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Finding driver capacity and available free space

Finding Harddisk serial number.

To Minimize window

To Close window

Shutdown and Reboot windows

Convert ico to Bmp

Open and Close CdRom driver

Open-Close Numlock and Capslock keys

Adding bitmaps to a menu

Beep sound from PcSpeaker

Open a Web Adress

Open-Close Screen Saver

Using animated Cursors

Finding Windows lisance acknowledge(name,Company)

Changing Wallpaper

Writing number with comma

Changing system Date and Time

Show the Mouse Busy

Running a DOS program and closing its window after running it

Changing a TEdit text in its OnChange event

Shrinking the executable

Getting current line and column from a memo

Changing a menu font

International settings

Extracting icons from an executable

How to get Dos Environment

Filtering and sorting tables in Delphi 1.0

Acessing DBnavigator buttons

Making Enter Key act as Tab

Packing tables

Working with multiselect grids

Listing all open windows

Converting the first letter of a TEdit to uppercase

Doing incremental search in a Table

Doing incremental search in a Query (D2/D3)

Creating non rectangular windows (D2/D3)

Detecting Windows Shutdown

Moving the mouse pointer

Position the caret on a line in a Memo or RichEdit

Moving forms with no caption

Right justifying menu items

Display and Change video resolutions

Detecting when the mouse is over a component

Detecting Windows shutdown

Drawing with different line types

Calling Windows DialUp Connection Dialog

Acessing Protected Members of an Object

Hiding Minimized MDI Child Windows

Hiding and showing the Windows Taskbar

Paradox password in code

Executing default action of an Ole Container

Extracting / Matching text from a string (TServerSocket)

Hide the TaskBar

How to put a monitor into stand-by mode

Hide Titlebar

How you NOT show your form on Startup

A Control that HighLights when mouse moves over it

Adding an AVI in your EXE File.

Gradient Filled Forms!

Finding driver capacity and available free space.

DiskFree(0) // Free Space as Byte.

DiskSize(0) // Capacity as Byte.

DiskSize(0) div 1024 // Capacity as KB.

Finding Harddisk serial number.

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

var

VolumeSerialNumber : DWORD;

MaximumComponentLength : DWORD;

FileSystemFlags : DWORD;

SerialNumber : string;

begin

GetVolumeInformation('C:\', nil, 0, @VolumeSerialNumber, MaximumComponentLength, FileSystemFlags, nil, 0);

SerialNumber := IntToHex(HiWord(VolumeSerialNumber), 4) +'-' +IntToHex(LoWord(VolumeSerialNumber), 4);

Memo1.Lines.Add(SerialNumber);

end;

To Minimize window

Application.Minimize;

CloseWindow(handle)

WindowState := wsMinimized;

To Close window

Application.Terminate;

CloseWindow(handle)

WindowState := wsTerminate;

Shutdown and Reboot windows

var

i:dword;

begin

ExitWindowsEx(EWX_SHUTDOWN); //For Reboot EWX_REBOOT

end;

Convert ico to Bmp

var

Icon : TIcon;

Bitmap : TBitmap;

begin

Icon := TIcon.Create;

Bitmap := TBitmap.Create;

Icon.LoadFromFile('c:\picture.ico');

Bitmap.Width := Icon.Width;

Bitmap.Height := Icon.Height;

Bitmap.Canvas.Draw(0, 0, Icon );

Bitmap.SaveToFile('c:\picture.bmp');

Icon.Free;

Bitmap.Free;

end;

Open and Close CdRom driver

Add MMSystem unit to Uses part.

mciSendString('Set cdaudio door open wait', nil, 0, handle); //Open

mciSendString('Set cdaudio door closed wait', nil, 0, handle); //Close

Open-Close Numlock and Capslock keys

procedure TMyForm.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

Var

KeyState : TKeyboardState;

begin

GetKeyboardState(KeyState);

if (KeyState[VK_CAPITAL] = 0) then

KeyState[VK_CAPITAL] := 1

else

KeyState[VK_CAPITAL] := 0;

SetKeyboardState(KeyState);

end;

//Write VK_NUMLOCK for Numlock Key

Adding bitmaps to a menu

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

var

Bmp1 : TPicture;

begin

Bmp1 := TPicture.Create;

Bmp1.LoadFromFile('c:\deneme\turkey.bmp');

SetMenuItemBitmaps( deneme1.Handle, 0, MF_BYPOSITION, Bmp1.Bitmap.Handle, Bmp1.Bitmap.Handle);

end;

Beep sound from PcSpeaker

MessageBeep(word(-1));

Open a Web Adress

Add Shellapi unit to Uses part.

