Borland Delphi How-To
by Gary Frerking, Nathan Wallace, Wayne Niddery
This book review was first published in the Jan/Feb 1996 UK-BUG newsletter
Title: Author: Publisher: ISBN: Info: Price: |
Borland Delphi How-To
Gary Frerking, Nathan Wallace, Wayne Niddery
Waite Group Press
1-57169-019-0
850 pages with CD-ROM
US$ 39.95 |
Borland Delphi How-To is a very good book to read _after_ you've read some other (often introductionary) Delphi books and are ready to do some real world projects.
The book consists of 113 problems with (detailed) solutions, divided and grouped into 12 chapters with topics as follows: 1. Forms (11), 2. Standard Components (10), 3. Documents and Text (10), 4. Mouse and Menu (9), 5. Graphics (10), 6. Multimedia (9), 7. Environment and System (16), 8. Peripherals (8), 9. Database (9), 10. OLE and DDE (7), 11. The Polished Application (4) and a miscelaneous chapter 12. Tips and Tricks (10).
(the numbers between brackets indicate the number of problems/solutions per chapter).
All problems/solutions have a little indication about the complexity level (either easy, intermediate or advanced) to prepare the reader.
They are all problems, however, that you will face when you start working on that next killer app of yours!
The book can be used in two ways: either you can start reading it from cover to cover, or you can just browse it once, and keep the table of contents at hand (for when you're facing a problem and need a solution).
Either way, you will learn a lot from the book, although I personally prefer to use it in the later way (as a reference for when I'm in trouble).
This way, if you just make sure you have the book at hand, the page of contents is actually the most important part (I made a copy of it to keep at hand at all times ).
The CD-ROM contains a massive amount of about 400 Mb of code and examples, including sample versions of Orpheus and a lot of HTML stuff for the Web.
(Bob Swart)
Other Book Reviews...
- Chapter 1. Forms
- Automatically center a form in my application?
- Size a form's controls automatically?
- Remember the sizes and location of my forms?
- Flash the title bar of my forms?
- Find out if a child component's data has been changed?
- Create a form on the fly at run-time?
- Drag a captionless window?
- Create a system modal form?
- Set minimum and maximum sizes for my forms?
- Make the key act like a key in my forms?
- Paint an interesting background on an MDI parent form?
- Chapter 2. Standard Components
- Make custom check boxes that use both mouse buttons?
- Add automatically sized and placed controls at run time?
- Run multiple copies of the same program with unique captions?
- Create a dynamic list box that "best matches" user input?
- Make a text button with a streaming banner?
- Customize a window's title bar with graphics?
- Implement a splitter bar to resize controls dynamically?
- Use drag-and-drop to move items from one list box to another?
- Add copy/cut/paste/undo support to list boxes?
- Add a horizontal scrollbar to a list box?
- Chapter 3. Documents and Text
- Scroll portions of a dialog?
- Scroll text and graphics under program control?
- Create a README file viewer?
- Build a simple editor that remembers the last file opened?
- Add search and replace to my editor?
- Determine and modify the blink rate of the caret?
- Use scrollbars to select colors?
- Limit text entry to certain characters?
- Print simple text documents?
- Justify text within a specified frame?
- Chapter 4. Mouse and Menu
- Place the mouse cursor on a control?
- Animate the mouse cursor?
- Create and use my own mouse cursor?
- Modify the menu at run time?
- Display a file history list in a menu?
- Put pictures in menus?
- Create and use custom check marks in menus?
- Use a different font in a menu?
- Modify the System menu?
- Chapter 5. Graphics
- Arrange the icons on the desktop?
- Autosize a form to fit a picture and autosize pictures to fit in a form?
- Visualize the pen mode settings?
- Draw a bounding box with the mouse?
- Animate my minimized application's icon?
- Create hot spots in pictures?
- Visualize the bitmap CopyMode settings?
- Create animaton?
- Fade one picture into another?
- Fade text in and out over a background?
- Chapter 6. Multimedia
- Play wave and midi files?
- Play video files in my form?
- Play an audio CD?
- Create a multimedia player?
- Create a HTML-based hypertext viewer?
- Play sounds files in an HTML document?
- Show graphics files in an HTML document?
- Display sprite animation in an HTML document?
- Create a complete multimedia HTML document display application?
- Chapter 7. Environment and System
- Run another application from my application?
- Exit Windows and return to DOS?
- Delay my application for a specified period of time?
- Prevent Windows from shutting down during an operation?
- Search an entire disk for a file?
- Disable the Windows screen saver?
- Prevent multiple instances of my program from being loaded?
- Determine how many function keys are on the user's keyboard?
- Determine the diretory where Windows is located?
- Determine system resources and display them in a form?
- Determine how much memory is available?
- Determine the correct version of Windows that is running?
- Find out if the user's machine has a defective Pentium CPU?
- Simulate SPY in Delphi?
- Time functions in my application?
- Set a file's date and time?
- Chapter 8. Peripherals
- Determine the color capabilities of a monitor or printer?
- Control the size of a printed page?
- Maintain the same appearance on the printed page as on the screen?
- Maintain the 3D look in the printer options dialog?
- Control the modem on a PC?
- Send and receive data through the serial port?
- Control the speaker as the SOUND function did in Turbo Pascal?
- Play music with the PC speaker?
- Chapter 9. Database
- View the contents of a database in Delphi?
- View the contents of an SQL-based database in Delphi?
- Use VCL components to automatically display database information?
- Use VCL components to navigate a database?
- Search a database in Delphi?
- Edit a database in Delphi?
- Control the layout of database tables display at design time?
- Control the layout of database table display at run time?
- Link data-aware VCL components to automate responses to user requests?
- Chapter 10. OLE and DDE
- Create a new program group in Program Manager?
- Use drag-and-drop in my application?
- Exchange data between two applications simultaneously?
- Control another application from the current application?
- Manage communication among any number of applications?
- View the contents of an OLE 2.0 file?
- Create documents with text, graphics and sound?
- Chapter 11. The Polished Application
- Customize the default exception handler?
- Make a professional-style About box?
- Create separate help hints and status line help?
- Make a customizeable toolbar like Delphi's?
- Chapter 12. Tips and Tricks
- Use OOP to customize existing VCL components?
- Create a custom VCL compoennt and make it available at design time?
- Make a custom property editor available via the Object Inspector?
- Override the default procedures used by VCL object method properties?
- Put components in a DLL so that non-Delphi programs can use them?
- Use OOP to extend the capabilities of an imported VBX control?
- Manipulate VCL components in the same way as a VB control array?
- Override a default Delphi exception handler?
- Create and raise a customized Delphi exception?
- Use Delphi's exception handling system to avoid memory & resouce leaks?
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