So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Yea, the title is a bit cliché but it’s fitting and I’m using it.  My blogging about Delphi, for what it was all worth, is at an end.  Quite simply, I’m just not spending enough time with the product anymore to have anything significant to say here – certainly not enough to be hogging one of the limited number of spots on DelphiFeeds.com, that’s for sure.

My latest unfinished blog project, was building a “useful” version of Delphi out of the “Starter” edition by adding 3rd party tools to it.  I won’t be finishing that project, although I still think that way more than simply plausible.  It really is too bad that they stripped out what you can easily replaced this way ... it makes no sense at all – well, to me.

When I retired I decided to take advantage of a need that the company I worked for has, but never bothered to fix – drawing maintenance.  They refused to supply training and tools – if you wanted to do it, you did it on your own.  I’ve always been pretty good at it, figured it would make a great hobby and knew I could augment the reduced income once I established myself.  I even knew of a few small local businesses that would be interested in someone with my background and skills [augmented with some AutoCAD certification] as a part-time member of their team.  AutoCAD, even the LT version, is a fairly complex tool and mastering it will keep my noggin as well exercised as Delphi was doing.  The fact that I can make a few bucks off it, an initial buy in of about what Delphi Pro would cost you, and a subscription rate of about half [AutoCAD LT vs. Delphi Pro] leaves it a no-brainer when it comes to a “I can only afford one of them.” choice, and it has certainly come to that.

I have really enjoyed the years I’ve spent with Delphi, it really has kept the grey-matter churning for me.  Thanks most of all though, to all those that have helped me along the way.  I may still tinker with Delphi from time to time but blogging about any of it, is now officially, done and dusted.

Thanks for stopping by it has been a pleasure ...
--
Dave

Delphi XE2 “Starter”- Code Formatting

Removed in the “Starter” edition of Delphi XE2, code formatting is easily reinstituted with at least two 3rd party tools that I’m aware of.  The first, my personal preference and the only one I plan to cover [others may get suggested in the comments section] is “GExperts Experimental by TWM”.  One specific reason I much prefer this particular rendition of a code formatter is that to get it you need to install GExperts and, it is my opinion, you really should have GExperts installed and available in any Delphi IDE.

GExperts Experimental by TWM ... “These versions are always based on the current SubVersion/CVS repository code of the GExperts project. In addition to the normal functionality they include the code formatter formerly known as DelForEx. The code has kindly been donated by Egbert van Nes.”.

It is pretty easy to install and get running but you need to read and follow the instructions.

From Pro to Starter – A Bit of a Shift

So, I finally made the jump from D2010 to Delphi EX2.  I moved to the Starter edition which might seem a bit odd – but it’s not, I assure you.  Only two or three weeks ago Delphi was, primarily due to a decrease in time that I can spend with it, doomed as an active member of my list of hobbies and I was certain that Embarcadero had seen the last of my credit card.

TMS Aurelius - A Quick Peek

The Latin name Aurelius means Golden.  Has TMS Software created the “Golden” Object Relational Mapping [ORM] Framework?  Like any tool, it depends on your perspective and needs ... and for me, it sure looks like they have.  Let me explain ...

WinProcs and WinTypes – Not Dead Yet

... or so it would seem.  Discontinued with the release of D2 but still haunting unit uses clauses everywhere.
I just recently tracked down and fixed an error in a module that was compiling fine but causing the Code Completion and Code Parameters IDE features to fail once it had.

tiOPF Tip – Wiring Up A Simple Look-Up Table

I have a requirement for several simple database centric look-up tables in one of my projects.  They are no more complex than name-value pairs [EA-Each, CT-Carton, ... ] that get stored in the database and are fully editable by the users.  I needed to find a way around the tiOPF [the OPF of choice] default of using GUID OID values for any object you plan to persist because,  to my mind, there is something seriously wrong with storing “6FFC3175-37CD-4682-A599-EF6B86E1F397” over and over to represent “Each” where “EA” is more than up to performing the task.

A Simple Fix For My Broken WUBI

I updated my Wubi Ubuntu 10.04 install a couple of days ago ... and it broke.  That was really annoying. It was also, from my perspective, a bit of a kick in the bum for Ubuntu WUBI.  It breaks kinda easy it seems, and from the number of posts I’ve read, it’s not the first time.  Over the last couple of days I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trolling newsgroups trying to find a fix that suits my specific situation, without a whole lot of luck.  Until today.  Today I discovered an absolutely brain-dead fix to the whole problem that, if you’re set up for it, takes about 5 minutes to take care of.

The Decorator Design Pattern in Delphi

The decorator pattern, as defined in the book, with one glaring exception, is pretty easy to get a handle on and really isn’t going to take a lot of work from me in way of text here.

The Observer Design Pattern in Delphi – Pull

As mentioned in the previous article The Observer Design Pattern in Delphi – Push I intended to do a “Pull” article to show, what I think is, a significant “feature” of this pattern and one that I thought was underplayed in the Head First Design Patterns book that I’m learning from.

The “Death of Delphi” Rumour Proven Untrue

Hot News ...

jamiei, a Delphi Developer, Web Developer and General Geek, has come forward and provided the community with irrefutable proof  [it’s on the internet, it must be true] clearly dispelling all rumoured answers to the questions,