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Online Help for RAD Studio (Delphi and C++Builder 2010)

Welcome to the online help for RAD Studio, a full-featured integrated development environment for creating Windows applications. Use this help system to find conceptual, procedural, and reference information about RAD Studio. Where appropriate, this help system provides links to other help systems and websites. This help system is generated from the pages of the Documentation Wiki.

You are invited to contribute to our documentation by submitting your comments, questions, and input to the http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/2010/en/Main_Page. Read the wiki Terms of Use. To participate, click the Discussion tab at the top of the window displaying a topic of interest to you. To obtain a wiki account, click Login/Create Account at the top right corner of the wiki page. If you would like to edit content pages directly and create new pages, contact documentation@embarcadero.com.

The Help Has Been Reorganized

The major divisions of the help have changed, as shown in the Contents pane (in the help viewer) or on the Navigation bar at the left on the docwiki. The new top-level organization is based on subject matter (not, as before, on names such as Common or Win32). The groups of topics below the top level, however, are very similar to the groups in previous RAD Studio help systems.

Take a look:

Library Name	Who Should Read / Level of Material (introductory, conceptual, how-to, detailed reference)	Size (number of topics)
What's New	Summary of new features in the 2010 release and in recent past releases. Useful information for all users, whether new or experienced. Also contains What's New in the Help, and Where is Everything. Readme - Help Update 1 for Delphi and C++Builder 2010	Small (only a few topics), but the topics link to further information.
Getting Started	Introductory topics that everyone should read when starting out with RAD Studio. Very high-level view of the product, with a low level of detail: an over-all Tour of the IDE. Overview of RAD Studio topics: Working with the Form Designer, the Code Editor, the Object Inspector, the Project Manager, the Structure View, and the Tool Palette. How Unicode is used in the IDE. How-to instructions for common user tasks in several basic areas (using the IDE, creating projects and forms, editing code, and managing files and folders).	A small section (a few dozen topics).
Steps in Developing a Project	Slightly more detailed topics, and a mid-level view of the product with a medium level of detail. Overview topics and task descriptions for: Application Development and RAD Concepts Compiling and Building Projects Managing memory Debugging Testing Refactoring Reporting Localizing Deploying Applications	Small (less than a hundred topics)
Key Application Types	Moderately detailed, task-oriented help about developing several common application types: database COM VCL Forms (Visual Component Library) WebSnap Web Services Required reading for all users who develop these types of applications.	Medium (a few hundred topics)
Win32 Developer's Guide	Detailed information most appropriate for more experienced users. Describes the use of Delphi, but in many cases, supplies parallel information for C++. Contains: Programming with RAD Studio, which describes developing applications in RAD Studio Four major chapters on developing applications: database DataSnap Internet COM Component Writer's Guide, which describes creating components and working with the VCL	Large (a few thousand topics)
Modeling Tools	Topics of all levels about using the UML Modeling tools in the IDE -- introductory, high-level (overview), common tasks, and detailed reference material Getting Started with Modeling for new users Extensive, detailed reference material for more advanced users UML 2.0 Sample Project	Large (a few thousand topics)
IDE Reference	Reference material related to the integrated development environment (IDE) F1 context sensitive help for menu commands and dialog boxes in the IDE NEW: API Categories -- lists of related routines, similar to the lists in Delphi 7 Help for keyboard mappings (shortcut keys) A list of command line options for running the product from the command line A list of file extensions of the files created by RAD Studio A list of the regular expressions accepted by RAD Studio (NEW)	Medium (a few hundred topics)
Delphi Reference	Detailed reference material for Delphi developers Delphi Language Guide Compiler reference material (compiler directives and Compiler Errors and Warnings) Delphi Class Explorer Topics	Large (a few thousand topics)
C++ Reference	Detailed reference material for C++ developers C++ Language Guide, including high-level overviews of C++ Specifics topics C++ Keywords C Runtime Library Command line utilities (including both the Delphi and C++ command line compilers) compiler errors and warnings The CodeGuard debugger C++ Class Explorer Topics	Large (a few thousand topics)
VCL/RTL Reference	Detailed descriptions of the Visual Component Library (VCL), including the RTL. This is the F1 context-sensitive help for the RAD Studio components. The VCL/RTL Reference section is now available on the docwiki at: Main Page.	Very large (many thousands of topics)

• The major sections of the help are separate libraries, organized by subject matter and according to the experience level of the user.
• The topmost libraries on the navigation bar are, in general, smaller than libraries listed lower. Thus, the largest library is the last section listed, the VCL/RTL Reference.
• The four topmost libraries are also more introductory material -- containing either release-specific features (What's New) or sections on learning about all the features of RAD Studio.
• More experienced RAD Studio users might benefit most from the more technically detailed topics in the reference libraries (IDE Reference, Delphi Reference, C++ Reference, and VCL/RTL Reference).

RAD Studio Code Examples

Our extensive library of compiled code examples, written in complete Delphi and C++ projects, is currently available on a separate wiki:

• Code Examples Wiki

Blackfish SQL

The Blackfish SQL Developer's Guide is a separate volume:

• Blackfish SQL Help Contents

Delphi Prism (.NET Personality)

The Delphi Prism documentation is available on a separate wiki at http://prismwiki.embarcadero.com/en/Main_Page.

PrismWiki contains the documentation for two of the BSQL-related database units that are used by both RAD Studio and Delphi Prism (Borland.Data.DataStore and Borland.Data.MetaData).

Additional Help

The following Web pages offer additional assistance, information, and resources (such as Webinars and blogs):

• Embarcadero Technologies Web Site
• Embarcadero Technologies Blog Site
• Product Support
• Embarcadero Newsgroups
• Embarcadero Developer Network
• Embarcadero Product Documentation

Release Notes and Known Problems

• Readme - Help Update 1 for Delphi and C++Builder 2010
• Some features described in this help system are not available in all editions of the product. For a list of features and tools included in your edition, click the link to the features matrix, available at:
  • RAD Studio product editions
  • Delphi product editions
  • C++Builder product editions

• If your Internet access is limited by network security, or if your computer is protected by a personal firewall, some of the external links might not be available.

• By default, the help files are installed at C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\RAD Studio\7.0\help\Doc.

• See Known Problems in the Help for information about current open issues.

See Also

• What's New in the Help, and Where is Everything