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- Delphi 6
- Release Notes
-
-
- ============================================================
-
- This file contains important supplementary and late-breaking
- information that may not appear in the main product
- documentation. We recommend that you read this file in its
- entirety.
-
- For information on new features in this release, choose
- "What's New" in the online Help contents.
-
-
- ============================================================
- CONTENTS
-
- * OTHER RELEASE NOTES INCLUDED WITH THIS PRODUCT
- * ABOUT EDITING THE REGISTRY
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: GENERAL
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: CLX
- * NOTES AND ISSUES:
- WEB/DISTRIBUTED APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: DATABASE DEVELOPMENT
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: INTERNATIONAL/LOCALES
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: VISIBROKER/CORBA
- * NOTES AND ISSUES: ONLINE HELP
- * PRODUCT INFORMATION ON THE WEB
-
-
- ============================================================
- OTHER RELEASE NOTES INCLUDED WITH THIS PRODUCT
-
- * INSTALL contains system requirements and product
- installation information.
-
- * DEPLOY contains information about redistributing your
- applications.
-
- * LICENSE contains information on licensing allowances and
- limitations for this product and other Borland software
- that is bundled with it.
-
- The three files listed above, along with this file, are
- installed to your main product directory (default:
- C:\Program Files\Borland\Delphi6).
-
- You can also find detailed information about new features
- and compatibility issues in DEL6NEW.HLP, which is part of
- the main online Help system (look for "What's New" in the
- Help contents or index).
-
- * BDEREADME, BDEINST and BDEDEPLOY contain release notes,
- installation, and deployment information about the
- Borland Database Engine (BDE) and Borland SQL Links
- products. These files are located in your main BDE
- directory (installation default: c:\Program Files\Common
- Files\Borland Shared\Bde).
-
- IMPORTANT: Any BDE-related information in this README
- overrides any corresponding information provided in the
- BDE release notes.
-
- Additional notes about existing issues with BDE and
- utility applications supplied with BDE are covered in the
- KNOWN ISSUES section later in this document.
-
-
- ============================================================
- ABOUT EDITING THE WINDOWS REGISTRY
-
- Warning:
- Registry edits are performed at your own risk.
-
- Several items in this document and in other parts of the
- documentation that accompany this product describe how to
- edit your Windows registry. In most cases, we recommend that
- you use the Microsoft Regedit tool to perform your editing.
- Whatever tool you use, however, you should, before making
- any edits, make backups of your registry and thoroughly
- familiarize yourself with the editing tool and the registry
- editing process. The registry is a critical component of
- your operating system, and any mistakes made while editing
- it can cause your machine to stop functioning.
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- GENERAL
-
- Compatibility issues
- ------------------------------
-
- * Design-time packages that used ToolsAPI now also require
- designide.
-
- * Comma-delimited string handling
-
- When assigning comma-delimited values to a TStringList
- using the CommaText property, a trailing comma in the
- source string will result in a blank item in the
- StringList. For example, if CommaText is set to:
-
- "String1, String2, String3,"
-
- The StringList will contain:
-
- String1
- String2
- String3
- <Blank>
-
- This is a change in behavior from previous releases.
-
- Other compatibility issues between Delphi 6 and earlier
- versions of Delphi, as well as between Delphi 6 and other
- products, are described in the What's New section of your
- online Help system (search for "Compatibility" in the Help
- Index).
-
- Common controls library version note
- ------------------------------
-
- Outdated versions of the Windows common controls library
- (COMCTL32.DLL) can result in various graphical and
- behavioral problems when using Delphi and any programs you
- develop with Delphi. To help you avoid such problems, Delphi
- provides a separate (and redistributable) common controls
- library updater. Running the updater will refresh an
- outdated common controls library, but will not replace later
- versions of the library that may have been installed on your
- system by other products released after Delphi 6. Before
- running the updater, be sure to read the readme.txt and
- license.txt files that accompany it. And if you redistribute
- the updater to your customers, be sure to include the readme
- and license files in the deployment.
-
- The common controls updater can be run directly from your CD
- at:
- \info\extras\comctl\50comupd.exe
-
- Note:
- You can also keep your common controls library current by
- installing Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. If you'd rather
- install the full browser than the common controls updater,
- run
- \ie55\i386\ie5setup.exe
-
- Environment options/environment variable usage
- ------------------------------
-
- You can now use operating-system environment variables to
- specify directory paths in certain IDE dialogs. Use of
- environment variables is available on the
- Directories/Conditionals page of the Project Options dialog
- and on the Library page of the Environment Options dialog.
