Author: Pawe Gowacki
It did not take long since the release of Delphi Linux compiler to have the ability to build Linux GUIs with Delphi!
Just go to http://fmxlinux.com and get the only currently available download of FireMonkey for Linux which is “Free Trial v 0.905”.
RAD Studio 10.2 “Tokyo” must be installed. Install the trial after making sure it is not running. It is compact and installs quickly. Start Delphi and create a new multi-device project. Place a button on the form and write one line of code in the “OnClick” event handler to display “Hello World from Delphi on Linux desktop!” in the form caption. Save everything and run it on Windows, just to be sure;-)
The FmxLinux trial included not only the Delphi FireMonkey for the Linux application but also the IDE integration. When you right-click on the “Hello World” project in the Project Manager, you’ll notice a new item in the context menu called “Add Linux Platform.” Click on it, and we’re here! “Linux Target” is now enabled in our multi-device app!
The last step is to deploy and run the test app on a Linux desktop installation. That’s quick. I’m using Mac and VMWare for virtualization. Download Ubuntu 16.04 Desktop ISO and create a new VM using “Linux Easy Install” option in VMWare Fusion. That’s very similar to creating Ubuntu Server VM. Now we need to have Delphi 10.2 PAServer running on Ubuntu Desktop. Probably the easiest solution is to upload the Linux PAServer archive somewhere and download it with integrated FireFox web browser to our Ubuntu desktop installation. Just double-click on the PAServer download to unpack it and drag the contents of the archive somewhere in your file system. For example into “Documents”.
The FmxLinux trial included not only Delphi FireMonkey for Linux but also IDE integration. When you right-click on the “Hello World” project in the Project Manager, you’ll see a new item in the context menu called “Add Linux Platform.” We’ve arrived! Our multi-device app now includes “Linux Target” support!
Right-click on the Linux target platform in Delphi and select “Edit Connection.” Make a new connection and enter the IP address from the I command of the PAServer. What I found difficult was that I had to leave the password field blank in order to connect.
If “Test Connection” works, you just need to click on the green arrow “Run” button to build, deploy and run the app.
It is so cool! Delphi FireMonkey GUI app running on Linux!
Design. Code. Compile. Deploy.
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