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Archive for the ‘Delphi’ Category

delphi – Can I use an Edit Mask to format output? (not just validate input) – Stack Overflow

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/10/27

From a while ago, and – being on the back-end side mostly – I sometimes forget: [WayBack] delphi – Can I use an Edit Mask to format output? (not just validate input) – Stack Overflow

You can use the TField.OnGetText event or TNumericField.DisplayFormat property to modify how the text is being displayed.

Since you have a TStringField holding numbers, you have two choices:

use a TNumericField and the DisplayFormat property

use the OnGetText event and do your own string formatting

Edit:

Sam used this approach:

I implemented OnSetText and OnGetText event handlers. I already had the Edit Mask 9999 9999 9999 9999;1;_ so the OnSetText was just
TStringField(Sender).Value := Trim(Text);
and OnGetText was just
sValue := TStringField(Sender).Value;  
Text := Format('%s %s %s %s', [Copy(sValue, 1, 4), Copy(sValue, 5, 4), Copy(sValue, 9, 4), Copy(sValue, 13, 4)]);
It works fine. Thanks.

–jeroen

Posted in Delphi, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

My toolkit – Roald’s blog

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/10/22

Always interesting to see what others put on their Windows development systems, for instance: [WayBack] My toolkit – Roald’s blog

Everytime I (re)install my development computer I need to think about all the tools I need and use on a regular basis. For that reason, and maybe to inspire others, here’s my list of essentia…

–jeroen

Posted in .NET, Delphi, Development, Software Development, Windows Development | Leave a Comment »

delphi – How to convert a null terminated string to string? – Stack Overflow

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/10/22

An old trick that I tend to forget: [WayBack] delphi – How to convert a null terminated string to string? – Stack Overflow:

You can assign a null-terminated PChar directly to a String:
function GetFileName(DiskName: TFileNameIO): string;
begin
 Result := PChar(@DiskName);
end;

It can work even on string literals and constants, where you can leave out the @, like in:

var
  S: string;
begin
  S := PChar(FastMM4Messages.LogFileExtension;

Probably time to update the unit I mention in ISO 8601 Date, Time and DateTime in Delphi (was: Simple example to show DateTime.Now in ISO 8601 format on ideone.com | Online C# Compiler & Debugging Tool).

–jeroen

Posted in Delphi, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Automated testing Windows applications using Katalon and WinAppDriver

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/10/21

[WayBack] Top 45 Best Automation Testing Tools Ultimate List • Test Automation Made Easy: Tools, Tips & Training Awesomeness A few notes, partially related to Enable your device for development – UWP app developer | Microsoft Docs.

One research project I had a while ago, was to see how it was possible to use a generic testing tool like Katalon Studio (that can test many platforms), for testing Windows applications.

Katalon uses a Selenium interface that normally is used for web applications through the [WayBack] WebDriver protocol (formerly [WayBack] JsonWireProtocol) that continues to be updated: [WayBack] draft upcoming WebDriver protocol, which is more generic than just web applications:

To test mobile apps, you can use [WayBack] Appium: Mobile App Automation Made Awesome.
To test Windows applications, you can use the – also open source – WinAppDriver, which is installed as part of Appium.

Adding the WebDriver protocol was basically the biggest change between Selenium 1.0 and Selenium 2.0: [WayBack] Selenium WebDriver

WebDriver is a remote control interface that enables introspection and control of user agents. It provides a platform- and language-neutral wire protocol as a way for out-of-process programs to remotely instruct the behavior of web browsers.

Mor information on WebDriver at [WayBack] GitHub – w3c/webdriver: Remote control interface that enables introspection and control of user agents.

WinAppDriver is at [WayBack] GitHub – Microsoft/WinAppDriver: Windows Application Driver

Finding your way is not easy, as for instance “SetCapabilities” “WinAppDriver” – Google Search returns hardly anything, it af all useful.

By now I know that should have been “SetCapability” “WinAppDriver” – Google Search, which for a word-blind person like me, looks identical, but is not.

