October 2005

DeXter Sneak Preview – Malcom Groves

Malcolm will be giving us an insight into the next version of Delphi codenamed DeXter. We will see ECO III, the next version of ECO. He will explain some of the new features and then put ECO through its paces. This will be followed by a look at the Delphi Compact Framework compiler and finally, if we have time, a quick look at C++ Builder – the latest language personality in Delphi.

Tutorial on Embedding Control Functions into Columns of a DataGrid – Vernon Nabb

During this discussion an Interface definition is defined (IHostControl) which supports the implementation of customized Controls that may be embedded within a DataGrid or directly placed on a Windows Form.
The original problem required standard or customized Controls to be made available for columns of a DataGrid or placed on a form. These Controls are to behave identically in both locations.
To reduce the development effort and complexity for each Control, the following strategy was implemented. A wrapper class per environment was implemented which controlled any customized/standard Control which supports the IHostControl interface. Any Control could implement this interface.
The tutorial shall discuss and demonstrate the implementation of the above.