The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

I try to keep an eye on older Delphi versions as, despite lacking features of newer versions, they do not suffer from issues (hi-dpi, language server, refactoring, stability).

Some notes below.

Tools to always install after Delphi

Install in this order so that GExperts gets the Alt-X menu shortcut and MMX the Alt-M menu shortcut.

1. GExperts
   • [Wayback/Archive] GExperts | Programming Tools for Delphi and C++Builder
   • [Wayback/Archive] Download | GExperts
   • [Wayback/Archive] GExperts 1.3.24 Beta1 for Delphi 12 – GExperts – Delphi-PRAXiS [en]
   • [Wayback/Archive] Experimental GExperts Version – twm’s blog
   • [Wayback/Archive] GExperts 1.3.25 2024-08-24 – twm’s blog
2. MMX (Model Maker code eXplorer)
   • [Wayback/Archive] MMX – speed up your Delphi development
   • [Wayback/Archive] Downloads – MMX
   • [Wayback/Archive] Downloads – MMX (MMX Setup)
3. Project Magician
   • [Wayback/Archive] Document that .dproj files shoud be saved with DprojNormalizer or Project Magician · Issue #23 · jpluimers/GExperts · GitHub
   • [Wayback/Archive] Keep Your Project Files Clean With Project Magician – The Art of Delphi Programming
     

     Seems Delphi 10.3.3 Rio adds some bogus entries for Android 64 into the dproj files when opening a project from a previous version. As this undermines the normalizing algorithm in Project Magician I added some code to clean up that mess first.

   • [Wayback/Archive] Project Magician V1.0.16 released – The Art of Delphi Programming
   • [Wayback/Archive] Support for Delphi 12 Athens – The Art of Delphi Programming
   • [Wayback/Archive] Downloads – The Art of Delphi Programming (Project Magician)
   • [Wayback/Archive] Downloads – The Art of Delphi Programming (DProjNormalizer)
4. TestInsight
   • [Wayback/Archive] Delphi sorcery: April 2021
   • [Wayback/Archive] sglienke / TestInsight / wiki / Home — Bitbucket

Then download at least these libraries:

• Spring4D: be aware that it got upgraded from 1.2 to 2.0 early 2024 which has some changes on existing projects that need your attention, especially if you have core libraries depending on Spring4D which are used from projects of which some based on Spring4D 1.2 and others on 2.0:
  • [Wayback/Archive] Upgrade from Spring4d 1.2 to Spring4d 2.0 – Delphi Third-Party – Delphi-PRAXiS [en]
  • [Wayback/Archive] sglienke / Spring4D / wiki / Spring4D 2.0 Releasenotes — Bitbucket

Delphi 10 Seattle requires .NET 3.5

You’d think the easiest to install it is through Chocolatey via [Wayback/Archive] Chocolatey Software | Dot Net 3.5 3.5.20160716

choco install dotnet3.5

This fails (Windows 11 is lacking wmic.exe)

The solution in Deploy .NET Framework 3.5 by using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) | Microsoft Learn still works (and still takes a long time, even on fast hardware with a fast internet connection):

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 /All

License manager fails to import registration .txt file

It loads the .txt file, but after closing the license manager it is not really imported.

Cause: you renamed the .txt file so that it contains more readable meta-information in the filename.

Solution: put the license file into a directory that has a readme.md file with the meta-information (like computername: that is what the license binds itself to in the online registration wizard).

This brought me an aha moment, as I had encountered it in the past and solved it, but forgot to make a note of it.

So this time, there was no need to follow the steps in either of these:

• [Wayback/Archive] How to get past the Embarcadero Product Registration Dialog when installing Delphi 10.4 CE – Stack Overflow
• [Wayback/Archive] How to install Delphi 10.4 Sydney command line compiler (on Windows Server 2016)? – Stack Overflow

Delphi 12 still has the same icons for all 3 personalities

By now, I had hoped the devteam had finally ensured there were three different icons for the personalicties:

• Delphi
• C++ Builder
• RAD Studio

False hope:

Icons for Delphi 12, C++ Builder 12 and RAD Studio 12: they are all the same.

And very easy to fix as bds.exe includes all the needed icons and more – see image on the right.

