Lazarus Documentation

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Lazarus and Pascal Tutorials

• Object Pascal Tutorial
• All tutorials on the wiki - Collection of tutorials with difficulty ranging from beginner to expert level
• There are also other tutorials not hosted here in Lazarus Documentation#Lazarus related blogs, websites, videos, magazines and books.
• SchoolFreeware's Free Pascal Tutorials - From command line interface (CLI) to graphical user interface (GUI) using Lazarus IDE

(See also "Websites", further down this page)

Lazarus/FPC

• Overview of Free Pascal and Lazarus - A brief discussion of kinds of things you can develop with these general-purpose tools.
• Lazarus Tutorial - A tutorial for beginners and a detailed description of the Lazarus IDE.
• Lazarus IDE Tools - An intermediate level tutorial about code completion and other IDE tools.
• Developing with Graphics - Examples on 2D & 3D graphic programming.
• OpenGL Tutorial - How to use OpenGL in Lazarus applications.
• Multimedia Programming - How to play videos and sounds.
• Office Automation - How to interact with office software and create spreadsheets, text documents, presentations, etc.
• Lazarus/FPC Libraries - How to create dynamic libraries (.so, .dll, .dylib) and how to use them
• Creating bindings for C libraries - How to convert C header files (.h) to pascal units
• Console Mode Pascal - Using the Lazarus IDE for writing Pascal programs for text-mode operation.
• Lazarus Inline Assembler - A getting started guide.
• Databases - An introduction to using databases in Lazarus and links to other database articles.
• SQLdb Tutorial0 - Set up instructions for sample data for the following database tutorials
• SQLdb Tutorial1 - A tutorial that teaches you to get up and running with Lazarus visual components and databases
• SQLdb Tutorial2 - Second part of the DB tutorial series, showing editing, inserting etc.
• SQLdb Tutorial3 - Third part of the DB tutorial series, showing how to program for multiple databases and use a login form
• SQLdb Tutorial4 - Fourth part of the DB tutorial series, showing how to use data modules
• SqlDBHowto - Explanations and code for various aspects of using SQLdb for reading and manipulating data in relational databases
• Lazarus Database Tutorial - A tutorial which has some more background information on how to connect to popular databases, for example MySQL, Firebird, Postgres, etc.
• Working With TSQLQuery - An in depth description of using TSQLQuery, having details about using parameters in queries and non-SELECT-queries
• Translations / i18n / localizations for programs - How to provide localized versions of your programs and packages
• Daemons and Services - How to write windows services and/or linux daemons.
• VirtualTreeview Example for Lazarus - Using VirtualTreeview on Lazarus.

Hardware, Threads and Processes

• Using the printer - Printer support in Lazarus
• Hardware Access - How to access hardware devices, such as ISA cards, PCI cards, parallel and serial ports and USB devices.
• Multithreaded Application Tutorial - How to write multithreaded applications using Free Pascal and Lazarus.
• Executing External Programs - A short tutorial showing how to run external programs from inside your program.
• LazDeviceAPIs - A LCL unit which offers an interface to various hardware devices such as the Accelerometer, SMS sending, GPS positioning, etc.

Files

• File Handling In Pascal - Basic explanations on the use of files, for beginners in pascal.
• TXMLPropStorage - Using TXMLPropStorage to save user preferences.
• XML Tutorial - Writing and reading XML files.
• Using INI Files - How to work with INI files in pascal.

Web

• Web Development Portal - How to develop web applications with Lazarus and Free Pascal.
  • Webbrowser - Webbrowser controls
  • Web Programming and Networking - Tutorials about TCP/IP protocol, WebServices and links to web development articles.

Platforms

• Windows Portal - Programming tips and reference information for desktop Windows and Windows mobile.
  • WinCE Programming Tips - Using the telephone API, sending SMSes, and more...
• Linux Portal - Programming tips and reference information for desktop Linux.
  • Lazarus on Raspberry Pi - How to install and use Lazarus on the Raspberry Pi.
• Android Portal - Programming tips and reference information on Android.
  • Android Programming - For Android smartphones and tablets.
• Mac Portal - Programming tips and reference information for Mac OS.
  • OS X Programming Tips - Lazarus installation, useful tools, Unix commands, and more...
• iOS Portal - Programming tips and reference information for iOS.
  • iPhone/iPod development - About using Objective Pascal to develop iOS applications.