A few notes if you want to go the same way:

DesiredCapabilities and SetCapability:

Not sure yet, but on some levels, DesiredCapabilities seems to be deprecated (more on that below the fold)
[WayBack] WinAppDriver/Session.cs at master · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub and[WayBack] WinAppDriver/TestBase.cs at master · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub have a great set of test cases showing all the Windows supported capabilities
- Many more tests at [WayBack] WinAppDriver/Tests/WebDriverAPI at master · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub.
[WayBack] Windows – Appium has more tips on capabilities

[WayBack] WinAppDriver/README.md at master · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub has the WinAppDriver Capabilities:

Capabilities Descriptions Example

app Application identifier or executable full path Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge

appArguments Application launch arguments https://github.com/Microsoft/WinAppDriver

appTopLevelWindow Existing application top level window to attach to 0xB822E2

appWorkingDir Application working directory (Classic apps only) C:\Temp

platformName Target platform name Windows

platformVersion Target platform version 1.0

Capabilities	Descriptions	Example
`app`	Application identifier or executable full path	`Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge`
`appArguments`	Application launch arguments	`https://github.com/Microsoft/WinAppDriver`
`appTopLevelWindow`	Existing application top level window to attach to	`0xB822E2`
`appWorkingDir`	Application working directory (Classic apps only)	`C:\Temp`
`platformName`	Target platform name	`Windows`
`platformVersion`	Target platform version	`1.0`

[WayBack] Desired Capabilities – Appium has a long list of capability names, of which these are the most important:

Capability Description Values

platformName Which mobile OS platform to use iOS, Android, or FirefoxOS

platformVersion Mobile OS version e.g., 7.1, 4.4

deviceName The kind of mobile device or emulator to use iPhone Simulator, iPad Simulator, iPhone Retina 4-inch, Android Emulator, Galaxy S4, etc…. On iOS, this should be one of the valid devices returned by instruments with instruments -s devices. On Android this capability is currently ignored, though it remains required.

app The absolute local path or remote http URL to a .ipa file (IOS), .app folder (IOS Simulator), .apk file (Android) or .apks file (Android App Bundle), or a .zip file containing one of these (for .app, the .app folder must be the root of the zip file). Appium will attempt to install this app binary on the appropriate device first. Note that this capability is not required for Android if you specify appPackage and appActivity capabilities (see below). Incompatible with browserName. See here about .apks file. /abs/path/to/my.apk or http://myapp.com/app.ipa

newCommandTimeout How long (in seconds) Appium will wait for a new command from the client before assuming the client quit and ending the session e.g. 60

Capability	Description	Values
`platformName`	Which mobile OS platform to use	`iOS`, `Android`, or `FirefoxOS`
`platformVersion`	Mobile OS version	e.g., `7.1`, `4.4`
`deviceName`	The kind of mobile device or emulator to use	`iPhone Simulator`, `iPad Simulator`, `iPhone Retina 4-inch`, `Android Emulator`, `Galaxy S4`, etc…. On iOS, this should be one of the valid devices returned by instruments with `instruments -s devices`. On Android this capability is currently ignored, though it remains required.
`app`	The absolute local path or remote http URL to a `.ipa` file (IOS), `.app` folder (IOS Simulator), `.apk` file (Android) or `.apks` file (Android App Bundle), or a `.zip` file containing one of these (for .app, the .app folder must be the root of the zip file). Appium will attempt to install this app binary on the appropriate device first. Note that this capability is not required for Android if you specify `appPackage` and `appActivity` capabilities (see below). Incompatible with `browserName`. See here about `.apks` file.	`/abs/path/to/my.apk` or `http://myapp.com/app.ipa`
`newCommandTimeout`	How long (in seconds) Appium will wait for a new command from the client before assuming the client quit and ending the session	e.g. `60`

.NET WinForms is supported by WinAppDriver, as this is solved: [WayBack] WinAppDriver does not work with WinForms applications · Issue #108 · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub: WPF and WinForms applications are supported by Windows Application Driver. Finding the element in those apps may differ but is consistently based on the following attributes:

Locator Strategy	Client API	Matched Attribute
accessibility id	FindElementByAccessibilityId	AutomationId
class name	FindElementByClassName	ClassName
id	FindElementById	RuntimeId (decimal)
name	FindElementByName	Name
tag name	FindElementByTagName	LocalizedControlType (upper camel case)

Using the inspect tool or page source, you can identify and use any suitable attribute to locate your element based on the rules above.