ShellExecute(Handle,'open','http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus/4958/', nil, nil, sw_ShowMaximized);

Open-Close Screen Saver

//Close

SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETSCREENSAVEACTIVE, 0, nil, 0);

//Open

SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETSCREENSAVEACTIVE, 1, nil, 0);

Using animated Cursors

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender:TObject);

var

h : THandle;

begin

h := LoadImage(0,'C:\TheWall\Magic.ani',IMAGE_CURSOR,0,0,LR_DEFAULTSIZE or LR_LOADFROMFILE);

if h = 0 then ShowMessage('Cursor not loaded') else begin

Screen.Cursors[1] := h;

Form1.Cursor := 1;

end;

Finding Windows lisance acknowledge(name,Company)

Add Registry unit to Uses part.

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender:TObject);

var

reg: TRegIniFile;

begin

reg := TRegIniFile.create('SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\MS SETUP (ACME)\');

Memo1.Lines.Add(reg.ReadString('USER INFO','DefName','Mustafa SIMSEK'));

Memo1.Lines.Add(reg.ReadString('USER INFO','DefCompany','Bilgisayar Bilimleri M�h.'));

reg.free;

end;

Changing Wallpaper

var

s: string;

begin

s := 'c:\windows\athena.bmp';

SystemParametersInfo(SPI_SETDESKWALLPAPER, 0, PChar(s),0);

Writing number with comma

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

var

i : integer;

begin

i := 12345678;

Memo1.Lines.Add(FormatFloat('#,', i));

Changing system Date and Time

var

t:TSystemTime;

begin

t.wYear:=1998;

t.wMonth:=5;

t.wDay:=23;

t.wHour:=12;

t.wMinute:=34;

SetLocalTime(t);

end;

Show the Mouse Busy

try

Screen.Cursor := crHourGlass;

{Writing your code here...}

finally

Screen.Cursor := crDefault;

end;

Application.ProcessMessages;

Running a DOS program and closing its window after running it

When you run a DOS program in Windows95, its window remains open until closed by the user. To run a Dos program that

closes its windows after running, you must specify "command.com /c program" in the command line. Using WinExec

API function to run a program named progdos.exe, the call should be:

WinExec("command.com /c progdos.exe",sw_ShowNormal);

If you wish that the program is run hidden from the user, the second parameter must be sw_Hide. You must specify the

.com extension, or the program will not run.

Changing a TEdit text in its OnChange event

If you want to change a TEdit text in its OnChange event, it will fire the event recursively until stack exhausts. To do this,

you must set it to NIL before changing its text and reassigning it after, like this:

procedure Edit1Change(Sender : TObject);

begin

Edit1.OnChange := NIL;

if Edit1.Text = 'Some Text' then

Edit1.Text := 'New Text';

Edit1.OnChange := Edit1Change;

end;

This tip works also with OnValidate events.

Shrinking the executable

In Delphi 1.0, sometimes checking the Optimize for size and load time checkbox, in Options/Project/Linker doesn't

work (you get a Disk full message, even with plenty of space). Delphi 1.0 comes with a Dos program, W8LOSS, that does

the same. To use, it you must type:

W8LOSS program.exe

It will shrink your executable in about 20%, and will speed up loading time.

