The Component Structure

As we mentioned earlier, components are Object Pascal classes that encapsulate the functionality and behavior of elements developers use to add visual and behavioral characteristics to their programs. All components have a certain structure. The following sections discuss the makeup of Delphi components.

Note

Understand the distinction between a component and a class. A component is a class that can be manipulated within the Delphi environment. A class is an Object Pascal structure, as explained in Chapter 2, “The Object Pascal Language.”

Properties

Chapter 2 introduced you to properties. Properties give the user an interface to a component's internal storage fields. Using properties, the component user can modify or ...

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