Book Image

Delphi GUI Programming with FireMonkey

By : Andrea Magni
4 (1)
Book Image

Delphi GUI Programming with FireMonkey

4 (1)
By: Andrea Magni

Overview of this book

FireMonkey (FMX) is a cross-platform application framework that allows developers to create exciting user interfaces and deliver applications on multiple operating systems (OS). This book will help you learn visual programming with Delphi and FMX. Starting with an overview of the FMX framework, including a general discussion of the underlying philosophy and approach, you’ll then move on to the fundamentals and architectural details of FMX. You’ll also cover a significant comparison between Delphi and the Visual Component Library (VCL). Next, you’ll focus on the main FMX components, data access/data binding, and style concepts, in addition to understanding how to deliver visually responsive UIs. To address modern application development, the book takes you through topics such as animations and effects, and provides you with a general introduction to parallel programming, specifically targeting UI-related aspects, including application responsiveness. Later, you’ll explore the most important cross-platform services in the FMX framework, which are essential for delivering your application on multiple platforms while retaining the single codebase approach. Finally, you’ll learn about FMX’s built-in 3D functionalities. By the end of this book, you’ll be familiar with the FMX framework and be able to build effective cross-platform apps.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Section 1: Delphi GUI Programming Frameworks
4
Section 2: The FMX Framework in Depth
13
Section 3: Pushing to The Top: Advanced Topics

Advanced arrangements with TGridPanelLayout

TGridPanelLayout is a special container where components can be organized in rows and columns. With respect to the other containers we have just seen, this time, every contained component is assigned to an existing cell. Cells are elements of a row and column system that can be defined at design time or at runtime and they can be sized according to an absolute model; a relative one, based on the percentage of the total available space (Width or Height, depending on whether we are talking about a row or a column item); or automatically sized according to the content size (at the point when the content is added to the container).

Columns and rows are managed through two collection properties—ColumnCollection and RowCollection. Each element of this collection has two properties—SizeStyle and Value. As already mentioned, the sizing style can be chosen from among the Absolute, Percentage, and Auto values. 

The component...