Getting current line and column from a memo

To get the current line and column from a memo you must use this:

With Memo1 do begin

Line := Perform(EM_LINEFROMCHAR,SelStart, 0);

Column := SelStart - Perform(EM_LINEINDEX, Line, 0);

end;

Changing a menu font

To change a menu font, you must forget using Delphi's menu designer. You must create the menu items using Api function

AppendMenu, with flag MF_OWNERDRAW, in the Form's OnCreate Event. Then you must use WM_MEASUREITEM

and WM_DRAWITEM to draw your menu options. Download an example.

International settings

By default, Delphi gets its date/time, currency and numeric format from Control Panel's International settings. This can lead

to errors, when parsing dates, numbers or lists. To avoid these errors, you can set the constants defined in Delphi, like

DecimalSeparator, ShortDateFormat and others like this:

DecimalSeparator := '.';

ShortDateFormat := 'mm/dd/yy';

This will override the default settings assuring the correct values. To a complete list of these variables, look at Currency

Formatting Variables in Delphi Help

Extracting icons from an executable

To extract icons from an executable, you must use ExtractIcon API function. It gets 3 parameters:

Instance - Instance of the application

FileName - Name of the executable. Must be a PChar

NumIcon - Number of the icon to be retreaved. If it's Word(-1), the function returns the number of icons in the

executable.

How to Get Dos Environment

To get DOS Environment, you must use GetDosEnvironment API Function.It returns a PChar that can be parsed.

Filtering and sorting tables in Delphi 1.0

To filter and sort a table in Delphi 1.0 you can use a QBE (Query by Example) file as the TableName TTable's property.

This is useful to filter, sort or join tables, while still using the TTable component. QBE files can be created in Database

Desktop.

Acessing DBNavigator buttons

The DBNavigator has a protected Buttons array that acesses its buttons. An inherited Navigator can acess them and

change their properties. TBSNavigator does this to change their Enabled state or Glyph.

Making Enter key act as Tab

To make the Enter key act as Tab key is a 3 step procedure:

1) Set the form's KeyPreview property to True

2) Set all form's buttons property Default to False

3) Create an OnKeyPress event for the form like this:

procedure TForm1.FormKeyPress(Sender: TObject; var Key: Char);

begin

if Key = #13 then begin

Key := #0;

if (Sender is TDBGrid) then

TDBGrid(Sender).Perform(WM_KeyDown,VK_Tab,0)

else

Perform(Wm_NextDlgCtl,0,0);

end;

Packing tables

To pack (remove phisically all deleted records) from a Paradox table you must use this code

procedure ParadoxPack(Table : TTable);

var

TBDesc : CRTblDesc;

hDb: hDbiDb;

TablePath: array[0..dbiMaxPathLen] of char;

begin

FillChar(TBDesc,Sizeof(TBDesc),0);

with TBDesc do begin

StrPCopy(szTblName,Table.TableName);

StrPCopy(szTblType,szParadox);

bPack := True;

end;

Table.Open;

hDb := nil;

Check(DbiGetDirectory(Table.DBHandle, True, TablePath));

Table.Close;

Check(DbiOpenDatabase(nil, 'STANDARD', dbiReadWrite,

dbiOpenExcl,nil,0, nil, nil, hDb));

Check(DbiSetDirectory(hDb, TablePath));

Check(DBIDoRestructure(hDb,1,@TBDesc,nil,nil,nil,False));

Table.Open;

end;

To pack Dbase tables use this command

DBIPackTable(Table1.DBHandle,Table1.Handle,nil,nil,True);

Working with multiselect grids

Delphi 2.0 multiselect grids have an undocumented SelectedRows property, a TBookmark list. You can use it with a code

like this:

With DbGrid1 do begin

for i := 0 to Pred(SelectedRows.Count) do begin

DataSource.DataSet.Bookmark := SelectedRows[i];

{the dataset is positioned on the selection. Do your stuff}

end;

Listing all open windows

To list (get) all open windows, you must use EnumWindows API function. It uses a callback function, that receives 2

parameters: a Window handle and a Pointer. You can use it with a code like this (this code lists all open windows, even

invisible ones in a listbox):

function EnumWindowsProc(Wnd : HWnd;Form : TForm1) : Boolean; Export; {$ifdef Win32}