- The syntax is $(VariableName). For example, under Search
- Path, you can now enter
-
- $(TEMP);$(DELPHI)\source
-
- The $(DELPHI) macro, used to specify directory paths, still
- points by default to the directory immediately above
- Delphi's bin directory. But you can override this by
- creating an environment variable called DELPHI.
-
- The Environment Options dialog now has an Environment
- Variables page that you can use to set OS environment
- variables.
-
- Working with the sample imported automation
- server wrappers for MS Office
- ------------------------------
-
- Delphi installs a package with pre-imported wrapper
- components for either Office 97 or Office 2000. If you need
- to change the sample automation server packages after
- installation:
-
- 1. Choose Component | Install Packages and remove the
- current server package. The package descriptions are:
- * Microsoft Office 2000 Sample Automation Server Wrapper
- Components
- * Microsoft Office 97 Sample Automation Server Wrapper
- Components
-
- 2. Add the other automation server package by clicking the
- Add button and browsing to your \delphi\bin directory.
- The package names are:
- * dcloffice2k60.bpl (for Office 2000)
- * dclaxserver60.bpl (for Office 97)
-
- Note that the Office automation server demos found under
- \Demos\ActiveX are written for Office 97 but can be compiled
- for Office 2000 with slight modifications.
-
- ActiveX Wizard/licensing issue
- ------------------------------
-
- [Enterprise, Professional editions only]
- Delphi does not directly support the licensing of ActiveX
- controls for Web deployment. License package (.LPK) files,
- which are required for runtime licensing of ActiveX
- controls, can only be generated by LPK_TOOL.EXE, a utility
- available in Microsoft's Internet SDK. For more information
- on the license-creation tool and how it is used, visit
- http://support.microsoft.com and search for "LPK".
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- CLX
-
- About the CLX libraries
- ------------------------------
-
- Delphi 6 includes the new CLX libraries for cross-platform
- development. CLX maintains the architecture and class
- hierarchy of the original VCL for Windows. The most obvious
- difference is that the VisualCLX GUI components call the Qt
- libraries for drawing graphics--which run on both Linux and
- Windows--instead of the Windows API.
-
- CLX source can be found in /Delphi6/Source/VCL/CLX. The
- compiled versions are in your /Delphi6/Lib directory.
-
- The names of CLX Units that link with Qt (VisualCLX GUI
- units) now begin with "Q" and the locations of some classes
- are different in CLX. TWidgetControl replaces the VCL's
- TWinControl; other components (e.g. TScrollingWidget) have
- corresponding names. The type declaration
-
- TWinControl = TWidgetControl;
-
- appears in QControls to simplify sharing of source code.
-
- Message loops and events work differently in CLX
- applications, but this will primarily affect component
- writing. Most component and property editors will port
- easily. TObject.Dispatch and message method syntax on
- classes still work; in CLX Applications, however, OS
- notifications are not sent through Windows-style messaging.
-
- To create applications that are easily portable between
- Windows and Linux, remember to
- * reduce or IFDEF WinAPI calls.
- * eliminate Windows messaging (PostMessage, SendMessage)
- within an application.
- * use TIniFile instead of TRegIniFile.
- * observe case-sensitivity in file and directory names.
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- WEB AND DISTRIBUTED APPLICATION
- DEVELOPMENT
-
- MSXML.DLL required for SOAP, WSDL, and XMLMapper
- ------------------------------
-
- The MSXML.DLL library must be present and registered in
- order to use the new SOAP, WSDL, and XMLMapper features
- included with this product. If the library is not present on
- your machine, you can obtain it as part of an XML Parser
- package from the Microsoft Download Center at:
-
- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?
-
- Choose the "Keyword Search" option, then search for "MSXML".
-
- To register the library from a command prompt, cd to the
- location where the MSXML.DLL file is installed (e.g.
- \winnt\system32), then type
-
- REGSVR32 MSXML.DLL
-
- WebServices notes
- ------------------------------
-
- * The THTTPRIO component used for client SOAP connections
- can be lifetime-managed as either a component or as an
- interfaced object. It is managed as a component when its
- owner is non-nil, such as when it is placed on a form or
- on a data module. In such cases, be sure to nil out any
- interface references that are not local variables before
- the owner is destroyed.
-
- For example:
-
- TForm1 = class(Tform)
- HTTPRIO1:THTTPRIO;
- . . .
