Marking of the main form in a multiform VCL Application

[PeterPanettone 157]

Every multi-form VCL Application has a MAIN-FORM which is labeled in the Project Options dialog:

 

 

Unfortunately, in the Project Explorer panel, there is no indication which is the unit associated with the MAIN FORM:

 

 

Wouldn't it be useful if such an indication would be automatically shown by the IDE in the Project Explorer panel? (For example, with a different font color of the specific unit).

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by PeterPanettone

[Guest]

I choose my main form not by random or by accident.

 

I know which one is the main form and usually I name it TMainForm and store it in the unit <AppName>.Forms.MainForm - why should I choose a different name?

 

So, no, it would be of no use for me

Edited June 30, 2019 by Guest

[PeterPanettone 157]

 

 

1

1 hour ago, Schokohase said:

I choose my main form not by random or by accident.

 

I know which one is the main form and usually I name it TMainForm and store it in the unit <AppName>.Forms.MainForm - why should I choose a different name?

Of course, I too use a naming which makes these things clear. But it's also clear that often (or sometimes) we get projects where the naming is not so clear, so I would wish to have a REDUNDANT indication of these things.

 

BTW, REDUNDANCY is an important concept when creating user interfaces. Imagine you live near a nuclear reactor where it's user-interface isn't particularly redundant... (maybe created by a chocolate lover...)

Edited June 30, 2019 by PeterPanettone

[PeterPanettone 157]

1 hour ago, Schokohase said:

So, no, it would be of no use for me

OK, so now we know that it has no use for Schokohase. I think that I have no use for Schokohase's opinion.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, PeterPanettone said:

OK, so now we know that it has no use for Schokohase. I think that I have no use for Schokohase's opinion.

I did not know this fact - if, I would have not answered. Maybe you should be more precise on what you ask and who you want to ask.

 

You could change your question to:

 

If you think such indication in the Project Explorer panel is useful, wouldn't it be useful if such an indication existed in the Project Explorer panel?

[PeterPanettone 157]

Schokohase, thanks for your hint.

[David Heffernan 2345]

Who ever works on a program without knowing what the main form is?

 

I mean, you could do this but would it bring significant benefit? Would it make developers more productive? I can't see it. 

[PeterPanettone 157]

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

Who ever works on a program without knowing what the main form is?

I not, but others might. There is still the possibility the project files are created by a script.

 

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

I mean, you could do this

Do what??

 

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

would it bring significant benefit?

What??

 

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

Would it make developers more productive?

What??

 

Please be more explicit.

[David Heffernan 2345]

2 hours ago, David Heffernan said:

I mean, you could do this

"this" is the IDE enhancement you propose

[PeterPanettone 157]

6 minutes ago, David Heffernan said:

"this" is the IDE enhancement you propose

I could not do the IDE enhancement. How could I?

[David Heffernan 2345]

In English we use "you" and "one" interchangeably. I didn't mean you personally I meant that it could be done by someone. So it would have been clearer if I had said "one could do this". 

[David Heffernan 2345]

I'm curious though, why aren't you naming forms? Unit4 doesn't convey very much. 

[PeterPanettone 157]

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

I'm curious though, why aren't you naming forms? Unit4 doesn't convey very much. 

Don't you understand what we are talking here about? We are not talking about naming forms. Please read the original SUBJECT of this topic:

 

"Marking of the main form in a multiform VCL Application"

Edited June 30, 2019 by PeterPanettone

[David Heffernan 2345]

If you named your forms well, you'd be able to see from the name which one was the main form.

[PeterPanettone 157]

1 hour ago, David Heffernan said:

If you named your forms well, you'd be able to see from the name which one was the main form.

The idea of the proposal is that the marking is done automatically by the IDE, for example with a different font color of the specific unit name in the Project Explorer panel. Then, you can always name your forms as you want.

Edited June 30, 2019 by PeterPanettone

[PeterBelow 238]

21 hours ago, PeterPanettone said:

Every multi-form VCL Application has a MAIN-FORM which is labeled in the Project Options dialog:

 

Unfortunately, in the Project Explorer panel, there is no indication which is the unit associated with the MAIN FORM:

 

Wouldn't it be useful if such an indication would be automatically shown by the IDE in the Project Explorer panel? (For example, with a different font color of the specific unit).

 

If you want to submit a feature request please do so on quality.embarcadero.com. Posting such requests here has no effect other than spawning endless discussions which serve no purpose, IMO, since this is often mostly about a purely personal preference.

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

11 hours ago, PeterPanettone said:

The idea of the proposal is that the marking is done automatically by the IDE, for example with a different font color of the specific unit name in the Project Explorer panel. Then, you can always name your forms as you want.

I very rarely use that view to open units, even when working on projects I'm not familiar with, I usually follow the code. It would be nice to have more detailed/advanced view, like all classes defined in each unit or similar.

I would also use it more if it had more dynamic search where I enter few characters like 'cust' and would filter to a list of units that contain 'cust' in name (looking for Customer related units), like Cust* , *cust*.. and so on. That would be very useful.

 

[dummzeuch 1505]

42 minutes ago, Mike Torrettinni said:

I very rarely use that view to open units, even when working on projects I'm not familiar with, I usually follow the code. It would be nice to have more detailed/advanced view, like all classes defined in each unit or similar.

There is the structure view which displays all classes, fields, methods etc., global types, variables and constants as well as the uses clause (of the interface section only WTF?)

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

2 minutes ago, dummzeuch said:

There is the structure view which displays all classes, fields, methods etc., global types, variables and constants as well as the uses clause (of the interface section only WTF?)

Yes, I do use the Structure view. What I meant was to be able to have a quick preview of classes in the units, in the Project manager. 

[PeterPanettone 157]

4 hours ago, Mike Torrettinni said:

It would be nice to have more detailed/advanced view, like all classes defined in each unit or similar.

MMX.

 

All these usage scenarios of how people use the IDE is somewhat interesting. Maybe it would fit into a topic named "How do you personally use the IDE?"

 

But it has nothing to do with the subject of this topic: "Marking of the main form in a multiform VCL Application"

 

Maybe this could also be considered for a psychological or sociological study on how people in discussion forums tend to deviate from a given topic.

Edited July 1, 2019 by PeterPanettone

[David Heffernan 2345]

44 minutes ago, PeterPanettone said:

Maybe this could also be considered for a psychological or sociological study on how people in discussion forums tend to deviate from a given topic.

That's inevitable in a forum. If you want rigid enforcement of on topic discussion, this is definitely the wrong place. 

 

Did you submit a feature request? Without that I see little hope for this feature being implemented. 

[PeterPanettone 157]

5 minutes ago, David Heffernan said:

That's inevitable in a forum. If you want rigid enforcement of on topic discussion, this is definitely the wrong place. 

 

Did you submit a feature request? Without that I see little hope for this feature being implemented. 

This discussion is meant as a preparation for a feature request.

[PeterPanettone 157]

7 minutes ago, David Heffernan said:

That's inevitable in a forum

For some, it's a strategy.

[Mike Torrettinni 198]

1 hour ago, PeterPanettone said:

MMX.

 

All these usage scenarios of how people use the IDE is somewhat interesting. Maybe it would fit into a topic named "How do you personally use the IDE?"

 

Thanks, will look into MMX.

I guess a thread like you propose would be better suited for that, as I can get carried away, sometimes 😉