| I'll see if MCK works with FPC 2.0.0.. if so, people could build applications in | Delphi but compile in freepascal/lazarus. That would just be evil and nasty.

Well I tried it. MCK works first try on one of my projects I built with Delphi over a year ago. Therefore, I'm happy to announce that you can <BIG FONT> create applications in the Delphi IDE visually, and then compile them with FPC!</BIG FONT> using KOL/MCK.

I'll upload a flash video of my PC and show you what I mean - when I get a chance (.swf format).

So basically using MCK/KOL one can
- visually create applications with Delphi
- open lazarus or any other IDE, compile the application that you built with Delphi
- or compile the application with some other IDE, or command line FPC
- someone may build a plug in for the Delphi IDE to compile the application with FPC directly from Delphi IDE
- have an exe application who is only 50KB in size or so!!

All I had to do was open an old MCK application I built a few months ago and add the following lines to the code in each KOL/MCK source file:

{$MODE Delphi}
{$DEFINE KOL_MCK

What does this mean for us as FPC developers?
For Windows development, MCK/KOL applications can be created visually by RAD. Exe size is 40KB for a simple application. Lazarus is 1MB currently. People can use KOL/MCK for visual RAD on small-medium projects until lazarus is more mature with regards to exe size.

This is very big news.. because all my KOL/MCK applications right now will compile inside Lazarus with no modifications..and they were all built in Delphi months/years ago.

I will have to check to see if all the MCK components will compile though.. hopefully things like KOL synedit and KOL synapse may even compile.

I will have to check to see if all the MCK components will compile

though.. hopefully

things like KOL synedit and KOL synapse may even compile.

KOL uses Objects rather than Classes though, doesn't it? Shudder... a trip back to 1987.. May as well use C++ with all it's referencing and dereferencing of pointers... I wish the ACL compiled under FPC. ACL was a much nicer library, and almost VCL alike in its layout too. Can easily make an exe less than 100KB with ACL. Pity no one develops it anymore :-(

Matt

| > I will have to check to see if all the MCK components will compile | though.. hopefully
| > things like KOL synedit and KOL synapse may even compile.

I have vmhsyntaxeditor working with just an error when I close the application (synedit for kol).

|
| KOL uses Objects rather than Classes though, doesn't it? Shudder... a trip | back to 1987.. May as well use C++ with all it's referencing and

Creating it visually is the key.. something we didn't have in 1987... but yeah, for GUI windows apps starting at 40KB ..smaller than all C applications I have seen (and C++)... you can't expect full fledged everything I suppose.

You still go:

edit1.text:= 'something';
procedure button1click(sender:pObj);
begin
 form.caption:='hello';
end;
And instead of
 edit1:=TEdit.create;
You go
  newedit(form1);
And you must go
function something;
begin
 result:='something'; //always set the result before doing anything else
 YourCode;           // or application will act funny.
end;

Pointers are fairly invisible most of the time in KOL.. just like VCL hides them.

| dereferencing of pointers... I wish the ACL compiled under FPC. ACL was a

Basically invisible to the user in kol .

| much nicer library, and almost VCL alike in its layout too. Can easily make | an exe less than 100KB with ACL. Pity no one develops it anymore :-( |

I have heard about it before, haven't tried it yet.