Creating Windows App with user controls using

[Albert Leng]

Hello everyone. :-)

I just started to learn Object Pascal and just download Dev-Pascal 1.9.2.
I can create console application.

I'm trying to create windows app with user controls like buttons, textboxes and etc. Selecting Windows App as t the project, how can i add user controls to the applications? I can't find any user controls on the menu or toolbars. Do i need to download anything?

Please guide me on this.

Thanks a lot.

Cheers,
Albert Leng

[Albert Leng]

Thank you so much for the replies.

After reading your posts and a brief search on the web, i have decided to download lazarus and go on to explore the possibilities of Delphi.

[cpns]

Neither Dev-Pascal nor Dev-C++ support 'visual' GUI design. You have to write textual resource scripts by hand or create controls at run-time using the Win32 API.

It ain't pretty, but time has passed both these tools by perhaps. Consider using Delphi if you are keen on Pascal and want visual design. There are free Delphi tools available at http://www.turboexplorer.com/ (choose between Delphi Win32 or Delphi .Net). Unfortunately teh Turbo Explorer editions are restricted to one tool per machine. Microsoft's Express Editions allow all tools to be used on a single machine without restriction, but no Pascal. That said why Pascal? C++ and C# are better supported in any case.

Clifford

[S. Thomas Bradley]

Hi Everyone,

Assuming that you want to use Pascal and are going to ignore Cliffords suggestions, I'll tell you that it is possible to create Windows applications using Dev-Pascal.

As Clifford pointed out, however, if you are going to use Dev-Pascal you have to create your applications using the Win32 API.

There is almost no documentation that I have been able to find on the internet about programming the Win32 API using Pascal.

[This is where Clifford will point out that he easily found about a dozen online sources!]

What little documentation you will find really isn't very helpful. You might find a statement to the effect that it is done just like C. The problem with this statement is that if you don't know how to program the Windows API in C, then you can't figure it out in Pascal. The second problem, which is even more important, is that it isn't true. Programming the Win32 API in Pascal is similar, but not the same as programming the Win32 API in C. There are enough small difference that without guidance you may never figure out how to do it.

Several years ago, I decided as a challenge to learn how to write a Windows program using Pascal. I was able to figure it out only because I have years of experience writing Win32 programs using C. And once you figure it out, it really isn't anymore difficult then using C.

Good Luck and "Happy New Year".

See Ya,
Butch

[Musa]

Free pascal one of the compilers used by dev-pascal has support turbo-pascal object pascal and delphi (though limited)
I tried once to compile a tpw application that used wobjects (with windows and buttons etc) but it didn't work.
If you want to use objects and forms then you can also use lazarus its just like delphi but free and uses the free pascal compiler.