Delphi 7 and ShellListView it is possible with unicode?
I tried ShellListView, LMD, bsSkinFileListView and TMS Unicode Component. In list i see unicode filenames as i.e.: "????????.txt". Noting works.
Anyone have some idea how to list files/dirs as Windows Explorer with normal visible filenames?
Thanks
Delphi 7 doesn't support Unicode VCL components. You need to upgrade to the latest version of Delphi where all the available shell components have good support for Unicode. Trying to do this in Delphi 7 is simply impractical and nobody is going to invest time doing that nowadays.
Related
We have large commercial app that we want to convert from Delphi 6 to 2010. Approx 10 3rd party component sets, all with source code... I have heard warnings about Unicode with 2010 - Does anyone have experience and or suggestions?
There are many resources available that you can read and that you will assist in the migration from Delphi 6 to Delphi 2009/2010 (Unicode).
You can use these articles as a guide.
Unicode Migration Statistics Tool (This utility will hopefully assist you in collecting useful statistics
on how hard (or not) it would be to migrate your older applications to
Unicode.)
Delphi 2009 and Unicode
Delphi 2009 strings explained by example
Upgrading a major project to Delphi 2009
Delphi and Unicode
Dr. Bob Delphi 2009 Unicode
Delphi 2009 - Unicode in Type Libraries
On Strings and Unicode in Delphi 2009
Delphi in a Unicode World Part I: What is Unicode, Why do you need it, and How do you work with it in Delphi?
Delphi in a Unicode World Part II: New RTL Features and Classes to Support Unicode
Delphi in a Unicode World Part III: Unicodifying Your Code
CodeRage 4 : Using Unicode and Other Encodings in your Programs
Bye.
You'll find some useful answers in these StackOverflow questions:
Move project from Delphi 3 to Delphi 2010
When and Why Should I Use TStringBuilder?
Convert function to delphi 2009/2010 (unicode)
Unicode problems with Delphi 2009 / 2010 and windows API calls
Also, for what it is worth, I purchased Marco Cantu's Delphi 2009 Handbook. It was all I needed to make a relatively smooth converstion from Delphi 4 to Delphi 2009 in only a few weeks.
I do, however, recommend that you ensure your 3rd party packages have a Delphi 2009 upgrade, or you may have some real difficulties. Converting your own code is one thing. Converting someone else's is another.
I use two 3rd party packages, both with source code. Both had upgrades available, and the developer of one of them wrote that he had a lot of trouble upgrading his very complex component to the Unicode of Delphi 2009. It took him a few months, but he completed it. And as a result, I had little trouble with my implementation of his component when I did my upgrade.
i've been in the same circumstance recently. you mostly need to pay attention to the "edges" of the app. INI files, file I/O, log files, etc. win API calls from delphi work since they've now connected the unicode API calls instead. check each 3rd party component set to make sure they're at least ready for Delphi 2009...better yet 2010. even my use of databases simply wasn't an issue...nearly everything worked right away. it just wasn't a big deal. anything that relies on the size of a character should be reviewed.
really the transition of most concern is 2007_or_earlier --> 2009_or_later.
there are plenty of discussions/blog entries about it. you could read, read, read...or you could get started & see what happens. (i did some of both). i'm sure there are "stack overflow" issues discussing your question. i'm not pretending to give a detailed description of what could happen.
it's simply not as scary as it sounds.
Approx 10 3rd party component sets, all with source code.
One thing I'd add is if the component doesn't support Delphi 2009/2010, don't try to upgrade it by hacking the code.
Following is what I posted on How do the new string types work in Delphi 2009/2010?:
See Delphi and Unicode, a white paper written by Marco Cantù and I guess
The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!), written by Joel.
One pitfall is that the default Win32 API call has been mapped to use the W (wide string) version instead of the A (ANSI) version, for example ShellExecuteA If your code is doing tricky pointer code assuming internal layout of AnsiString, it will break. A fallback is to substitute PChar with PAnsiChar, Char with AnsiChar, string with AnsiString, and append A at the end of Win32 API call for that portion of code. After the code actually compiles and runs normally, you could refactor your code to use string (UnicodeString).
I must add this article from Carey Jensen to others mentioned. It is labeled: "Delphi Unicode Migration for Mere Mortals: Stories and Advice from the Front Lines" (in english).
http://www.danysoft.com/free/delphiunicodemigration.pdf
As you can see in the title of it, you will find many experiences and hints and tips. I think it is the answer to your question. After carefully read it, you will sure knows what to do next. :)
Found in: http://www.danysoft.com/productos/migrar-aplicaciones-a-delphi-xe-o-cbuilder-xe.html
Another point to take care of, is the usage of Variant types with strings and the VarType function testing for strings: one needs to use varUString instead of varString.
