https://ideasawakened.github.io/Blog site dedicated to Delphi programmers around the world from Darian Miller, an Embarcadero MVP 2026-06-14T23:29:45-05:00 Darian Miller https://ideasawakened.github.io/ Jekyll © 2026 Darian Miller /assets/img/favicons/favicon.ico /assets/img/favicons/favicon-96x96.png 2026-06-14T22:00:00-05:00 2026-06-14T22:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/delphi-clean-for-rad-studio Darian Miller

I imagine that most every Delphi developer has clicked Project > Clean in the IDE at some point and wondered what it actually accomplished. The help text says “removes generated files from the project, such as object code files,” which is technically true and also tells you almost nothing. Files get deleted. You hope they were the ones you needed. Marco Cantu chimed in on a 2009 Stack Overfl...

2026-06-08T20:00:00-05:00 2026-06-08T20:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/delphi-terminal-saved-commands Darian Miller

Here is something I do many times a week within RAD Studio. I want to see what changed in a file that I am editing, so I right-click the file in the Project Manager, then click Show in Explorer, wait for the Explorer window to show, right-click the file in Explorer, use the mouse to select and then click on the TortoiseGit menu item, then mouse to select and click on the Diff menu item to brin...

2026-06-07T15:00:00-05:00 2026-06-07T15:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/delphi-terminal-a-dockable-console-for-RAD-Studio Darian Miller

There is a strong possibility that most Delphi developers keep one or two (or more) console windows open while working in the IDE. Build scripts, git, a quick PowerShell one-liner, whatever tool you are using at the command prompt - it all lives in a separate window that you alt-tab to all day long. I finally hit a point of alt-tab-fatigue so I built a terminal that docks inside RAD Studio inst...

2026-05-27T10:00:00-05:00 2026-05-27T10:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/where-is-delphi-installed-and-can-it-build Darian Miller

Where is Delphi on this machine? It is a question with more answers than it may appear. On any given Windows box, the registry hive may be under \Software\Borland\Delphi, \Software\Borland\BDS, \Software\CodeGear\BDS, or \Software\Embarcadero\BDS, depending on which generation of Delphi was installed. It may be under HKLM or HKCU. The 32-bit and 64-bit registry views see different things on the...

2026-05-24T22:30:00-05:00 2026-05-24T22:30:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/treating-delphi-compiler-versions-as-data Darian Miller

You commit a build script. Dave runs it on his machine. It fails - his Delphi is in D:\Delphi13, not C:\Program Files (x86)\Embarcadero\Studio\23.0. You fix it for Dave. Six months later, Delphi 14 ships, the script breaks again. Hand-maintained .inc files have the same problem, only more painful. Has this happened to you? A new Delphi release lands, and you spend the time to install RAD Studi...

2026-02-26T18:30:00-06:00 2026-02-26T18:31:00-06:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/powershell-script-to-archive-urls Darian Miller

Anyone who has maintained technical documentation over time has run into the problem of link rot. After carefully crafting a links section pointing to a relevant blog post or reference page, six months later it can return a 404. The missing links eventually reduces the long-term value of your content. The common solution is to snapshot URLs to a web archiving service at the time you write the...

2026-02-08T15:00:00-06:00 2026-02-11T15:00:00-06:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/delphi-versus-free-pascal-lazarus-comparison Darian Miller

This article is based on an ongoing, decision-oriented comparison between Delphi and Free Pascal/Lazarus, maintained as a public reference on GitHub, with feedback encouraged: https://github.com/ideasawakened/delphi-and-fpc-lazarus-comparison What follows is a guided walk-through of the comparison, highlighting the most important decision points rather than reproducing the full tables. This a...

2025-12-28T13:00:00-06:00 2026-01-22T04:00:00-06:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/delphi-community-edition-5000-revenue-limit-explained Darian Miller

Understanding the Delphi Community Edition $5,000 Revenue Rule TL;DR The Delphi Community Edition eligibility is based on total annual revenue of the licensee, not just software income. Employees may use Community Edition personally (on their own hardware, with no employer benefit). Business owners or self-employed freelancers exceeding $5,000/year are not eligible, even for unrelated w...

2025-08-22T13:00:00-05:00 2025-08-22T13:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/embarcadero-job-hub-success Darian Miller

Update Back in my original post introducing the new Embarcadero Job Hub, I highlighted their web resource where Delphi developers and employers can connect. At that time, it was really new and just three developers had taken the first step. Fast forward just a few days after my blog post, and the momentum is quickly building. The Job Hub now features 18 Delphi developers who have published th...

2025-08-18T14:00:00-05:00 2025-08-18T14:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/embarcadero-job-hub Darian Miller

There’s a new resource available for the Delphi community from Embarcadero - the Job Hub offers features for Employers and Developers. Employers - Find Delphi Developers Browse a growing network of professionals skilled in Embarcadero products, from Delphi and C++ Builder to RAD Server and more. Connect with developers who bring years of expertise in application design, database development, ...