StdCall; {$endif}

var

Buffer : Array[0..99] of char;

begin

GetWindowText(Wnd,Buffer,100);

if StrLen(Buffer) <> 0 then

Form.ListBox1.Items.Add(StrPas(Buffer));

Result := True;

end;

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

begin

EnumWindows(@EnumWindowsProc,LongInt(Self));

end;

Converting the first letter of an EditBox to uppercase

To convert the first letter of an EditBox to uppercase this code can be used:

procedure TForm1.Edit1Change(Sender: TObject);

var

OldStart : Integer;

begin

With Edit1 do

if Text <> '' then begin

OnChange := NIL;

OldStart := SelStart;

Text := UpperCase(Copy(Text,1,1))+LowerCase(Copy(Text,2,Length(Text)));

SelStart := OldStart;

OnChange := Edit1Change;

end;

Doing incremental search in a Table

To do incremental search on a table, using a TEdit, you must put this code in the TEdit's OnChange Event:

procedure TForm1.Edit1Change(Sender: TObject);

begin

With Edit1 do

if Text <> '' then

Table1.FindNearest([Text]);

end;

Doing incremental search in a Query

To do incremental search in a Query, using a TEdit, you must put this code in the TEdit's OnChange Event (this works only

in D2/D3):

procedure TForm1.Edit1Change(Sender: TObject);

begin

With Edit1 do

if Text <> '' then begin

Query1.Filter := 'code = '''+Edit1.Text+'''';

Query1.FindFirst;

end;

Another way could be

procedure TForm1.Edit1Change(Sender: TObject);

begin

With Edit1 do

if Text <> '' then

Query1.Locate('code',Edit1.Text,[loPartialKey]);

end;

Creating non rectangular windows (D2/D3)

To create a non rectangular window, you must create a Windows Region and use the API function SetWindowRgn, like

This (this works only in D2/D3):

var

hR : THandle;

begin

{creates an Elliptic Region}

hR := CreateEllipticRgn(0,0,100,200);

SetWindowRgn(Handle,hR,True);

end;

Detecting Windows Shutdown

To detect Windows Shutdown, you must trap WM_EndSession message. These steps should be taken:

Declare a message handling procedure in your Form's Private section:

procedure WMEndSession(var Msg : TWMEndSession); message WM_ENDSESSION;

Add the procedure to the implementation section of your Unit:

procedure TForm1.WMEndSession(var Msg : TWMEndSession);

begin

if Msg.EndSession = TRUE then

ShowMessage('Windows is shutting down ' + #13 + 'at ' +

FormatDateTime('c', Now));

inherited;

end;

Moving the mouse pointer

To move the Mouse pointer with no user's action, you can use a timer and put the following code in it's OnTimer event:

procedure TForm1.Timer1Timer(Sender: TObject);

var

pt:tpoint;

begin

getcursorpos(pt);

pt.x := pt.x + 1;

pt.y := pt.y + 1;

if pt.x>=screen.width-1 then setcursorpos(0,pt.y);

if pt.y>=screen.height-1 then setcursorpos(pt.x,0);

end;

Positioning the caret in a line in a memo or RichEdit

To position the caret in a line in a Memo or RichEdit you must use this:

With Memo1 do

SelStart := Perform(EM_LINEINDEX, Line, 0);

Moving forms with no caption

To move a form with no caption, you must override WM_NCHITTEST message, like this:

type

TForm1 = class(TForm)

public

procedure WMNCHitTest(var M: TWMNCHitTest); message WM_NCHitTest;

end;

var

Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.DFM}

procedure TForm1.WMNCHitTest(var M: TWMNCHitTest);

begin

inherited;

if M.Result = htClient then {if the mouse clicked on the form}

M.Result := htCaption; {make windows think that mouse has been clicked on caption}

end;

Right justifying menu items

To justify menu items on the right side of the main menu bar, you must do like this:

{It will right justify all menu items to the right of the one selected}

procedure SetJustify(Menu: TMenu; MenuItem: TMenuItem; Justify: Byte);

