README

ModernDialogs4D

A Delphi (VCL) unit/package for showing modern-styled message dialogs (Info / Success / Warning / Error / Question) as well as a floating auto-dismissing notification with a countdown — as a replacement for the default MessageDlg / ShowMessage. The unit features rounded corners, a colored accent bar, a badge icon, full right-to-left (RTL) support, and multi-language text (Persian, Arabic, English, Brazilian Portuguese).

1. Installation & Usage

The uModernDialogs.pas unit is part of the Delphi package ModernDialogs4D, and is meant to be used by installing that package in the Delphi IDE (rather than adding the .pas file directly to a project).

1.1. Installing the Package

1. Open the ModernDialogs4D.dpk package project (which contains the uModernDialogs.pas unit) in the Delphi IDE.
2. Right-click the package and choose Install so the package is installed into the IDE and the TModernDialogs component is added to the Component Palette.
3. Add the package's output folder (containing the .bpl/.dcp files) to Delphi's Library Path so it can also be used from other projects.
4. Once installed successfully, the TModernDialogs component becomes visible in the Component Palette (usually under the package's own tab) and can be dragged onto a form.

Note: installing a package (Install) is different from adding it as a Required Package (runtime package) to another project. If you only need to use it programmatically (without dropping the component in the Object Inspector), simply add ModernDialogs4D as a Requires entry in your project, or link the package statically.

1.2. Using It in Code

1. Add uModernDialogs to the uses clause of your form or unit.
2. Create an instance of the TModernDialogs class — either by dragging the component from the palette onto a form (after installing the package), or dynamically in code.
3. Use the ready-made methods (Info, Success, Warning, Error, Confirm, ShowNotification) or the general-purpose Ask method.

uses
  uModernDialogs;

var
  Dlg: TModernDialogs;
begin
  Dlg := TModernDialogs.Create(nil);
  try
    Dlg.Language := dlPersian;          // set language (automatically switches to RTL)
    Dlg.Font.Name := 'Segoe UI';
    Dlg.Font.Size := 10;

    Dlg.Info('The operation completed successfully.');
    Dlg.Success('The file was saved successfully.');
    Dlg.Warning('Disk space is running low.');
    Dlg.Error('Could not connect to the server.');

    if Dlg.Confirm('Are you sure you want to delete this item?') then
      // proceed with deletion

    Dlg.ShowNotification('Changes saved.', 3000); // 3-second notification
  finally
    Dlg.Free;
  end;
end;

Note: since TModernDialogs descends from TComponent, you can keep a single instance alive on a form (as a field or an invisible component) and reuse it repeatedly; it doesn't need to be created and freed every time.

2. Data Types

TAppMessageType

Specifies the message kind, which affects the accent bar color, badge color, and icon:

TDialogLanguage

The language of the dialog's default texts (titles and button labels):

Changing Language (except to dlCustom) automatically updates the component's BiDiMode to match that language. Conversely, if you set BiDiMode directly, Language automatically switches to dlCustom.

TDialogTranslation

A record holding all translatable strings (TitleInfo, TitleSuccess, TitleWarning, TitleError, TitleConfirm, TitleNotify, BtnOk, BtnClose, BtnYes, BtnNo, CountdownFmt, BiDiMode). The constant array TRANSLATIONS holds the values for each language.

3. The TAppMessageItemStyle Class

Holds the visual style for a message type (descends from TPersistent, editable in the Object Inspector):

Each of the five message types (Info/Success/Warning/Error/Question) has its own style instance, initialized with default colors in the TModernDialogs constructor. You can change these values at design time or at run time.

4. The Main Class: TModernDialogs

Published Properties

Methods

function Ask(const ATitle, AMessage: string; AMsgType: TAppMessageType; const AButtons: array of string): Integer;

The core method for showing a dialog. Displays a modal dialog with a title, message, and custom set of buttons.

