so. You can find them in my buildtools repository.

Cool stuff: DelphiSpec library, inspired by Cucumber. It runs on top of DUnit.

via DelphiSpec Library Announce « Роман.Янковский.me.

–jeroen

Today we are going to visit the wonderful world of webkit animations. I'm going to demonstrate how you can use relatively simple CSS animations to bring your application to life. So start up Smart Mobile Studio and let's get cracking!

The post Bling up your apps appeared first on Smart Mobile Studio.

Below are some of the new features that has been added to Smart Mobile Studio community beta II. We hope you find our efforts in creating this product,a product that is both unique, innovative and extremely powerful, useful and interesting. Our customers can look forward to gestures, databases, even better browser support, Phone-Gap support and [...]

The post What is new in community beta 2? appeared first on Smart Mobile Studio.

A QR code (Quick Response Code) is a specific 2D barcode that gained popularity during the last years when mobile phones with cameras allowed mobile phone users to quickly scan the image and get more info on a product, business, event, offer, URL address, …

If you need to include the generation of QR barcode images in your Delphi application, you might want to take a look at Debenu’s open source “DelphiZXingQRCode” – a Delphi port of the QR Code functionality in ZXing, an open source barcode image processing library.

QR codes are used to encode URL, text or other data. Most smartphones like iPhones and Android phones have apps that let you to read QR codes. When your mobile reads (scans) a QR Code, the QR code will then send you to a website or online voucher or an online business card.

There are several Delphi-style QR code implementations but only a few are free and/or include source code.

DelphiZXingQRCode is a single-unit implementation you simply add to your (new or) existing project, set a few properties and paint the image. DelphiZXingQRCode (for the moment) supports auto, numeric, alphanumeric, ISO-8859-1, UTF-8 without Bom and UTF-8 with Bom encoding.

Just a few lines of code, TDelphiZXingQRCode related, and your QR is ready:

var
  QRCode: TDelphiZXingQRCode;
  Row, Column: Integer;
begin
  QRCode := TDelphiZXingQRCode.Create;
  try
    QRCode.Data := edtText.Text;
    QRCode.Encoding := TQRCodeEncoding(cmbEncoding.ItemIndex);
    QRCode.QuietZone := StrToIntDef(edtQuietZone.Text, 4);
    QRCodeBitmap.SetSize(QRCode.Rows, QRCode.Columns);
    for Row := 0 to QRCode.Rows - 1 do
    begin
      for Column := 0 to QRCode.Columns - 1 do
      begin
        if (QRCode.IsBlack[Row, Column]) then
        begin
          QRCodeBitmap.Canvas.Pixels[Column, Row] := clBlack;
        end else
        begin
          QRCodeBitmap.Canvas.Pixels[Column, Row] := clWhite;
        end;
      end;
    end;
  finally
    QRCode.Free;
  end;
end;

If you only need the image generated out of your application, you might want to try this fantastic free online QR Code Generator from the ZXing Project.

What Delphi-style QR generator are you using? Have something Delphi-style to read QR Codes?

Glenn Stephens with Orchard eBusiness has a Delphi XE5 Mobile App Development Workshop coming up next month. It is divided up into 4 different 4 hour workshops, each on a different day. This gives you a chance to work on what you learned in preparation for the next workshop. The objective is to take a developer who is experienced with Delphi and prepare them for Mobile App Development.

Glenn does good work, so I am sure this is a great opportunity to anyone who wants to make the move to mobile app development.

If you haven’t yet, take advantage of the end of year special offers before time runs out so you will have XE5 and be ready for Glenn’s workshop. I’m looking forward to seeing all your apps in the app stores!

I’ve been wanting this a very long time, so I’m going to install it Right Now ™ (:

Right before X-Mas, Scooter Software did the ANN: Beyond Compare 4.0 beta available on Windows, Linux, and OS X:

Posted: Dec 23, 2013 4:17 PM

Beyond Compare 4.0 beta is now available for testing on Windows, Linux, and OS X.

http://www.scootersoftware.com/beta

This version adds a number of new features:

• - OS X support
• - An improved user interface
• - 3-way folder merge
• - Support for marking text unimportant separately from the file format
• - Compare against WebDAV servers, Subversion remote repositories, and Dropbox\’s cloud
• - An overhauled picture compare
• - Inline editing in the hex compare
• - A \”View Patch\” command that pulls the patch apart into a side-by-side display
• - Improved high DPI support
• - .zipx support for all compression algorithms
• - Many other fixes and enhancements

–
Craig Peterson
Scooter Software

The G+ announcement has a few more details: Craig Peterson – Google+ – Beyond Compare 4.0 beta is now available, on Windows,….

A few notes:

• Since this is a beta, all regular warnings apply.
• It is a public beta, so anyone can download for Mac OS X, Windows, and 4 different Linux package flavours.
• The BC4 beta what’s new shows there is a lot more than “just” Mac OS X support.
• The BC4 beta forums are open to the general public. There is already quite some content from the alpha phase.
• The BC4 beta change log shows it has been in alpha for more than 9 months now.
• The BC4 beta videos show that the regular features are still there (including portable install) but with a completely new Firemonkey like UI so you can watch it run on Mac OS X as well. The fun part: it is not Firemonkey, it is Lazarus!
• Current “drop dead” license ends end of Februari 2014.

OS X and command-line tip

One important thing if you have installed on OS X and are used to command-line and/or VCS integration using the bcomp or bcompare command line tools that already were available on Linux and Windows:

Using BComp instead of Beyond Compare.app for VCS and OSX Command Line Utilities

To use Beyond Compare with the Command Line, please

1. use the Beyond Compare menu and
2. select Install Command Line Tools.

This will add ‘bcomp’ and ‘bcompare’ utilities into /usr/local/bin. By default, this location is available from the command line or for third party applications.

via Using BComp instead of Beyond Compare.app for VCS and OSX Command Line Utilities – Scooter Forums.

–jeroen

via: Embarcadero Discussion Forums: ANN: Beyond Compare 4.0 beta available ….

Beyond Compare 4 beta on Mac OS X