{$IFDEF WIN32}

var

ItemInfo: TMenuItemInfo;

Buffer: array[0..80] of Char;

{$ENDIF}

begin

{$IFDEF VER80}

MenuItem.Caption := Chr(8) + MenuItem.Caption;

{$ELSE}

ItemInfo.cbSize := SizeOf(TMenuItemInfo);

ItemInfo.fMask := MIIM_TYPE;

ItemInfo.dwTypeData := Buffer;

ItemInfo.cch := SizeOf(Buffer);

GetMenuItemInfo(Menu.Handle, MenuItem.Command, False, ItemInfo);

if Justify = 1 then

ItemInfo.fType := ItemInfo.fType or MFT_RIGHTJUSTIFY;

SetMenuItemInfo(Menu.Handle, MenuItem.Command, False, ItemInfo);

{$ENDIF}

end;

Display and Change video resolutions

To display available video modes, you must use the API function EnumDisplaySettings: it gets all display setting modes

available.

To change modes, you must use ChangeDisplaySettings, that changes the video resolution and color depth.

Detecting when the mouse is over a component

When the mouse enters the area of a component, Delphi sends the CM_MouseEnter message. When it leaves, Delphi

sends a CM_MouseLeave message. Treating this two messages, you can detect if the mouse is over the component. The

Fly-Over label component shows this technique.

Detecting Windows shutdown

When Windows is shutting down, it sends a WM_QueryEndSession to all open applications. To detect (and prevent

shutdown), you must define a message handler to this message. Put this definition on the private section of the main form:

procedure WMQueryEndSession(var Msg : TWMQueryEndSession); message

WM_QueryEndSession;

And put this method in the implementation section of the unit:

procedure TForm1.WMQueryEndSession(var Msg : TWMQueryEndSession);

begin

if MessageDlg('Close Windows ?', mtConfirmation, [mbYes,mbNo], 0) = mrNo then

Msg.Result := 0

else

Msg.Result := 1;

end;

Drawing with different line types

Windows allows to draw lines where each pixel is another shape or drawing with LineDDa function. It needs a callback

function that is called when each pixel must be drawn. There you can put the drawing routines. This routine draws a

rectangle every 4 pixels:

TForm1 = class(TForm)

procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

procedure FormPaint(Sender: TObject);

public

DrawNow : Integer;

end;

var

Form1: TForm1;

procedure DrawPoint(x,y : Integer;lpData : LParam); stdcall;

implementation

{$R *.DFM}

procedure DrawPoint(x,y : Integer;lpData : LParam);

begin

with TObject(lpData) as TForm1 do begin

if DrawNow mod 4 = 0 then

Canvas.Rectangle(x-2,y-2,x+3,y+3);

Inc(DrawNow);

end;

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

begin

DrawNow := 0;

end;

procedure TForm1.FormPaint(Sender: TObject);

begin

LineDDA(0,0,Width,Height,@DrawPoint,Integer(Self));

end;

Calling Windows DialUp Connection Dialog

To call Windows DialUp Connection Dialog, you can use WinExec, like this:

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

begin

winexec(PChar('rundll32.exe rnaui.dll,RnaDial '+Edit1.Text),sw_show);

end;

Acessing Protected Members of an Object

Usually, you can't access protected members of an object. But Delphi let you access protected members if the object is

defined in the same unit. So you can define a derived object and typecast where you want to use the protected member. It's

something like this:

THackControl = class(TCustomEdit)

end;

After defining this class, you can access all protected members of TCustomEdit, with objects of derived classes with a

code like this:

THackControl(MyEdit).Color := clBlack;

Hiding Minimized MDI Child Windows

To hide minimized MDI child windows, you must trap its WM_Size message, like this:

type

TForm1 = class(TForm)

public

procedure WMSize(var M : TWMSIZE);Message WM_Size;

end;

implementation

procedure TForm1.WMSize(var M:TWMSIZE);

begin

if M.SizeType=Size_Minimized then

showwindow(Handle,Sw_Hide);

end;

