FastReport VCL & FMX Comparison (Embarcadero Edition)

The upgrade of my flagship product from Delphi 5 VCL to Delphi 11.3 FMX is finally at the presentation stage. I've spent the last six weeks thinking about and learning about data visualization. 

I took a few classes on LinkedIn Learning about data viz, and I re-watched Ray Konopka's excellent video on Data Visualization using Delphi. Seeing is Believing - Data Visualization in Multi-Device Apps. Ray has also made the source code for his demonstration available at https://delphibydesign.com/downloads/ Thank you Ray!

I've never used FastReport before. My current Delphi 5 VCL product uses QuickReports. I did find a great FastReport video available through Embarcadero Academy called Getting Started with FastReport by Cary Jensen. Jensen mainly focuses on the VCL version of FastReport. 

I've never used FastReport before 

I was surprised at the huge difference between the VCL and FMX versions of the FastReport Embarcadero Editions. That's probably why Jensen focused on the VCL version in his video. These are the palette entries for Delphi 11.3 Professional. (VCL on the left, FMX on the right)

I'm interested in the FMX version of FastReport because I'm developing a desktop software product which targets Windows and macOS users. Because I'm new to FastReport, I want to see how far I can take the "Embarcadero" version of FastReport before I commit to purchasing the full version.

Unfortunately, the Embarcadero Edition of FMX FastReport has no export capability. See the Palette image above.

I was surprised at the huge difference between the VCL and FMX versions

Because I'm targeting both Windows and macOS users I need to know if there are any stark differences between those platforms. I created a comparison chart which highlights these differences. This is the same data from the Fast Reports website sorted by features with missing capabilities highlighted.

Here is the same comparison which filters out any features that are unavailable across all platforms.

As you can see, the Embarcadero Edition of FastReports 2.0 FMX is very limited.

The Bottom Line: Because my application is cross-platform for both Windows and macOS, it looks like I will have to purchase the full retail version of FastReport 2.0 FMX in order to give my customers the experience they expect. 

Enjoy
Semper Fi
Gunny Mike
https://zilchworks.com

Delphi Tip of the Day: Prevent SQLite Date Headaches by using a GetDateAs_YYYYMMDD Function

Working with Date data can be very tricky. I recently encountered an "Invalid argument to date encode", error while trying to update a SQLite database table.

This placed a value of 0000-00-00 into the date field of my SQLite table.

Here is the original code which caused the error.

function TForm1.GetOneOffDateAsDate: TDate;
begin
  Result := DateEdit1.Date;
end;

procedure TForm1.SQLInsertPayment;
begin
  qryO.SQL.Clear;

  qryO.SQL.Add( ' INSERT INTO OneOffPayments    ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             (                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             OneOffDate,       ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             OneOffPayment     ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             )                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '      VALUES (                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             :ood,             ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             :oop              ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             );                ');

  qryO.ParamByName( 'ood' ).Value := GetOneOffDateAsDate;
  qryO.ParamByName( 'oop' ).Value := GetOneOffAmount;

  qryO.ExecSQL;
end;

The getter function GetOneOffDateAsDate passes in a TDate which doesn't play nicely with FireDAC. Fortunately, the fix is quite simple. I found a fantastic explanation for this error on stackoverflow which states FireDAC expects DATE data type values to be a string in the fixed format of YYYY-MM-DD.

FireDAC Expects DATE data types
to be strings formatted as YYYY-MM-DD

So I created another getter function to format the date data as a YYYY-MM-DD string.
Problem solved!

Updated code passing FireDAC a YYYY-MM-DD string

function TForm1.GetOneOffDateAs_YYYYMMDD: String;
begin
  Result := FormatDateTime('YYYY-MM-DD', DateEdit1.Date);
end;

procedure TForm1.SQLInsertPayment;
begin
  qryO.SQL.Clear;

  qryO.SQL.Add( ' INSERT INTO OneOffPayments    ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             (                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             OneOffDate,       ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             OneOffPayment     ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             )                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '      VALUES (                 ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             :ood,             ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             :oop              ');
  qryO.SQL.Add( '             );                ');

  qryO.ParamByName( 'ood' ).Value := GetOneOffDateAs_YYYYMMDD;
  qryO.ParamByName( 'oop' ).Value := GetOneOffAmount;

  qryO.ExecSQL;
end;

Happy coding!

Enjoy!
Gunny Mike
https://zilchworks.com

How to open URLs with default applications in macOS and Windows

 I'm currently updating an old Delphi 5 Desktop VCL application to to Delphi 11.3 FMX. And one of the capabilities I want to provide is the ability to launch several webpages from within the application. I want to place a link in the main menu to my YouTube channel so customers can easily get to product videos. And there's also a link to my website in the Help > About box.

It was fairly straightforward the last time I did this using VCL because all I had to worry about was the Windows side of things. However, because I want this application to run on both Windows and macOS it presented a challenge.

The Delphi IDE won't recognize the Macapi namespace unless the target is set to MacOS 64-bit

Harry Stahl covers the COCOA API on pages 98-99 of his book Cross-Platform Development with Delphi. He also gives an example of how to use the NSWorkspace object of  Macapi.Appkit. However, he doesn't show how to setup the uses clause.

