VCL or CLX? How do I know what type of application I'm designing in Delphi 7. I'm a beginner.

[Miguel Jr 0]

VCL or CLX? How do I know what type of application I'm starting in a project in Delphi 7. How do I start a project in VCL or CLX and know if I'm in a VCL or a CLX? I'm a beginner.

[Markus Kinzler 169]

VCL. CLX is long dead. Was (first) attempt of an cross platform solution. CLX was also used in Kylix (Delphi for Linux) being discontinued a long time ago. 

[haentschman 92]

Quote

How do I start a project in VCL

...Delphi Community Edition https://www.embarcadero.com/products/delphi/starter/free-download More modern then Delphi 7...

Edited July 20 by haentschman

[Miguel Jr 0]

I understood. The current application is VCL. I understood that. But what I want to know: is how do I use VCL in Delphi 7, or better yet, know that in the form I'm designing, if VCL is running? Because the VCL name does not appear in the components window. CLX only. Remembering, I'm a beginner and I don't know how to run VCL in "Delphi 7". And I'm using "Delphi 7".

[David Heffernan 2330]

6 hours ago, Markus Kinzler said:

VCL. CLX is long dead. Was (first) attempt of an cross platform solution. CLX was also used in Kylix (Delphi for Linux) being discontinued a long time ago. 

Delphi 7 is also long dead. 

[aehimself 391]

32 minutes ago, David Heffernan said:

Delphi 7 is also long dead. 

Unsupported definitely. But dead...?

I hear it's the go-to version for lots of legacy codebases.

[Miguel Jr 0]

3 hours ago, Miguel Jr said:

I understood. The current application is VCL. I understood that. But what I want to know: is how do I use VCL in Delphi 7, or better yet, know that in the form I'm designing, if VCL is running? Because the VCL name does not appear in the components window. CLX only. Remembering, I'm a beginner and I don't know how to run VCL in "Delphi 7". And I'm using "Delphi 7".

 

Even if it's what you say. But can you answer my last question?

[jonnyg 4]

In D7... 

  - VCL form files are saved as *.dfm, whereas CLX files are saved as *.xfm.

  - in a CLX project, units in the uses are prefixed with a Q

[Miguel Jr 0]

I understood. But the interesting thing is that it doesn't show in my "new" that the application is VCL in Delphi 7. It only shows when it is CLX. It should be like the Default Delphi 7 VCL. Thanks. Grateful.

[Miguel Jr 0]

Tá bom.

[Remy Lebeau 1330]

10 hours ago, Miguel Jr said:

But the interesting thing is that it doesn't show in my "new" that the application is VCL in Delphi 7. It only shows when it is CLX. It should be like the Default Delphi 7 VCL.

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that when you go to start a new project, there is no VCL option provided? If so, then maybe your installation is messed up, or maybe you are using Kylix instead of D7. Hard you say. Can you provide screenshots of what you are actually seeing?

[corneliusdavid 183]

On 7/20/2024 at 8:17 AM, Miguel Jr said:

what I want to know: is how do I use VCL in Delphi 7, or better yet, know that in the form I'm designing, if VCL is running? Because the VCL name does not appear in the components window.

By default, creating a new Windows Application in Delphi 7 uses the VCL framework. That was the default since Delphi 1--and actually is still the primary one on the menu today (unless you change it). So, if you select "Application" and not "CLX Application" from the New menu then you are creating a VCL application:

 

Once the application is created, you can look at the main form of your application. In addition to what @jonnyg said by checking whether it's linked to DFM or XFM resource, you can Ctrl+Click on one of the used units, such as Forms, and look at the comment header, which will tell you explicitly what type of component library is being compiled and linked in:

{*******************************************************}
{                                                       }
{       Borland Delphi Visual Component Library         }
{                                                       }
{  Copyright (c) 1995-2002 Borland Software Corporation }
{                                                       }
{*******************************************************}

unit Forms;

 

In newer versions of Delphi where VCL is not always assumed, the menu choices to create a project are more clearly specified. For example, in Delphi 11, this is the default New menu:

 

... and "Multi-Device Application" is using FireMonkey (FMX) as that is the only cross-platform visual library that comes with Delphi these days.