Mega Code Archive
Clipboard
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This information from
http://delphi.about.com/compute/delphi/library/weekly/aa092199.htm
USING THE CLIPBOARD WITH DELPHI CODE
Send and retrieve text
In order to send some text to the Clipboard the AsText property of the
Clipboard object is used. If we want, for example, to send the string
information contained in the variable SomeStringData to the Clipboard
(wiping out whatever text was there), we'll use the following code:
uses ClipBrd;
...
Clipboard.AsText := SomeStringData
The string value of the AsText property is limited to 255 characters.
To set and retrieve more than 255 characters, use the SetTextBuf and
GetTextBuf Clipboard methods.
Naturally, to retrieve the text information from the Clipboard we'll use
uses ClipBrd;
...
SomeStringData := Clipboard.AsText
Note: The Clipboard must contain a string or an exception occurs.
To determine if the Clipboard contains a string type we'll use the
the HasFormat method.
uses ClipBrd;
...
if Clipboard.HasFormat(CF_TEXT) then
SomeStringData := Clipboard.AsText
else
ShowMessage('No text in the Clipboard');
Note: If we only want to copy the text from, let's say, Edit component
to the Clipboard, we do not have to include the ClipBrd unit to the uses
clause. The CopyToClipboard method of TEdit copies the selected text
in the edit control to the Clipboard in CF_TEXT format.
procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
//the following line will select
//ALL the text in the edit control
{Edit1.SelectAll;}
Edit1.CopyToClipboard;
end;
Clipboard images
To retrieve graphical images from the Clipboard, Delphi must know what
type of image is stored there. Similarly, to transfer images to the clipboard,
the application must tell the Clipboard what type of graphics it is sending.
Some of the possible values of the Format parameter follow; there are
many more Clipboard formats provided by Windows.
CF_TEXT Text with each line ending with a CR-LF combination.
CF_BITMAP A Windows bitmap graphic.
CF_METAFILEPICT A Windows metafile graphic.
CF_PICTURE An object of type TPicture.
CF_OBJECT Any persistent object.
The HasFormat method returns True if the image in the Clipboard has the right format:
uses ClipBrd;
...
if Clipboard.HasFormat(CF_METAFILEPICT) then
ShowMessage('Clipboard has metafile');
To send (assign) an image to the Clipboard, we use the Assign method. For example,
the following code copies the bitmap from a bitmap object named MyBitmap to the
Clipboard:
Clipboard.Assign(MyBitmap);
In general, MyBitmap is an object of type TGraphics, TBitmap, TMetafile or TPicture.
To retrieve an image from the Clipboard we have to: verify the format of the current
contents of the clipboard and use the Assign method of the target object:
{place one button and one image control on form1}
{Prior to executing this code press
Alt-PrintScreen key combination}
uses clipbrd;
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
if Clipboard.HasFormat(CF_BITMAP) then
Image1.Picture.Bitmap.Assign(Clipboard);
end;
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