- private
- MyInterface:IMyInterface;
- . . .
- end;
-
- TForm1.SomeMethod;
- begin
- MyInterface:=HTTPRIO1 as IMyInterface;
- end;
-
- TForm.FormDestroy(Sender: TObject);
- begin
- MyInterface:=nil;
- end;
-
- Using the Web App Debugger with Delphi 5 projects
- ------------------------------
-
- To run Delphi 5 Web Server Applications using the Delphi 6
- Web App Debugger, it is necessary to create a new Web Server
- Application, selecting "Web App Debugger executable" as the
- server type. Then remove the default WebModule and add your
- existing WebModules to the new application. For each
- WebModule you add, add the following code to the unit's
- initialization section:
-
- if WebRequestHandler <> nil then
- WebRequestHandler.WebModuleClass := TWebModule2;
-
- Note that "TWebModule2" should be replaced with the name of
- the actual WebModule.
-
- WebSnap notes
- ------------------------------
-
- * Environment options:
-
- The Internet tab is used to set some WebSnap configuration
- options.
-
- An external HTML editor must be specified in order to
- enable the HTML editor command in the Internet toolbar.
-
- * InterBase 6 implementation note
-
- If you are using a WebSnap application with InterBase 6, a
- local database connection is not recommended. Instead, use
- a client/server connection specified by a protocol-
- specific prefix to the path to the database.
-
- Examples:
-
- Local connection (not recommended):
- C:\PathTo\Database\DBName.gdb
-
- TCP/IP connection on Windows:
- saturn:C:\PathTo\Database\DBName.gdb
-
- TCP/IP connection on UNIX:
- jupiter:/usr/PathTo/Database/DBName.gdb
-
- NetBEUI connection:
- \\venus\C:\PathTo\Database\DBName.gdb
-
- IPX/SPX connection:
- mars@vol2:\PathTo\Database\DBName.gdb
-
- If the WebSnap application is on the same machine as the
- server, you can use localhost:
- localhost:C:\PathTo\Database\DBName.gdb
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- DATABASE DEVELOPMENT
-
- DB2 notes for dbExpress
- ------------------------------
-
- * The provided DB2 driver is certified for DB2 version 6 and
- 7. The client version and server version must be the
- same. BDE also supports both DB2 versions.
-
- Oracle notes for dbExpress
- ------------------------------
-
- * The Oracle driver provided for dbExpress components is
- certified for Oracle 8.1.6. BDE and ADO also support
- Oracle 8.1.5. In all cases, the client version and server
- version must be the same.
-
- * When qualifying a table name with a user name, you must
- use quotes around the table name when CommandType is set
- to ctTable.
-
- Static linking DataSnap clients
- ------------------------------
-
- It is now possible to eliminate the need to deploy the
- TClientDataSet runtime module (MIDAS.DLL). This can be done
- for DataSnap clients and other applications requiring this
- module by including MidasLib in the uses statement of any
- unit in the project. DataSnap servers still require
- MIDAS.DLL.
-
- Static linking of dbExpress drivers
- ------------------------------
-
- The dbExpress driver DLLs can be linked directly into an
- application by including the appropriate unit in the uses
- clause of the application or any unit:
-
- * dbexpint (InterBase)
- * dbexpORA (Oracle)
- * dbexpdb2 (DB2)
- * dbexpmys (MySQL)
-
- Only one dbExpress driver can be linked into each client
- application.
-
- InterBase 6 Dialect 3
- ------------------------------
-
- To use the new InterBase 6 Dialect 3 features, add an entry
- to your Windows registry under
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
- Borland\Database Engine\Settings
- \Drivers\Intrbase\Db Open\SQLDIALECT
- and set the value to "3".
-
- When an InterBase alias is created, the new entry will be
- available in the .CFG file.
-
- To use InterBase 5.6, SQLDIALECT can be set to "1" (existing
- IB aliases which do not have the SQLDIALECT entry default to
- SQLDIALECT=1 or to the registry setting when the SQLDIALECT
- entry is added to the registry).
-
- Other database development notes
- ------------------------------
-
- * Delphi 6 supports both InterBase 5.6 and 6.0. The client
- version and server version must be the same.
-
- * Delphi 6 installs sample database files that are
- compatible with the provided InterBase 6.0.1. Sample
- databases which are compatible with older versions of
- InterBase are on your CD in the Info\Extras directory.
-
- * Enterprise edition only: Microsoft Data Access Components
- (MDAC) components are available for separate installation
- by running MDAC_TYP.EXE from the \MDAC directory on your
- product CD.
