IDE Window: Project Options: what changed

Revision 1 to 2. Removed lines have a minus sign; added lines have a plus sign.

Old	New		Line
1	1		## Navigation
2	2
3	3		[[Main menu\|Main Menu]] \> [[Main menu\|Project]] \> [[IDE Window: Project Options\|Project Options ...]] \> Project Options
4	4
5	5		## Options for Project
6	6
7		-	~~<img src="IDE_Options_-_Project_Options.png" title="IDE_Options_-_Project_Options.png" width="600" />~~
	7	+	![](/wiki-images/b/bc/IDE_Options_-_Project_Options.png)
8	8
9	9		## Application
10	10
11	11		![](/wiki-images/1/15/IDE_Options_-_Project_Options_-_Application_settings.png)
12	12
13	13		### Title
14	14
15	15		Same as setting:
16	16
17	17		``` pascal
18	18		Application.Title:='Some text';
19	19		```
20	20
21	21		The title is shown differently on the various platforms.
22	22
23	23		### Icon
24	24
25	25		Several buttons allow to load icon from PNG file or to set default one.
26	26
27	27		- Icon is always used on Windows.
28	28		- Icon is not used on Linux (e.g. on Ubuntu to assign an icon, you need to create PNG file in special folder and also create .desktop file).
29	29		- Icon is used on macOS, as initial icon for Application Bundle (but better to copy icon manually, and then specify it manually).
30	30
31	31		For Windows
32	32
33	33		### Use manifest file to enable themes (for Windows)
34	34
35	35		Enable to automatically create "manifest" resource (embedded into .exe file, this is not app.exe.manifest file). This manifest is needed for themes support (Windows XP and higher).
36	36
37	37		### DPI Awareness
38	38
39	39		Control [[High DPI]] awareness. For Windows Vista+. Values:
40	40
41	41		\| Awareness \| Description \|
42	42		\|----\|----\|
43	43		\| False \| Sets the application to not DPI-aware. \|
44	44		\| True \| Sets the application to system DPI–aware. \|
45	45		\| Per-monitor \| On Windows 8.1, sets the application to per monitor-DPI aware. On Windows Vista through Windows 8, sets the application to not DPI–aware. \|
46	46		\| True/PM \| On Windows 8.1, sets the application to per monitor-DPI aware. On Windows Vista through Windows 8, sets the application to system-DPI aware. \|
47	47
48	48		### Execution Level
49	49
50	50		You can select the level of elevation (Windows Vista+) that your program requires. Values:
51	51
52	52		\| Elevation \| Description \| Recommendations \|
53	53		\|----\|----\|----\|
54	54		\| asInvoker \| The application runs with the same access token as the parent process \| standard user applications. \|
55	55		\| highestAvailable \| The application runs with the highest privileges the current user can obtain. \| mixed-mode applications. \|
56	56		\| requireAdministrator \| The application runs only for administrators and requires that the application be launched with the full access token of an administrator. \| administrator only applications. Internal elevation points are not needed. The application is already running elevated. \|
57	57
58	58		### UI Access
59	59
60	60		MS documentation: "Applications that are not providing accessibility should set this flag to false. Applications that are required to drive input to other windows on the desktop (on-screen keyboard, for example) should set this value to true."
61	61
62	62		### Text fields
63	63
64	64		Button allows to change string properties of manifest. Currently these are: project name, project description. Some of these values are used by OS in crash report dialog (and maybe in Event Log).
65	65
66	66		### Use Application Bundle for running and debugging (for Darwin)
67	67
68	68		This is needed for correct execution of macOS applications. By setting this option on, IDE runs/debugs Application Bundle (folder with extension .app) instead of real executable.
69	69
70	70		MacOS (Darwin)
71	71
72	72		### Create Application Bundle
73	73
74	74		Pushing this button creates Application Bundle, with symbolic link to executable for this project.
75	75
76	76		For further info about Application Bundles see [[Carbon Interface\|Carbon Interface#Creating the Apple resource files]].
77	77
78	78		## Forms
79	79
80	80		![](/wiki-images/1/1e/Project_Options_-_Forms.png)
81	81
82	82		You can create forms on start of the project. This is the same as adding
83	83
84	84		` Application.CreateForm(FormX,TFormX); `
85	85
86	86		lines to the code.
87	87
88	88		Note: The forms are automatically created, not automatically shown. They are shown if their 'Visible' property is set to true. For instance the form variable is set, so you can write 'Form1.Caption:='Some text';'. To show such a form add a line 'Form1.Show;' or 'Form1.ShowModal;'.
89	89
90	90		## FPDoc editor
91	91
92	92		![](/wiki-images/1/1b/Project_Options_-_FPDoc_Editor.png)
93	93
94	94		### FPDoc files path
95	95
96	96		Contains paths to FPDoc files with documentation for the project. The FPDoc files are simple *.xml files and created by the built-in FPDoc editor or the standalone application lazarus documentation editor (it comes with lazarus in doceditor/lazde.lpi).
