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dummzeuch

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Posts posted by dummzeuch

  1. Posted · Edited by dummzeuch

    Just in case anybody is still interested: I have changed the GExperts Convert Strings Editor Expert to allow for prefixes and suffixes for all lines.

     

    Example:

     

    I want to create a string containing this code: 

    function FindClassForm(const AClassName: string): TForm;
var
  i: Integer;
  s: string;
begin
  Result := nil;
  s := 'Some String';
  for i := 0 to Screen.FormCount - 1 do
    if Screen.Forms[i].ClassNameIs(AClassName) then begin
      Result := Screen.Forms[i];
      Break;
    end;
end;

    Which means:

    • Quote the lines and escape any existing quotes
    • Add a variable assignment as prefix to the first line
    • Add a "       " prefix to all lines to indent the whole thing
    • add a " + #13#10" suffix to each line but the last
    • add a ";" suffix to the last line.

    The result looks like this: 

    s := 'function FindClassForm(const AClassName: string): TForm; ' + #13#10
      'var ' + #13#10
      '  i: Integer; ' + #13#10
      '  s: string; ' + #13#10
      'begin ' + #13#10
      '  Result := nil; ' + #13#10
      '  s := ''Some String''; ' + #13#10
      '  for i := 0 to Screen.FormCount - 1 do ' + #13#10
      '    if Screen.Forms[i].ClassNameIs(AClassName) then begin ' + #13#10
      '      Result := Screen.Forms[i]; ' + #13#10
      '      Break; ' + #13#10
      '    end; ' + #13#10
      'end; ';

    There is no release for this yet, but you can always get the sources and compile your own dll:

    https://blog.dummzeuch.de/gexperts-documentation/compiling-gexperts/

    GExperts-Convert-Strings-Expert.png

  3. Posted

    Sometimes your program needs to block the screen saver from automatically kicking in. My use case was that the program was recording data and whenever the screen saver was active, the data was lost (No idea why, it probably had something to do with the way HID is implemented in Windows.)
    So I was looking for a way to fix that without forcing the user to turn off the screen saver. The methods that used to work under Windows XP no longer work in Windows 7 and later (I don’t care about Vista), so I googled and found this question on StackOverflow. The Windows API functions PowerCreateRequest + PowerSetRequest mentioned in the highest voted answer looked promising. Unfortunately they don’t seem bo be available in Delphi

    read on in my blog post

     

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  4. Posted

    17 hours ago, David Schwartz said:

    We have 3 people on our project and two are trying to use git as if it's TFS. I keep telling them they're not using it correctly, but they refuse to listen.

     

    They also only use the command-line interfaces. They won't use a GUI.

    It's not only git which uses this kind of annotations. svn and probably many other SCMs do too. So how can it be that somebody commits stuff like this?

     

    One option for dealing with this kind of stupidity is setting up a continous build server and slapping everybody who commits stuff that does not compile. But this requires somebody with authority to do the initial slapping.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    Before I reinvent the wheel: Has anybody used the XKeys PIEHid32.dll from Delphi? The API functions aren't very complicated but there is of course still room for errors when converting the C header files to Delphi.

    A quick Google search did not turn up anything usefull.

  16. Posted

    1 hour ago, Markus Kinzler said:

    Or the hope more developers would migrate to the more expensive editions.

    With the price for Professional rising the way it does, it feels like I'm on enterprise already. I was pleasantly surprised I got the mobile add-on without paying an arm and a leg though.

  17. Posted

    Hooking events in the Delphi IDE is dangerous, as you never know whether there already is another plugin that uses the same event.

    I tried to describe a way to make that process a little bit safer and blogged about it:

    https://blog.dummzeuch.de/2016/03/28/safe-event-hooking-for-delphi-ide-plugins-revisited/

    But it's not just other plugins you must be wary about. New versions of the IDE might also start using previously unused events. E.g. Delphi 10.3 is now using the previously unused Screen.OnFormChanged event, but only within the Options dialog. This broke some of the GExperts enhancements to this dialog and those dialogs opened from there, in particular those for the path edit dialog.

    • Thanks 2

  18. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Rollo62 said:

    Beauty is in the eye of the observer: That is problem no. 1.

    Engineers, Designers, Managers, Bosses (and customers) have all different eyes :classic_smile:

    My gripe is not with whether it looks pretty or not, but whether it's usable at all. To get back to the original post's topic: A visual clue that a control is read only, would be nice. But Windows 8 and later 10 ruined that (and that's far from the end of the visual catastrophe these versions introduced).

    Or take web sites: It used to be that links were easily recognizable with blue text color and underlined. The first thing that disappeared was the "ugly" blue color. Then web designers also removed the underline. Nowadays you only know for sure that something is a link when you click on it.

    Or one example from non software related design failure: The controls for a faucet (Deutsch: Armaturen) used to show with a blue or red dot that was easily visible whether you turn on cold or hot water. Today these dots are still there (not sure whether that's required by law), if you either know where to look or crane your neck to find them. Apparently somebody decided that they spoil the look of the thing, so they are now hiding them. I'd like to know how many people accidentally get burned because of this.

    • Like 3

  19. Posted

    1 hour ago, Dalija Prasnikar said:

    Your idea with reference counted object (you have to pass it as interface and not as const to increase its reference count) and invalidating a flag will serve the purpose.

    But would that not simply delay the problem? Since he said that the code must access the form, the callback method must still check whether the form still exists when it wants to write to the OLE container on the form.

  22. Posted

    2 hours ago, Gary Mugford said:

    I asked the hardware guy about citrix and was told there's no money in the budget for the product AND HIS TIME implementing it.

    Apparently this program is not very important for the company, so maybe it should just be retired instead of being replaced.

    Or is somebody maybe having the wrong priorities here?

  25. Posted · Edited by dummzeuch

    2 hours ago, Lars Fosdal said:

    Totally agree on the lure of RAD UI design and how it causes newbies to write code that is both relying on states in the UI as well as in their business model, instead of the UI reflecting states from the internal model and delivering changes to that model.

    And then there are the small tools, that are (planned to be) used only for a special problem and then probably never again. It's OK, if you tightly couple UI and business logic if it makes writing them faster (true RAD).

    Unfortunately some of these tend to live longer than expected and functionality tends to be added later, which would require a redesign. But of course that never happens, because "it works as it is" and the new functionality is "just a very simple addition".

    • Like 3
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