Sams Teach Yourself Delphi 4 in 21 Days

WEEK 1 - AT A GLANCE.

1. Getting Started With Delphi.


What Is Delphi? A Quick Look at the Delphi IDE. Your First Program: Hello World. Your Second Program: Hello World, Part II. Object Pascal Language Overview. Summary. Workshop.

2. More On Pascal.


if, then, else. Using Loops. The case Statement. Scope. Records. Functions, Procedures, and Methods. Summary. Workshop.

3. Classes And Object-Oriented Programming.


Sets. Casting. Pointers. What's a Class? Anatomy of a Class. Inheritance. Summary. Workshop.

4. The Delphi IDE Explored.


The Delphi IDE. Projects in Delphi. The Delphi Main Menu and Toolbar. Using the Component Palette. A Multiple-Form Application. Compiling and Building Other Object Pascal Programs. More About Delphi Forms. The Object Inspector. The Events Page. Dockable IDE Windows. An MDI Sample Program. Summary. Workshop.

5. The Visual Component Model.


Frameworks Fundamentals. The Visual Component Library. VCL Explored. Summary. Workshop.

6. Working With The Form Designer and The Menu Designer.


Working with the Form Designer. Building an Example Application. May I See a Menu, Please? Pop-Up Menus (Context Menus). Summary. Workshop.

7. VCL Components.


A Review of Components. The Name Property. Important Common Properties. Primary Methods of Components. Common Events. TStrings. Standard Windows Control Components. The Panel Component. And That's Not All. The Common Dialog Boxes. Summary. Workshop.

WEEK 1 - IN REVIEW.

WEEK 2 - AT A GLANCE.

8. Creating Applications In Delphi.


Working with the Object Repository. Building Forms and Applications with the Wizards. Adding Methods and Data Fields to Code. Creating Component Templates. Using Resource Files. Using Packages. Summary. Workshop.

9. Projects, The Code Editor, and The Code Explorer.


Everyone Needs a Project. Using the Project Manager. Understanding Project Options. The Delphi Code Editor. The Code Explorer. Summary. Workshop.

10. Debugging Your Applications.


Why Use the Debugger? The Debugging Menu Items. Using Breakpoints. Simple Breakpoints. Watching Variables. The Debug Inspector. Other Debugging Tools. Stepping Through Your Code. Debugging a DLL. The Event Log Window. The Module Window. Debugging Techniques. Debugger Options. Summary. Workshop.

11. Delphi Tools and Options.


Using the Image Editor. WinSight: Spying on Windows. TDUMP. The Package Collection Editor. Configuring the Delphi Tools Menu. Setting the Environment Options. Summary. Workshop.

12. Graphics and Multimedia Programming.


Graphics the Easy Way. Device Contexts and TCanvas. GDI Objects. Basic Drawing Operations. Offscreen Bitmaps. Multimedia Programming. CD Audio. Summary. Workshop.

13. Beyond The Basics.


Creating Window Decorations. Adding Functionality with Command Enabling. Command Enabling with TActionList and TAction. Printing in Delphi Applications. Using Cursors. Summary. Workshop.

14. Advanced Programming.


Implementing Context-Sensitive Help. Checking Errors with Exception Handling. Using the Registry. Implementing Specialized Message Handling. Summary. Workshop.

WEEK 2 - IN REVIEW.

WEEK 3 - AT A GLANCE.

15. COM and ActiveX.


Understanding COM. Understanding ActiveX. Web Deploying ActiveX Controls and ActiveForms. Summary. Workshop.

16. Delphi Database Architecture.


Database Basics. The Borland Database Engine. Delphi Database Components. Client/Server Database Components. Creating a BDE Alias. Summary. Workshop.

17. Building Database Forms.


The Database Form Wizard. Creating Database Forms by Hand. A Closer Look at the Data Components. The DBCheckBox Component. Summary. Workshop.

18. Building Database Applications.


Nonvisual Database Programming. Using Data Modules. Creating Reports. Deploying a Delphi Database Application. Summary. Workshop.

19. Creating and Using DLLs.


DLL Overview. Anatomy of a DLL Unit. The Basics of DLL Writing. Loading DLLs. Calling Functions and Procedures Located in DLLs. Creating a DLL Project with the Object Repository. Using Forms in DLLs. Using Resources in DLLs. Creating a Resource DLL. Summary. Workshop.

20. Creating Components.


Creating a New Component. Component Properties and Methods. Adding Functionality to TFlashingLabel. Testing the Component. Adding the Component to the Component Palette. Writing Events for Components. Putting It All Together. Summary. Workshop.

21. Delphi and C++Builder.


Similarities Between Delphi and C++Builder. Differences Between Delphi and C++Builder. Converting from Delphi to C++Builder. Summary. Workshop.

WEEK 3 - IN REVIEW.

BONUS DAY - Building Internet Applications.


Internet Components Available in Delphi. Building a Web Browser. Using Internet Explorer as an ActiveX Control. Sending Mail. Deploying Internet Applications. Summary. Workshop.

APPENDIXES.

A. Answers to The Quiz Questions.


Day 1. Day 2. Day 3. Day 4. Day 5. Day 6. Day 7. Day 8. Day 9. Day 10. Day 11. Day 12. Day 13. Day 14. Day 15. Day 16. Day 17. Day 18. Day 19. Day 20. Day 21. Bonus Day.

B. Delphi Internet Resources.


INPRISE Corporation. Commercial Web Sites. User Web Sites. Newsgroups. Publications.

Index.