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TzFormDesigner Class

TzFormDesigner is main library component.

TzFormDesigner = class(TzCustomFormDesigner);

ed_Designer

TzFormDesigner provides full-sized functionality to manipulate with controls at run-time as if it was to be in design-time IDE. 

TzFormDesigner implements all the required design-time interfaces for this purpose and propose a set of properties, methods and events to create design-like environment at runtime. 

With TzFormDesigner user may design forms, data-modules, report sheets and so on. 

It uses all the standard Borland property and component editors.

Topic 
Description 
The methods of the TBaseDesigner class are listed here. 
The properties of the TBaseDesigner class are listed here. 
The events of the TBaseDesigner class are listed here. 
IClassSelector Interface
Topic 
Description 
The methods of the IClassSelector class are listed here. 
TzCustomFormDesigner Class
Topic 
Description 
The methods of the TzCustomFormDesigner class are listed here. 
The properties of the TzCustomFormDesigner class are listed here. 
The events of the TzCustomFormDesigner class are listed here. 
TzFormDesigner Class
Topic 
Description 
The properties of the TzFormDesigner class are listed here. 
 
Method 
 
protected 
 
virtual 
 
Property 
 
read only 
 
Event 
TBaseDesigner Events 
Description 
Occurs when the Active property of the TzCustomFormDesigner changes 
Occurs when the user drops an object being dragged. 
Occurs when the user drags an object over a control. 
Occurs on any message sent to managed controls. 
Occurs only at design mode when user presses down any key. 
Occurs only at design mode when key pressed. 
Occurs only at design mode when user releases key that has been pressed. 
Occurs only at design mode when user presses mouse button. 
Occurs only at design mode when user moves mouse. 
Occurs only at design mode when user releases mouse button. 
TzCustomFormDesigner Class
TzCustomFormDesigner Class 
Description 
Occurs to determine whether Edit method of component editor can be called. 
Occurs when painting any control on the form. Use this event to draw over control. 
Occurs when ExecuteAction method is called. Use it to handle standard shared actions for currently active designer. 
Occurs to determine whether component is locked. 
Occurs before deleting selected component. 
Occurs before inserting new component. 
Occurs at the end of GetObjectName method to adjust resulting name. 
Occurs before moving selected component. 
Occurs before renaming component. 
Occurs before resizing selected component. 
Occurs when restoring Target from undo buffer. 
Occurs before selecting component. 
Occurs when saving Target to undo buffer. 
Occurs before new component creation. 
Occurs when frame is to be inserted on the form. 
Occurs when assigning name to newly inserted component (created or pasted). 
Occurs before creating icon for non-visual component. 
Occurs when new method name is input in object inspector. 
Occurs immediately after hiding the Target form . 
Occurs when UpdateAction method is called. Use it to handle standard shared actions for currently active designer. 
Occurs when the application is about to display the hint window for the particular component. 
Occurs when method property editor requests designer for possible method names. 
Occurs when method property editor ask for script procedure name associated with a given property. 
Occurs when components are added or removed to/from Root object at design mode. 
Occurs when name of method is changed in object inspector. 
Occurs when method property editor assigns script procedure to the event. 
Occurs when user double clicks on the procedure in the object inspector. 
Occurs to validate method. 
TBaseDesigner Methods 
Description 
Called to check processing of non client mouse messages. 
Corrected version of ClientToScreen function to support RTL. 
Corrected version of ClientOrigin function to support RTL. 
Creates and initializes a TBaseDesigner instance. 
Indicates whether component in design or loading state. At design time (in Delphi IDE) and during loading no activation occurs. 
Destroys an instance of TBaseDesigner. 
Called to show hint for current design state. 
OnDragDrop event dispatcher. 
OnDragOver event dispatcher. 
Returns true when control is right-to-left. 
Respond to key press events. 
Respond to keyboard input. 
Respond to released key. 
Initializes the component after the form file has been read into memory. 
OnMouseDown event dispatcher. 
OnMouseMove event dispatcher. 
OnMouseUp event dispatcher. 
Translates messages of all managed by designer controls. 
Resets hint for another component 
Corrected version of ScreenToClient function to support RTL. 
Set method for Active property. 
Indicates whether hints should be shown for controls in the Designer. 
IClassSelector Interface
IClassSelector Interface 
Description 
Called when selected in component palette component class was changed. 
Called when component palette was changed. 
TzCustomFormDesigner Class
TzCustomFormDesigner Class 
Description 
Adds menu items to the popup Menu associated with the component editor of selected in designer component.
To remove previously added component editor's menu items use ClearCompEditorMenu method. 
Indicates whether the designer contains undone changes that can be repeated. 
Indicates whether the designer contains changes that can be backed out. 
Determines whether design operation specified by the Action parameter can be executed. 
Removes component editor's menu items added by the AddCompEditorMenu method. 
Clears the undo buffer so that no changes to the Target can be backed out. 
Closes in-place editor. 
OnDragDrop event dispatcher. 
OnDragOver event dispatcher. 
Executes designer operation specified by the Action parameter. 
Performs alignment operation on selected components. 
Aligns selected components to the closest grid point. 
Moves a selected component in front of all other components on the form. This is called changing the component's z-order. 
Creates default popup menu. 
Cancels current drag&drop design operation. 
Check if component can be deleted. 
Returns set of possible designer operations. 
Check if component can be inserted. 
Check if component can be moved. 
Checks clipboard for components saved to it. 
Check if component can be renamed. 
Check if component can be resized. 
Check if component can be selected. 
Resets selection. 
 
