README.TXT ABC for Delphi - Advanced Business Components Version 1.0 - Released 7/7/95 ************************************************************ Follow the steps in A and B to complete the setup. A. HOW TO INSTALL COMPONENTS IN DELPHI B. HOW TO MERGE HELP KEYWORDS C. LATEST RELEASE NOTES D. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS E. INSTALLED FILE LIST F. UPGRADE AVAILABILITY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. HOW TO INSTALL COMPONENTS IN DELPHI --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. First start Delphi; 2. Choose Options|Install Components from the menu; 3. Click the Add button to display the Add Module dialog box; 4. Click the Browse button to locate the directory your components were installed into, e.g. C:\ABC; 5. Select module ABC1REG.PAS to install; 6. Click Ok to close the Add Module file selection dialog; 7. Click Ok to close the Install Components dialog; 8. Your component palette will now be recompiled; 9. The ABC components are installed in the ABC tab on the component palette. What to do if a problem occurs when the palette is recompiled. The most likely causes of problems are: 1. Installation path names are too long; this is reported as ‘DCU file not found’. Try moving files to different directories or remove some other components. 2. There is not enough space on your hard disk. Delete some files and try again. The free space in the \DELPHI\BIN directory should be at least twice as large as your existing COMPLIB.DCL file. 3. A component of the same name as one you are trying to install already exists on the palette. Try removing or renaming the existing component, or manually edit the ABC1REG.PAS to rename the new component with an alias. 4. A file required for a component was not found. Check that all files were installed, or re-install from the original SETUP.EXE. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. HOW TO MERGE HELP KEYWORDS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Run the HelpInst program icon from the Delphi group in the Windows Program Manager; 2. Choose File|Open, then locate and open file \DELPHI\BIN\DELPHI.HDX; 3. Choose KeyWords|Add KeyWord File from the main menu; 4. Locate the file \DELPHI\HELP\ABC1.KWF and click Ok; 5. From the HelpInst main window choose File|Save to merge the new help keywords into Delphi. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. LATEST RELEASE NOTES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Compiler Error Number 26 - Type Mismatch This error can occur occasionally when using enumerated types that have the same values as another type in a different unit. Values of some Delphi enumerated types have been re-used in this VCL to aid in recognising the values to be used. The Delphi compiler always uses the last type definition containing the value, according to the order of units in the uses clause, unless a specific unit reference is made. There are two workarounds to this problem: You can change the order of units in the uses clause of the module. Or you can prefix the enumerated value with the unit name of its declaration, for example Dialogs.mbOkCancel or ABCUtil.mbOKCancel. 2. User's Guide Help File Installation P 2. The instruction for step 4. locating file ABC1.KWF is incorrect. This file will be found in \DELPHI\HELP\ABC1.KWF. 3. User's Guide DefaultBtn Property P 41. The description should read "If less buttons exist than the default, the FIRST button becomes the default." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All demonstration programs can be found in the \ABC\DEMOS directory. The contents of each subdirectory are: DEMO1: TILE.DPR contains an example of tiled images using TTiledImage and TPicBtn components. This also contains a BITMAPS directory with a selection of useful tiling bitmaps. DEMO2: BACKGRND.DPR contains several examples of using TBackground. DEMO3: TBLGRID.DPR illustrates TDBTableGrid, TDBState and TDBRecordCount components. DEMO4: QRYGRID.DPR uses the TDBQueryGrid component for adhoc queries. DEMO5: SUPRNAV.DPR uses the TDBSuperNav and TDBEditLabel components. DEMO6: MDITILE.DPR is an MDI text editor application, using MDITiledImage as the background for the main form. DEMO7: MDIBACK.DPR contains the same editor application as DEMO6, only it uses the TMDIBackground component to fill the main form. DEMO8: BTNDEMO.DPR demonstrates each of the button styles in the ABC Library: TMouseRegion, TPicBtn, TPicSpeedBtn, TRepSpeedBtn. DEMO9: APPCTRL.DPR demonstrates the components used for control of applications, namely TSingleInstance, TRSExit and TLauncher. DEMO10: WINDLG.DPR Demonstrates the use of TWin3D, TWinAbout and TWinMsgBox. DEMO11: EDLABEL.DPR contains demonstrations of TEditLabel, TPopupSelect, TSuperLabel and TClockLabel. DEMO12: STPWDEMO.DPR is a demonstration of the StopWatch performance logging component. DEMO13: APPXDEMO.DPR uses TAppException to raise, report and log various example exceptions. DEMO14: DBEXDEMO.DPR uses TDBAppException to demonstrate use of database tables for exception handling. Note this program requires the TDBAppException.DatabaseName to be set to the current directory before use. DEMO15: Some users have requested ways to remove the default control name value placed in the text or items or lines property when a new control is created. NONAMES.PAS contains examples of subclassed components using the ControlStyle property to remove default text values from edit controls. This technique applies to some ABC components, as well several Delphi components. To use this file, install NONAMES.PAS into the Delphi Component Palette. Five new components will be added to the Samples page of the palette. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. INSTALLED FILE LIST --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \ABC Directory: Contains all DCU files, Resource Files, Registration and Readme. These files are all required and should never be deleted. ABC1PROP.DCU Property Editors ABC1REG.DCR Palette Bitmaps ABC1REG.DCU Register Components ABC1REG.PAS Register Components ABCDBCTL.DCU Components ABCEXCEP.DCU Components ABCEXCTL.DCU Components ABCUTIL.DCU Components NAVBTNS.RES Component Resources STOPFORM.DCU Component Dialog STOPFORM.DFM Component Dialog STOPWTCH.DCU Components LICENSE.TXT License Agreement README.TXT This File \ABC\DEMOS Directory: All demonstration programs described above, in 15 directories. These files are optional and could be deleted once you have reviewed them. \ABC\RUNDEMOS Directory: Precompiled executables for 7 of the demonstration programs. These are not required by the application and can be deleted safely. APPXDEMO.EXE Exception Handling BTNDEMO.EXE Buttons EDLABEL.EXE Labels & Edit Controls MDIBACK.EXE MDI Background STPWDEMO.EXE Stopwatch SUPRNAV.EXE Super Navigator TBLGRID.EXE DB Table Grid \ABC\DOC Directory: All *.INT files containing header information for the DCU component files. These files are useful but are not required for operation of the software. ABC1PROP.INT ABCDBCTL.INT ABCEXCEP.INT ABCEXCTL.INT ABCUTIL.INT STOPWTCH.INT Additional Files: \DELPHI\BIN\ABC1.HLP Help File \DELPHI\HELP\ABC1.KWF Help Keyword File \WINDOWS\UNWISE.EXE Uninstaller Additional Pro Version Files: If you have installed the Pro Version 1.0, all source code for the DCU component files is located in the \SOURCE directory. There is one *.PAS file of the same name for each DCU file in the main directory. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPGRADE AVAILABILITY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have purchased the base version of Advanced Business Components, you may wish to obtain source code for these components, or order additional copies for other developers. Pro Version 1.0 of ABC for Delphi comes complete with all source code. It is only available by direct purchase from Objective Software Technology. You should bear in mind that the source code license is intended to offer single-user upgrade compatibility with future versions of Delphi. The license prevents you from re-using the component source code to develop other commercial components or to redistribute the component library to other users. Suggested retail pricing for our products is as follows: International Orders ----------------------------------------------- ABC for Delphi, Version 1.0 US$95 ABC for Delphi, Pro Version 1.0 US$184 (includes source code) Upgrade to Pro Version 1.0 US$89 Orders Shipped Within Australia ----------------------------------------------- ABC for Delphi, Version 1.0 AUD$119 ABC for Delphi, Pro Version 1.0 AUD$238 (includes source code) Upgrade to Pro Version 1.0 AUD$119 We also offer volume discounts for purchase of 10 or more licenses. You can contact Objective Software Technology at: Fax +61-(0)6-273-2190 Phone +61-(0)6-273-2100 E-mail 100035,2441@compuserve.com