SharpE Development - Getting started

Development Overview

SharpE is written Delphi. It is not currently possible to use other coding languages (like C++) due to the skin system, which is based on custom Delphi components. It might be possible to write plugins with no graphical component(e.g. services) using another language, but this is not supported by the development team. Non-integrated utilities (such as an online updater) could easily be written in any language though.

The main development team uses Turbo Delphi Pro. Most of the shell can be compiled without third party components, so the casual contributor can use Turbo Delphi Explorer. Please note that this will prevent you from compiling any part of the shell relying on third party components. Compiling the source with older versions has not been tested (but should be possible).

Introduction to Delphi

Marco Cantu, one of the gods of Delphi development, has kindly released two free ebooks that will get you started: Essential Pascal and Essential Delphi. Essential Pascal discusses and acts as a language reference for most of the basic programming tasks you will need in Delphi, and Essential Delphi continues with a discussion of Delphi-specific features. Both are highly recommended reading if you've never used Delphi before.

Essential Pascal
Essential Delphi


Preparing Delphi

  1. Preparing Your Delphi Environment
  2. Installing 3rd Party Components
  3. Setting Up The Source Code

Getting the source

The complete source code is available on the SourceForge.net SVN server.

svn command 

  svn co https://sharpe.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/sharpe

related links:

Compile the source

Compiling the source code with Delphi should be very easy once the Delphi environment is configured correctly.

All projects use a default output path relative to the svn directory (..\SharpE). This default output path must exist in order to compile anything from the svn. Running the 'Create Output Directory Structure.bat' script in the svn root will create the basic directory structure for the compiler output. This script will create the needed directory ('SharpE') which is located one level higher than the svn root.

Another way to compile the source is to use .bat files for compiling the source via command line. Every component and plugin should have a compile.bat in its directory; in addition to this, a global build.bat is available. In order to use the command line compiler the global search path for the third party components (JCL,GR32,...) has to be adjusted to your system configuration. To adjust those paths open the dcc32.cf~ file in your svn root and adjust the path at the top of the file (for JCL, JVCL, GR32, Pngcomponents and Cooltrayicon).

Alternatively, use the included tool "SharpCompile?". This will allow you to compile the downloaded SVN code as long as you have Delphi installed. It requires no configuration.