[Lazarus] When do I need a component rather than a plain object?

[Sven Barth]

Am 16.11.2010 16:08, schrieb Graeme Geldenhuys:
> Op 2010-11-16 16:18, Sven Barth het geskryf:
>>
>> And where is that image array identifier defined? (I believe that's the
>> point that Matthias wants to know)
>
> Ah ok, that is for the developer to decide. Inside the same unit the image
> is needed (eg: implementation section const), or my preference, inside a
> "resource" style unit (eg: myappimages.pas).
>
> As I mentioned, images are simply byte arrays that looks as follows:
>
> Const
>    tadmin_export16 : Array[0..823] of byte = (
>        66, 77, 56,  3,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0, 54,  0,  0,  0, 40,  0,  0,
>         0, 16,  0,  0,  0, 16,  0,  0,  0,  1,  0, 24,  0,  0,  0,  0,  0,
>        .... );
>
> I'm currently working on improvements in the fpGUI Designer so location,
> conversions, image property editors etc of images all happens inside the
> Designer. The developer can already set image alias for various components,
> but image conversion (to a byte array) is still done via a small utility
> application. This should all be improved on in the next few days.
>
>
> Bottom line is that even if a "forms designer" generates source code,
> images or other resources can still be used.

Just out of curiosity (might be OT):

Does that fpgImages class have methods for loading images from resources 
or must that be done manually?

I really need to work more with fpGUI... especially if I want to improve 
its Windows Mobile 5+ support :P

Regards,
Sven