Find all compilation errors in a Delphi project

Question

I am doing some refactoring of my Delphi project. I want to be able to make a change, then see all the places in the project that break due to that change. Similar to how Eclipse lists all the compile errors for a project (in Java).

In Delphi, I can make a change, then recompile my project, but the compiler stops when it finds the first Unit that does not compile. I have to fix that Unit, compile again, which will then show me the next error, etc etc.

I want to be able to see all the compile errors in the project at once. Then I can decide if the change is worth doing or not. For example, if the change will require hand fixing of 50 separate source files, it's not worth doing. But if it only breaks 2 files then that's an easy change to make.

Is there any way to do this in Delphi? Can I tell the compiler to keep going even after finding a Unit that does not compile?

I am using Delphi 2010

Answer 1

There's no way to do that with the Delphi compiler, but if you're considering making a breaking change to some part of a unit's public interface, you can use the refactoring tools that come with the IDE to find all references to whatever it is you're about to change before you change it, which will give you the information you're looking for.

Answer 2

Delphi units, as a modularity feature, are conceptually at a similar level to Java jars or .NET assemblies; they compile to individual files. In neither Java nor .NET can you compile dependent modules when you have compile errors in a referenced module.

The reason they are more granular than .NET assemblies etc. owes to their history. They were designed in part around the segmented x86 architecture; the data associated with any one unit could not be any larger than 64KB. Similarly, units served as a natural division between near code and far code. If you're familiar with 16-bit x86, you'll know that pointers to far data required a value for the segment as well as the offset, while near data only needed an offset. Calling near code was also faster than calling far code. Programs were also smaller and less complex back then; the unit was a reasonable granularity of module for an entire subsystem's worth of behaviour. This is much less the case today.

Answer 3

The Delphi compiler already tries to compile as much as it can.
Unfortunately, very often, an error is critical enough to prevent the compiler to move past the error as it cannot make an assumption as to what the code should be it if were compilable.

Moreover, very often, the errors a compiler can give after the 1st error has been encountered are not reliable and may even disappear after the 1st error has been fixed. (witnessed by all the red squiggly lines appearing and disappearing when you type)

What the compiler does however is to provide all the hints and warnings (which are called errors for some other compilers).

Answer 4

You can use Ctrl-Shift-Enter to see all occurances of the variable, property, method or wahtever is currently under the cursor. With that information you can decide to do your changes or not.

Alas, with the current version this feature doesn't work as reliable as it should.