Message Dialog Components
Information Sheet

Contents

• Overview
• Compatibility
• Installation
• Bugs
• Change log
• License
• About the author

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Overview

This unit provides various customisable message dialog box components. Three components are installed on the component palette. The installed components are:

• TPJWinMsgDlg
  This component wraps the Windows MessageBoxIndirect API call and displays a message box based on that provided by Windows. This component will be suitable for most purposes and has the lighter footprint.
• TPJVCLMsgDlg
  This component uses the Delphi VCL CreateMessageDialog function to create a form based message box. (CreateMessageDialogMessageDlgXXX functions). The component provides more flexibility than either the Delphi functions or TPJWinMsgDlg. It should be used when it is necessary to display buttons or combinations of buttons that are not supported by the Windows API message box or when a finer degree of control over the appearance and behaviour of the message box is required. TPJVCLMsgDlg supports all the features of TPJWinMsgDlg and extends them.
• TPJMessageDialog
  This is an updated version of the component supplied in release 1 of this unit. Various bugs have been fixed and the handling of user icons improved. This component is only provided for backwards compatibility with existing projects that use the old version. It exposes the same properties as the old component. Some of these properties vary from those common to TPJWinMsgDlg and TPJVCLMsgDlg. It is recommended that TPJWinMsgDlg or TPJVCLMsgDlg are used in new projects in preference.

Help file

A OpenHelp compatible help file is supplied that provides help on all the components. The help file integrates with the help system of Delphi 4 to 7. Although it does not integrate with the Delphi 2005 and later IDE at can be used independently of the IDE, albeit with some loss of functionality.

An .als file is also supplied to assist in integration with Delphi 6 and 7.

Demo program

A demo program with associated explanatory help file is included in the download. The demo exercises each of the three components. It comes supplied with demo help files to enable experimentation with the components' HelpFile and HelpContext properties.

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Compatibility

The Message Dialog Components compile with Delphi 4 and later. They have been tested with Delphi 4, 6, 7 and 2006.

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Installation

The Message Dialog Components, documentation and demo program are supplied in a zip file. Before installing you need to extract all the files from the zip file, preserving the directory structure. The following files will be extracted:

• PJMessageDialog.pas – classes, routines and component source code.
• PJMessageDialog.dcr – resource file containing component palette glyphs.
• PJMessageDialog.hlp – help file that integrates with the Delphi 3 to 7 OpenHelp system.
• PJMessageDialog.als – a-link keyword file for integration with the Delphi 6 or 7 OpenHelp system.
• ReadMe.htm – this file.
• ChangeLog.txt – component's change log.
• Demo\PJMessageDialogDemo.dpr – demo program project file.
• Demo\PJMessageDialogDemo.cfg – demo project configuration file.
• Demo\PJMessageDialogDemo.res – resource file containing demo project's MAINICON resource.
• Demo\Icons.res – resource file containing additional icons required by demo program.
• Demo\FmPJMessageDialogDemo.pas – source code for demo main form, including all demo logic.
• Demo\FmPJMessageDialogDemo.dfm – demo main form.
• Demo\DelphiDabbler.ico – demo program's icon file.
• Demo\MainForm.hlp – help file for demo, also containing some sample topics for use with dialogs.
• Demo\DemoHelp1.hlp – 1st demo help file with sample topics for display from dialogs.
• Demo\DemoHelp2.hlp – 2nd demo help file with sample topics for display from dialogs.

You can now proceed to install the components and property editor using the emphasised files above. Installation methods vary between Delphi versions, so follow the instructions that apply to your version below. Note that $(DELPHI) represents the path where the appropriate version of Delphi was installed. Similarly $(BDS) refers to the installation path of a version of the Borland Development System.

• Installation with Delphi 2005 & 2006
• Installation with Delphi 4 to 7

Installation with Delphi 2005 & 2006

The components must be installed into a Delphi Win32 design package. It is assumed that you will be installing into an existing package. You may decide to install into the "user" package: $(BDS)\Lib\dclusr.dpk.

