Environment variables are strings defined by the IDE. Each environment variable serves a specific purpose. Some of them are fixed, others are changed dynamically depending on what/how you are compiling your project.
For example, they provide dynamic paths that influence where files are stored, define default locations for binaries, define how projects are built, and how the IDE operates.
Some environment variables can be accessed from outside the IDE, via registry.
We can use them to streamline our workflows (the compilation process for example).
The list below presents some of the environment variables (Delphi 11). There are more of them, but some are not interesting – they are exclusively for C++ and databases or simply are not that useful.
| Variable | Description |
| $(BDSPLATFORMSDKSDIR) C:\Users\User\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\SDKs | Location for SDKs, which are stored in subfolders. |
| $(BDS) program files -> embarcadero\studio\23.0 | The installation location for RAD Studio. |
| $(BDSBIN) program files -> embarcadero\studio\23.0\bin | The folder contains executable (EXE) files, such as the IDE, compilers, linkers, and other binaries. |
| $(BDSCOMMONDIR) C:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\23.0 | General folder for user-specific files. For example, styles are installed in a subfolder, another subfolder is the default location for packages, and so on. |
| $(BDSPROJECTSDIR) C:\Users\User\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\Projects | Default folder where the IDE saves projects. |
| $(BDSUSERDIR) C:\Users\[User]\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\23.0 | Folder for user-specific files that the IDE stores. |
| $(DELPHI) program files -> embarcadero\studio\23.0 | The installation location for Delphi, if the Delphi personality is installed (the same as the RAD Studio installation location). Only set when running the IDE using the combined RAD Studio or Delphi personality. |
| $(PATH) | A system environment variable, but one that can often be changed (other paths appended) for processes running under the IDE. |
There are four more environment variables that are very special/useful so we will discuss them separately.
$(ProductVersion)
This variable is automatically substituted by Delphi with a string representing the current version:
- “21.0” when we compile under Delphi 10.4 (Sydney)
- “22.0” when we compile under Delphi 11
- “23.0” when we compile under Delphi 12
- etc.
$(Platform)
Automatically substituted by Delphi with the platform for which the compilation takes place.
- “Win32” when we compile for 32bit.
- “Win64” when we compile for 64bit.
$(Config)
Automatically substituted by Delphi with:
- “Release” when we compile our application in Release mode.
- “Debug” when we compile our application in Debug mode.
Compiling a project under multiple editions of Delphi
I always use the above environment variables for my output paths (both in projects and libraries). If we use hardcoded paths instead of environment variables, compiling a project under Delphi 10.4 would require 4 output paths:
// Sydney
C:\My library\21.0\Win32\Debug
C:\My library\21.0\Win32\Release
C:\My library\21.0\Win64\Debug
C:\My library\21.0\Win64\Release
The above structure would not work if at some point we upgrade to Delphi 11, because of the hardcoded paths. Delphi 11 would output the DCUs in the “21.0” folder. Now if we switch back to Delphi 10.4 it would fail to load the DCUs because they are compiled with Delphi 11. So, we have to recompile the whole stuff in Delphi 10.4, but if we do that, we break Delphi 11!
The patch would be to make a copy of the project (DPR/DPROJ) under two different names, MyProj104 and MyProj11 and change the hardcoded paths (in the MyProj11) to these new values:
// Alexandria
C:\My library\22.0\Win32\Debug
C:\My library\22.0\Win32\Release
C:\My library\22.0\Win64\Debug
C:\My library\22.0\Win64\Release
If we want to compile that project with more Delphi editions things really get out of control.
However, with the three environment variables above we can have a single path:
C:\My library\$(ProductVersion)\$(Platform)\$(Config)
Now we can upgrade to Delphi 12, 13, 14, etc without changing anything! Each Delphi edition will output the binary files in its own dedicated folder.
How cool and clean is that?
The fourth environment variable is discussed in the “Delphi in all its glory – Libraries” book, because it better applies there. But it also is a life saver, even bigger than the ones before!
Registry variables
Over the years, I created quite a few external tools and scripts that must know where Delphi is installed.
This can be achieved by interrogating some variable in the registry which are put there during Delphi setup. Example:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Embarcadero\BDS\2x.0\
“RootDir”=”C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Embarcadero\\Studio\\22.0\\”
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\2x.0\Environment Variables
“InterBase”=”$(BDS)\\InterBase2020”
“DEMOSDIR”=”C:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\Embarcadero\\Studio\\22.0\\Samples”
Macros
Macros complement/extend the environment variables. The macros often represent file paths, project configurations, and platform-specific details. For example, the $(OUTPUTPATH) macro returns the full path to the output file (e.g., a compiled binary).
But macros can also be commands that can be executed – for example the Save macro can be used to trigger the IDE to save open files to disk.
Macros are extremely useful for running scripts inside the IDE. For example, when we compile in “Release” mode, we can create a custom build event (script) that uploads the new EXE file we just compiled, over FTP, so the customers can download it.
In the “Delphi in all its glory – Libraries” book, we will use macros to automate the management of resource files needed for packages.
The list below shows each macro. It also shows an example of what Delphi returns when we execute that macro for a theoretic runtime package called “Tools_R.dpk”, located in “C:\Projects\Tools”.
Path related macros
INPUTDIR
The input file’s directory. Example: C:\Projects\Tools\
INPUTEXT
The input file’s extension. Example: .DProj
INPUTFILENAME
The input file’s name, with extension. Example: Tools_R.dproj
INPUTNAME
The input file’s name, without extension. Example: Tools_R
INPUTPATH
The input file’s full path. Example: C:\Projects\Tools\Tools_R.dproj
OUTPUTDIR
The output file’s directory. Note that this is not the folder where the DCU files are stored!
Example: c:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\22.0\Bpl\
OUTPUTEXT
The output file’s extension. Example: .bpl
OUTPUTFILENAME
The output file’s name, with extension. Example: Tools_R.bpl
OUTPUTNAME
The output file’s name, without extension. Example: Tools_R
OUTPUTPATH
The output file’s full path. Note that this refers to the BPL/EXE file, not to the DCU output folder. Example: c:\Projects\BPLs\Tools_R.bpl
PROJECTDIR
The project’s directory. Example: C:\Projects\Tools
PROJECTEXT
The project file’s extension. Example: .dproj
PROJECTFILENAME
The project file’s name, with extension. Example: Tools_R.dproj
PROJECTNAME
The project’s name. Example: Tools_R
PROJECTPATH
The project file’s full path. Example: C:\Projects\Tools\Tools_R.dproj
SystemROOT
The environment variable $(SystemRoot). Example: C:\Windows
DIR
The environment variable (DIR). Example: ‘’
INCLUDEPATH
The project’s Include path. Example:
c:\program files (x86)\embarcadero\studio\22.0\lib\Win32\release
c:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\22.0\Dcp
c:\program files (x86)\embarcadero\studio\22.0\include
c:\Projects\Libs\DragDrop\22.0\Win32\debug
c:\Projects\Libs\sgcWebSockets\22.0\Win32\debug
etc
Path
The environment variable $(Path). Some examples:
C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;
C:\Program Files (x86)\Embarcadero\Studio\22.0\bin64;
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Embarcadero\Studio\22.0\Bpl;
Other macros
Config
The project’s active configuration name. Example: Debug
Platform
The project’s active platform name. Example: Win32
DEFINES
The project’s conditional defines. Example: DEBUG;FRAMEWORK_VCL
LOCALCOMMAND
Local command entered by user. In my test, it returned nothing.
SAVE
Save the input file to disk before it is compiled.
More on this topic is available in my books.
