TStringBuilder – Optimizing Delphi’s strings for speed

Today I needed a function that will wrap a string (a contiguous block of characters with no spaces) after 80 characters. Not only that I have found SysUtils.WrapText unsuitable (it can only wrap text IF the text contains spaces) but it is also terrible slow. So I build my own function: function WrapString(CONST s: string;

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Animated desktop wallpaper

BioniX Wallpaper Animator v3 is ready for download. That is great about this new version is that it is (should be) able to paint the animation UNDER desktop icons. However, since we cannot test it on all Windows operating systems we need some help. If you can run it on any of the following systems

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Three software programs that [used to] plague our computers: Acrobat, Java, Flash

There used to be three programs that really made our computer miserable. They were slow, bloated, intrusive and a  lot of security holes opened with them when you installed. Java – Probably Java is the nastiest of all Until few years ago you could not browse some web sites because some derailed ‘web developers’ decided

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List of microcontrollers that can be programmed in Pascal (and Pascal-like) language

By micro-controller Arduino Lazarus? DK-Basic (8bit arduino) Pascal Compiler for AVR Cortex-M3 and M4 ARM LPC – 39euro on Amazon Oberon     Astrobe  (Windows) 8051 Turbo51 (Windows) PascalLite – unspecified price MicroPascal Pic 10 to Pic 18  Pic Micro Pascal ATMEGA MicroPascal Pro XMEGA/XTINY from Atmel MicroPascal Pro Raspberry Pi projects (ARM v6/ARM11) Lazarus ____________________________________________ By

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Delphi XE7 IDE crash due to CnPAck MSDN Help Integrated

After spending 2 full hours I managed to find the culprit for an IDE crash (access violation in VCL210). The cause was …drum roll please… CnPack! There was a palette in IDE’s main tool bar called MSDN Help. However, when I right click to configure the toolbar, the palette was not listed there to show

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No mapping for the Unicode character exists in the target multi-byte code page

Today I tried to open an old project. While loading the main DFM form I got a “No mapping for the Unicode character exists in the target multi-byte code page” error. After some time I figured out what caused it: the form had a custom control that had a property like this: HeaderCellSpacing = 1.300000000000000000.

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How to set paths (library, debug, BPL, DCP, search) in Delphi XE7 (for multiplatform use)

So, Delphi’s help doesn’t tell us much about how to set up paths for DPK packages. It is ok. So, I will tell you how I do it so they work both on 32 and 64 Win platforms: My packages I have these major packages/folders: Graphics32 Drag and Drop (Melander) 3rd  Party (many small packages

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Fix for Exception EAccessViolation in module rtl210.bpl at 00016A9C [SOLVED]

I keep getting this error at Delphi shut down: Application Error – Exception EAccessViolation in module rtl210.bpl at 00016A9C. Access violation at address 50066A9C in module ‘rtl210.bpl’. Read of address 06152AF8. Solution 1: The problem is fixed by restoring this registry key to its original state: [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareEmbarcaderoBDS15.0Known IDE Packages] Here is the pristine value for

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Delphi: Access violation in module ‘bindcomp210.bpl’

I keep getting an “Access violation at address 1204F872 in module ‘bindcomp210.bpl’. Read of address 1423C764” message during Delphi startup. After poking around I have found the solution: delete the “Project” and/or “SaveFileDirectory” keys in [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareEmbarcaderoBDS15.0Session]   02.2015  

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How difficult is to write a solid software protection (licensing) scheme?

Extracting unique identification numbers from hardware and using them for software protection scheme I had customers that are purchasing a single software license but using it on multiple computers so I wanted to prevent them from doing so. The solution I have found was to generate a license key that is unique for each computer.

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Why handling a possible ISP/server time-out is critical?

 Imagine that a possible client is downloading the application for the first time. During start up the application checks the internet to updates, news, resource files, etc. If the server fails to respond the application will hang. After 20 seconds (or way less) the customer will hit the Control+Alt+Del buttons, kill the application, uninstall it

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How to win a “who gets more traffic” contest (How to generate LOT of fake traffic on a web site)

Web Traffic Generator is a nice dirty tool that helps you to generate literary thousands of page views. Lets say you participate in a contest “who’s web page gets more visitors”. All you have to do is to download this little devilish software, enter the URL of the page you want to send traffic to

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How to make VirtualDub open/edit mkv, mp4, flv, mov and other file formats?

In order to open MP4 (and other video files) in VirtualDub you need a plugin called ‘Virtualdub FFMpeg Input Plugin‘.  Installation: Download the plug in and unzip it in VirtualDub’s folder. The ZIP contains two folder one for Windows 32 bit and one for Windows 64 bits. You can delete the one that you don’t

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Hosting – InMotion Hosting support sucks

IF YOU ARE AN INMOTION HOSTING CUSTOMER READ THIS!!! InMotion Hosting offer such horrible services. In time their reputation web down so they had to create a puppet company called…. Web Hosting Hub. Here is some proof: Click the Support button it will take you to a page that has InMotion Hosting logo: https://chatwithourteam.com/licence/1001/open_chat.cgi?lang=eh&params=HUB%20HUB%20HUB%20-%20WEB%20HOSTING%20HUB%20-%20HUB%20HUB%20HUB&groups=0 Here

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Firefox (23) going downhill

I just discovered that Firefox removed the ‘Disable or replace context menus’ checkbox from its OPTIONS panel. They say its and improvement. Mozilla! What the fuck? That was our first defense line against some intrusive web sites. To get access to this feature type ‘about:config‘ in your address bar then search for this string: dom.event.contextmenu.enabled

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Solve the “Cannot load a form that has itself as ancestor” error in Delphi

How to solve the “Cannot load a form that has itself as ancestor” error in Delphi This is how a new/empty project should look like: uses Forms, Unit1 in ‘Unit1.pas’ {Form1};  {$R *.res} And this how the project was: uses Forms, Unit1 in ‘Unit1.pas’ {Form} {$R *.res}; I spent on hour to find the well

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Where do I see the results of a disk scan in windows 7?

On Windows XP/Windows 7 Disk Scan (chkdsk) shows no report upon compleation. To see the results of a disk scan in windows you need to type this command in PowerShell: get-winevent -FilterHashTable @{logname=”Application”; id=”1001″}| ?{$_.providername -match “wininit”} | fl timecreated, message | out-file c:stuffCheckdiskResults.txt Please note the last path in the command:  c:stuffCheckdiskResults.txt You should

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