In this tip I draw together in one place information on how to install components into the Delphi IDE for various Win32 versions of Delphi. The notes also cover how to install IDE extensions or make simple units available in design time packages. The tip assumes you are installing source code, not pre-compiled units or packages.
Before you start copy all the files needed to install the component, IDE
extension or unit into some suitable location on your hard disk. Files should
include .pas files and any associated .dfm,
.res, .dfm and, for components, .dcr
files.
You then proceed differently for different versions of Delphi:
To add a component or IDE extension to the IDE it must be included in a design package. You can either create a new design package or add the component to an existing one. These instructions assume you will be installing into an existing package. See the Delphi help for information on how to create a new package. If your component came with its own package, use that.
.dpk extension. You may decide to
install into the "user" package that is often supplied with
Delphi.
.bpl extension) will now be
displayed in the Project Manager. If the package has not been installed yet
right click the .bpl entry in the Project Manager and select
Install. Dismiss any resulting message dialogue.
Now right click the .bpl entry again and select Add.
What happens next depends on the version of Delphi.
.pas file(s) to be installed from the resulting file open
dialogue. The full path to the file(s) should now be displayed in the
"Add" dialogue's Unit file name edit box. Click
OK to add the file(s) to the package.
.pas file(s). Just press
OK to add the file(s) to the package.
.pas file(s) you
added appear under the package's "Contains" node. Also check that
any associated .dcr files also appear. If any .dcr
file does not appear you need to display the package's source file and add
the line {$R FileName.dcr} to the code between the
package name and the requires section. To display the source
right click the package name in the project manager and select View
Source.
designide package is included in the package's
requires section.
.bpl entry again and select
Compile. If no errors are displayed the package has been recompiled
correctly.
When adding components the package may need to be (re)installed. Right
click the .bpl entry again and select Install. If
all goes well a message should be displayed indicating that the component
has been registered and it will appear in the appropriate tab of the Tool
Palette (which will be named "DelphiDabbler" when installing one
of the components from the DelphiDabbler Code Library).
Should a message appear saying that the installation has failed you will need to un-install the package and try again. How this is done depends on the version of Delphi.
.bpl entry's context menu has
an Uninstall option. Simply click that option to uninstall the
package.
.pas file. Other files
must be left in place.
If the components etc. are compatible with 64 bit Windows add to a package as described above. Now add a Windows 64 bit target to the package project and rebuild.
To add a component or IDE extenstion to the IDE it must be included in a design package. You can either create a new design package or add the component to an existing one. These instructions assume you will be installing into an existing package. See the Delphi help for information on how to create a new package. If your component came with its own package, use that.
*.dpk extenstion are being displayed,
and choose a suitable package source file. You may decide to install
into the "user" package. This is found in the Lib
sub-directory of your Delphi installation and is named
dclusr.dpk or dclusrXX.dpk where
XX is a version number.
.pas file(s) from the resulting
file open dialogue. The full path to the file should now be displayed in
the "Add" dialogue's Unit file name edit box. Click
OK to add the file(s) to the package.
.pas file. Other files
must be left in place.
.pas file from the resulting standard file open dialogue box
and click Open.
.pas file. Other files
must be left in place.