The Lazarus User Guides

• Lazarus Faq - General information about Lazarus and specifics for Linux and Windows users.
• Lazarus DB Faq - FAQ on database issues in Lazarus.
• Wishlist/Wanted Features - Features that you would like to see in Lazarus
• How do I create a bug report - You think you found a bug in Lazarus, how can you report it?

Installation

• Getting Lazarus - Brief instructions on how to download and install a released or SVN version of Lazarus
• Installing Lazarus - A detailed installation guide
• Multiple Lazarus - How to install several lazarus versions on one machine

IDE

• IDE tricks - Tips, tricks and hidden features
• Lazarus IDE - The IDE windows
• Lazarus IDE Shortcuts - The key mapping and shortcuts.
• Lazarus Packages - A guide for creating a package under Lazarus
• Install Packages - A small guide to install packages
• Extending the IDE - How to add functionality to the Lazarus IDE
• Installing Help in the IDE - How to install help for the RTL, FCL and LCL in the IDE, as well as installing the Kylix help files in it and also adding help for user packages.
• Using Lazarus for other computer languages - How to use the IDE for C, Java, etc.
• IDE Development - Various pages about current development of the IDE.
• Lazarus for education - How to setup the IDE for courses and beginners.
• Lazarus Hacks - Customizations and hacks that can adapt the IDE and LCL to specific needs.
• startlazarus - How the IDE is started.
• Unit not found - How to find units - Explains how the compiler and the IDE searches for units and how this can fail.

LCL

• LCL documentation - On line help for LCL (work in progress).
• LazActiveX - ActiveX/LazActiveX documentation
• TAChart documentation - Standard component for drawing graphs and charts.
• LCL Components - Tutorials about the standard LCL components such as TMainMenu, TButton, TComboBox, TTimer, etc. Complements and links to the reference docs.
• The LCL in various platforms - A brief discussion about LCL features which behave differently in different platforms.
• Autosize / Layout - How to design forms that work on all platforms.
• Main Loop Hooks - How to handle multiple event sources
• Asynchronous Calls - How to queue methods for later execution
• File size and smartlinking - How to smartlink applications and create smaller executables.
• Accessing the Interfaces directly - Example how to access the LCL widgetsets
• Add Help to Your Application - How to create a Online Help for your application
• Colors - Description of system colors like clDefault, clWindow and the fpImage FPColor
• LCL Tips - Tips and tricks
• LCL Defines - Choosing the right options to recompile LCL
• LCL Code Examples - Example working code for Lazarus.
• Lazarus Custom Drawn Controls - A set of custom drawn controls in Lazarus
• LCL Accessibility - Documentation about using making LCL applications accessible

Developing

• The Power of Proper Planning and Practices - common-sense programming best practices for the Free Pascal and Lazarus developer
• Multiplatform Programming Guide - How to develop cross-platform applications and how to port from one platform to another
• Introduction to platform-sensitive development - The next step in cross-platform development.
• Deploying Your Application - How to create an installer for your application
• Cross compiling - Creating executables for one platform, on another
• GDB Debugger Tips - Known Issues / Tips for debugging Pascal using GDB
• Remote Debugging - How to debug your Lazarus application from another machine
• Application Icon - Setting the application icon
• Using Pascal Libraries with .NET and Mono - yes, you can use your Pascal code with .NET and Mono
• Pascal and PHP - the Pascal connection to PHP
• Developing Python Modules with Pascal - extending Python with Pascal
• Developing Web Apps with Pascal - yes, you can write Rich Internet Applications (RIA) with Pascal
• Smartphone Development - About using FPC and Lazarus to target various smartphones
• Lazarus Components Directory - A description of extra packages which are shipped with Lazarus, such as support for printers, fpWeb, daemons, etc

