Delphi Free Stuff Package

System Control Pack v0.98.5 Beta This is BETA software. It is not guaranteed to do ANYTHING useful at all. R E A D T H I S N O W ! ! ! I hope that got your attention. This component requires a unit that provides access to the Win95/NT 4.0 Shell Namespace API. Delphi 2.0 did not include this import, but the v2.01 update does. Also, Mr. Pat Ritchey was kind enough to write one, which I think was the basis for Borland's (same bugs in both units, must be the same). C++Builder 1.0's ShlObj.pas also suffers from the same problems. Regardless of which you use, you will have to do some extra work because both contain errors that will prevent this component from working properly (or even compiling, probably). To implement these changes, read the ShellFix.txt file that should have been included with this file. If you use Delphi 3 or higher, or C++Builder 3 or higher, you will not need to worry about any of this. No bugs (that effect these components anyway). Description: Tree view, list view, and combobox controls that act like the controls in the Windows Explorer. Contact Information: The lateset version will always be available on the web at: http://www.delphifreestuff.com If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please use the Delphi Free Stuff Support Forum at: http://www.delphifreestuff.com/discus/ If, for some reason, you can not use the web-based support forum, you can email me at bstowers@delphifreestuff.com. However, the support forum will always take precedence over direct email since it provides a resource that others can use when they have a problem. Every message posted to the forum is emailed directly to this account, so emailing me directly will not get your message to me any faster. It will only make the message less important for me to respond to since only one person (you) is benefiting from it instead of everyone interested. Having said all that, please do email me directly if it is regarding something that isn't really support related, i.e. just to say thanks (as novel as that idea is). Installation: Delphi 1: * This component is not compatible with Delphi 1. Delphi 2, C++Builder 1: * Select the 'Component | Install' menu item. * In the Install Components dialog, click the Add button. * In the Add Module dialog, enter the full path name of the component's registration unit (the unit that ends with 'Reg.pas', i.e. 'BrowseDrReg.pas') and click OK. * In the Add Module dialog, click OK. * The component library will be rebuilt and a new tab named 'DFS' will be available on the Component Palette. Delphi 3, 4, 5, C++Builder 3 & 4: * Do one of the following: + Create a new package by selecting File | New and choosing Package from the New tab in the dialog. + Open an existing package file. I suggest you do this if you already have a package that you like to use for small, third party components. I specifically have a package named "3rdParty.dpk" that I use for small components that come from other people. Or, if you are using several of my components, you might create a "DFS.dpk" package and use it for all of my DFS components. * In the resulting package window, click the Add button. * In the Add dialog, on the Add Unit tab, enter the full path name of the component's registration unit (the unit that ends with 'Reg.pas', i.e. 'BrowseDrReg.pas') and click OK. * You may want to add the other source files (*.pas) to the package as well in the same manner as you did the registration unit. While this is not required, not doing it will cause compiler warnings when the package is compiled. The component will function fine either way, but I personally find the warnings very irritating and am not happy until every compiler warning and hint is gone. NOTE: If you use C++Builder 3, do not install the other source units. See Known Issuses section below. * If this package is new, or it has never been installed, click the Install button in the package window. If this package is already installed in Delphi, click the Compile button. C++Builder 5 and up: * Perform the "Delphi 3 and up, C++Builder 3 and up" steps above, except for the last step (Compile or Install). * Select the package the component has been added to, and choose Project | Edit Option Source to open the package options in the editor. * In the entry for PFLAGS, add the "-LUvcl50" option. For example: <PFLAGS value="-$YD -$W -$O -v -JPHNE -M -LUvcl50"/> * Perform the final step from above, Compile or Install. * For Borland's official word on this situation, open the C++Builder help file and search the index for "dsgnintf.dcu" and see the "Compiling packages with DsgnIntf" section. Delphi 6 and up: * Perform the "Delphi 3, 4, 5, C++Builder 3 & 4" steps above, except for the last step (Compile or Install). * Add the DesignIDE package to the Requires list of the package into which the component is being installed. * Perform the final step from above, Compile or Install. * This is necessary because of changes to the design-time support units introduced in Delphi 6. For complete information, see the Del6New.hlp file in your Delphi 6 Help directory. In the index, search for "upgrade issues" and in the resulting list of topics, select the "DsgnIntf renamed and related changes" topic. Conditional Defines: These units makes extensive use of conditional defines to control many aspects of how and what things are compiled. Usually these are used to effect code size or change how a feature works, but some are also for debugging purposes. The following is a list of the defines that are used and how. These defines are all found in the SystemControlPack.inc file. The prefix used in each name identifies what is effected: DFS -- Prefix I use for all my defines to avoid clashing with other defines that may be in use. DFS = Delphi Free Stuff SCP -- Indicates that the define effects all components. SCP = System Control Pack STV -- Indicates that the define effects only the TSystemTreeView component. STV = System Tree View SLV -- Indicates that the define effects only the TSystemListView component. SCB -- Indicates that the define effects only the TSystemComboBox component. Currently, there are none of these. The defines used are as follows: * DFS_SCP_SYSTREEVIEW, DFS_SCP_SYSLISTVIEW, DFS_SCP_SYSCOMBOBOX: If you undefine any of these, then that/those components will no longer be compiled. For example, if you undefined DFS_SCP_SYSLISTVIEW, the TSystemListView component will not be compiled, and the tree view and combo box components will no longer have a ListView property to link to. This resulted in a 70k saving in the compiled EXE of a test app that used only the TSystemTreeView component. The down side to this is that if you use TSystemListView for some projects and not for others, you will either have to leave it enabled for all, or have one heck of a code maintenance nightmare. One solution to this could be to remove the DFS_SCP_SYSLISTVIEW define from the include file completely and add it to the Project | Options | Directories/Conditionals of the design-time package you install the component in. Then, you would add DFS_SCP_SYSLISTVIEW to the options of the projects that need it, and leave it out of those that don't. This would allow you to control what is