Hiding and showing the Windows Taskbar

To hide the Windows Taskbar you must use a code like this:

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

var

hTaskBar :Thandle;

begin

hTaskBar := FindWindow('Shell_TrayWnd',Nil);

ShowWindow(hTaskBar,Sw_Hide);

end;

To Show the Windows Taskbar, you must use this code:

procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);

var

hTaskBar :Thandle;

begin

hTaskBar := FindWindow('Shell_TrayWnd',Nil);

ShowWindow(hTaskBar,Sw_Normal);

end;

Paradox Password in code

To give the password of a Paradox table in code, you can use this code:

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

begin

Session.AddPassWord('MyPass');

Table1.Acive := True;

end;

Executing default action of an Ole Container

To execute the default action of an Ole Container (open a Word or Excel document or run a Powerpoint presentation), you

can use this code:

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

begin

OleContainer1.DoVerb(ovprimary);

end;

Extracting / Matching text from a string (TServerSocket)

Let's say you have a client/server application that you

want to communicate between. A simple way to do so is the following

using an 'extract' function.

Create a form with TClientSocket and another with TServerSocket.

Let's say you want the server to 'delete' a file when it

receives a certain string. You would call the following from

a OnClientRead event (which I call ServerSocketClientRead in the sample).

{the TClientSocket must first send this)

//below we send a string the server will recognize followed

//by the filename to be deleted on the server (full path+file)

ClientSocket1.Socket.SendText ('delfile'+OpenDialog1.Filename);

(TServerSocket retreives buffer)

procedure TServerForm.ServerSocketClientRead(Sender: TObject;

Socket: TCustomWinSocket);

var gotstr:string;

begin

gotstr:=socket.receivetext;

if copy (gotstr, 1, 7)='delfile' then

begin

DeleteFile (extract (gotstr, 8, Length(gotstr)));

end;

//Dont forget to declare the 'extract' function

function extract (st: string; ind1, ind2 : integer): string;

var i: integer;

begin

result:='';

for i:=ind1 to ind2 do

result:=result+st[i];

end;

((((END CODE)))

Hide the TaskBar

If you need to hide the Windows-Taskbar for your application you need to follow this steps:

var

wndClass: Array[0..50] of Char;

wndHandle: THandle;

1) We need the TaskBar-class:

StrPCopy(@wndClass[0], 'Shell_TrayWnd')

2) We need the TaskBar-handle:

wndHandle := FindWindow(@wndClass[0], nil)

3) Now we can simply show/hide the Taskbar:

Show: ShowWindow(wndHandle, SW_SHOW)

Hide: ShowWindow(wndHandle, SW_HIDE)

How to put a monitor into stand-by mode

If a device such as a monitor support Stand by mode then you can programmatically set the

set in code. This will work with Windows95 and above.

To place a monitor into Stand by mode:

SendMessage(Application.Handle, wm_SysCommand, SC_MonitorPower, 0) ;

To take it out of Stand by mode:

SendMessage(Application.Handle, wm_SysCommand, SC_MonitorPower, -1) ;

Here is a snippet of code to try it out:

On a new form, place a Command button, a timer and a ListBox.

Timer (use Object Inspector):

Enabled := False

Interval := 15000

Add this event for the timer:

procedure TForm1.Timer1Timer(Sender: TObject);

begin

ListBox1.Items.Add(FormatDateTime('h:mm:ss AM/PM',Time)) ;

SendMessage(Application.Handle, wm_SysCommand, SC_MonitorPower, -1);

end;

Command Button:

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

begin

ListBox1.Items.Add('--> ' + FormatDateTime('h:mm:ss AM/PM',Time)) ;

Timer1.Enabled := not Timer1.Enabled ;

SendMessage(Application.Handle, wm_SysCommand, SC_MonitorPower, 0) ;

end;

After building the program I suggest exiting Delphi and execute the program from Explorer.

Once you hit the Command Button the screen should go blank for 15 seconds.

Note: You should check in Control Panel if the computer supports power-saving features!

