Delphi Debug Expert

by Steve Trefethen, RAD Group R&D, and John Kaster, Developer Relations

This debug expert uses the Delphi Open Tools API to introduce a new submenu item to the Run menu, and modify the behavior of an existing menu item.

DBGExpt eliminates the need to use the Integrated Debugging checkbox on the debugger options dialog by modifying the Run menu so that Run | Run always executes using the debugger. It also adds Run | Run Without Debugger menu item that will never run the integrated debugger when you select it.

Simply leave the Integrated Debugger checkbox alone and use the new menu items to "toggle" the Integrated Debugger. The source to this package is not available since it is linked using some of the internal IDE packages to more easily accomplish this task.

Note: If you change the editor Key Mapping, you will need to restart the IDE in order to see the for the Run | Run menu item.

Installation Instructions

You can download the expert from CodeCentral, ID# 15240.

In the Delphi 5 IDE, select Component | Install Packages and click the Add button, then select DBGPACK5.BPL and click Ok. You should now see the new menu item.

This package recognizes two registry entries, one for setting the caption of the Run menu item and one for setting the shortcut for the Run Without Debugging item.

Both of the following are string values:

HKCUSoftwareBorlandDelphix.0ExtrasRunItemCaption

Defaults to "Run Without Debugging"

HKCUSoftwareBorlandDelphix.0ExtrasRunItemShortCut

Defaults to "Shift-F9"

Here is a sample .reg file with these entries:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareBorlandDelphi5.0Extras]
"RunItemShortCut"="Shift+F9"
"RunItemCaption"="Run Without Debugging"

DBGPACK for Delphi 4.0

The previous release of this package is also available on the web. From http://www.yahoo.com search for "DBGPACK".

Enjoy, and comment on this article if you have any feedback on this IDE expert for Delphi.