How to select TEdit field text in Delphi 10

Question

I have a very basic problem and I can't figure out why. I want to select the text of a TEdit when the field receives focus. In Delphi 7 with VCL you can do this in the OnEnter event:

TEdit(Sender).SelLength := Length(TEdit(Sender).Text)

Now, with Delphi 10.2 and FireMonkey, I've tried it in several different ways, but it doesn't work.

Example:

procedure TfPrincipal.Edit1Enter(Sender: TObject);
begin
   TEdit(Sender).SetFocus;
   TEdit(Sender).SelStart  := 0; // I already tried to change this value
   TEdit(Sender).SelLength := Length(TEdit(Sender).Text); // I already tried to change this value too
end;

Text is automatically fully selected when the control receives focus without any code or change in just dropped control. Which platform are we talking about? — Victoria
@Victoria I noticed that the text is selected when I use the TAB key to navigate between fields. However, when I click the mouse in a field (in Windows 10) or when I touch the screen of mobile device (Android 4.4), the text isn't selected. The Edit1.SelectAll procedure also doesn't work. — wBB
Aha, so the same as this just for FMX (the accepted way works for me on Windows platform). But I agree with a possible confusion from deviating from the common UX. — Victoria
Oh my God!! These and others small differences between VCL and Firemonkey end up taking our time a lot. It works in OnClick event, but not in OnEnter like in VCL. Thank you again @Victoria — wBB
@Calenaur The q/a you link to is about the Vcl TEdit, while this question is about the Fmx TEdit, so, not a duplicate. — Tom Brunberg

Tomasz Andrzejewski Tomasz Andrzejewski · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-25T19:03:01

Have you tried to SelectAll in anonymous thread like that

TThread.CreateAnonymousThread(procedure ()
  begin
    TThread.Synchronize(nil, procedure ()
      begin
        Edit1.SelectAll();
      end);
  end).Start

How to select TEdit field text in Delphi 10

1 Answers