Deleting dynamically created component? - c++builder

Question

In the OnCreate event, I have code which adds menu items to a std::vector (for the purposes of this question, it could be buttons, or any other components we create dynamically with the new operator):
// Iterrate through styles and hints and construct menu
for (int i=0; i<styleNamesAndHints->Count; i++) {
TMenuItem* miTheme = new TMenuItem(miRoot);
miTheme->Caption = styleNamesAndHints->Strings[i].SubString(0, styleNamesAndHints->Strings[i].Pos(styleNamesAndHints_Delimeter)-1);
miTheme->AutoCheck = false;
miTheme->AutoHotkeys = maManual;
miTheme->RadioItem = false;
miTheme->GroupIndex = MENU_GROUP_INDEX_STYLES;
miTheme->OnClick = &miStyles_Click;
miTheme->OnDrawItem = &miStyles_DrawItem;
miTheme->OnMeasureItem = &miStyles_MeasureItem;
miTheme->ImageIndex = IL_MENU_A_THEME;
miTheme->Tag = miStyleArray.size();
miStyleArray.push_back(miTheme);
miRoot->Add(miTheme);
}
Then in the OnDestroy event, we clean up the vector miStyleArray:
// Clean up miStyleArray vector, delete each element
while(miStyleArray.empty()==false) {
delete miStyleArray.back();
miStyleArray.pop_back();
}
This code works... I have no errors, everything works perfectly....
Now, someone told me that code like this could lead to errors and that, I quote, I should not use operator delete on objects that have parent, parent of the object is responsible for destroying and clean up..
As a matter of fact, the person that told me this is a moderator at a C++Builder forum, and warned me that I could be banned next time for such code! Here is the post link.
Who is right, who is wrong??

Answer 1

It is perfectly safe to manually delete a component instance that has an Owner or Parent assigned. The component's destructor will remove the instance from its Owner/Parent's internal list so the instance is not freed a 2nd time.
On the other hand, a component instance with an Owner assigned does not need to be delete'd manually, it will be freed when its Owner is freed, so your OnDestroy code is redundant and can be removed.
On a side note: you should NOT use the Form's OnCreate and OnDestroy events in C++Builder. They are a Delphi idiom that can lead to undefined behavior in C++ if you are not careful. OnCreate can fire before your Form's constructor, and OnDestroy can fire after your Form's destructor. As such, you should use the Form's actual constructor and destructor instead.