Mega Code Archive

Hidden features of the delphi 5 ide

Here are 2 undocumented registry settings that modify the behavior of the Delphi component palette in a manner you may like. But why are there hidden features first of all and why are they not "available" to the public? They may have been introduced too late into the product to get documented, or they may not have made it in time to be quality assured, or they may just have fallen off the documentation list because is was not said that they should be a feature that will remain in the final product. This simply means, use this information at your own risk. It is not tested or certified by Inprise, and it is not guaranteed that it will be surfaced or even remain in future versions of Delphi. These undocumented registry settings must be put in this registry location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Borland\Delphi\5.0\Extras. You will need to create the Extras registry key. Automatically Selecting a Component Page There are two registry values that control how the component palette reacts to the mouse. Setting the value of AutoPaletteSelect to "1" will cause a tab on the component palette to be automatically selected when the mouse is hovering over it. If the mouse is in the top two-thirds (2/3) of the tab, the palette for that tab will automatically be displayed. This is a string value. Automatically Scrolling in a Component Page If you have a lower resolution display or a component page with many components on it, you probably see arrows on the component page for scrolling left and right through the component list. Setting the value of AutoPaletteScroll to "1" will make you scroll left and right automatically whenever the mouse is positioned over the relevant arrow. This, also is a string value. I put both keys into my registry and got used to the changes very quickly. For me they're very useful tweaks for the IDE. Try them out yourself and see if you like them.