2025-08-08T14:00:00-05:00 2025-08-10T13:20:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/How-To-Easily-Extend-your-Delphi-Community-Edition-License Darian Miller

The free Community Edition license for Delphi was first introduced in 2018 for Delphi and C++ Builder 10.2.3. It has been successful for Embarcadero, but it has caused a few concerns around licensing over the years. One issue involves the simple fact that the license is only good for one year and they do not release a new Community Edition every 12 months and it has been a little confusing on...

2025-05-29T15:00:00-05:00 2025-05-29T15:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/2025-stack-overflow-developer-survey-place-your-vote-for-delphi-today Darian Miller

The 15th annual developer survey from Stack Overflow includes options to select Delphi and the ability to write in RAD Studio. This is a very popular survey within the developer community with nearly 70,000 developers participating last year - so please boost visibility of the RAD Studio developer by participating! As usual, you do not have to be an active Stack Overflow member to take the sur...

2025-04-30T15:30:00-05:00 2025-04-30T15:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/rad-programmer-challenge-number-one-winner-announcement Darian Miller

The first in a series of challenges for the RAD Studio developer community now has a winner! 18 contestants supplied their own version of Minesweeper, written in the latest version of RAD Studio in either Delphi or C++ Builder. All of their repositories were forked to a new RAD Programmer Challenge 1 organization on GitHub: https://github.com/radprogrammer-challenge1-entries Each contestant ...

2025-03-30T11:30:00-05:00 2025-03-30T11:30:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/rad-programmer-challenge-update1-first-entries-received Darian Miller

The first in a series of challenges for the RAD Studio developer community is well underway! Contestants have started building their own versions of Minesweeper using Delphi and C++Builder. Please support them by giving their GitHub repositories a ⭐ and following the authors! As a reminder from the initial challenge announcement, the submission deadline is April 26, 2025. New entries and cod...

2025-03-29T22:00:00-05:00 2025-03-29T22:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/microsoft-windows-11-local-account-oobe-bypassnro-fails Darian Miller

Microsoft is taking one more step to force you to use an internet-connected Microsoft Account to install Windows. In their latest build 26200.5516 (based on Windows 11, version 24H2) they have removed a commonly-used script to setup a local account during the install process. Quote from the Windows Insider Blog Post: We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance securit...

2025-03-16T15:00:00-05:00 2025-03-16T15:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/rad-programmer-challenge-number-1-minesweeper-game-build Darian Miller

Introducing the first in a new series of challenges for the RAD Studio developer community. The RAD Programmer Challenges are designed to inspire innovation, increase the visibility of RAD Studio online, and encourage more online community involvement. Kicking off this series, I am inviting developers to build a classic MineSweeper game in RAD Studio. Sharpen your UI design, game development, a...

2024-12-25T06:00:00-06:00 2024-12-25T06:00:00-06:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/Merry-Christmas-Delphi-Developers-2024 Darian Miller

🎄🎅 Merry Christmas, Delphi Warriors! 🎅🎄 This holiday season, let the Spartan spirit of resilience and precision guide your coding battles! Whether you are conquering TObject hierarchies or defending against runtime exceptions, may your code be as robust as a Spartan shield! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year filled with inspiration, growth, and, of course, bug-free code...

2024-08-25T15:00:00-05:00 2024-08-26T09:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/why-you-should-not-use-WITH-in-your-Delphi-code Darian Miller

Delphi Programming Best Practices - Avoid WITH Statements There have been many discussions over the years about using WITH statements in your Pascal code. We just had another short with-related discussion on the Delphi Programmers Telegram server the other day and I decided to write a blog post so I could simply include a link to this post and hopefully rarely discuss it in detail again. Some...

2024-03-16T20:00:00-05:00 2024-03-16T20:00:00-05:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/global-delphi-summit-2024 Darian Miller

Delphi Summit - June 2024. Have you heard? There is a great convention dedicated to Delphi Developers coming this June to Amsterdam! The 2024 Global Delphi Summit is sponsored by GDK Software, Embarcadero, and Barnsten and features a great list of speakers and informative sessions. View the quick YouTube introductory video: Invite for the Delphi Summit 2024 featuring Marco Geuze, Jim McKe...

2024-02-03T06:00:00-06:00 2024-02-03T06:00:00-06:00 https://ideasawakened.github.io/post/2024-02-03-setup-postgresql-on-windows-from-zip Darian Miller

PostgreSQL is one of the most popular database solutions in the world. A few years back, I published a blog post full of PostgreSQL links and general information which includes links for the various distributions that are available and some connectivity options for Delphi. Shortly before that article was released, EDB and 2ndQuadrant merged and since that time EDB seems to be the only choice ...