.NET too has a reference implementation in [Archive.is] Accessible.cs and this demo:
1. [WayBack] Making Custom Controls Accessible: Getting Started
2. [WayBack] Implementing MSAA for a Simple Control
Delphi is a totally different story, as it does not expose the automation interface that WebAppDriver expects: it needs IAccessible implementations.
[WayBack] Poll: are you using WinAppDriver to automate Win32, WinForms, or WPF applications? · Issue #369 · Microsoft/WinAppDriver · GitHub
[WayBack] WinAppDriver：Windows Application Driver

IAccessible:

is all because of [WayBack] Microsoft accessibility : Microsoft believes accessibility and inclusion are essential to delivering on our mission to empower everyone, everywhere.
Documentation:
- [WayBack] IAccessible | Microsoft Docs
- [WayBack] IAccessible Interface (Accessibility) | Microsoft Docs
- [WayBack] Using the IAccessible Interface – Windows applications | Microsoft Docs
- … (way more below the fold)

From Delphi:

[WayBack] Using the MSAA IAccessible interface within a Delphi Application | Steve Trefethen
- WayBack: Debugger Tip: Manual stack crawling during native code debugging
- WayBack: Chris’ CodeGear Debugger Blog » Debugger Tip: Manual stack crawling during native code debugging
[WayBack] accessibility – Creating Accessible UI components in Delphi – Stack Overflow
The VCL itself does not natively implement any support for MSAA. Windows provides default implementations for standard UI controls, which many standard VCL components wrap. If you need more MSAA support than Windows provides, you will have to implement the IAccessible interface yourself, and then have your control respond to the WM_GETOBJECT message so it can return a pointer to an instance of your implementation.

Update: For example, one way to add MSAA to an existing TEdit (if you do not want to derive your own component) might look something like this:

First answer uses
```
ObjectFromLresult
```
Second answer uses
```
AccessibleObjectFromWindow
```
via [WayBack] Delphi Components and Screen Readers – Stack Overflow

Be aware:

[WayBack] Memory Leak Using Windows Accessibility Tools (Microsoft Narrator, Windows Speech Recognition) With .NET Applications
[WayBack] Delphi IAccessible Get_accState influences Get_accName? – Stack Overflow
[WayBack] winforms – IAccessible Implementation – Accessible Name only in Control Window? – Stack Overflow
- uses CreateStdAccessibleObject
[WayBack] delphi – IAccessible: Get Active url with Access violation – Stack Overflow
[WayBack] How to use AccessibleObjectFromWindow WinAPI function in Delphi? – Stack Overflow
- [WayBack] AccessibleObjectFromEvent function | Microsoft Docs: Retrieves the address of the IAccessible interface for the object that generated the event that is currently being processed by the client’s event hook function.
[WayBack] CreateStdAccessibleObject function | Microsoft Docs: Creates an accessible object with the methods and properties of the specified type of system-provided user interface element.
[WayBack] CreateStdAccessibleProxyA function | Microsoft Docs: Creates an accessible object that has the properties and methods of the specified class of system-provided user interface element.
[WayBack] CreateStdAccessibleProxyW function | Microsoft Docs: Creates an accessible object that has the properties and methods of the specified class of system-provided user interface element.
[WayBack] How WM_GETOBJECT Works – Windows applications | Microsoft Docs: Microsoft Active Accessibility sends the WM_GETOBJECT message to the appropriate server application when a client calls one of the AccessibleObjectFromX functions.
[WayBack] Retrieving an IAccessible Object – Windows applications | Microsoft Docs:Microsoft Active Accessibility provides functions such as AccessibleObjectFromWindow and AccessibleObjectFromPoint that allow clients to retrieve accessible objects.

When a client calls AccessibleObjectFromWindow or any of the other AccessibleObjectFromX functions that retrieve an interface to an object, Microsoft Active Accessibility sends the WM_GETOBJECT window message to the applicable window procedure within the appropriate application. To provide information to clients, servers must respond to the WM_GETOBJECT message.
- [WayBack] AccessibleObjectFromEvent function | Microsoft Docs:Retrieves the address of the IAccessible interface for the object that generated the event that is currently being processed by the client’s event hook function.
- [WayBack] AccessibleObjectFromWindow function | Microsoft Docs:Retrieves the address of the specified interface for the object associated with the specified window.
- [WayBack] AccessibleObjectFromPoint function | Microsoft Docs:Retrieves the address of the IAccessible interface pointer for the object displayed at a specified point on the screen.

[WayBack] LresultFromObject function | Microsoft Docs: Returns a reference, similar to a handle, to the specified object. Servers return this reference when handling WM_GETOBJECT.

Return code Description

E_INVALIDARG One or more arguments are not valid.

E_NOINTERFACE The object specified in the pAcc parameter does not support the interface specified in the riid parameter.

E_OUTOFMEMORY Insufficient memory to store the object reference.

E_UNEXPECTED An unexpected error occurred.

[WayBack] ObjectFromLresult function | Microsoft Docs: Retrieves a requested interface pointer for an accessible object based on a previously generated object reference.

