README

V-Notes

A lightweight desktop sticky notes application for Windows, built with Delphi using a clean, modular architecture.

Features

• Colorful sticky notes - 8 colors (Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Purple, Orange, White, Gray)
• Native window behavior - Drag from header, resize from edges using Windows WM_NCHITTEST
• Always on Top - Keep notes visible above other windows
• Collapse - Minimize to header only
• Lock - Prevent accidental edits
• Global hotkeys - Ctrl+Alt+N for new note, Ctrl+Alt+F opens the Notes List with in-memory search
• Auto-save - Debounced save (1 second default) on typing, moving, resizing
• Light/Dark theme - Windows 10 / Windows 10 Dark styles
• Auto-start - Launch with Windows
• Backup & Restore - ZIP-based backups with scheduled automatic backups (interval configurable in Settings)
• Single instance - launching a second copy signals the running app (surfaces the Notes List) and exits
• Multi-monitor support - Notes are restored clamped into a visible monitor work area; corrected coordinates are persisted immediately
• JSON storage - One file per note, easy to sync with Git/Dropbox/OneDrive (default)
• Optional SQLite backend - Swap JSON for a single SQLite database via settings (includes tags + checklist)
• Sync - folder backend (Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive) or WebDAV; automatic interval sync or a tray Sync now item; last-writer-wins per note by revision with ETag conflict detection, and conflict copies preserved (WebDAV password kept in the Windows credential store)

Architecture

Clean separation of concerns:

Application/    # Orchestration (NoteApplication, NoteEditorContext)
Forms/          # UI only (views: tray, note, list, settings, about)
Components/     # Reusable note-window widgets (header, scrollbar, color picker, checklist, tags)
Controllers/    # Business logic (NoteManager, SettingsController)
Models/         # Data (Note, Settings, Enums)
Storage/        # Abstract persistence (JSON default, SQLite opt-in)
Services/       # Cross-cutting (Autosave, Hotkeys, Theme, Backup, Startup, Migration)
Utils/          # Shared helpers (Window, JSON, Color, Monitor, ISO-8601, Logger)

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for detailed documentation.

Building

Requirements

• Delphi 11 Alexandria or later
• Windows 10/11

Delphi IDE

1. Open src/StickyNotes.dproj
2. Build (Ctrl+F9) or Run (F9)

Command Line

msbuild src/StickyNotes.dproj /p:Config=Release /p:Platform=Win32

Output: src/Win32/Release/StickyNotes.exe

Quick dcc32 builds (no MSBuild or RAD Studio command prompt needed — the scripts auto-locate rsvars.bat themselves via DELPHI_ROOT, or by probing Studio 23.0 → 22.0 → 21.0):

build.bat        REM canonical Win32 Debug build -> src\StickyNotes.exe
build_tests.bat  REM DUnitX unit-test build -> tests\StickyNotes.Tests.exe

Isolated profile (safe smoke testing)

The application normally uses %APPDATA%\StickyNotes. To run a throwaway instance that never touches your real notes, pass a profile directory:

src\StickyNotes.exe --profile=D:\temp\vnotes-smoke

--profile redirects the notes, settings.ini, the database, vnotes.log, device.id and the sync state to that folder, so a smoke test is fully isolated. Diagnostics land in <profile>\vnotes.log.

Continuous integration

.github/workflows/ci.yml builds the app and runs the DUnitX suite on every push and pull request. Delphi is commercial software that GitHub-hosted runners do not provide, so the job runs on a self-hosted Windows runner labelled self-hosted, windows, delphi with RAD Studio and Virtual-Tree-View installed. Optionally set the repository variables DELPHI_ROOT and VTV_SRC to point at the toolchain and Virtual-Tree-View source on that machine; if unset the build scripts auto-probe.

Data Location

%APPDATA%\StickyNotes\
????????? settings.ini
????????? vnotes.log          (diagnostics; rotates at ~2 MB)
????????? notes\
    ????????? 0000000001.json
    ????????? ...

Each note is an independent JSON file - corruption affects only one note, easy to sync.

The backend is selectable via Storage\Backend in settings.ini: JSON (default) or SQLite, which keeps everything in a single %APPDATA%\StickyNotes\vnotes.db.

Hotkeys

Configurable in Settings → Hotkeys (Global hotkeys only).

Extending

The storage abstraction makes it easy to add new backends:

type
  TMyStorage = class(TInterfacedObject, INoteStorage)
  public
    function SaveNote(const ANote: TNote): Boolean;
    function DeleteNote(const ANoteID: Int64): Boolean;
    function LoadAllNotes: TObjectList<TNote>;
    function GetNextID: Int64;
    procedure Initialize;
    procedure Finalize;
  end;

Register it in TStorageResolver.ResolveStorage (src/Storage/uStorageResolver.pas) - no UI changes needed.

Documentation

User guides live in docs/help/:

• Getting started - first run, the tray icon, basic workflow
• Working with notes - header buttons, colours, pin, lock, collapse, tags
• Keyboard shortcuts - global, note-window and Notes-List keys
• Notes List & search - finding, filtering and arranging notes
• Settings - every option, tab by tab
• Backup & restore - manual and automatic backups
• Sync - folder/WebDAV setup, conflict handling, security notes
• Troubleshooting - hotkeys, the log, isolated test profile, FAQ

Developer/architecture docs are in docs/: architecture, development plan, and the cloud-sync and encryption design analyses.

Roadmap

Phase 7 (cloud sync) has a design analysis: see docs/PHASE_7_CLOUD_SYNC_DESIGN.md.

License

MIT License