Component installation and paths

[Dmitry Onoshko 0]

I might be missing something pretty simple, but I feel the need to finally understand the whole thing. I have some (limited) experience of component creation in D7 (a few simple GUI controls), but I have trouble doing the job in D12.

 

I create a DPK with a new component derived from TCustomControl and install the package. Then I start a new project and put an instance of the control onto the form. It works in design-time (like, say, repaints correctly when changing the inherited Color property from the Object Inspector) but when I try to compile the program, I get a “file not found” error pointing to a .pas with the control. Google says one might manually add an appropriate folder to the Library path in IDE, but I feel there should be a way to make IDE do it automatically on component (package) installation. At least I can’t remember having the same trouble with D7.

 

Can anyone point me to or provide a good explanation (related to paths and stuff) of the whole ecosystem and best practices? (Information on D12 IDE some-level-support for 64-bit components is also appreciated.)

[Anders Melander 2052]

5 hours ago, Dmitry Onoshko said:

I feel there should be a way to make IDE do it automatically on component (package) installation.

There isn't.

 

You can do one of either:

1. Add the path of the component source to the global library search path:
   Tools->Options->Language->Delphi->Library path
2. Add the path of the component source to the project library search path:
   Project->Options->Building->Delphi compiler->Search path

In general I would recommend #2 and, if possible, try to keep the path relative to the project.

[Dmitry Onoshko 0]

18 hours ago, Anders Melander said:

There isn't.

 

You can do one of either:

1. Add the path of the component source to the global library search path:
   Tools->Options->Language->Delphi->Library path
2. Add the path of the component source to the project library search path:
   Project->Options->Building->Delphi compiler->Search path

In general I would recommend #2 and, if possible, try to keep the path relative to the project.

Hmm, funny. I installed D7 and tried: looks like the IDE added path to the component automatically when the component package was created, but if I remove it from the library path while the package is uninstalled and then try to install it back, the path is not there.

 

I believe when I was at school yet, I once installed dozens of component packages (mostly manually) and I can’t remember adding their paths manually as well. Strange. Anyway, thanks for the clarification.

[corneliusdavid 252]

On 8/9/2025 at 1:00 AM, Dmitry Onoshko said:

Can anyone point me to or provide a good explanation (related to paths and stuff) of the whole ecosystem and best practices? (Information on D12 IDE some-level-support for 64-bit components is also appreciated.)

 

This will help get you started on writing components.