[fpc-pascal] Using the LCL without Lazarus

[BobJ]

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.

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.

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.

My attempts to use the following software has proven to be unsuccessful because of the "unfriendly" nature of their video displays:

Lazarus IDE,,
IDEU IDE,
FP IDE.

So, while searching for some alternative methods that might be less "unfriendly," I discovered the following:

My questions follow the excerpt)

-------- Begin web-site excerpt --------

Using the LCL without Lazarus

1How to use the LCL without the Lazarus IDE?
1.1Requirements
1.2Introduction
1.3The installation process
1.4The settings
1.5The code
1.6Lazarus 1.2.6
2Alternatives
How to use the LCL without the Lazarus IDE?
 
Requirements
Things you'll need: 
.  Free Pascal 2.4.4 
.  Lazarus 0.9.30 
Tested on Microsoft Windows XP SP3. 

Introduction

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.  

The installation process

First download Free Pascal 2.4.4 and the Lazarus 0.9.30 and install them. 
Our FPC install directory will be this 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\
The Lazarus install directory will be this 
C:\Lazarus\
Then copy the lcl folder. 
Copy this folder: 
C:\Lazarus\lcl
Paste it to this location: 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl
Now you can remove Lazarus from your computer. In the next section we'll inform the FPC that the LCL has been installed. 

The settings

Start the FP IDE (included with FPC).
Click on the Options menu and then the Directories menu item.

Select the Units tab (default). 
Add these directories: 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\units\i386-win32
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\widgetset
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\interfaces\win32
Then click on the Include files tab. 
Add this directory: 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\include
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. 
The code
This is the base code: 
 
program lcl_base;
{$mode objfpc} {$H+}
 
uses
  Classes, Interfaces, Forms, StdCtrls;
  //Interfaces is very important
 
type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
    Button1: TButton;
  end;
  //Our Form class
 
var
  Form1: TForm1;
  //Declare the Form1
 
begin
  Application.Initialize;
  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
  Form1.Button1 := TButton.Create(Form1);
  With Form1.Button1 Do 
  begin
    Parent := Form1;
    Visible := TRUE;
    Left := 10;
    Top := 10;
    Width := 100;
    Height := 100;
    Caption := 'PRESS ME';
  end;
  Application.Run;
  //We do exactly the same as Lazarus does
end.

That's it. Now, you are able to use the LCL without the Lazarus IDE. 

Lazarus 1.2.6
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. 

Alternatives
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. 

-------- End web-site excerpt --------

1. I have FPC ver 3.0.0 and Lazarus ver 1.6
Should the instructions given in the excerpt be applicable with these versions, as well?

2. Is it safe to assume that when they say
"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."
that they mean that the source code can be submitted to FPC at the command line?

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?

Start the FP IDE (included with FPC).
Click on the Options menu and then the Directories menu item.
Select the Units tab (default). 
Add these directories: 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\units\i386-win32
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\widgetset
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\interfaces\win32
Then click on the Include files tab. 
Add this directory: 
C:\FPC\2.4.4\units\i386-win32\lcl\include
Now, you should be able to use the LCL.


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.

I apologize for such a lengthy message but, I didn't know how else to make clear my dilemma.

Thanks,

Bob

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