LEARN PROGRAMMING WITH PASCAL
(RESOURCES)
This document contains notes on cross‐platform development with Free Pascal and
Lazarus, plus some links to web sites which provide additional information on
programming with Lazarus and Delphi.
Cross-platform development
Lazarus boasts “Write once, compile anywhere”. In the development of this course I
put this to the test by importing a variety of Delphi projects into Lazarus for
Windows and then importing those projects into Lazarus on the Mac. In so doing, I
experienced a few problems. this is how I dealt with them…
IMPORTING FROM DELPHI
You can import a Delphi project using the Lazarus Delphi project importer. Make
sure you keep a backup of your original project before commencing this process.
Importation is started by selecting the Tools menu, then Convert Delphi Project to
Lazarus project. You then need to browse to a Delphi project file (ending with .dpr)
and click the Open button. This dialog appears…
You may experiment with the options here. In most cases, accepting the
defaults will be ok, so just click Start Conversion.
The application startup code differs according to which version of Delphi was
used to create the original project. You may need to edit the Lazarus project file to fix
any problems here. Open the project (.lpr) file. Select Project, View Project Source. This
is typical of the project soured I use in my converted projects (don’t change the first
line – shown below as ‘project1’ which must match the actual name of your project).
program project1; // this must be the actual project name
{$mode objfpc}{$H+}
uses
{$IFDEF UNIX}{$IFDEF UseCThreads}
cthreads,
{$ENDIF}{$ENDIF}
Interfaces,
Forms, Unit1
{$R *.res}
begin
RequireDerivedFormResource := True;
Application.Initialize;
Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
Application.Run;
end.
Note that the converter uses the compiler mode {$MODE Delphi} and you may
leave that if you wish. In my projects I specifically use the Object Pascal mode {$mode
objfpc}{$H+} and I have inserted this directive into all the code units in my projects.
If you receive an error warning that resources are not found, try commentuing out
the {$R *.res} directive in the project file. Alternatively, try using these settings in
Project, Project Options, Miscellaneous…
In some cases you may also need to add the LCL package to your project.
Load the Project Inspector (Project, Project Inspector). If LCL is not shown beneath the
Required Packages branch, select Required Packages and click the ‘+’ (Add) button.
Click the New Requirement tab and select LCL from the Package Name list. Then click
Create New Requirement.
CONVERT WINDOWS LAZARUS PROJECT TO MAC
The Mac edition of Lazarus is able to open projects that were create on Windows.
Even so, you may find that when you run them on OS X, applications that were
written on Windows may be unresponsive. To fix this problem, you need to create
an ‘Application Bundle’. An Application Bundle is a special directory that OS X uses
to store various resources required to run the application. By default this directory is
hidden (it is not shown in Finder). Even so, it is needed to your Mac Lazarus
projects. To create an Application Bundle, select Project Options from the Lazarus
Project menu.
Make sure ‘Use Application Bundle for running and debugging’ is checked.
Now click the Create Application Bundle button. This dialog should confirm
that the Application bundle has been created…
MORE ON CROSS-PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT
The Free Pascal Wiki provides more detailed information on cross‐platform
development. In particular refer to the Free Pascal Multiplatform Programming Guide
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Multiplatform_Programming_Guide and Cross Compiling
with Lazarus http://wiki.freepascal.org/Cross_compiling.
Resources
USEFUL WEB SITES
http://wiki.freepascal.org/
This is an essential guide for Lazarus users. Some pages of particular interest are
listed below…
Lazarus Documentation
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Lazarus_Documentation
Guide to Cross-platform issues with Lazarus
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Multiplatform_Programming_Guide
The Debugger
http://wiki.freepascal.org/Category:Debugging
Delphi Basics
Excellent language reference site
http://www.delphibasics.co.uk
Delphi Wikia
http://delphi.wikia.com/wiki/Delphi_Wiki
Delphi at About.com
http://delphi.about.com/
Dr Bob’s Delphi Programming Clinic
http://www.drbob42.com/
Embarcadero (makers of Delphi)
http://www.embarcadero.com/
