I load language specific data on the fly for different controls.

Since TLink and TLabel have a common base class (TLabelControl) and I want to set Caption and Hint
for both. Caption and Hint are protected, so I tried this (works fine in Delphi):


type
 TLabelControlFriend = class(TLabelControl)
 end;


then usage in the code:


 if c is TLabelControlFriend then begin
   cL := TLabelControlFriend(c);
   cL.Caption := txt.GetValue(c.Name);
   cl.Hint    := txt.GetValue(c.Name + '_Hint');
 end;


But it doesen't work. I have to duplicate my code and type cast to TLabel and TLink separately. I'm
not sure, where this fails. Maybe Caption and Hint could be made public in TLabelControl so I can
do it without the friend class definition.

cu Christian

Christian,

<< Since TLink and TLabel have a common base class (TLabelControl) and I want to set Caption and Hint
for both. Caption and Hint are protected, so I tried this (works fine in Delphi):

.....

 if c is TLabelControlFriend then begin
   cL := TLabelControlFriend(c);
   cL.Caption := txt.GetValue(c.Name);
   cl.Hint    := txt.GetValue(c.Name + '_Hint');
 end;

What type is the "c" variable defined as ?  Are you seeing a compiler error, or does it just not work at runtime ?

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:

> What type is the "c" variable defined as ?  Are you seeing a compiler error, or does it just not
> work at runtime ?

c is a TComponent. I have a for loop over TFormControl.Components[] for this.

It compiles, but it does not work at runtime.

cu Christian

Christian,

<< c is a TComponent. I have a for loop over TFormControl.Components[] for this.

It compiles, but it does not work at runtime. >>

Yeah, you're not going to be able to do what you're trying to do.  You can't "crack" protected properties using casting in EWB, like you can in Delphi.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:

> Yeah, you're not going to be able to do what you're trying to do.  You can't "crack" protected
> properties using casting in EWB, like you can in Delphi.

Ok, no problem. But then couldn't you make Caption and Hint public (not published) in TLabelControl?

cu Christian

Christian,

<< Ok, no problem. But then couldn't you make Caption and Hint public (not published) in TLabelControl? >>

I'll have to think about this.  The whole reason for having everything be protected (or lower) is to allow component developers to be able to decide *exactly* what they want to be accessible for their descendant controls, and not have any properties/functionality "leak" through.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:

> I'll have to think about this.  The whole reason for having everything be protected (or lower) is
> to allow component developers to be able to decide exactly what they want to be accessible for
> their descendant controls, and not have any properties/functionality "leak" through.

I understand. No problem, it's just a few lines of additional code for now. The number of language
dependend controls is not that big.

cu Christian