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<DIV><BR>Most of the viewers of this message are probably already aware that I
am totally blind and must rely on screen-reading software to put to voice that
which appears on the computer's video display. Unfortunately, there is
more than one technique for "painting" a video display, some of which are very
"unfriendly" to screen-reading software. Many web sites and
application-software programs make use of some of those "unfriendly" techniques
thereby rendering them unusable by blind users on a practical level.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have recently been very successful in completing a couple of
console-based programs for my personal use by writing source code using
Microsoft's NotePad and submitting that code to the FPC command-lie
compiler.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now, I want to try my hand at developing software with a GUI but I have run
into some obstacles as mentioned in my opening statements, above.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My attempts to use the following software has proven to be unsuccessful
because of the "unfriendly" nature of their video displays:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lazarus IDE,,<BR>IDEU IDE,<BR>FP IDE.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So, while searching for some alternative methods that might be less
"unfriendly," I discovered the following:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My questions follow the excerpt)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-------- Begin web-site excerpt --------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Using the LCL without Lazarus</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1How to use the LCL without the Lazarus
IDE?<BR>1.1Requirements<BR>1.2Introduction<BR>1.3The installation
process<BR>1.4The settings<BR>1.5The code<BR>1.6Lazarus
1.2.6<BR>2Alternatives<BR>How to use the LCL without the Lazarus
IDE?<BR> <BR>Requirements<BR>Things you'll need: <BR>• Free Pascal
2.4.4 <BR>• Lazarus 0.9.30 <BR>Tested on Microsoft Windows XP SP3. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Introduction</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You are not forced to use the Lazarus IDE if you want to develop with the
LCL. You can use it directly from the Free Pascal Compiler. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The installation process</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>First download Free Pascal 2.4.4 and the Lazarus 0.9.30 and install them.
<BR>Our FPC install directory will be this <BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\<BR>The Lazarus
install directory will be this <BR>C:\Lazarus\<BR>Then copy the lcl folder.
<BR>Copy this folder: <BR>C:\Lazarus\lcl<BR>Paste it to this location:
<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl<BR>Now you can remove Lazarus from your
computer. In the next section we'll inform the FPC that the LCL has been
installed. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The settings</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Start the FP IDE (included with FPC).<BR>Click on the Options menu and then
the Directories menu item.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Select the Units tab (default). <BR>Add these directories:
<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\units\i386-win32<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\widgetset<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\interfaces\win32<BR>Then
click on the Include files tab. <BR>Add this directory:
<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\include<BR>Now, you should be able to use
the LCL. However, above should be done for all Modes in Options if you plan to
switch the mode in the future. It is easier to edit fp.cfg directly. In the next
section we'll try out creating a form with a button on it. <BR>The code<BR>This
is the base code: <BR> <BR>program lcl_base;<BR>{$mode objfpc}
{$H+}<BR> <BR>uses<BR> Classes, Interfaces, Forms,
StdCtrls;<BR> //Interfaces is very important<BR> <BR>type<BR>
TForm1 = class(TForm)<BR> Button1: TButton;<BR>
end;<BR> //Our Form class<BR> <BR>var<BR> Form1:
TForm1;<BR> //Declare the Form1<BR> <BR>begin<BR>
Application.Initialize;<BR> Application.CreateForm(TForm1,
Form1);<BR> Form1.Button1 := TButton.Create(Form1);<BR> With
Form1.Button1 Do <BR> begin<BR> Parent :=
Form1;<BR> Visible := TRUE;<BR> Left :=
10;<BR> Top := 10;<BR> Width :=
100;<BR> Height := 100;<BR> Caption :=
'PRESS ME';<BR> end;<BR> Application.Run;<BR> //We do exactly
the same as Lazarus does<BR>end.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That's it. Now, you are able to use the LCL without the Lazarus IDE. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lazarus 1.2.6<BR>In order to compile the above example you will need access
to units from folder C:\lazarus\components\lazutils. The FP compiler would build
the application with c like operators on. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Alternatives<BR>If your aim is to compile Lazarus projects without using
the Lazarus IDE, you can install Lazarus and use the command line lazbuild tool
to compile projects. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>-------- End web-site excerpt --------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. I have FPC ver 3.0.0 and Lazarus ver 1.6<BR>Should the instructions
given in the excerpt be applicable with these versions, as well?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. Is it safe to assume that when they say<BR>"You are not forced to use
the Lazarus IDE if you want to develop with the LCL. You can use it directly
from the Free Pascal Compiler."<BR>that they mean that the source code can be
submitted to FPC at the command line?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>3. As I stated somewhere above, the FP IDE is not accessable at a practical
level so, is there some other way that I can satisfy the requirements to do the
following?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Start the FP IDE (included with FPC).<BR>Click on the Options menu and then
the Directories menu item.<BR>Select the Units tab (default). <BR>Add these
directories:
<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\units\i386-win32<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\widgetset<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\interfaces\win32<BR>Then
click on the Include files tab. <BR>Add this directory:
<BR>C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\include<BR>Now, you should be able to use
the LCL.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>If the answers to my questions #1 & #2 are in the affirmative, and
if the paths described in my question #3 can be added to the Windows search path
or inserted into a *.ini file or somewhere else, perhaps I can give it a
go.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I apologize for such a lengthy message but, I didn't know how else to make
clear my dilemma.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bob</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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