Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
Hi, this was a thought that I had too when I started: bad documentation but the reality is different: Lazarus/FPC, is a multi-platform, multi-IDE, multi-anything project that is constantly under development by a group of wizz who just do that for the fun! It seems that you will be able to do anything you like using this software, and even more... But like everything there is a price to pay for such thing. The price is that it would be very difficult to get a good starters book that would fit all types of users. However, the developers are real pros and the reference manual is about one thousand pages long and you can always ask for questions on the forum (even my dumb questions never were unanswered). There are some undocumented features, this is true, and I feel a little frustrated sometimes too, but in general I never was stuck for long. Thanks to the help from other people on the forum. I bought all the old books about turbo pascal and Delphi (Kylix) that I found at the flea market and ninety percent of the time I could use the code in Lazarus/fpc I came to Lazarus(linux) from Delphi(windows) two years ago, and the transition was very painfull, but after one year I started to feel very comfortable. It was worth the trouble! good luck Alain Michaud On Sat, 2006-03-11 at 15:34 -0600, Matt Henley wrote: One avenue that has worked in the past is go to a used/discount bookstore and grab a cheap book on delphi... I found a lot for next to nothing and they are mostly relavent. On 3/11/06, Adrian Maier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 3/11/06, Matthijs Willemstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sat, 2006-03-11 at 15:34 +0200, Adrian Maier wrote: So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? But the cut a long story short, use Delphi documentation if you cannot figure it out yourself and when you have figured it out, add it to the documentation. Ok, I'll try to get some Delphi reference manuals and see how it goes. Thanks for the answer Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
[lazarus] newbie to lazarus
Hello, I have an application that I plan to convert to lazarus. The application is quite simple: the user is presented a list of options. Based on the user's choice I need to be able to call other programs ( data-entry forms, reports, scripts, etc ). So far I find it quite hard to get up and running. I have seen the tutorials in the wiki and they are ok as a starting point. But I haven't found any reference documentation for the various classes and units. The LCL documentation (work in progress) will be probably someday the kind of documenation i'd like to have available , but unfortunately it's not useful yet because it's just a unit browser with almost no descriptions (yet). So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? At least a list with the most commonly used classes and their description would prove useful. For example: how should someone know when to use TNotebook or TPageControl? What's the difference, since they seem similar when added to a form? What about TTabControl? My intention is not to criticise (it's a project based on volunterr work and I certainly have no right to ask for anything). I'm just trying to get some tips about how and where could I find the details needed to be able to actually use Lazarus for creating new amasing programs. Cheers, Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
If you are converting your application from Delphi, you can use the Delphi help files. If you don't have Delphi, I think you can actually down the help files from the net (sorry can't remember the link, but Google should help). Otherwise you can try the Delphi Basics website. It is an excellent site with tons of examples. http://www.delphibasics.co.uk/index.html Your other option, is to look at the Lazarus source (ide directory), to see how things get used. This has worked really well for me. Hope this gets you going... Regards, - Graeme - On 3/11/06, Adrian Maier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I have an application that I plan to convert to lazarus. The application is quite simple: the user is presented a list of options. Based on the user's choice I need to be able to call other programs ( data-entry forms, reports, scripts, etc ). So far I find it quite hard to get up and running. I have seen the tutorials in the wiki and they are ok as a starting point. But I haven't found any reference documentation for the various classes and units. The LCL documentation (work in progress) will be probably someday the kind of documenation i'd like to have available , but unfortunately it's not useful yet because it's just a unit browser with almost no descriptions (yet). So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? At least a list with the most commonly used classes and their description would prove useful. For example: how should someone know when to use TNotebook or TPageControl? What's the difference, since they seem similar when added to a form? What about TTabControl? My intention is not to criticise (it's a project based on volunterr work and I certainly have no right to ask for anything). I'm just trying to get some tips about how and where could I find the details needed to be able to actually use Lazarus for creating new amasing programs. Cheers, Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
On Sat, 2006-03-11 at 15:34 +0200, Adrian Maier wrote: So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? I can only speak for myself. But I'm using Delphi from version 1 and still have all the books that came with all those versions. Well not all, only 1, 2, 4 and 6. :) This documentation helps a lot and of course the books I have from Cantu and colleagues. Further more there is a lot of information on Delphi available on the net. For instance http://delphi.about.com or http://www.delphibasics.co.uk/ and of course http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/Main_Page for stuff directly related to Lazarus. At least a list with the most commonly used classes and their description would prove useful. For example: how should someone know when to use TNotebook or TPageControl? What's the difference, since they seem similar when added to a form? What about TTabControl? That is what the work in progress is all about. But more volunteers to help with this would be wonderfull. What I see happen is that a lot of people think that their work would not be good enough. All I can say is: Do not worry and start contributing to the documentation. Have a look at the wiki how to do this. If you are totally wrong, there will be someone else who will rectify it in the end. :) My intention is not to criticise (it's a project based on volunterr work and I certainly have no right to ask for anything). I'm just trying to get some tips about how and where could I find the details needed to be able to actually use Lazarus for creating new amasing programs. Well you have the right to ask for anything and everything, but you also have the chance of getting no for an answer. :) But the cut a long story short, use Delphi documentation if you cannot figure it out yourself and when you have figured it out, add it to the documentation. Matthijs -- Matthijs Willemstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
On 3/11/06, Graeme Geldenhuys [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you are converting your application from Delphi, you can use the Delphi help files. If you don't have Delphi, I think you can actually down the help files from the net (sorry can't remember the link, but Google should help). Nope. I'm not converting from Delphi (and i have never programmed in Delphi, actually) . It's a text-mode application based on writeln, textcolor, Crt. Otherwise you can try the Delphi Basics website. It is an excellent site with tons of examples. http://www.delphibasics.co.uk/index.html Your other option, is to look at the Lazarus source (ide directory), to see how things get used. This has worked really well for me. I see. Thanks Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
On 3/11/06, Matthijs Willemstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sat, 2006-03-11 at 15:34 +0200, Adrian Maier wrote: So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? But the cut a long story short, use Delphi documentation if you cannot figure it out yourself and when you have figured it out, add it to the documentation. Ok, I'll try to get some Delphi reference manuals and see how it goes. Thanks for the answer Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
Re: [lazarus] newbie to lazarus
One avenue that has worked in the past is go to a used/discount bookstore and grab a cheap book on delphi... I found a lot for next to nothing and they are mostly relavent. On 3/11/06, Adrian Maier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 3/11/06, Matthijs Willemstein [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sat, 2006-03-11 at 15:34 +0200, Adrian Maier wrote: So, my question is how do you manage to actually write programs with lazarus with so little documentation? Do you know Delphi's classes already? Are you using some other reference manuals ? But the cut a long story short, use Delphi documentation if you cannot figure it out yourself and when you have figured it out, add it to the documentation. Ok, I'll try to get some Delphi reference manuals and see how it goes. Thanks for the answer Adrian Maier _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives _ To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe as the Subject archives at http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailarchives
