Customer Reviews

Tomes of Delphi: WIn32 Shell API Windows 2000 Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've just received this book, and I must say I'm so very impressed. I also own John's book Win32 Core API (win 2000 Edition). I found the Core API reference to be only barely what I needed, it was dealing with fairly advanced topics, and gave a scattering of information I actually needed.

But This book, the Shell API has everything I ever wanted in a Delphi Win32 API reference. This is a fabulous reference indeed. Using Win API functions some times can be easier to impliment than understanding complex Delphi structures, and some don't offer the flexibility you want, and others suffer from speed in the translation between Delphi and API. This book shows you very well how to put that "one little add on" into your Delphi Applications you need to make it work the way you want, without having to muddle things up with a huge component of which you only need one part.

This book also deals with the basics, explaing the ideas of programming API in Delphi, explaining the basics of fundamental things like Callback Functions as well as the basics of handles, constants and strings in Windows, even a bit on Unicode.

It has sections on:

Window Movement functions, with everything you ever wanted to do to a window in one line or less <G>

Windows Information Functions, with wonderful calls to obtain information on the status or information of any window, including Setting parent and so on.

File IO, while Delphi handles File IO well, this excels at finding the information on the information in Files, including flushing file buffers, on change notifications, Locking files, and so on.

Input Functions: A rather bare bones section o n getting data from windows (carets, cursurs, etc), Mouse joystick, and Keyboard data. Would have been nice for Serial and USB information...

String and Atom functions: Dealing with formatting of strings which probably doesn't meet with the flexability of Delphi itself, but is helpful in those rare circumstances.

Clipboard Manipulation Functions: A wealth of dealing with the clipboard in Windows, one of the great sections of the book.

System INformation Functions: Getting almost anything you want to know about the system, this is VERY valuable information indeed.

Icons, Cursor, and Caret functions: Of all the things I hated, was the inability to mess directly with the windows icons/carets and so on effectively in Delphi. This offers Everything you could possibly ever need to create Icon's on the fly, setting the cursor, hiding the caret and more.

Help Functions: Explains the WinHelp architecture, shows how to create an HTML help file.

Shell File Functions: This, is why you should buy this book more than anythihng else. The information in here is extensive Dealing with all kinds of storage, streams and so on in a Delphi manner (streams were always oddly implimented in Delphi to me).

Shell Folder Functions: Another Must Have, this is just fabulous stuff including querrying the Recycling bin, browsing for folders, getting settings of folders, and so on.

Shell Extension Functions: Teaches you the basics, URL hooking, copy, shell executing, Drag-Drop handling, and more.

Specialized Shell Functions: From control panel message handling, writing control panel applications, application bars, and more.

INcluded is also a very helpful reference of all the windows Data Types, as well as a total Virtual Key code chart (very helpful), and something called the Tertiary Raster Operation Code Chart, which I don't know what it is, but hey it's extensive as heck!

Well worth the money, this is a must have book. Should have been published BEFORE the Core API book in my opinion, but the wait was well worth it.

Ed Williams

I suppose it was just bad luck that the first API (ReadDirectoryChanges) I needed help with wasn't in this book. I ended up spending some time searching the news groups to get more information. Seems like ReadDirectoryChanges should have been included in a book that has been described as the "definitive reference for the Win32 API"... A bit disappointing.

Have only been been using Delphi for 4 months now. This book and the Core API are very good. I found them very easy to understand.

I could say 5 Stars and it would be all what to say - but if you are not shure, what a type of book to choose that would be to few. Well I have this book for a long time and it is my bible. It is very practice indeed and close to the problems. My own projects have gone much more easier to solve. My own focus is on automation sectors and so I did some work for automating rs232 driven radio controls for hobbie and HAM- interested people. If you are interested in it so you can look at my website http://www.peter-geisler.de - looking to results from which I can say are a lot of ideas from John Ayres Tomes of Delphi - I rating it 5 Stars.

Imposing as the material in this book might otherwise be, I am most impressed with the clean authorship of the material. This book is more than a developer can reasonably hope for in a source reference. I expected to have to give maybe 10 days' time to absorbing it cover to cover, but it is written so well that most chapters require reading less than a page describing the chapter; and the rest of the material can simply be used. So full of treasure is this book that I spent hours the first evening just typing code into projects. All of it ran right the first time. I doubt a better book can be written on this subject, and will from here on consider any book with John Ayres' name on it the one to look at first on whatever the topic. A huge thanks to you John for doing your work so well. You made ours' far easier than we imagined.

well defined, great examples

you just cant afford not to get it, with the declining availability of good delphi source out there... its indespensible

well defined & explained, lot of examples.