DelphiForFun

[rschultz]

 I have also posted this on the Lazarus mail list and a threat has started.

There is a web site www.delphiforfun.com by Gary Darby that has a large number of programs and examples of solutions using Delphi. Gary is a programmer who has 40 plus years of experience. He was recently nominated for the Spirit of Delphi award. His Pascal experience started with Turbo Pascal up through current versions of Delphi. You can read his biography from the link About Me at the bottom of the home page.

He is starting to use FPC/Lazarus and has nice things to say about it. He is having some problems getting FPC/Lazarus to work. He is looking for help. See Home Page the Oct 4, 2009 entry. Gary can be contacted by the Feedback link at the bottom of the home page.

All of the programs have a nice verbal description of the problem to solve and the solution. For each program the source code or the executable can be downloaded. They are written in a professional quality. The programs vary from fairly basic to solving problems that I don’t even understand the question let alone the solution.

If this collection of programs could be made to run with FPC/Lazarus I think it would be a huge plus, especially if they would work with both Windows and Linux.

Below is a count of the collection of programs.

Puzzles & Projects
Beginners     Intermediate   Advanced
    49                     89                73

Delphi Techniques
   66

Math Topics
  70

Utilities
  10

A couple of times I’ve used sections of Gary’s programs when I saw that they provided the solution to a problem I had. Helping getting this collection of programs working in FPC/Lazarus is beyond my skill level.

[Phil]

I sure hope a "threat" hasn't started.

See also this "thread":

http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,7240.0.html

Thanks.

-Phil

[Vincent Snijders]

Maybe rschultz can modify his first sentence.

[alter]

It might mean that Lazarus became a real threat to Delphi

[Ñuño_Martínez]

A lot of questions I do to Google gives me to DelphiForFun. It would be great if Mr. Darby decides to register to this forum or the FPC mailing lists.

[rschultz]

I should have just said that "this had been posted to the Lazarus mail list".

ron

[garyd2]

Hi All,

This is Gary Darby, the "DelphiForFun" guy.  I would like to offer Lazarus as a "free Delphi" alternative, but I've got to able to get at least one project converted successfully. 

Before I get into Lazarus, is there some way to turn off those stupid flashing, blinking faces at the top of this form?  That's not "fun", that's just distracting and irritating.   

I need a pointer to the "Before you begin" information article which must exist somewhere.  Here's yesterday's attempt:

I deleted Lazarus and downloaded and installed the Lazarus that shows up in the big blue box top left corner at   http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/
(It installs as 0.9.28.2 beta dated 10/25).


Problem #1:  Clicked Lazarus icon on the desktop.  I get error that had stopped me from the previous project attempt, so the uninstall of Lazarus leaves some directories or file pointers lying around somewhere.•   

Problem 2: I cancelled the old project and specified  a new application. Then

** Defined a folder Laz Tests and within that a folder called Card Probability.
** Copied Delphi source files CardProbability2.dpr, CardProbability2.res, U_CardProbability2.pas and U_CardProbability2.dfm to the above folder
** Clicked “Tools/Convert Delphi Project” and selected above CardProbability2.dpr.  No feedback about success or failure,  but there are quite a few extra files in the project folder so seems it ran OK.
** Pressed F9. and received error: “CardProbability2.lpr(4,3) Fatal: Can't find unit Forms used by CardProbability2”.




This morning:

Problem 3:  Tried Tools/Convert Delphi unit.  Received "LCL unit path missing" error with the hint "Newbies: Create a lazarus application and put the file into the project directory".


** "Project/Project options" seems like a logical choice but I see nowhere to enter a folder  address there.
** "Project/Compiler options" allows lots of choices for entering directoryr addresses but none of them say "Project directory" 
** Pressing Help on that page points to a broken link http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/IDE_Window:_Compiler_Options". 

I didn't feel stupid until I started using lazarus.  Someone who has figured it out needs to tell me, or point me to, the "Before You Start Guide for Delphi Programmers" because clearly my most intuitive actions aren't working.

[alter]

Ad 1. C:\Users\<user profile>\AppData\Local\lazarus
Ad 2. Fact is that converting dpr to lpi doesn't work well sometimes but there is a way to deal with it:
1. Convert all forms
2. Copy lfm, lrs, lrt, pas for each form to some new directory (where you will put new project). Copy there also all other units that you intend to use and are from original project
3. Open Lazarus and create new application. Use Project->Delete from project to delete extra form automatically generated
4. Save project to the directory from p2. Paste code of the original dpr file (between begin and end.) to the new project
5. Add units from original project. You should have them all in the same folder with lpi file
6. If some of those units are in subdirectory then in Project->Compiler options edit -Fu path. You can provide there relative paths.
7. Open each unit with form that you plan to use and ensure that there is no dfm file include and at the end of the file there are lines similar to:

initialization
  {$I main.lrs} 

Ad 3. That seems to be the result of the problem 2 to me. However to be sure go to Environment->Options and ensure that all paths are set properly.

[Phil]

Sounds like you might have gotten your installation messed up.

Here's a test. Download the attached PiCalc1Ported.zip and unzip in a new folder.

Open PiCalc1.lpi in Lazarus and choose Run | Run.

If you have _any_ problems compiling this, then it's probably your installation of Lazarus. I just ported this in maybe 3 minutes using these tools:

http://web.fastermac.net/~MacPgmr/XDev/XDevStatus.html#CodeConverters

The only extra step I needed to do was convert your .dfm to a text file in Delphi - it must be a very old file.

To completely uninstall Laz and reinstall, run its uninstaller, then delete this preferences folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\lazarus

After you reinstall, make sure the paths in Environment | Options are set.

Thanks.

-Phil

Edit: I'm getting an error message about upload folder being full, so my attachment won't come through. I guess it's not just the smileys that are broken on this forum. Just follow the steps for the converter - that's all I did.

[Vincent Snijders]

Edit: I'm getting an error message about upload folder being full, so my attachment won't come through.

Thanks for the notification. I increased the available space for attachments.

I guess it's not just the smileys that are broken on this forum.

I do not understand what is meant by this, so I cannot try to fix it.

[Phil]

From above:

"Before I get into Lazarus, is there some way to turn off those stupid flashing, blinking faces at the top of this form?  That's not "fun", that's just distracting and irritating."

I agree completely.

Thanks.

-Phil

[felipemdc]

"Before I get into Lazarus, is there some way to turn off those stupid flashing, blinking faces at the top of this form?  That's not "fun", that's just distracting and irritating."

I agree completely.

Which blinking faces? I don't remember any blinking faces

[Vincent Snijders]

I guess you mean the examples of the emoticons, when you enter your reply after pressing the reply button. Is that correct?

I don't see those most of the time, because I use the "Quick Reply" Panel below the forum posts, sometimes after pressing the "Quote" link.

I don't know if these emoticons can be turned off and if this a user preference or not.

[Phil]

Edit: I'm getting an error message about upload folder being full, so my attachment won't come through.

Thanks for the notification. I increased the available space for attachments.

Vincent,

Still won't allow me to upload 70Kb .zip. Here is the message:

"Your attachment couldn't be saved. This might happen because it took too long to upload or the file is bigger than the server will allow.

Please consult your server administrator for more information."

Thanks.

-Phil

[Vincent Snijders]

I try myself with a 97 kB png.