Images:

• [Wayback/Archive] 383651441-1aeb93d1-f05d-452f-9566-b1f20b8f0ea1.png (140×87)
• [Wayback/Archive] 383652823-5ff42258-9bc3-4efd-9027-5391141f4f48.png (292×357)

Delphi 12.1 offline installer bugs not fixed in Delphi 12.2

[Administrator] RAD Studio 12

Java JDK not found on this machine. Please, install Java JDK before.

OK

If I ever get this to work, I want to use the OpenJDK; some links for that:

• [Wayback/Archive] Adopting the OpenJDK for Delphi Android Development
• [Wayback/Archive] OpenJDK Version Support In Delphi 10.3.3 And Delphi 10.4.2 – Cross-platform – Delphi-PRAXiS [en]

This was introduced in Delphi 12.1:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In addition, these Delphi 12.0 installation issues have not been fixed in Delphi 12.2 either (but the C++ Builder path issue seems fixed in the 12.2 Path 1 inline ISO of the off-line installer):

• [Wayback/Archive] Installation Notes – RAD Studio (12.0 Athens, 20231207)
  

  Installation performed with Offline Installer results in missing subdirectories

  • Delphi
    When using the offline installer, the Browsing path for Delphi/64bit Linux lacks various directories.
  • C++ Builder
    When using the offline installer, the System include path for C++ / 32-bit Windows is missing the FMX subfolder.

  Note the “64bit” should be spelled “64-bit” and the “C++ / 32-bit” should be spelled “C++/32-bit” to be consistent with “Delphi/64-bit”.

  Similarly, the documentation misses that there is an intermediate node “Language” missing befer you get to either “Delphi” or “C++”, and that the “Compiler” mentioned tab for “C++” does not exist. It is this lack of attention to detail which you see all over the product, including the RTL library source code.

  Also note that these are not just a few “various” subdirectories or just “the FMX subfolder”, and besides in Delphi 12.0, you still have to fix them in Delphi 12.1 and 12.2 directly when you run it the first time after installation:

  • Delphi – add these 42 (FORTY TWO!) directories to the System include path field under Tools > Options > Language > Delphi > Library > 64-bit Linux:
    

    $(BDS)\source\rtl\common;$(BDS)\source\rtl\sys;$(BDS)\source\rtl\linux;$(BDS)\source\ToolsAPI;$(BDS)\source\IBX;$(BDS)\source\Internet;$(BDS)\source\Property Editors;$(BDS)\source\soap;$(BDS)\source\xml;$(BDS)\source\Indy10\Core;$(BDS)\source\Indy10\system;$(BDS)\source\Indy10\Protocols;$(BDS)\source\fmx;$(BDS)\source\databinding\components;$(BDS)\source\databinding\engine;$(BDS)\source\databinding\graph;$(BDS)\source\data;$(BDS)\source\data\ado;$(BDS)\source\data\cloud;$(BDS)\source\data\datasnap;$(BDS)\source\data\dbx;$(BDS)\source\data\dsnap;$(BDS)\source\data\Test;$(BDS)\source\data\vclctrls;$(BDS)\source\rtl\posix;$(BDS)\source\rtl\posix\linux;$(BDS)\source\data\datasnap\connectors;$(BDS)\source\data\datasnap\proxygen;$(BDS)\source\DataExplorer;$(BDS)\source\Experts;$(BDS)\source\indy\abstraction;$(BDS)\source\indy\implementation;$(BDS)\source\indyimpl;$(BDS)\source\Property Editors\Indy10;$(BDS)\source\soap\wsdlimporter;$(BDS)\source\Visualizers;$(BDS)\source\data\rest;$(BDS)\source\data\firedac;$(BDS)\source\tethering;$(BDS)\source\DUnitX;$(BDS)\source\data\ems;$(BDS)\source\rtl\net

    Likely there is one more directory missing as the Embarcadero documentation page has TWO semicolons here: $(BDS)\source\Visualizers;;$(BDS)\source\data\rest

  • C++ Builder – add these 8 directories to the System include path field under Tools > Options > Language > C++ > Paths and Directories > 32-bit Windows:
    

    $(BDSINCLUDE);$(BDSINCLUDE)\dinkumware64;$(BDSINCLUDE)\windows\crtl;$(BDSINCLUDE)\windows\sdk;$(BDSINCLUDE)\windows\rtl;$(BDSINCLUDE)\windows\vcl;$(BDSINCLUDE)\windows\fmx;$(BDSCOMMONDIR)\hpp\$(Platform)

• ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Delphi 12 (and 11) don’t really search for Git/Hg/Svn, but just complain they can’t be found

It does not matter if you use the offline installer or on-line getit installer.