-
- * A VCL hierarchy change involving TClientDataSet and
- TCustomClientDataSet causes incompatible parameter lists
- and affects the behavior of a number of types and events.
- For details, see What's New Help and search the index for
- the phrase "compatibility".
-
- * The MySQL driver has been tested with MySQL version
- 3.22.32.
-
- * The Borland Database Engine CAB file (BDEINST.CAB) is no
- longer digitally signed. This CAB file is provided for
- backward compatibility. For new applications, we
- recommend deploying the BDE with the BDE merge modules.
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- INTERNATIONAL/LOCALES
-
- Menu Shortcut Conflicts
- ------------------------------
-
- Menu shortcuts in the IDE may conflict with system shortcuts
- and international character key combinations. If you want to
- disable the Ctrl+Alt hot keys in the IDE, set this DWORD
- registry key:
-
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Borland\Delphi\6.0\
- Editor\Options\NoCtrlAltKeys
-
- to "1".
-
- Resource DLL Wizard and Windows 2000 locales
- ------------------------------
-
- The Resource DLL wizard requires a distinct two- or three-
- letter file extension for each translated version of a
- project it maintains. For some languages that are written in
- both Latin and Cyrillic characters, however, Windows 2000
- uses the same default extension regardless of the character
- set (as shown in the table below). If you want to maintain
- both Latin and Cyrillic versions for such languages, change
- the extension for one of the translations when you run the
- Resource DLL wizard.
-
- Language Locale ID Extension
-
- Azeri (Cyrillic) 82C AZE
- Azeri (Latin) 42C AZE
-
- Uzbek (Cyrillic) 843 UZB
- Uzbek (Latin) 443 UZB
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- VISIBROKER/CORBA
-
- VisiBroker 4, CORBA, and IDL-TO-PAS
- ------------------------------
-
- VisiBroker 4 lets you create CORBA clients and servers that
- can interoperate with other CORBA applications written in
- C++ and Java. The product includes an IDL-to-Pascal compiler
- capable of compiling CORBA IDL into Delphi Pascal stub and
- skeleton code, and the associated runtime library required
- to interface between this code and the VisiBroker 4 C++ ORB.
- This implementation supports simple and complex data types
- in IDL, along with callbacks, the COSNaming Service and the
- COSEvent Service.
-
- Many examples are provided to illustrate the different
- features of the VisiBroker 4 for Delphi implementation.
- These examples are located in your
- Delphi6/Demos/Corba/IDL2PAS directory.
-
- IDL-to-Delphi Pascal Language Mapping is specified in
- chapter two of the VisiBroker 4 for Delphi manual (installed
- to your Delphi6/Doc/IDL2PAS directory). The manual is in PDF
- format; a viewer is also provided.
-
- CORBA compatibility notes
- ------------------------------
-
- The TypeLib interface and CorbaConnection component are only
- compatible with the VisiBroker 3.3 ORB. The Corba Wizards,
- located on the CORBA tab of the File | New | Other tab of
- the projects dialog box, are compatible with both VisiBroker
- 3.3 and VisiBroker 4.1.
-
-
- ============================================================
- NOTES AND ISSUES:
- ONLINE HELP
-
- How to disengage CLX Help Reference linking
- ------------------------------
- [Applies to Enterprise and Professional editions only]
-
- The default Help installation for Delphi 6 includes
- documentation for two component libraries: the familiar
- Visual Component Library (VCL) for Windows development, and
- the new CLX library documentation for cross-platform
- development. As a result, you'll often be presented with a
- choice of two titles when seeking information on a specific
- object or property--one title from the VCL reference, and
- the other from the CLX reference. If, however, you are doing
- Windows platform development only and you'd like to forego
- the library choice when summoning Help, you can easily
- disengage the CLX reference from the main Help system's
- linking mechanisms. Here's how:
-
- 1. If Delphi Help is running, close it (no need to close
- the Delphi IDE, though).
-
- 2. Using any text editor, open the files DELPHI6.OHL,
- DELPHI6.OHI, and DELPHI6.OHC (all are located in your
- Delphi\Help directory).
-
- 3. In each file, comment out each line containing the
- string "DLX1CLX" by entering a semicolon as the first
- character on the line.
-
- 4. Save each file.
-
- 5. In your Delphi\Help folder, delete any hidden files with
- the extension "GID". Also delete any files with an
- extension beginning with "F".