• Returns: the index of the button the user clicked (0 for the first button, 1 for the second, etc.).
• The first button (index 0) is automatically styled as the "primary" button and receives initial focus.

case Dlg.Ask('Choose', 'Which option do you want?', mtQuestion, ['Yes', 'No', 'Cancel']) of
  0: ShowMessage('Yes was selected');
  1: ShowMessage('No was selected');
  2: ShowMessage('Cancelled');
end;

procedure Info(const Msg: string; const ATitle: string = '');

Shows an informational dialog with a single OK button. If ATitle is empty, the current language's default title (TitleInfo) is used.

procedure Success(const Msg: string; const ATitle: string = '');

Shows a success dialog with a single Close button.

procedure Warning(const Msg: string; const ATitle: string = '');

Shows a warning dialog with a single OK button.

procedure Error(const Msg: string; const ATitle: string = '');

Shows an error dialog with a single Close button.

function Confirm(const Msg: string; const ATitle: string = ''): Boolean;

Shows a confirmation dialog with Yes/No buttons.

• Returns: True if the user clicks "Yes" (the first button), False otherwise.

procedure ShowNotification(const Msg: string; TimeoutMs: Integer = 3000);

Shows a button-less notification that automatically closes after TimeoutMs milliseconds. A progress bar and a countdown text (based on the current language's CountdownFmt) are shown at the bottom of the dialog.

function GetTranslation: TDialogTranslation;

Returns the translation record for the current Language; useful for accessing default texts (titles, button labels, countdown format).

function GetStyle(AType: TAppMessageType): TAppMessageItemStyle;

Returns the style object corresponding to the given message type (StyleInfo, StyleSuccess, etc.).

5. Internal (Implementation) Classes

These classes are part of the internal implementation and are not normally called directly by consumers of the unit:

• TFlatButton (descends from TCustomControl): a custom flat button with hover/pressed/focus effects, used at the bottom of dialogs.
• TfrmModernDialog (descends from TForm): a borderless form (bsNone) with rounded corners and a drop shadow that makes up the dialog's main body. Its Execute method handles layout, text measurement, positioning relative to the active form, and modal display.

Unit-level helper functions:

• AlterColor(C: TColor; Percent: Integer): TColor — lightens/darkens a color by a given percentage (used for hover and border effects).
• CalcTextHeight(...) — calculates the required height for a multi-line text block, used to auto-size the dialog.

6. Important Notes & Limitations

• This unit is VCL-based and Windows-only (it depends on Winapi.Windows).
• Dialogs are shown modally (ShowModal) and block program execution until closed, except for ShowNotification, which closes itself automatically after the timeout.
• The dialog's height is calculated automatically based on the message text length; the width is fixed at 360 pixels.
• To use texts in a language other than the four built-in ones, set Language := dlCustom and assign your own values to TRANSLATIONS[dlCustom], or use the Ask method directly with a custom title and button captions.
• Colors are written directly as hexadecimal RGB values in the code (not via the Windows color system); to change the color palette of any message type, simply modify the relevant StyleXXX properties at design time or run time.
• For RTL forms (Persian/Arabic), simply set Language to dlPersian or dlArabic; the layout of the icon, text, and buttons automatically mirrors to right-to-left.

7. Full Example

procedure TForm1.btnSaveClick(Sender: TObject);
var
  Dlg: TModernDialogs;
begin
  Dlg := TModernDialogs.Create(Self);
  try
    Dlg.Language := dlEnglish;
    Dlg.Font.Name := 'Segoe UI';
    Dlg.Font.Size := 10;

    if not Dlg.Confirm('Do you want to save the changes?') then
      Exit;

    try
      // ... save operation ...
      Dlg.ShowNotification('Changes saved successfully.', 2500);
    except
      on E: Exception do
        Dlg.Error('Error while saving: ' + E.Message);
    end;
  finally
    Dlg.Free;
  end;
end;