November 10, 2006
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
On January 25 I blogged about ".NET CF Development in Delphi 2006", writing that you can compile for .NET directly from the IDE:
Change the project search path to refer to the CF assemblies: Project -> Options, go to the Directories/Conditionals page, replace the Search Path with "C:\Program Files\Borland\BDS\4.0\lib\cf" (or similar, depending on your installation)...
On July 7 I blogged about "Delphi 2006 CF Disinformation on BDN Continues", I wrote (getting an upset reply):
I am compiling my CF apps from the IDE, you only need to set the library folder to the " lib\cf" folder. The BDS 2006 IDE is fully capable of compiling CF apps and even provides Code Insight (including Help Insight for the missing properties of the CF).
On November 9, David I and John Kaster demonstrate CF development in the Two Weeks of Live Webinar series (kudos to the initiative, I followed a couple today as I'm home with the flu, not really in the mood to work). They show Delphi 2006 can compile CF applications with a command line script. This was true in Delphi 2005. In Delphi 2006, you can compile from the IDE, and you get also a few other advantages.... as I tried to point out earlier.
I'm not complaining. Just pointing this out. In case anyone cares. Enough said.
6 Comments
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
tdaniel, do you know of any specific issue with lib/cf? I've been compiling this way for over a year, and it seems they do exactly the same when they compile from the command line...Comment by Marco Cantù [http://www.marcocantu.com] on November 10, 16:08
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
Create eg menu/tabsheet with items/pages in the form designer, press F12 to switch to editor and F12 back to designer: menu/tabsheet has no more items/pages. This doesn't happen with regular D.net. I'm using D.net explorer. Workaround is creating those controls at runtime. Its no big problem for me because it's better to create controls at runtime for cf development. Afaik the compiler itself gives no problems.Comment by tdaniel on November 10, 18:26
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
Hi Marco, I wrote the integration. Do you actually think I do not know about this. Do you not think I knew about this quite possibly before YOU knew about this. You can't use the Form Designer when you do that. Which is a point you seem to MISS everytime you mention how the IDE can compile CF apps. I guess you need to determine how important a Form Designer is for your particular application. Microsoft seem to think a Form Designer is pretty important for serious CF development since they have put a large chunk of resources behind it. I don't think anywhere written it says that this method is the ONLY way. Just that it is ONE way. I'm not complaining. Just pointing this out. cheers, JeremyComment by Jeremy North [http://www.jed-software.com] on November 11, 01:07
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
Jeremy, I know about your tool and I appreciate it. I use it often. I know it is helpfull. As Chee Wee and Jeroen tools are. I have absolutely nothing againts them. Having said that, I was surpised by the tone and content of your post. First, I never said that compiling from the IDE solves all the problems. It does not. But it is a much better experience than using the command line. You get error messages you click onto to jump to the error, like in your tool. You get error insight as you type (not sure if you get those with your tool, unless you set the library path). You say: "You can't use the Form Designer when you do that". Well, what if I use Jeroen class helpers? Or if I use Chee Wee tool and invoke it manually? Granted, having a simplified build and deploy solution is very nice... "Microsoft seem to think a Form Designer is pretty important". I guess it depends on the application. I've written a medium-sized CF-apps, but for usability (and because of the specific needs of the application, mostly filtered lists with checkboxes) I decided to create most of them forms out of a ListView control. I use "non-visual" form inheritance a lot, hence I have limited needs for the designer. Still, I use some of the tools mentioned earlier to... help me with it for the forms that need a designer. "I don't think anywhere written it says that this method is the ONLY way. Just that it is ONE way." Well, if you look to the video I was commenting, the OTHER way is not mentioned. They show command line script-based compilation (really ugly), they show your tool (really nice). They don't show the IDE-based compilation (rough but working, an in-between appraoch). The BDN article had the same error when it was originally published. In conclusion, I'm not sure how you got upset with me (as it seems from the tone of your posts) why I never criticized your tool (I won't, I like it!) but only criticized Borland because they failed to tell about a relevant feature of their IDE. Three times.Comment by Marco Cantù [http://www.marcocantu.com] on November 11, 07:06
Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
This looks a silly dispute to me. The fact is BDS 2006 does not support CF development. There are workarounds, but that's all. Noone will buy it to develop CF applications. It's this attitude that is killing Borland and will kill DevCo. They can't say "yup, we don't do this and that, but if you add this, call that, make tree turns on your left foot on a full moon, and if you are lucky then it may work". When they will add full CF support, it will be late again. If they hadn't spent almost all their time in some useless development - i.e. VCL.NET - they could have added *native* Pocket PC development. Just to differentiate their offer and not to trail behind the MS wagon.Comment by Colin Fletcher on November 12, 20:53
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Delphi 2006 CF: Take Three
Comment by tdaniel on November 10, 15:09