-
- Note:
- All of these files are automatically generated by Help,
- and will be restored the next time Delphi Help is run. The
- GID is a General Index file, and the "F" files are
- generated when you run a full-text search from the Help
- Topics dialog. Deleting these files--always recommended
- when you alter the Help system configuration or install
- updated Help files--will assure proper indexing and
- database searching when you restart Help.
-
- 6. Restart Help, either by running DELPHI6.HLP directly
- from your Delphi\Help folder, or by starting it from the
- IDE using the Help menu or F1. The DLX1CLX.HLP topics
- should now be excluded from your searches and indexes.
-
- If you also delete the DLX1CLX files from your Delphi\Help
- folder and later decide to restore them (from CD), remember
- to uncomment the DLX1CLX lines in your *.OH? files to allow
- the files to be linked back into your larger Help system.
-
- You can also use the DELPHI6.OH* file set to disengage any
- other part of the Help system (apart from the core DELPHI6.*
- set), or add your own Help files to the system.
-
- Windows Help index limitation on Windows 98/ME
- ------------------------------
-
- The Windows Help engine on Windows 95, 98, and Millennium
- uses a 16-bit list box in the Help Topics dialog's Index
- tab, and can display no more than 32,767 keywords. If this
- limitation is exceeded, the Index is blank. If you are using
- one of these operating systems, you may note that the Help
- Index control file (Delphi6.ohi) has been modified to
- exclude a number of Help files from the Index. This
- modification does not affect other Help system functionality-
- -such as crossfile linking or F1 accessibility--and you can
- expand the index or modify it further to include or exclude
- any Help file reference by adding or removing semi-colon
- comment marks before ":Index" entries. When modifying the
- .OHI file, however, you must keep the WinHelp viewer
- limitation in mind to avoid the "blank index" problem.
-
- Keeping your Help Index pointers current
- ------------------------------
-
- Whenever your Delphi Help system is modified or
- reconfigured, be sure to delete any hidden *.GID files in
- your Delphi6/Help directory before restarting Help.
-
- SHED and MRBC utilities not included
- ------------------------------
-
- The Help file for the Help Compiler Workshop (HCW) product
- states that two utilities--SHED.EXE and MRBC.EXE--are
- included with HCW. We do not, however, ship these utilities
- with our distribution of HCW. They are included in the full
- HCW distribution, available free from the Microsoft Web
- site.
-
- Help may include references
- to features not available in your edition
- ------------------------------
-
- Your Help system may include references to features or
- functionality that is not available in your edition of
- Delphi. For example, the Help system included with the
- Personal Edition includes topics that describe cross-
- platform development and WebSnap features. These sections of
- the Help system may be ignored. If you'd like more
- information about such features and the advantages of
- upgrading to a version of Delphi that includes them,
- however, check the Delphi home site at
- http://www.borland.com/delphi/.
-
-
- ============================================================
- PRODUCT INFORMATION ON THE WEB
-
- In addition to numerous private sites that offer
- information, instruction, and samples, the following Borland
- Web-based resources provide a continuous stream of news,
- product information, updates, code, and other materials. You
- can connect to many of these resources directly from the
- Help menu.
-
- Delphi Direct [Help|Delphi Direct]
- ------------------------------
-
- This IDE add-in resource provides an automatically updated
- list of links to the latest news, downloads, and other
- information about Delphi and Borland.
-
- Code Central
- ------------------------------
-
- The CodeCentral Repository is a free, searchable database of
- code, tips, and other materials of interest to developers.
- For details and registration information, visit
- http://community.borland.com/codecentral
-
- The Borland Web site
- ------------------------------
-
- Borland Software Corporation home page:
- http://www.borland.com
- [IDE: Help|Borland Home Page]
-
- Delphi home page:
- http://www.borland.com/delphi/
- [IDE: Help|Delphi Home Page]
-
- Delphi developer support:
- http://www.borland.com/devsupport/delphi/
- [IDE: Help|Delphi Developer Support]
-
- Delphi updates and other downloads:
- http://www.borland.com/devsupport/delphi/downloads/
-
- Delphi documentation site:
- http://www.borland.com/techpubs/delphi
-
- Newsgroups:
- http://www.borland.com/newsgroups/
-
- Worldwide offices and distributors:
- http://www.borland.com/bww/
-
- FTP site (anonymous access):
- ftp.borland.com
-
-
- ============================================================
- Copyright ⌐ 2001 Borland Software Corporation.
- All rights reserved.
-
-