1. Decide upon a suitable location into which to install the components. This may be a subdirectory of your Borland Studio Projects or $(BDS)\lib folders.
2. Copy PJMessageDialog.pas and PJMessageDialog.dcr to the chosen installation folder.
3. Start the Development System (selecting the Delphi Win32 personality if appropriate) then:
   • Open the required package. Select File | Open menu and choose a suitable package source file.
   • The package will now be displayed in the Project Manager with a .bpl extension. Right click the package's entry and select Add to display the Add dialog box. Enter the full path to PJMessageDialog.pas in the Unit file name edit box (use the Browse button to navigate to the file). Click OK to add the component to the package.
   • Back in the Project Manager, check that all the added files appear under the package's Contains node. If so, right click the package's entry again and select Compile. If the resulting compilation succeeds a message should be displayed confirming that TPJMessageDialog, TPJWinMsgDlg and TPJVCLMsgDlg have been registered. The components should now appear in the "DelphiDabbler" section of the Tool Palette. (Note this will only appear when a form is selected in the designer).
   • If the components do not appear the package may not have been installed. Install it from the Project Manager by selecting the package's Install right click menu option.
   • Close the package project using the File | Close menu item. Accept any prompt that offers to save the package project.
4. If you wish you can now delete PJMessageDialog.pas from the chosen installation folder.
5. The supplied help file cannot be integrated with the IDE's help system. However it can be used independently of the IDE, albeit with reduced functionality.
6. The demo program can be loaded into Delphi and compiled and run as required.

Installation with Delphi 4 to 7

The components must be installed into a design package. It is assumed that you will be installing into an existing package. You may wish to use the "user" package named dclusr.dpk or dclusrXX.dpk (where XX is a version number). This package can be found in $(DELPHI)\Lib.

1. Decide upon a suitable location into which to install the components. This may be a subdirectory of your $(DELPHI)\lib folder.
2. Copy PJMessageDialog.pas and PJMessageDialog.pas to the chosen installation folder.
3. Start Delphi then:
   • Choose the Component | Install Component menu option to display the Install Component dialog box. Ensure the Into existing package tab is selected. Enter the full path to PJMessageDialog.pas in the Unit file name edit box (use the adjacent Browse button to navigate to the file). Choose the required package from the Package description combo box, or by navigating to the package using Browse. Click OK to confirm your selections.
   • A confirmation dialog box may displayed, querying whether it is OK to rebuild and reinstall the package. Click Yes to proceed.
   • The package will now be built and a dialog box should be displayed stating that the TPJMessageDialog, TPJWinMsgDlg and TPJVCLMsgDlg components have been installed. Click OK to dismiss the dialog box.
   • The components will appear on the "DelphiDabbler" palette.
4. If you wish you can now delete PJMessageDialog.pas.pas from the chosen installation folder.
5. The provided help file can be integrated with the IDE's OpenHelp system. Delphi 6 and 7 also require the use of the supplied .als file. The simplest way to install help is to use my Component Help Installer Expert (v2.2.1 or later). If you prefer to install manually, this article explains the process.
6. The demo program can be loaded into Delphi and compiled and run as required.

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Bugs

There are no known outstanding bugs.

There was a problem with TPJVCLMsgDlg displaying help in later versions of Delphi. This has been fixed in v2.1.

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Change log

A complete change log is provided in a text file that is included in the download.

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License

This source code is subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this program except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/.

Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the License.

The Original Code is Message Dialog Components.

The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Peter Johnson (http://www.delphidabbler.com/).

Portions created by the Initial Developer are Copyright © 2001-2005 Peter Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

All relevant trademarks are acknowledged.

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About the author

I'm Peter Johnson – a hobbyist programmer living in Ceredigion in West Wales, UK, writing write mainly in Delphi. My programs are available for download from: http://www.delphidabbler.com/.