I also found a fantastic reference on stackoverflow by David Heffernan that was written in 2015. However, there are two issues with Heffernan's if you are looking for a complete answer:

1. There is a reference to a blog post by Malcolm Groves called Opening files and URLs in default applications in OS X which is no longer available or accessible.
2. The example doesn't tell you you need to target the MacOS 64-bit platform before the IDE will recognize Macapi namespace..

The Delphi IDE won't recognize the Macapi namespace unless the target is set to MacOS 64-bit. Shame on me for not reading up on the Embarcadero docs. Wrapping my head around how to use the  {$IFDEF MSWindows} and the {$IFDEF MACOS} was a little tricky But I eventually caught on. 

After a couple hours of going back and forth with code that worked for Windows but didn't work for macOS. And code that worked for macOS but didn't work for Windows, I finally got Heffernan's example to work.

The next step was to extract the code out of the main form and place it into it's own unit. And that is the code I'm sharing with you today. I hope you find this helpful. 

Video demonstration of the below source code

Here is the source code:

Unit1.fmx

object Form1: TForm1
  Left = 0
  Top = 0
  Caption = 'Goto Website'
  ClientHeight = 238
  ClientWidth = 478
  Position = ScreenCenter
  FormFactor.Width = 320
  FormFactor.Height = 480
  FormFactor.Devices = [Desktop]
  DesignerMasterStyle = 0
  object Text1: TText
    AutoSize = True
    Cursor = crHandPoint
    Position.X = 116.000000000000000000
    Position.Y = 83.000000000000000000
    Size.Width = 246.078125000000000000
    Size.Height = 31.921875000000000000
    Size.PlatformDefault = False
    Text = 'https://zilchworks.com'
    TextSettings.Font.Size = 24.000000000000000000
    TextSettings.FontColor = claMediumblue
    OnClick = Text1Click
    OnMouseEnter = Text1MouseEnter
    OnMouseLeave = Text1MouseLeave
  end
end

Unit1.pas

unit Unit1;

interface

uses
  System.SysUtils, System.Types, System.UITypes, System.Classes, System.Variants,
  FMX.Types, FMX.Controls, FMX.Forms, FMX.Graphics, FMX.Dialogs, FMX.Objects;

type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
    Text1: TText;
    procedure Text1MouseEnter(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Text1MouseLeave(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Text1Click(Sender: TObject);
  private
    { Private declarations }
  public
    { Public declarations }
  end;

var
  Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.fmx}

uses
  u.OpenURL;

{ TForm1 }

procedure TForm1.Text1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  GotoWebsite(Text1.Text);
end;

procedure TForm1.Text1MouseEnter(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Text1.Font.Style :=  Text1.Font.Style + [TFontStyle.fsUnderline];
end;

procedure TForm1.Text1MouseLeave(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Text1.Font.Style :=  Text1.Font.Style - [TFontStyle.fsUnderline];
end;

end.

u.OpenUrl.pas

{
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¦ Filename:    u.OpenURL Unit
¦ Author:      Michael J. Riley
¦ Website:     https://zilchworks.com
¦ YouTube:     https://www.youtube.com/@CapeCodGunny
¦ Copyright:   © 2023-2024 by Michael J. Riley. All Rights Reserved.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¦ Purpose:     Opens a url using the default browser on the users system.
¦
¦ OS:          Windows, macOS
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¦ Developer References:
¦
¦ Book:        Cross-Platform Development with Delphi 10.2 & FireMonkey
¦ Author:      Harry Stahl
¦ ISBN:        https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/9781549545764
¦ Notes:       See pages 98-99.
¦
¦ Websites:    https://stackoverflow.com/q/28858392/195983
¦              https://stackoverflow.com/a/28859000/195983
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¦ DISCLAIMER:
¦
¦ This source code is provided "as is" and without any warranty. Use it at your
¦ own risk. The author(s) make no guarantees or assurances regarding the
¦ correctness or functionality of the code, and disclaim any liability for
¦ damages resulting from its use.
¦
¦ It is advisable to thoroughly review and test the code before deploying it in
¦ any production environment.
¦
¦ By using this code, you agree to these terms and acknowledge that any issues
¦ arising from its use are solely your responsibility.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
}
unit u.OpenURL;

interface

{$IFDEF MSWindows}
uses
  Winapi.ShellAPI,
  Winapi.Windows;
{$ENDIF}

{$IFDEF MACOS}
uses
  Macapi.AppKit,
  Macapi.Foundation,
  Macapi.Helpers;

  procedure macOSGotoWebsite(URL: string);
{$ENDIF}

  procedure GotoWebsite(URL: string);

implementation


procedure GotoWebsite(URL: string);
begin
  {$IFDEF MSWindows}
  ShellExecute(GetDesktopWindow, 'open', PChar(URL), '', '', SW_SHOWNORMAL)
  {$ENDIF}
  {$IFDEF MACOS}
  macOSGotoWebsite(URL);
  {$ENDIF}
end;

{$IFDEF MACOS}
procedure macOSGotoWebsite(URL: string);
var
  macURL: NSURL;
  macWorkspace: NSWorkspace;
begin
  macURL := TNSURL.Wrap(TNSURL.OCClass.URLWithString(StrToNSStr(URL)));
  macWorkspace := TNSWorkspace.Wrap(TNSWorkspace.OCClass.sharedWorkspace);
  macWorkspace.openURL(macURL);
end;
{$ENDIF}

end.

Enjoy!

Gunny Mike
https://zilchworks.com