From .NET WinForms:

WinAppDriver

Return code	Description
E_INVALIDARG	One or more arguments are not valid.
E_NOINTERFACE	The object specified in the `pAcc` parameter does not support the interface specified in the `riid` parameter.
E_OUTOFMEMORY	Insufficient memory to store the object reference.
E_UNEXPECTED	An unexpected error occurred.

Of course this is not the only way to test applications; for alternatives (including commercial ones):

Comparison of GUI testing tools – Wikipedia
[WayBack] Top 45 Best Automation Testing Tools Ultimate List • Test Automation Made Easy: Tools, Tips & Training Awesomeness
- Especially read the entries on Appium, Selenium, WinAppDriver, Gauge, Katalon, WebDriver.IO, Test.AI, AppDiff, AutoIt,
[WayBack] Ranorex – SOFTWARE TESTING TOOLS commercial, but good; see for instance these links:
- [WayBack] Roald van Doorn på Twitter: “Integrating Ranorex with TeamCity using PsExec”
  - [WayBack] Integrating Ranorex with TeamCity using PsExec – Roald’s blog
- [WayBack] T406360 – Ranorex UI test of dxRibbon | DevExpress Support Center
  - Solution: create helper classes for the ribbon and all it’s child components that implements the IAccessible interface. You will need to specify everything needed for this interface, but it will work with Ranorex and it’s Spy tool.
- [WayBack] Continuous delivery with Legacy VCL Applications – Entwickler KonferenzA case study of how we applied CD principles to an older VCL application. We will take a look at the challenges we faced and the solutions we chose, the frameworks we use, release procedures and feedback loops. We will demonstrate how we safely build and deploy the windows software for Albelli and Vistaprint, and the benefits this brings to our team and our organization.Outline:
  - Automating your builds using TeamCity
  - Unit testing using DUnitX
  - Automated UI tests using Ranorex and Specflow
  - Deploy to different environments with ProGet and Octopus Deploy
  - Increased speed of value to customer (reduced stock)
  - Increased feedback to developers
- [WayBack] Ranorex Joins the Idera Family – unlike the Delphi teams, Idera has not yet reformed Ranorex, so for now that is a good sign
- [WayBack] Bogdan Polak on Twitter: “Great session @danieleteti about Automated Tests run by pyTest at #ITDevCon #itdevcon9 testing #delphi apps. Small comment about Ranorex and VCL. It’s possible to implement this: https://t.co/d0zbYa2ePi”
[WayBack] We are searching for some Automation Testing Framework, different from Test Complate… Any ideas? We are trying to select a tool for automating an ap… – Avatarx – Google+
[WayBack] I’m using Tokyo here at work to develop our software. The rest of our team is still using XE5. Our build is still in XE5. A QA team member came to m… – Phillip Woon – Google+

–jeroen

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in .NET, Conference Topics, Conferences, Delphi, Development, Event, Software Development, Windows Development, WinForms, WPF | Leave a Comment »

Delphi: get timestamp as ISO8601 string for use in filenames

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/10/21

On Windows, filenames do not like some characters (including : and +), so this is a quick way to get a timestamp into ISO8601 format that is compatible with filenames.

TimeStamp := Now(); StartIso8601String := DateToISO8601(TimeStamp, False).Replace('-', '').Replace(':', '') // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Time_zone_designators

It Depends on the [WayBack] System.DateUtils unit which had the [WayBack] DateToISO8601 function [Archive.is] added in Delphi XE6.

A poor man’s solution (that skips timezones altogether) is this one:

FormatDateTime('yyyymmdd''T''hhnnss''.''zzz', TimeStamp); // note quoted T and ., as otherwise they will be expanded.

–jeroen

Posted in Delphi, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

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The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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delphi – Can I use an Edit Mask to format output? (not just validate input) – Stack Overflow

My toolkit – Roald’s blog

delphi – How to convert a null terminated string to string? – Stack Overflow

Automated testing Windows applications using Katalon and WinAppDriver

Delphi: get timestamp as ISO8601 string for use in filenames

The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Recent Posts

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Tag Cloud Title

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Pages

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Archive for the ‘Delphi’ Category

delphi – Can I use an Edit Mask to format output? (not just validate input) – Stack Overflow

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My toolkit – Roald’s blog

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delphi – How to convert a null terminated string to string? – Stack Overflow

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Automated testing Windows applications using Katalon and WinAppDriver

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Delphi: get timestamp as ISO8601 string for use in filenames

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