Although many computers support this feature (Stand By), many have the feature disabled.

Hide Titlebar

Here is how to hide the titlebar:

Procedure TYourFormName.HideTitlebar;

Var

Save : LongInt;

Begin

If BorderStyle=bsNone then Exit;

Save:=GetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style);

If (Save and ws_Caption)=ws_Caption then Begin

Case BorderStyle of

bsSingle,

bsSizeable : SetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style,Save and

(Not(ws_Caption)) or ws_border);

bsDialog : SetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style,Save and

(Not(ws_Caption)) or ds_modalframe or ws_dlgframe);

End;

Height:=Height-getSystemMetrics(sm_cyCaption);

Refresh;

End;

end;

And here is how we show it again:

Procedure TYourFormName.ShowTitlebar;

Var

Save : LongInt;

begin

If BorderStyle=bsNone then Exit;

Save:=GetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style);

If (Save and ws_Caption)<>ws_Caption then Begin

Case BorderStyle of

bsSingle,

bsSizeable : SetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style,Save or

ws_Caption or ws_border);

bsDialog : SetWindowLong(Handle,gwl_Style,Save or

ws_Caption or ds_modalframe or ws_dlgframe);

End;

Height:=Height+getSystemMetrics(sm_cyCaption);

Refresh;

End;

end;

How you NOT show your form on Startup

program Project1;

uses

Forms,

Unit1 in 'Unit1.pas' {Form1};

{$R *.RES}

begin

Application.Initialize;

Application.ShowMainForm := False;

Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);

Application.Run;

end.

A Control that HighLights when mouse moves over it

Some times ago I need to create a button that highlight when the mouse pointer

move over the button and normal after the mouse leaving the control.

I'd try with OnMouseMove event, but not worked properly, because

if mouse pointer leaving the button, the OnMouseMove not triggered.

My friend (Wawan) say me to try the CM_MOUSEENTER and CM_MOUSELEAVE messages.

I'd try and I got it.

The source code below is a sample.

I create an object inherited from TControl.

The Control is a white rectangle. When Mouse Pointer move over it, then it

became a yellow rectangle.

It is easy to handle CM_MOUSEENTER and CM_MOUSELEAVE, because no parameters

needed.

1. Create an object inherited from TControl.

2. Define a TCanvas variable to draw the rectangle and a Boolean variable that

have True value when the mouse move over the control.

3. Define procedures to handle CM_MOUSEENTER, CM_MOUSELEAVE and WM_PAINT

messages.

the control type is

THighLightControl = class(TControl)

private

FMouseOver: Boolean;

FCanvas: TCanvas;

protected

procedure CMMouseLeave(var msg : TMessage); message CM_MOUSELEAVE;

(* Procedure to handle CM_MOUSELEAVE *)

procedure CMMouseEnter(var msg : TMessage); message CM_MOUSEENTER;

(* Procedure to handle CM_MOUSEENTER *)

procedure WMPaint(var msg: TMessage); message WM_PAINT;

(* Procedure to handle WM_PAINT *)

public

constructor Create(Owner: TComponent); override;

(* Constructor to Create Control *)

destructor Destroy; override;

(* Canvas to draw rectangle *)

end;

Or, copy this source, save as UHigh.pas, and install to your component palette.

===========================================

Kusnassriyanto S. Bahri

kstotok@hotmail.com

PIKSI-ITB

Institut Teknologi Bandung Computer Center

LabTek V Lantai III

Jl. Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132

Indonesia.