97	97
98	98		For example: Set it to "docs". The IDE will then lookup and create fpdoc files in the sub folder "docs" of your project directory.
99	99
100	100		## Session
101	101
102	102		![](/wiki-images/6/6f/Project_Options_-_Session.png)
103	103
104	104		### Save editor info for closed files
105	105
106	106		The IDE saves the editor settings (caret position, top line, page index, bookmarks, jump history) even for closed files and will restore it, when the file is opened again. Default: enabled.
107	107
108	108		### Save editor info only for project files
109	109
110	110		The IDE saves various settings for each file, like editor settings, run file settings, resource names. Normally the IDE will save this information together with the project sesssion information (.lpi or .lps file). Enable this to not store such values on disk. Default: true.
111	111
112	112		### Save session information in
113	113
114	114		Each project has a session. A session contains all meta information about open files in the source editor, the bookmarks, jump history and run file information. You can setup, where to store this information for the current project:
115	115
116	116		- Save in .lpi file - the file will change often.
117	117		- Save the .lps file in the project directory - useful if the .lpi file is under version control (e.g. cvs, svn).
118	118		- Save in IDE config directory - useful if the project directory is read only
119	119		- Do not save any session info - useful for the paranoids.
120	120
121	121		## Version Info
122	122
123		-	~~<img src="Project_Options_-_Version_Info.png" title="Project_Options_-_Version_Info.png" width="500" />~~
	123	+	![](/wiki-images/9/9a/Project_Options_-_Version_Info.png)
124	124
125		-	~~<img src="popt.png" title="popt.png" width="700" />~~
	125	+	![](/wiki-images/3/30/Popt.png)
126	126
127	127		Dialog with Test button always available for use.
128	128
129	129		You can choose to include file version information in the executable/library. On Windows, this will show in the properties of the file.
130	130
131	131		## Resources
132	132
133	133		The dialog shows a list of files that will be included in the application as resources.
134	134
135	135		You can use the Add and Delete buttons to add or delete a resource.
136	136
137	137		The Delete all button will remove all resources.
138	138
139	139		When you click add, the IDE will prompt you for a filename. Each filename will be added to the resources of the application, and is added to the list below the toolbar. by default, the filename (without path or extension) is used as the name of the resource.
140	140
141	141		If you select one of the resources, you can rename it in the edit box at the right. You can then also change the type: RCDATA is the default type, because it can be used for any kind of binary data.
142	142
143	143		When you select one of the resources and click delete, the resource is removed.
144	144
145		-	~~<img src="Project_Options_-_Resources.png" title="Project_Options_-_Resources.png" width="700" />~~
	145	+	![](/wiki-images/7/71/Project_Options_-_Resources.png)
146	146
147	147		The list of resources (the filename, type and resource name) is saved in the project file (.lpi).
148	148
149	149		Note that this means that the files you select must remain available, they are not copied: The resource file - which is linked into the binary when compiling - will be regenerated depending on the actions taken in the IDE. Whenever the resource file is regenerated, the files indicated here must be available.
150	150
151	151		It is therefor a good idea to add the files that are indicated here to the project file as well.
152	152
153	153		### See also
154	154
155	155		- [[fcl-res\|FCL resource units]]
156	156		- [[Lazarus Resources\|Description of using FPC and Lazarus resources]]
157	157		- [[lazres\|Lazarus Resource compiler]] (deprecated)
158	158
159	159		## i18n
160	160
161	161		![](/wiki-images/6/6d/Project_Options_-_i18n.png)
162	162
163	163		I18n stands for [[Internationalization]]. When enabled the IDE will automatically create and update translations files (.po files) for your resourcestring sections and lfm files.
164	164
165	165		For more details see [[Getting translation strings right\|here]].
166	166
167	167		### Enable i18n
168	168
169	169		Enable to create .po files for .rst files in the given output directory.
170	170
171	171		### Create/update .po file when saving a lfm file
172	172
173	173		When enabled the IDE adds the strings of type TTranslateString of the form/datamodule to a unitname.po file in the po output directory.
174	174
175	175		You can disable this creation for individual forms via the project inspector.
176	176
177	177		### Excluded: Identifiers and Originals
178	178
179	179		Starting with Lazarus 1.8 the i18n frame contains two boxes "Identifiers" and "Originals" to exclude specific strings from the generated po files. For example, suppose the caption of a button is assigned to a specifically declared resource string. In this case the caption seen in the object inspector is obsolete and can be excluded by entering its text in the column "Originals"; alternatively the string `tform1.button1.caption` can be entered in the list "Identifiers" (this assumes that the button is named `Button1` and sits on an instance of `TForm1`). (In v1.8 series the excluded entries are not removed from the po files automatically. You must perform a Clean up and Build to recreate the required files. In v2 series the the excluded entries are removed on the next compile.)