Creates and initializes a TzCustomFormDesigner instance. 
Cuts selected components to clipboard. 
Deletes the selected component or components 
Destroys an instance of TzCustomFormDesigner. 
Shows hint current design state. 
Invokes an action with the component as its target. 
Provides drag-and-draw graphic operation. 
Edit 
Displays the component editor for the specified component. 
Provides drag-and-draw graphic operation. 
Allows to reverse the layout of components in the current form to a right-to-left mirror image. 
Returns component 
Returns the component with the name passed as a parameter. 
Returns the name of the component passed as its parameter. 
Executes a callback for every component that can be assigned a property of a specified type. 
Looks for control at specified point on the window prn. 
Returns the name of a specified event handler. 
Returns new generated name for particular class of the component. 
Returns object name. 
Load Root component from file. Inline events from resource file are stored in Events property if property StoreEvents is True. If IgnoreReadErrors is True - all read errors are ignored. 
Load Root component from stream. Inline events from resource file are stored in Events property if property StoreEvents is True. If IgnoreReadErrors is True - all read errors are ignored. 
Returns the current entity being edited by the form designer. 
Returns the class name for the root component. 
Returns script procedure name assigned to the event. 
Returns the size of the logical designer window. 
Fills a list with all selected components on the current root object. 
Redo 
Call Redo to repeat last undone operation. 
Returns the current state of the Shift, Alt, and Ctrl keys. 
Allows the designer to respond when a notification is sent to the form. 
Indicates whether a component does not appear directly in the form designer. 
Specifies whether component is locked and can not be edited in designer. 
Saves Root component to file FileName with events information. AsText specifies format of the file: text or binary. 
Determines when the designer should handle a Windows message. 
Save Root component to stream with events information. AsText specifies storage format: text or binary. 
Indicates whether component is protected and can not be changed by designer. 
Returns True if entire Root is selected 
Indicates whether the source file for the component being designed is read-only. 
Returns number of selected components excluding Root and non-component objects. 
Respond to key press events. 
Respond to keyboard input. 
Respond to released key. 
Indicates whether an event handler with a specified name already exists. 
Notifies property and component editors when a change is made to a component. 
Shows tab order icons over children controls of the selected control. Click on the children controls changes their tab order. To exit "Show Tab Icons" mode click on any not child control or press ESCAPE key. 
Generates an OnMouseDown event. 
Generates an OnMouseMove event. 
Generates an OnMouseUp event. 
Performs navigation between control using keyboard 
Updates an action component to reflect the current state of the component. 
Deselects all components in the form designer. 
Undo 
Backs out last change in the undo buffer. 
Allows the designer to respond when a notification is sent to the form. 
Notifies active designer about changing selection list 
Called for each WM_PAINT message to perform specific painting over control. 
Paints the alignment grid on the form's canvas. 
Pastes the contents of the clipboard into the selected component or components. 
Callback procedure for TReader.ReadComponents 
Renames an existing event handler. 
Scale all controls using defined ratio 
Selects all components. 
Replaces the current set of selected components by a single specified object. 
Returns selected component if selection consist of single component; Root component, if there is no selection; nil if selection consists of several components. 
This method call after selection has been changed. 
Selects object passed as Instance parameter. 
Selects all controls on the Prn control. 
Moves a selected component behind all other components on the form. This is called changing the component's z-order. 
Setting new name for pasting component 
Assigns script procedure with particular event of the Instance. 
Changes the currently selected set of components. 
Activates the code editor with the input cursor in a specified event handler. 
Show designer popup menu at the specified screen position. 
Perform size operation to selected components 
Makes start settings before dragging operation 
Generates a unique name from a specified base string. 
Updates positions of component icons. 
Determines whether method MAddr of object ARoot is valid method, i.e. it may be assigned to the event. 
TBaseDesigner Properties 
Description 
Switches target component between design and run-time modes 
Specifies object for which hint was activated. 
Specifies showing of design hints. 
TzCustomFormDesigner Class
TzCustomFormDesigner Class 
Description 
Specifies whether nonvisual components will be displayed in design mode 
Specifies using of align rulers. 
Specifies using of BDS style design environment. 
Controls the text attributes of non-visual components captions. 
Specifies if TzCustomFormDesigner automatically deactivates when Target Form is to be closed. 
Determines generic container for any type of Target components 
Specifies design surface. 
Specifies whether designer has to paint grid over window controls that can accept controls. 
Determines whether dots are drawn on the Target form. 
Determines whether the non-visual component icons has a 3D border or not. 
Specifies whether drag mouse movement should be clipped by parent's client area. 
Form 
Provides access to designed form as TCustomForm type. 