Note I will personally never trust getit: Embarcadero is known for not being able to keep their infrastructure working without long outages, and known for not communicating about infrastructure changes, see for instance:

• [Wayback/Archive] GetIt installation does not work – Delphi IDE and APIs – Delphi-PRAXiS [en]
• [Wayback/Archive] Delphi 10.4 GetIt connection issue – Delphi IDE and APIs – Delphi-PRAXiS [en]

Their single most stable server is the altd one. Don’t tell them, as it might make them too self confident and start making modifications to it forgetting this lessen: never fiddle with a thing that has been very stable for a very long time.

Upon first start of Delphi 12.2 patch 1 after installation, you get these warning messages:

• ⚠ Git executable not found
• ⚠ Hg executable not found
• ⚠ Subversion folder not found

This despite these being available on the search PATH:

C:\Users\jeroenp>where git.exe
C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe

C:\Users\jeroenp>where hg.exe
C:\Program Files\Mercurial\hg.exe

C:\Users\jeroenp>where svn.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Subversion\bin\svn.exe

Note you have to enter them as full paths to git.exe, hg.exe and svn-folder (without svn.exe):

C:\Program Files\Git\cmd\git.exe
C:\Program Files\Mercurial\hg.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Subversion\bin

Note this has been an issue for Delphi 11 as well, and not responded to in comments it also being present in Delphi 12, see:

• 20240207: [Wayback/Archive] GetIt Update: Additional RAD Studio 12 GetIt Packages Are Now Available
• 20240220: [Wayback/Archive] GetIt Update: RAD Studio 11 GetIt Online Installation along with Delphi and C++Builder Community Edition Are Now Available

Delphi 12.2 inline release cannot be modified after install

A modification (like installing more/less features) requires a full re-install when doing the off-line installer. The steps are referred to by [Wayback/Archive] Adding or Removing Features Using the Offline Installer – RAD Studio:

After you install an initial set of RAD Studio features using the Offline Installer, you can use the installer again to add or remove RAD Studio features.

To add or remove features from your RAD Studio installation:

1. Run the Offline Installer.
2. On the Welcome page, check the Modify option and select Next.
3. On the following pages, configure the features that you want to add or remove from your installation.

Detailed steps are at [WaybackSave/Archive] Using the Offline Installer – RAD Studio are also wrong:

To install RAD Studio using the Offline Installer:

1. Open the Offline Installer:
   1. Download the ISO image that contains the Offline Installer.
   2. Mount the ISO image in the system where you want to install RAD Studio.
      You can do either of the following to mount the image:
      • Burn the ISO image on a double-layer high-capacity DVD, and put that DVD on the optical disk drive of the target system.
      • Mount the ISO image as a virtual disk with a software solution like WinCDEmu.
   3. Open install_RADStudio.exe in the mounted ISO image to start the Offline Installer.

There is no install_RADStudio.exe any more. The installer .exe filename depends on the Delphi version you install. For Delphi 12.2 inline Patch 1, the offline installer name is radstudio_12_esd_119782a.exe.

I forgot during which Delphi version Embarcadero changed the installer technology, but it has been at least since Delphi 10.4, as reported by Brian Long in [Wayback/Archive] It’s a blong, blong, blong road…: Installer tip.

Note that the online getit installer enables the [Wayback/Archive] Using the Feature Manager – RAD Studio, which is not available when installing using the offline installer..