Assuming AValue is of type Variant and has being assigned a Unicode string value, the following won't work:
if VarType(AValue) = varString then ...
and needs to be changed to
if VarType(AValue) = varUString then ...
I have a TChart object where I want to be able to display Unicode characters for the axis labels.
Any help would be appreciated.
Addendum : Delphi 5.0
One option is to write a simple TChart yourself and use code from the TMS Unicode (formerly known ans TNT Unicode) component collection code. The TMS package supports Delphi 6 and higher, but the source code is included. Maybe the original TNT source code is still somewhere on the Internet, it was open source.
Unicode support wasn't introduced in Delphi until 2009 version so you should use TeeChart for Delphi 2009 or above to get native Unicode support.
ive a news server Built on Delphi7, using Indy9 TIdTCPServer, and the clients are using TClientSocket from ScktComp for size, and the traffic is encrypted in RC4 (string)
what exactly do i need to make my app work on XE or 2010 with Unicode support? what of these things will i have to change?
Unicode has introduced in Delphi 2009, so if you want the unicode support you can do it with Delphi 2009.
But if you are going to upgrade, get the latest one, you can get all the benefits of Delphi 2010 with less bugs and more Third party tools bundled with Delphi XE.
the other problem may you face is the translation between Indy 9 to Indy 10, because unicode support added to Indy 10, but also it's not 100% compatible with Indy 9.
I suggest you to try to compile your application with Delphi 7 and Indy 10, then move later to Delphi XE with Indy 10.
Don't know if Indy 9 is still supported on XE and 2010. Indy 10 has improvements but also some breaking changes. Moving binary data into strings is IMHO never a good choice, but depending the situation it could just need some minor changes. What you exactly need depends on your application code - without actually looking at it is difficult to say. All string manipulation routine should be checked, especially if you use them as low-level binary buffers, and the select which path is best to port them to the Unicode world.
From what I've read from the previous posts, Delphi 7 is stable and has the best help system but is slow, Delphi 2007 is fast but the help system is bad and the IDE is buggy. Delphi 2009 is stable and fast but the help system is bad too. The posts were made when 2010 isn't available yet. I am planning to upgrade from Delphi 7 to 2010. Is Delphi 2010 stable, fast and has a good help system?
Delphi 2010 is one of the best Delphi releases ever. It stabilizes some of the new features introduced in Delphi 2009. The IDE is fast, and in the project I used it was very stable.
The thing there is that the IDE and the help system are build as a RAD Studio for different languages. Especially the help system tries to be everything for everybody. Even having only one personality installed, it has many entires about other languages I do not care about (but I can filter them). Yet there are many entires missing depth that never made it into the new help format.
The help system starts painstakingly slow (especially at first startup). But, to be fair, this is partially do to the MS Help System being a pain in the neck (this, in my opinion, just was the wrong path to chose).
Embarcadero invests quite some effort into the help system, and it had several updates during the 2010 release.
You do know about the varying expense of conversion to Unicode as 2010 is fully Unicode based?
Here are some reasons why I stick to Delphi 7, having Delphi 2010 at hand to recompile and test what I wrote in Delphi 7, in a cross-version manner:
if your source code compiles on Delphi 7, and you make careful usage of Unicode/AnsiString, it will work as well with Delphi 2010;
if your source code compiles on Delphi 7, it will work as well with Free Pascal, so
cross-platform and 64 bits are open to you;
if your source code compiles on Delphi 7, it can be cross-compiled with CrossKylix directly from the Delphi 7 IDE - see Has any one used CrossKylix for real Cross-platform development?
Delphi 7 runs well on my Windows Seven 64 bits system, if you install it not in "C:\Program Files" but in "C:\Progs" for example;
Delphi 7 starts faster than Delphi 2007, and MUCH faster than Delphi 2009/2010 - see http://andy.jgknet.de/dspeedup
generated code is almost the same since Delphi 7 - when I need speed, I use better algorithms, and assembler if it's worth it;
Delphi 7 IDE is as powerful as Delphi 2010 IDE, if you use some IDE enhancements like http://www.cnpack.org;
Delphi 7 help is still the reference - why waiting for 20 seconds on my Core i7 processor waiting for the awful MS help system to launch? and if you want to create an application able to run under XP, its content will be enough for you; if you want to know about newer OS, just use msdn web site directly, or via google: it sounded to me easier than the help integrated with Delphi 2005/2010;
I use the assembler/CPU view a lot: all Delphi IDE have the Alt-F2, but you can close this window by the escape key on Delphi 7 - I was not able to find such a keyboard shortcut under Delphi 2007/2010, and it's very annoying;
Delphi 7 executable size are small, and even smaller with our LVCL libraries (30 KB for a form with buttons);
I didn't have the need for generics and such up to now - I like knowing which code is generated;
Delphi 7 is Unicode ready, whatever you say - its associated VCL was not, but CharSets are not evil, and work well - what I do is develop under Delphi 7, then compile with Delphi 2010 and get all the Unicode benefits if needed;
I use a large screen (at 1920x1280 resolution), and Delphi 7 makes it easy to have multiple edit windows at once - newer IDE locked layout was not a good idea... at such that EMB officially added the "Delphi 7 way undocked IDE" feature to Delphi 2010: and marketing sell it as a new feature;
and so on, and so on...
