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The Project Explorer shows all of your project’s source units, forms, and components in a tree
view. Nodes can be contracted or expanded to reveal more details. Each component is listed
under its parent. For example, notice the SpeedBar node in Figure 10.4. In this project, the
SpeedBar node is a Panel component that contains several speed buttons. The speed buttons
are displayed underneath the panel to show that the panel is the parent of the speed buttons.
The Project Explorer is a hierarchical window. At the top of the Project Explorer you
have the project file; under the project file you have the project’s source units. Immediately
under the project source file is the form file for that unit. Under the form file you have all the
components that are direct children of the form. If a component on the form has children,
they are listed under their parent, and so on. Figure 10.5 shows how the Project Explorer
would look if the component and unit names were replaced with descriptive text.
Figure 10.5.
The Project Explorer
hierarchy.
When you click on an item in the Project Explorer, the status bar at the bottom of the Project
Explorer window shows information about the item selected. If the item is a source file or
form file, the status bar displays the full path and filename of the file. If the item is a
component, the status bar displays the class name of the component. For example, if you click
a speed button component, the Project Explorer status bar will display TSpeedButton.
Project Explorer Commands
You can do more than just view your objects in the Project Explorer. The Project Explorer
has a speed menu that allows you to delete, rename, edit, or select an item. Not all speed menu
items are available at all times, however. If you have selected a unit’s source file, for example,
the Rename speed menu item is disabled because you cannot rename a source file from the
Project Explorer. Let’s look at the Project Explorer commands individually.
Select
The Select menu item selects the current object and displays the object in the Object
Inspector. The effect is the same as if you had selected the object in the Form Designer. If
you place the Object Inspector and Project Explorer side by side, you can quickly go through
all the objects in your project and view their properties. This command is available only if
you have selected a form or a control.