Setting multiple labels to transparent across 1.000 forms? - delphi

Question

I skinned my software with Devexpress and I found that the labels were non-transparent causing them to have grey background.
There's just endless forms, so I was wondering whether there was a way to do this task (of setting labels to transparent) automatically.
I did a similar thing earlier, the Devexpress controls on the form had LookAndFeel.NativeStyle = True, I used Grep Search to replace it to False on all dfm forms. In the label's case however, the transparent property is not present.
Thank you.

Answer 1

The global Screen variable keeps track of all forms:
procedure MakeLabelsTransparent(AParent: TWinControl);
var
I: Integer;
begin
with AParent do
for I := 0 to ControlCount - 1 do
if Controls[I] is TLabel then
TLabel(Controls[I]).Transparent := True
else if Controls[I] is TWinControl then
MakeLabelsTransparent(TWinControl(Controls[I]));
end;
procedure TMainForm.ActiveFormChange(Sender: TObject);
begin
with Screen do
if (ActiveCustomForm <> nil) and (ActiveCustomForm.Tag = 0) then
begin
MakeLabelsTransparent(ActiveCustomForm);
ActiveCustomForm.Tag := 1;
end;
end;
procedure TMainForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
Screen.OnActiveFormChange := ActiveFormChange;
end;
And if you have to use the Tag property for a particular form, then omit this check: it wouldn't really get that much slower.

Answer 2

For this type of task, GExperts contains the Set Component Properties tool:
This tool waits in the background
until you compile a project. It then
scans the current project's forms to
check for components with certain
properties and changes those
properties to a defined value. This
tool is useful to deactivate datasets
or database connections before you
compile your applications, but it can
be used for any similar situations as
well. To activate the scanning,
enable the checkbox next to this
expert in the GExperts Configuration
screen.
It can be used to set a property which is not yet in the DFM as well, and only requires one additional entry in the GExpert configuration, and a recompile.
I have just tested it and it works as expected.

Answer 3

At design time, you can just parse all .dfm then add the
Transparent = True
line just after any
object MyLabel : TLabel
line.
At runtime, you may override the TCustomForm.DoCreate and TCustomFrame.Create methods, as such:
type
THookedForm = class(TCustomForm)
procedure HookedDoCreate;
end;
THookedFrame = class(TCustomFrame)
constructor Create(AOwner: TComponent); override;
end;
var
PatchForm, OriginalForm: TPatchEvent;
PatchPositionForm: PPatchEvent = nil;
PatchFrame, OriginalFrame: TPatchEvent;
PatchPositionFrame: PPatchEvent = nil;
procedure PatchCreate;
var ov: cardinal;
begin
// hook TForm:
PatchPositionForm := PPatchEvent(#THookedForm.DoCreate);
OriginalForm := PatchPositionForm^;
PatchForm.Jump := $E9; // Jmp opcode
PatchForm.Offset := PtrInt(#THookedForm.HookedDoCreate)-PtrInt(PatchPositionForm)-5;
if not VirtualProtect(PatchPositionForm, 5, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE, #ov) then
RaiseLastOSError;
PatchPositionForm^ := PatchForm; // enable Hook
// hook TFrame:
PatchPositionFrame := PPatchEvent(#TCustomFrame.Create);
OriginalFrame := PatchPositionFrame^;
PatchFrame.Jump := $E9; // Jmp opcode
PatchFrame.Offset := PtrInt(#THookedFrame.Create)-PtrInt(PatchPositionFrame)-5;
if not VirtualProtect(PatchPositionFrame, 5, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE, #ov) then
RaiseLastOSError;
PatchPositionFrame^ := PatchFrame; // enable Hook
end;
{ THookedForm }
procedure THookedForm.HookedDoCreate;
var i: integer;
begin
// enumerate all labels, then set Transparent := true
for i := 0 to Components.Count-1 do
if Components[i] is TLabel then
TLabel(Components[i]).Transparent := true;
DoCreate; // call initial code
end;
{ THookedFrame }
constructor THookedFrame.Create(AOwner: TComponent);
var i: integer;
begin
// enumerate all labels, then set Transparent := true
for i := 0 to Components.Count-1 do
if Components[i] is TLabel then
TLabel(Components[i]).Transparent := true;
inherited Create(AOwner); // call normal constructor
end;
....
initialization
PatchCreate;

Answer 4

A related tip (I always forget to make use of this handy feature):
Configure the label the way you want to have it;
Select it on the form;
Go to Component/Create component template;
You can then a name for the template:
From then on, the template appears as a new component type in your tool palette, with the settings that you prefer.
(Yeah, I know this doesn't change current labels)

Answer 5

You can set the BackColor property to Color.Transparent.

Answer 6

The following should work: the transparent-property is present in the DFM-file only if the value is not the default. So you can us a Grep-Search to insert the "Transparent=TRUE" just in the next line after the "=TLabel". I have not tried this myself, but it is easy to try...