180	180
181	181		## Resources
182	182
183	183		![](/wiki-images/7/71/Project_Options_-_Resources.png)
184	184
185	185		## Miscellaneous
186	186
187	187		![](/wiki-images/d/d0/Project_Options_-_Miscellaneous.png)
188	188
189	189		### Main unit is Pascal Source
190	190
191	191		The main source is the root unit of a project. Typically this is the .lpr file. Set to true, if the main source is a pascal source. Set to false to avoid the IDE trying to parse it.
192	192
193	193		### Main Unit has Uses Section containing all Units of project
194	194
195	195		If this is enabled, the IDE will update the uses section whenever a unit is added or removed from the project.
196	196
197	197		### Update Application.CreateForm statements in main unit
198	198
199	199		If this is enabled the IDE will add/remove Application.CreateForm(FormX, TFormX); statements for forms. If it is disabled, it will ignore these statements (no delete, no add, no change).
200	200
201	201		### Update Application.Title statement in main unit
202	202
203	203		If this is enabled the IDE will add/remove Application.Title:='Some Text'; statements. If the Title contains a value it will add a line, if the Title is empty it will remove it. If the Title changes it will add/remove/change the statement. If it is disabled, it will ignore these statements (no delete, no add, no change).
204	204
205	205		### Update Application.Scaled statement in main unit
206	206
207	207		If this is enabled the IDE will add/update the Application.Scaled:=true\\|false; statement. See "Project Options" -\> "Application" -\> "Use LCL scaling -\> (Hi-DPI)"
208	208
209	209		### Project is runnable
210	210
211	211		The Project can be run in the debugger.
212	212
213	213		### Use design time packages
214	214
215	215		Normally design time packages are not added to the unit path of the compiler. Enable this if your project uses a design time package at runtime.
216	216
217	217		### Always build (even if nothing changed)
218	218
219	219		If disabled, the IDE checks before running for changes and if nothing changed will skip the compile step. Lazarus checks the compiler parameters, the compiler executable (filedate and filename) as listed in the projectname.compiled file and it checks the file dates of files listed in the project inspector. It does not check the fpc.cfg and not all the files in the project directories (only those listed in the project inspector) and it does not check all used units. So it will ignore changes in used units not listed in the project inspector, even if it is used by the project and opened in the source editor.
220	220
221	221		### Maximize compatibility of project (LPI and LPS)
222	222
223	223		Sometimes the IDE gets new features, which changes some information in the lpi file, breaking compatibility with older Lazarus versions. Some of these features support storing some simpler values in the old format as well, so an old IDE can load it.
224	224
225	225		For example in Lazarus 2.0 the format of the unit list was changed from unit\<number\> to just unit, to avoid big git/svn diffs when an unit was removed from the project.
226	226
227	227		Keep in mind that when an old IDE saves a lpi it stores only things it knows, loosing all values of the newer IDE version.
228	228
229	229		### Save .lrs file in the output directory
230	230
231	231		Only applicable if the project's resource type is ".lrs". Enable this option to generate the lrs file in the project's unit output directory.
232	232
233	233		### Resource type of project
234	234
235	235		When you create a new form, data module, or frame a .lfm file is created. This option defines how the .lfm file is added to the executable, and determines how the project resources are stored. Since version 0.9.29 the two options are:
236	236
237	237		- lrs include file - This option needs one include file per unit and a corresponding include directive {\$I unit1.lrs} in the unit's initialization section. This option is supported on all platforms, and the IDE creates and updates the needed .lrs file automatically.
238	238		- FPC resources - This option needs at least FPC version 2.4.0 (or higher) and a resource directive {\$R *.lfm} in each unit which requires resources. Loading speed and executable size is similar to the .lrs option. The main advantage of FPC resources is that there is one less source file (since no .lrs files are generated).
239	239
240	240		This project setting affects how project resources are stored, as well as which is the appropriate source code directive to use (although the directives are inserted into the unit source for you). If you choose the "lrs include file" option, then the IDE stores icon resources in the .lrs file (and - only on the Windows platform - includes .rc files, if any). If you choose "FPC resources" then the IDE stores resources in .rc files on all platforms. The IDE automatically searches for a project icon resource in any .lrs resource first. If no icon resource is found there, or if there is no .lrs file, then it searches in the project's fpc resources.
241	241
242	242		# Compiler Options
243	243
244	244		---
245	245		From the Free Pascal wiki, page "IDE Window: Project Options", as it stood on 2023-06-27 after a change by Mattias2, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's [[Licensing]] page. If you have concerns about this material, [message the admin](/wiki-contact).

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