Good news, everyone! Embarcadero have granted permission to MVPs (such as myself) to blog about new features in Yukon (code name for the RAD Studio 12 beta). In this article, I’ll cover a few of them..
Disclaimer
As part of the permission to blog about Yukon, I am required to add the following:
This blog post is based on a pre-release version of the RAD Studio software and it has been written with specific permission by Embarcadero. No feature is committed until the product GA release.
Stop Press!
(Updated September 28th, 2023)
Check the “macOS apps on Sonoma” item at the very end of this article
Release date
As is usually the case, release dates are kept under a tight lid, and this time is no exception. I suggest keeping track of blog and social media posts from product managers such as David Millington and Marco Cantu, in case they give any clues 😉
Some of the new features in Yukon
As per the article heading, I’m covering just a few of the new features, and I’ll focus on those that mostly interest myself and developers that I keep in contact with. Note that this list is by no means complete – there are many, many more changes in Yukon!
SKIA Integration
Yes! The open source project SKIA for Delphi is included in the Yukon beta. SKIA for Delphi brings UI performance gains on multiple platforms including Android and iOS, as well as some great components to help jazz up your UI.
Android 12+ Splash Screen Support
Yukon brings support for consistent splash screens between on Android 12+, and on older Android versions.
Android API Level 33 SDK Target Changes
Yukon has significant changes to support targeting API level 33 (Android 13), including a major refactoring of the media library actions (e.g. taking pictures and selecting media from media collections), and permissions changes.
Split Screen Support
Create FireMonkey apps for mobile platforms that use only a portion of the available screen, a feature specifically useful on tablet devices with a large screen surface. Code has been added to the FireMonkey library for both iOS and Android to fully handle this scenario.
Single App Icon Wizard
A comprehensive tool integrated within the IDE, designed to streamline the process of generating icons and splash screens for user applications across multiple platforms.
In-App Purchases
Upgraded FireMonkey Android in-app purchases support to depend on the latest version of the Google Play Billing library (6.0.1). (required by Nov 1st, 2023)
MDI Forms Improvements
Some developers might say: “but MDI is ancient history!” – well, there are still a significant number of developers that take advantage of MDI (including a major client of mine), so these changes are going to be most welcome, such as:
- A new MDI tabbed forms architecture, available using the new TFormTabsBar control.
- Internal changes for both styles and unstyled applications to solve many problems in MDI applications, removing some system artifacts and bugs with the PerMonitorV2 option in different DPIs
- Custom border for MDI child window
- Updated MDI Wizard
JSON Data Binding Wizard
The wizard guides the developer through a few pages and options to help create a data mapping based on an existing JSON data structure used as a blueprint.
Long and Multiline String Support
On this point, I strongly recommend reading Marco’s blog. Personally, I am not a fan of having hard-coded strings that are long enough so often as to require such a feature.
RTL Improvements
Includes:
- Improvements and additions to System.IOUtils functions
- HTTP class/component related
- Better Support for UTF files with no BOM
- Zip support improvements.
- Registry function improvements
..and much more!
Improved Installation Experience
Embarcadero have reworked both the UI and the behavior of installing platforms and other items. Now everything is on one page – no more multiple pages of options on what to install. It now uses standard VCL controls (this also allows it to match Windows or IDE light/dark style), error messages are now easier to read and installation choices have been simplified.
IDE Quality
Improvements and fixes to the IDE includes:
- Syntax highlighting in the Structure and Callstack windows, and the Navigation bar search results
- Remote desktop improvements, such as resolving the title bar having white spots over RDP.
- Reduction in GDI resource usage.
macOS apps on Sonoma (macOS 14)
There’s been a bit of buzz around social media (e.g. Facebook) and forums about issues with Delphi 11.3 apps built for macOS not displaying correctly. I have permission to divulge that the display issues mentioned are not an issue when using Yukon. As always, please keep in mind the disclaimer.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, these are just a few of the features and improvements in Yukon (please keep in mind the disclaimer). Whether you’re developing just desktop apps for Windows, and especially if you develop for mobile and target the app stores, keeping up with the current version of RAD Studio is essential!
Nice improvements!
It would be cool if the IDE would lear more from for example Visual Code or IntelliJ/Webstor. For example I do often need to work in parallel on several projects on 2 monitors or split screen and would like to have a side / by side option! For that reason I need to open multiple BDS.exe at once, what of course is very memory hungry! If there would be no improvements in IDE, this year is the last year I’m paying for updates….
I am an active subscriber. How do I get the beta for Yukon?
If you did not receive an invitation, you might like to email Ian Barker – his address starts with: ian.barker and ends with @embarcadero.com
I’m hoping the MDI Form (or at least the tabbed version) is no longer limited to the main form of the App. I have an app that uses MDIForm in three different forms, NONE of which are the application’s main form. It took quite a bit of effort to get around the limitation and it would be nice if the new version dropped the wholly unnecessary requirement in favour of something more reasonable.