You can use Delphi 7 help in Delphi 2010, if you want to.
Use this or this addon. See item 5 here for instructions (sorry, it's machine auto-tranlation).
P.S. You can have more than one help installed. Say, a F1 for Delphi 7 help and Ctrl+F1 for Delphi 2010 help.
delphi 2010 is stable and fast and is actually a good delphi compiler after years of half-baked releases, they have improved help system in delphi 2010 but i still think delphi 7 help system is superior(but thats just my opinion).you do know delphi 2010 has a 1 month trial do you? download it and play around and see if you like it
EDIT: forgot to mention if you buy delphi 2010 you'll get marco cantu's Delphi 2010 Handbook for free ,the book covers whats new in D2010 so if you consider book as part of help system than help system is OK :)
Delphi7 was faster, but it was a lot simpler. I wouldn't worry too much about performance of the IDE, especially if you're working on a modern PC. At work I've got an old P4 machine, and it runs just fine.
New language features like methods on records and generics make it well worth it to switch.
For me it's hard to live without TList<T> nowadays.
For a while I've desperately tried to keep code Delphi7-compatible, but I've ported most of the important applications to D2010 already, and whenever I need to start D7, it all feels so low-tech and simple.
I've always hated the crappy component palette in the older Delphi's. Delphi 2010 has a much better interface, and the filter function is a real time-saver.
I've decided to give up on Delphi7 and just make full use of D2010's capabilities. That makes life a lot easier.
I have a rather large (freeware) project written with Delphi 2007 which is using both the TntUnicodeControls and the TntLXControls library and I'm planning to move to Delphi 2009.
Unfortunately I'm using those libraries everywhere in my project:
Replacement for VCL controls to provide Unicode capability
Win32 API wrappers (mostly for comparing strings)
The feature enhancements of TntLXForms, TntLXRegistry, ...
Third-party components which use TntControls. (VirtualTrees, SpTBXLib, updates for D2009 are available)
Do you have any experience and/or suggestions in porting such a project to Delphi 2009. Is it advisable to first switch to the (commercial) TMS Unicode controls?
Install GExperts; there is "Replace component" IDE addin that can help converting TTntXXX to TXXXX controls. Try for once, and if it's ok just check "Replace evrywhere in project".
SpTbx and VirtualTrees can only be recompiled - they both support D2009.
If you used WinAPI wrappers just to call Unicode API-s they should work in D2009 also.
That leaves you with TntLX controls (TntLXForms, TntLXRegistry, ...). Since they are unsupported, may be it is good time to change them anyway.
I can help with some of this, as I'm porting a C++Builder application that uses TNT from 2007 to 2009. The switch to Unicode in D2009 is overdue and welcome. However, it's unfortunate that the transition is probably easier for those who have NOT needed unicode in the past, and probably still don't. If, like me, you needed Unicode and used Troy Wolbrink's great TNT control to provide it, you have a rather more complex job...
The good news is that there's a new version of TNTControls from TMS Software which supports D2009. I haven't looked at this, but expect it is just a 'facade' layer over the native VCL components to ease portability. I'd consider that if your other libraries can be rebuilt to use it.
However, you may be better going back to native VCL controls, and the reason is string types. TNT control have always used WideString to pass Unicode strings back and forth, and you may well have WideString use scattered through your own code. This will work, but it's not ideal as WideString should really just be used for COM interop as it 'wraps' the COM BSTR type. Native unicode strings in D2009 are reference-counted and should be significantly faster.
If you do decide to replace TNT components with native VCL ones, you can use GExperts "Replace Components" command - or, maybe easier, do a search and replace in your .DFM and .PAS files (which you DO have in text form, don't you) to replace TTNT with T.
I recommend the following resources:
Marco Cantu's Delphi 2009 Handbook Chapter 3 (Porting to unicode)
http://www.marcocantu.com/dh2009/
Nick Hodges' articles (Delphi in a Unicode World)
http://blogs.codegear.com/nickhodges/2008/11/20/39149
I think either way it's going to be a lot of work. Probably more so than if you hadn't done all the work to make it unicode compatible before. I personally would forget about the tms Unicode controls, and go back to the vcl. It will save more pain in the future. (nothing against those controls, mind you.)
Also remember, that D2009's string, is not the same thing as D2007's Widestring which you have undoubtedly used in your app. So all instances of Widestring, which you so diligently changed from string (which was AnsiString), need to go back again to string(which is now unicodestring).