Storage of assigned events. 
Specifies grid step, in pixels, along X-axis 
Specifies grid step, in pixels, along Y-axis 
Specifies if user can directly change size and position of controls by mouse. 
Specifies if editing operation are forbidden by default 
Determines whether the user can select more than one control at a time. 
Stores groups information. 
Specifies guidelines options. 
Specifies whether read errors should be ignored when loading using LoadFromFile and LoadFromStream methods. 
Set Read Only mode. 
Specifies whether designer should process events storage. 
Properties of tab order icons. These controls are shown over children control when designer is in "Show Tab Order" mode. 
Sets in-place text editing mode of designer. 
Identifies the pop-up menu associated with the Root control of the Designer. 
Specifies the number of changes that can be undone. 
Specifies which categories of items may be used to form default popup menu. 
Indicates that designer is in Undo loading state, i.e. in reading previously saved form resource. 
Root 
Root component for TzCustomFormDesigner
Indicates whether the Root or its components are modified
Indicates number of selected components. 
Indicates whether a particular control is selected. 
Selection markers manager. 
Specifies whether non-visual component icons captions are visible. 
Automatically aligns components on the form with the nearest gridline. You cannot place a component "in between" gridlines. 
Specifies object that is edited by the designer. 
TzFormDesigner Class
TzFormDesigner Class 
Description 
Switches target component between design and run-time modes 
Specifies whether nonvisual components will be displayed in design mode 
Specifies using of align rulers. 
Specifies using of BDS style design environment. 
Controls the text attributes of non-visual components captions. 
Specifies if TzCustomFormDesigner automatically deactivates when Target Form is to be closed. 
Specifies design surface. 
Specifies whether designer has to paint grid over window controls that can accept controls. 
Determines whether dots are drawn on the Target form. 
Specifies whether drag mouse movement should be clipped by parent's client area. 
Determines whether the non-visual component icons has a 3D border or not. 
Specifies grid step, in pixels, along X-axis 
Specifies grid step, in pixels, along Y-axis 
Specifies guidelines options. 
Specifies whether read errors should be ignored when loading using LoadFromFile and LoadFromStream methods. 
Specifies if user can directly change size and position of controls by mouse. 
Specifies if editing operation are forbidden by default 
Determines whether the user can select more than one control at a time. 
Occurs when the Active property of the TzCustomFormDesigner changes 
Occurs before deleting selected component. 
Occurs to determine whether Edit method of component editor can be called. 
Occurs before inserting new component. 
Occurs before moving selected component. 
Occurs before renaming component. 
Occurs before resizing selected component. 
Occurs before selecting component. 
Occurs before new component creation. 
Occurs when frame is to be inserted on the form. 
Occurs before creating icon for non-visual component. 
Occurs when new method name is input in object inspector. 
Occurs when the user drops an object being dragged. 
Occurs when the user drags an object over a control. 
Occurs when painting any control on the form. Use this event to draw over control. 
Occurs when ExecuteAction method is called. Use it to handle standard shared actions for currently active designer. 
Occurs immediately after hiding the Target form . 
Occurs when the application is about to display the hint window for the particular component. 
Occurs to determine whether component is locked. 
Occurs when method property editor requests designer for possible method names. 
Occurs at the end of GetObjectName method to adjust resulting name. 
Occurs when method property editor ask for script procedure name associated with a given property. 
Occurs on any message sent to managed controls. 
Occurs only at design mode when user presses down any key. 
Occurs only at design mode when key pressed. 
Occurs only at design mode when user releases key that has been pressed. 
Occurs only at design mode when user presses mouse button. 
Occurs only at design mode when user moves mouse. 
Occurs only at design mode when user releases mouse button. 
Occurs when components are added or removed to/from Root object at design mode. 
Occurs when restoring Target from undo buffer. 
Occurs when saving Target to undo buffer. 
Occurs when name of method is changed in object inspector. 
Occurs when assigning name to newly inserted component (created or pasted). 
Occurs when method property editor assigns script procedure to the event. 
Occurs when user double clicks on the procedure in the object inspector. 
Occurs when UpdateAction method is called. Use it to handle standard shared actions for currently active designer. 
Occurs to validate method. 
Identifies the pop-up menu associated with the Root control of the Designer. 
Specifies which categories of items may be used to form default popup menu. 
Set Read Only mode. 
Selection markers manager. 
Specifies whether non-visual component icons captions are visible. 
Specifies showing of design hints. 
Automatically aligns components on the form with the nearest gridline. You cannot place a component "in between" gridlines. 
Specifies whether designer should process events storage. 
Properties of tab order icons. These controls are shown over children control when designer is in "Show Tab Order" mode. 
Specifies object that is edited by the designer. 
Sets in-place text editing mode of designer. 
Specifies the number of changes that can be undone. 
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