===========================================

(* Source Code *)

unit Uhigh;

interface

uses

SysUtils, WinTypes, WinProcs, Messages, Classes, Graphics, Controls;

type

THighLightControl = class(TControl)

private

FMouseOver: Boolean;

FCanvas: TCanvas;

protected

procedure CMMouseLeave(var msg : TMessage); message CM_MOUSELEAVE;

(* Procedure to handle CM_MOUSELEAVE *)

procedure CMMouseEnter(var msg : TMessage); message CM_MOUSEENTER;

(* Procedure to handle CM_MOUSEENTER *)

procedure WMPaint(var msg: TMessage); message WM_PAINT;

(* Procedure to handle WM_PAINT *)

public

constructor Create(Owner: TComponent); override;

(* Constructor to Create Control *)

destructor Destroy; override;

(* Canvas to draw rectangle *)

end;

procedure Register;

implementation

constructor THighLightControl.Create(Owner: TComponent);

begin

inherited Create(Owner);

Width := 100;

Height := 100;

FMouseOver := False;

FCanvas := TControlCanvas.Create;

TControlCanvas(FCanvas).Control := Self;

(* The TControlCanvas is an object inherited from TCanvas that can be used to

draw on Control Surface. *)

end;

destructor THighLightControl.Destroy;

begin

FCanvas.Destroy;

inherited Destroy;

end;

procedure THighLightControl.CMMouseLeave(var msg : TMessage);

begin

FMouseOver := False;

Invalidate;

(* Set the FMouseOver value to False, and redraw the control *)

end;

procedure THighLightControl.CMMouseEnter(var msg : TMessage);

begin

FMouseOver := True;

Invalidate;

(* Set the FMouseOver value to True, and redraw the control *)

end;

procedure THighLightControl.WMPaint(var msg: TMessage);

begin

(* Procedure to draw rectangle *)

if FMouseOver then begin

(* Mouse move over the control *)

FCanvas.Brush.Color := clYellow;

end else begin

FCanvas.Brush.Color := clWhite;

end;

FCanvas.Rectangle(0, 0, Width, Height);

end;

procedure Register;

begin

RegisterComponents('SAMPLES', [THighLightControl]);

end;

end.

Adding an AVI in your EXE File.

In Notepad type or some other simple text editor type:

MyAvi AVI "some.avi"

100 AVI "some.avi"

depending on how you want to reference the identifier. You will want to know whether it is

referenced by a resource name or a resource ID when you write the code to play the AVI.

Save the file with a .RC extension

You will be using the Animate Component to play the file, therefore the same rules apply, like

no sound can be with the AVI.

Use Borland's Resource Compiler: BRCC32.EXE to convert the file to a .RES file. At the dos

prompt type the following:

brcc32 myfile.rc

This is some code to play an animation using the Resource Name:

Animate.ResHandle := 0;

Animate.ResName := 'MyAvi';

Animate.Active := True;

To stop an animation, call the Stop method.

Place the following code to add your resource file into your executable.

{$R MYFILE.RES}

A sample file is listed below of how this would work correctly:

AviRes.pas

unit AviResU;

interface

uses

Forms, ComCtrls, StdCtrls, Classes, Controls;

type

TForm1 = class(TForm)

PlayBtn: TButton;

Animate: TAnimate;

StopBtn: TButton;

procedure PlayBtnClick(Sender: TObject);

procedure StopBtnClick(Sender: TObject);

private

{ Private declarations }

public

{ Public declarations }

end;

var

Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.DFM}

{$R AVIRESRC.RES}

procedure TForm1.PlayBtnClick(Sender: TObject);

begin

Animate.ResHandle := 0;

Animate.ResName := 'TurboGuy';

Animate.Active := True;

PlayBtn.Enabled := False;

StopBtn.Enabled := True;

end;

procedure TForm1.StopBtnClick(Sender: TObject);

begin

Animate.Stop;

PlayBtn.Enabled := True;

StopBtn.Enabled := False;

end;

end.

Gradient Filled Forms!

Want to add a cool gradient fill to your delphi forms but don't want to buy a component to do

so?

Just follow these simple steps

Step 1. Create a Windows Metafile (.wmf), I used PaintShop 4.0

A. Create a new image - any size (make it small, it'll be doctored up later)

B. Use the paint bucket fill tool and select a type of fill gradient.

B. Save it as a (.wmf).

Step 2. (in delphi) Place a image component on a form, set the following properties:

Align: alClient

Picture: Load the metafile you created.

Stretch: True

Step 3. Your done, a free gradient fill, and you almost paid money for this.

Wait for -More Tips. Comming Soon !!!!