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Embarcadero Delphi® offers a rich API that enables developers to customize and extend the IDE in many ways. The APIs are under the umbrella "OTAPI", which is an acronym for Open Tools API. In this RAD in Action topic, we will explore a number of these APIs, and learn how to use them to create simple extensions.

Featured Webinar

Bruno Fierens presents: Delphi Open Tools API

In this webinar, we will explore the Delphi Open Tools API (OTAPI) in order to create different types of Delphi IDE extensions. The session will cover:

accessing the project manager
extending the Delphi Repository
adding custom tool panel in the IDE
accessing the IDE editor and adding an editor context menu item
adding a plugin splash screen entry
adding custom menu items in the Delphi IDE menu

The webinar will include small examples to illustrate the extensions, as well as showing a number of free production quality extensions published by TMS software.

About RAD Studio XE

Embarcadero RAD Studio XE is a comprehensive application development suite and the fastest way to visually build GUI-intensive, data-driven applications for Windows, .NET, PHP and the Web. RAD Studio includes Delphi®, C++Builder®, Delphi Prism, and RadPHP™ enabling developers to deliver applications up to 5x faster across multiple Windows Web and database platforms.

Expert White Paper

Extending the Delphi IDE

This whitepaper introduces the Open Tools APIs to you and provides samples on how they can be used.

About the Author

Bruno Fierens
TMS software

Bruno Fierens studied civil electronic engineering at the University of Ghent and started a career as an R&D digital hardware engineer at Barco Graphics in Belgium. He founded TMS Software in 1996, developing VCL components starting with Delphi 1. TMS Software became a Borland Technology Partner in 1998 and developed the award-winning grid & scheduling components. In 2001, Bruno started development on IntraWeb components, and in 2003, ASP.NET components. Currently, Bruno is developing and managing VCL, Silverlight, ASP.NET and IntraWeb component development projects. He is a consultant, working on custom project development and management on Windows, Web and iPad with Delphi and XCode. His special areas of interest are user interfaces & hardware.