http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/issues/1507/pcmg0024.htm (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)
PC Magazine -- April 9, 1996
Neil J. Rubenking
In the year since its initial release, Borland's programming environment, Delphi, has enjoyed immense success and received numerous awards, including PC Magazine's Technical Excellence award (First Looks, May 16, 1995). Delphi 2.0 keeps the momentum going by adding a 32-bit optimizing compiler, Windows 95 and Windows NT support, and enhancements for database, client/server, and team programming features.
Delphi 2.0 is a 32-bit environment that produces 32-bit programs that run only under Windows 95 or Windows NT. The package also includes the Delphi 1.0 compiler so that developers can continue to support 16-bit Windows applications.
Borland offers three versions of Delphi 2.0, each aimed at a different audience. Individual programmers will be satisfied with the $499.95 Delphi Desktop 2.0 package, which includes the 32-bit compiler and development environment along with a host of standard components.
Delphi Desktop 2.0 has Windows 95-specific user-interface components, an Object Repository for storing standard forms and projects, and a Database Explorer tool for visual database design. Full OLE support is built-in, including OLE automation (both as a client and a server), automatic installation of .OCX controls, OLE container objects with in-place activation, network OLE, and Visual Basic 4.0-style remote automation.
The next step up is the $799.95 Delphi Developer 2.0, which adds additional database features, including low-level support for Borland Database Engine functions, a single-user local InterBase server license, and ODBC support. It also includes the source code for Delphi 2.0's Visual Component Library and a utility for creating installation programs. Although Delphi Developer 2.0 includes an interface for Intersolv's PVCS version-control system, you'll have to purchase the program separately.
At the high end, the $1,999.95 Delphi Client/Server Suite 2.0 is aimed at professional client/server development teams. Team and network development are emphasized here with Intersolv's PVCS version-control system.
The SQL Database Explorer allows visual database programming using server-based data, and the SQL Monitor aids in performance tuning. The new Data Pump Expert provides enough handholding to ease scaling from local to client/server database programs.
Almost all Delphi 1.0 programs will compile unchanged under Delphi 2.0. There's an instant boost in speed based on using 32-bit instructions running on a 32-bit CPU and on the compiler optimizing the generated code to reduce size and increase speed.
Unlike C++ compilers, which offer a host of optimization choices, Delphi 2.0 sticks to optimizations that are appropriate for the program.
The move to 32-bit operations has a positive effect on data. For one, the 64K limit on the size of an individual data structure disappears. For another, the new data type, called AnsiString, combines the best features of the old Pascal-style length-byte String and the C-style null-terminated string along with virtually unlimited length.
Delphi 2.0 has gotten smarter as well. Instead of halting immediately on finding a syntax error, the compiler now reports multiple errors at once. In addition, the compiler warns about code that may be syntactically correct but logically suspect. For example, it points out wasteful code elements such as variables that are declared but never used.
The Delphi 2.0 compiler can generate and use standard .OBJ files, which are used in multilanguage projects. It's capable of generating applications that take advantage of the enhanced multitasking in Windows 95 and Windows NT. And its built-in 32-bit optimizing linker caches units whose source code hasn't changed.
To build a Delphi program, you place component objects on a form object, assign values to their properties, and write code to handle events such as mouse-clicks and keystrokes. Delphi 1.0 made creation of descendant component objects quite simple but provided no means to use true descendants of the essential form object.
Delphi 2.0's Visual Inheritance more than remedies this. A Delphi 2.0 program can create a new form based on an existing form within the project or in the Object Repository. The new form is a true descendant, so enhancements made to the original are carried over into the descendant form.
Delphi 2.0's Data Module is a new type of form that is not visible at runtime. It can aid database programmers by storing nonvisual components such as table and query objects. A Data Module stored in the Object Repository can encapsulate standard databases and business rules.
Delphi 2.0's Database Explorer displays a hierarchical chart of fields, databases, and tables, giving you a bird's-eye view of the structure or content. Drag a table from the Database Explorer to a Data Module, and a corresponding table object is automatically created. Drag a field from the Database Explorer to a form, and an appropriate data-aware component appears.
In Delphi 1.0, the popular data-aware grid component was an instant row-and-column view for any table. In Delphi 2.0, it gains the ability to perform code-free lookups in specified columns, pulling the list of available values from another table or from a hard-coded list. The Columns Editor also provides substantial control over the formatting of grid columns and titles.
The new Multi Object Grid in Delphi 2.0 provides a happy medium between the data-aware grid that can display one record per row and a view full of data-aware components that can show one record per screen.
Whether your programs run under Windows 95 or Windows NT, they can make use of the Windows 95 user-interface components. These include the HeaderControl, ImageList, ListView, StatusBar, and TreeView components that make up the main window of the Windows 95 Explorer, as well as the TabControl and PageControl used in property dialog boxes.
The RichEdit component in Delphi 2.0 is a text editor with full formatting support and virtually unlimited capacity. The UpDown component can be used alone or can be attached to any edit-control element to "spin" automatically a numeric value up and down within a defined range.
In addition, the TrackBar component is a sliding bar that allows visual adjustment of a continuous value. Programs can use the ProgressBar to display the progress of an ongoing procedure. Finally, the HotKey component allows the user to input a key combination by pressing the desired keys.
Current Delphi users can upgrade to Delphi 2.0 for its 32-bit features without abandoning existing 16-bit code. Delphi 2.0 offers all the benefits of Visual Basic 4.0--including OLE support and remote automation--without Visual Basic 4.0's limitations. And it produces speedy, fully compiled programs that stand alone without reliance on a runtime interpreter.
For 32-bit visual programming, Delphi 2.0 is a hot choice.
Delphi Desktop 2.0. List price: $499.95. Delphi Developer 2.0. List price: $799.95. Delphi Client/Server Suite 2.0. List price: $1,999.95. Requires: 8MB RAM, Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51, 20MB hard disk space (minimum Delphi Desktop 2.0 installation), CD-ROM drive. Borland International Inc., Scotts Valley, CA; 800-233-2444, ext. 1350; 408-431-1000; fax, 800-408-0001.
Copyright (c) 1996
Ziff-Davis Publishing Company