Tools

• Lazarus Documentation Editor - Using "lazde" to create documentation
• FPDoc Editor - An integrated editor for documentation files
• FPDoc Updater - A GUI tool for updating FPDoc files
• lazbuild - Compiling projects and packages without the IDE
• LazSVNPkg - Lazarus Subversion IDE Plugin
• InstantFPC - run pascal programs as normal unix scripts

Coming from Delphi

• Lazarus Components - Comparison between Lazarus and Turbo Delphi components
• Lazarus For Delphi Users - For Delphi users who are getting started with Lazarus
• Code Conversion Guide - How to convert existing code and components from Delphi and Kylix
• Delphi Converter in Lazarus - Convert a Delphi unit, project or package almost automatically

The Lazarus Developer Guides

• Developer pages - A list of lazarus developers
• Lazarus Development Process - Roadmaps, ToDos, current development and what needs to be done for Lazarus 1.0
• How To Help Developing Lazarus - A guide to help newbies start improving Lazarus
• Version Numbering - Explanation of the different version numbers of Lazarus
• Creating a Patch - A guide to making a patch with changes made to Lazarus
• Creating a Backtrace with GDB - A guide to making a backtrace to help you debug a program
• Nomenclature - Guide to choose a name for a new method or property
• Design Guide Lines - A guide about how to proceed when changing Lazarus Source Code.
• GUI design - Notes on guidelines when designing the lazarus GUI
• Roadmap - An idea of the current status of the various parts of Lazarus
• Moderating the bug tracker - Guidelines for lazarus developers and moderators for using the bug tracker.
• Codetools - How the codetools are integrated into the IDE
• Creating IDE Help - How to extend the IDE documentation
• Distributing Lazarus - Installers - Hints and notes for packagers who want to write an installer for Lazarus
• Bounties - Need a particular new feature soon? Set a price here.

LCL - Lazarus component library

The following articles go deeper into developing for/with the LCL. See also the user LCL section above.

• How To Write Lazarus Component - A helpful guide to creating your first LCL component.
• LCL Messages - Guide related to LCL Messages
• LCL Internals - Implementation details and how to create a new widgetset
• LCL Key Handling - Help! A key press, what now?
• LCL Internals - Resizing, Moving - How the LCL communicates with the LCL interface to resize, move controls
• LCL Drag Drop - Managing dragging, dropping and docking
• LCL Unicode Support - Road to Unicode enabled Lazarus
• LCL Documentation Roadmap - Which units have to be documented
• LCL Bindings - Bindings to use LCL on other languages

Interfaces

• Lazarus known issues (things that will never be fixed) - A list of interface compatibility issues
• Win32/64 Interface - The Windows API (formerly Win32 API) interface for Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/10, but not CE
• Windows CE Interface - For Pocket PC and Smartphones
• Carbon Interface - The Carbon 32 bit interface for macOS (deprecated; removed from macOS 10.15)
• Cocoa Interface - The Cocoa 64 bit interface for macOS
• Qt Interface - The Qt4 interface for Unixes, macOS, Windows, and Linux-based PDAs
• Qt5 Interface - The Qt5 interface for Unixes, macOS, Windows, and Linux-based PDAs
• GTK1 Interface - The gtk1 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
• GTK2 Interface - The gtk2 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
• GTK3 Interface - The gtk3 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
• fpGUI Interface - Based on the fpGUI library, which is a cross-platform toolkit completely written in Object Pascal
• Custom Drawn Interface - A cross-platform LCL backend written completely in Object Pascal inside Lazarus. The Lazarus interface to Android.

Translating/Internationalization/Localization

These articles cover how to set up the IDE, LCL and your own programs with translated/localized strings, and how to internationalize them (e.g. deal with date formats, decimal separators etc) :

• Translations / i18n / localizations for programs How to translate your application and how to load translated resourcestrings of projects and packages in your application.
• Getting translation strings right A few notes for programmers on how to create and use translateable strings in your application. Quickly discusses general things about creating strings, offers a few hints on implementation issues and points out some things to consider when using English as base language in particular.
• Localization Notes:

• German - Notes and guidelines for translating the Lazarus IDE to German, including a small dictionary to look up often used translations.
• Portuguese-Brazilian - Small dictionary containing common translations of terms used in the Lazarus IDE for the Portuguese-Brazilian translation.
• Russian - Notes and guidelines for translating the Lazarus IDE into Russian.

