Improve the Structure Panel?

[PeterPanettone 153]

The most ANNOYING brake shoe in Delphi programming is the stone-age linkage of the structure panel content to the current type of editor:

 

• In the CODE EDITOR the structure panel always shows the identifiers of the code edited in the editor.

 

• In the FORM DESIGNER the structure panel always shows the list of object instances of the current form in a tree view.

 

PLUS, there is a linkage between the OBJECT INSPECTOR content and the selected object in the structure panel (but only if you are in the FORM DESIGNER; the INSTANCES LIST on top of the Object Inspector is unusable because it is not displayed as a tree view and its width cannot be resized).

 

But what if you are in the code editor and need a specific object to be displayed in the Object Inspector? There are two possibilities:

 

1. You switch to the Form Designer by pressing the F12 key, support the flickering of the tool windows, then select the desired object to display it in the Object Inspector.

 

2. Or: You click the Instances List Combobox on top of the Object Inspector and spend a lot of time finding the desired object (because it is not displayed as a tree view and the width is not resizable).

 

All this is an unnecessary loss of time because of the mentioned stone-age linkage.

 

So, would it be possible with a piece of software to solve these problems? For example:

 

 • Show the Structure Panel with its object instances treeview even if you are in the code editor?

 

• Have an Object Inspector Instances List in the form of a treeview and with resizable width?

 

Also, there is no distinction between visual and non-visual elements in the structure panel displaying the objects tree: There is no button in the Structure Panel to show only the visual objects or only the non-visual elements.

 

Could any of these problems be solved by a GExpert?

Edited March 16, 2020 by PeterPanettone

[Fr0sT.Brutal 897]

I FINALLY got it! Your posts with sudden UPPERCASES remind me balloons in comics. You should use proper comic FONT as well xD

Edited March 16, 2020 by Fr0sT.Brutal

[Sherlock 627]

@Fr0sT.Brutal If you have nothing substantial to contribute to a users topic please refrain from posting.

[Guest]

I’m afraid that we have to live with that. I do not know if GExperts can do anything, you must ask them. Unfortunately, RAD Studio is poorly designed IDE with compiler bounded to it (at least for Delphi if I’m not mistaken).

 

I would like to be surprised by EMBA but...

[PeterPanettone 153]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:59 PM, Guest said:

I’m afraid that we have to live with that. I do not know if GExperts can do anything, you must ask them. Unfortunately, RAD Studio is poorly designed IDE with compiler bounded to it (at least for Delphi if I’m not mistaken).

 

I would like to be surprised by EMBA but...

Delphi is wonderful for small projects. But if you have a middle-size or large project, the mentioned drawbacks (e.g. the linkage of the structure panel content to the current type of editor) are annoying and time-consuming.