Links

Some lists of off-line installers are here:

1. [Wayback/Archive] Pliki instalacyjne RAD Studio (obraz ISO i instalator Webowy) | BSC Polska is way more complete than the below one, but lacks XE3 and 12.2 patch 1 and has the wrong location https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953B_win.iso for XE
2. [Wayback/Archive] RAD Studio Installation links (ISO and Web installers) – Barnsten.com misses XE3, includes 12.2 patch 1 – which has download issues – and has a link for 12.0 that used to work in the past, but has download issues as well: https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso fails for 12.2 inline https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso fails for 12.0 and  https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953B_win.iso for XE
3. [Wayback/Archive] alfasoft.com/wp-content/uploads/RAD-Studio-Installation-links.pdf [PDF View] misses XE3 and 12.2, has the wrong download link http://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/10.3/delphicbuilder10_3_0_94364.is for 10.3 (definitely not tested with the .is extension instead of .iso)
4. [Wayback/Archive] RAD Studio 2010/xe/xe2/xe3/xe4/xe5 official ISO Download address (updated 2013-12-12) has not been updated for a long time, but had a lot of intermediate versions, but has these wrong links: https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/xe2/delphicbuilder_xe2_win_dl.iso and https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953_win.iso

Somewhere in the future, I will try to make a complete list as not all of these altd links work. For now, this has to do: [WaybackSave/Archive] altd site:wiert.me – Google Suche

This one for instance didn’t always work (they failed at least from 20241102 until 20241104 downloading way too short files):

• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso

Just look at the download sizes and you understand why – his is also why people should publish URL, size and hashes (preferably sha1 or sha256, optionally md5) – filtered on M (mebibyte) sizes – yes, Delphi 7 was that small:

12M  ./altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso
22M  ./altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso
649M ./altd.embarcadero.com/download/delphi/d7/english/ent/delphi_7_ent_en.iso

I need to check all of the above and especially the two below, which means first finding hashes for them as the sizes match:

https://web.archive.org/web/20240929231113if_/https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso
https://web.archive.org/web/20241104165704if_/https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso

Probably the 12.0 one is OK, but the 12.2 inline got truncated to 2 gibibytes:

2.0G ./web.archive.org//web/20241104165704if_/https:/altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso
7.1G ./web.archive.org//web/20240929231113if_/https:/altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso

I need to check which HTTP header fields in the HTTP request will help alleviate this. Hopefully just a HTTP referer header works fine. A job for somewhere in the future, as I already had obtained copies of these files from someone that already had them downloaded a while ago.

Sizes from:

du -h `find ./altd.embarcadero.com/ | grep iso` | grep M && du -h `find ./web.archive.org/ | grep iso` | grep G

These ones for instance didn’t work at all:

• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso (not available any more)

• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/xe2/delphicbuilder_xe2_win_dl.iso (missing a build number)
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953_win.iso (missing the b at the end of the build number)
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953B_win.iso (yes, case is important with unix filenames people!)
• https://altd.codegear.com/download/radstudio2007/CodeGearRADStudio2007_Dec2007.iso (invalid certificate because of the domain name)
• https://altd.codegear.com/download/radstudio2007/CodeGearRADStudio2007setup.exe (invalid certificate because of the domain name)

These ones do:

• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_esd_0329_4F2B.exe
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_9782_9961F.iso
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_esd_9782_e8cd5.exe
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/RADStudioXE/delphicbuilder_xe_3953b_win.iso (note the lowercase b – filenames can be case sensitive <g>)
• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio2007/CodeGearRADStudio2007_Dec2007.iso

This one was missing completely in the first two lists:

• https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/xe3/delphicbuilder_xe3_upd2_win.iso

Queries:

• [Wayback/Archive] gexperts delphi 12.2 – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] mmx delphi – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] project magician – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] DprojNormalizer – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] Delphi TestInsight – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] spring4d – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] delphi license manager fails to store imported license – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] Java JDK not found on this machine. Please, install Java JDK before. – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] delphi with openjdk – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] rad studio 12 install java jdk – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] “delphi” “subversion folder not found” – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] delphi 12.2 iso altd – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso” – Search on Google
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADStudio_12_2_9782_9961F.iso” – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADStudio_12_0_inline_esd_116924.exe” iso – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso” – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] RADStudio 12 0 inline 116924 iso – Sök på Google
• [Wayback/Archive] RADStudio 12.0 inline 116924 iso – Search Google
• [Wayback/Archive] altd delphi xe – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso “md5” – Google Search
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso” “md5” – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] “RADstudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso” “md5” – Google Suche
• [Wayback/Archive] altd site:wiert.me – Google Suche
• https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_0_inline_116924a.iso
• https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/https://altd.embarcadero.com/download/radstudio/12.0/RADStudio_12_2_i_0329_C2CC.iso

--jeroen