• Add language bar explains how you can add a list of translations to the top of a wiki page.
• Translating the IDE

Additional Components Documentation

• Project Templates - the package projtemplates
• Pascal Script and Pascal Script Examples - How to use the pascal script components in Lazarus
• OpenGL - How to use OpenGL in Lazarus
• KOL-CE - Free Pascal/Lazarus port of KOL&MCK library. How to create very compact applications for Win32/WinCE in Lazarus.
• How To Write Lazarus Component for more component info

Free Pascal Compiler Documentation

In addition to this site, the latest version of the documentation can also be found on-line and in a variety of downloadable formats on the main Free Pascal Compiler site.

• User's guide
• Programmer's guide
• Reference guide for the system unit, and supported Pascal constructs
• Run-Time Library reference manual
• Installation armoire forte
• Free Component Library reference manual
• Free Pascal documentation tool manual
• Build messages

Special Topics

• Databases
• SciTech Portal - Lazarus and Free Pascal for Science, medicine and technology.

Lazarus related blogs, websites, videos, magazines and books

Blogs

• Lazarus Development - A blog of Lazarus developers regards development process.
• Adventures of a Newbie - A blog of a newbie getting started with some tutorial information in a running log.
• On the road with Lazarus/Free Pascal - A blog dedicated to register my experiences while programming with Lazarus and Free Pascal (by Luiz Américo)
• Porting to Lazarus - This blog describes the porting of a medium-sized application (~100 kloc) from D7 with CLX to Lazarus (by Alexsander da Rosa)
• Living Lazarus - One man's exploration into the possibilities of an open source RAD (by Wibblytim).
• Bee.ography just (another) Bee’s buzz!
• Parallel Pascal Worlds Donald Shimoda.
• Observations on Free Pascal and Lazarus Development
• Lazarussupport - A blog about Lazarus and Free Pascal in general - Joost van der Sluis

Websites

These websites cover Free Pascal, Lazarus or both - or they cover Delphi concepts that are applicable to Lazarus/FPC:

• PP4S Lazarus (and Delphi) getting started information, tutorials. Useful for beginners.
• Pascal - SwinBrain - Unique free pascal tutorial and documentation at Swinburne University
• Lazarus Programming A series of tutorials to get beginners started. Limited "how to install" material. From SheepdogSoftware.co.uk
• Object Pascal Tutorial Wiki version - Tao Yue's Pascal Tutorial (reposted with permission).
• Delphi Tutorials Arranged in Groups, by Difficulty An accumulation of material from many years. Topics range from "Hello World" to using Dallas 1-Wire to TCP/IP. The ones I've tried port to Lazarus without hassle.

Chinese:

• Community for Free Pascal and Lazarus in Chinese. - Community, forums, source code and demos in Chinese.

Dutch:

• [1] - Homepage of professor teaching programming courses with Pascal. See his links to Pascal exercises/solutions (e.g. [2])

French:

• Pascal - Club d'entraide des développeurs francophones - Francophone community about Pascal.

Spanish:

• Programando en Pascal - Spanish tutorial focused on FPC/Lazarus, hosted in Wikidot.
• Pascal con Free Pascal - Spanish tutorial focused only FPC (Linux & Windows).
• Simple Editor UTF8 How to make a UTF8 editor on Linux with Lazarus? (Spanish)

Videos

• See Lazarus videos

Books

• See Pascal and Lazarus Books and Magazines

Conferences on Lazarus and Free Pascal

• See Conferences and Events

Missing documentation?

If you miss documentation for Lazarus or Free Pascal, you can always write it yourself and submit it to the Lazarus/FPC bugtracker for inclusion. Have a look at:

• FPDoc Editor Built-in documentation editor in Lazarus. Page explains how to get fpdoc help sources and write your own help.