Installed package doesn't show up in control palette

[mikeylaz]

One of the packages I use in Delphi 2007 is BusinessSkinForm by AlmDev: http://www.almdev.com.  I can use the Delphi --> Lazarus package converter to get the package from D2007, D2009, and D2010 all to install, but no new tab shows in the control palette.  If I check under packages, it tells me that the package is installed but I just can't get to the control palette where I'd expect a new tab to show up (but it never does).  I've tried all sorts of IDE rebuilding including the "build all" option but nothing works.

What am I doing wrong?  I have a feeling I'm overlooking something silly.

Running on Win7 x64.

Thanks,
Mike

[Zoran]

I don't know how the converter works, but maybe it made it to be runtime only package. Check it this way: open the package in Package Editor (Package -> Open package file), then click Options on Package Editor's toolbar, go to tab "IDE Integration". Make sure PackageType "designtime and runtime" is checked.

[mikeylaz]

Thanks for the reply.  OK.  Tried that.  The option was already set to "designtime and runtime".  Anything else you can think of... maybe to "force" the control palette tab to appear?

Mike

[mikeylaz]

Strange.  I tried installing an older Delphi 5 package.  Same deal.  It shows in the installed packages but it doesn't show in the control palette.  AND... none of the controls work runtime either.  It's like something isn't getting updated.  Wonder if it's a Win7 access issue?  I noticed that in all the default components, there is a "Design" folder that has PNG files with icons for the controls.  When you do "Convert Delphi Package to Lazarus Package", it only creates the lpk file: no "design" folder or anything.

Maybe I just don't understand the innards of Lazarus having worked with Delphi for so many years.  But for the life of me... I can't figure this one out.  I was going to use Lazarus for cross-platform programming (PC and Mac) and it has potential.  But I can't get past this hurdle.

Just discovered too that when I use the delphi to lazarus package converter, the lpk file has basically nothing but a template in it.  In the dpk file from Delphi, you can see all the controls being added.  In the lpk file that results from the conversion, it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Mike

[mikeylaz]

I've spent 3 days on this issue now and unfortunately it has become obvious that Lazarus can't be used for anything "serious".  I've tried a few packages designed specifically for Lazarus and those don't even work properly.  You install a package and it claims it is installed but nothing is ever added to the design-time control palette and even if you try to use the features at runtime, Lazarus can't find any of the package files (units or include files).  I checked the package file contents and the proper directories are listed (units, libraries, etc.) yet Lazarus still comes up with an error that it can't find any of the package files when you try to include them.

Is anyone really using Lazarus to do cross-platform work for big projects, say photo editing tools or other full packages: in other words not just simple utilities?  I had hoped to use it to take my 10+ years of work in Delphi and convert it over to Lazarus so I can support both PC and Mac but it really doesn't seem to be a viable option.

Mike

[Phil]

I've spent 3 days on this issue now and unfortunately it has become obvious that Lazarus can't be used for anything "serious".  I've tried a few packages designed specifically for Lazarus and those don't even work properly.  You install a package and it claims it is installed but nothing is ever added to the design-time control palette and even if you try to use the features at runtime, Lazarus can't find any of the package files (units or include files).  I checked the package file contents and the proper directories are listed (units, libraries, etc.) yet Lazarus still comes up with an error that it can't find any of the package files when you try to include them.

Is anyone really using Lazarus to do cross-platform work for big projects, say photo editing tools or other full packages: in other words not just simple utilities?  I had hoped to use it to take my 10+ years of work in Delphi and convert it over to Lazarus so I can support both PC and Mac but it really doesn't seem to be a viable option.

Yes, I think Mac presents a special challenge, and not just to Lazarus. You might take a look at this series of short articles that gives an overview of some of the challenges for Delphi developers moving to Mac:

http://web.me.com/macpgmr/ObjP/MacXPlatform_Intro.html

Thanks.

-Phil

[mikeylaz]

Phil,

Thank you SO much for that!  Looks like you've already done some of the research I was going to have to do and this saves me a lot of time.  Has me just about convinced to just bite the bullet and rewrite my app in Xcode.

Mike

[Phil]

Phil,

Thank you SO much for that!  Looks like you've already done some of the research I was going to have to do and this saves me a lot of time.  Has me just about convinced to just bite the bullet and rewrite my app in Xcode.

Don't forget you can use Free Pascal with Interface Builder and Xcode. Here are some Pascal examples that use IB .nib files:

http://www.thealchemistguild.org/objp.php

These requires FPC 2.5.1 built from SVN, as does the article's Cocoa example.

Also, you might find the MacPascal mailing list helpful:

http://lists.sonic.net/mailman/options/mac-pascal

Thanks.

-Phil

[mikeylaz]

Thanks again.  Any info/advice on using Delphi Prism and Mono for building Mac OSX apps?

Mike

[Phil]

Thanks again.  Any info/advice on using Delphi Prism and Mono for building Mac OSX apps?

I worked a lot with Mono, Prism and the Monobjc bindings for Cocoa, but I've decided that is just too convoluted. The other issue is that I don't think Mono will ever have much of a role on OS X. On iPhone OS, Apple doesn't permit virtual machines like Mono or Java so if you use a .NET language you have to compile it down to native code to run on iPhone OS - there are products that do that, but not free ones.

One issue with Prism is that you really can't reuse any Pascal code because of syntax and other differences.

There's some discussion of several of the articles on the Delphi forum under Non-Technical.

Also, for an overview of ObjC that might be helpful, see Joanna Carter's rather long tutorial:

http://www.richplum.co.uk/magazine/index.asp

Click on the Special Mac issue.

Her tutorial takes kind of the Apple party line, which is important to be aware of. However, Cocoa is quite flexible and doesn't require a particular approach.

Thanks.

-Phil