Delphi in a Nutshell

Name

DFM Converter, convert.exe

Usage

convert [-b] [-i] [-s | -t] filenames... | @filelist

Description

Delphi can store a form description (.dfm file) in a binary format or textual format. The IDE lets you choose which format you prefer. You can also run the convert.exe program to change from binary to text or text to binary.

Tip

Windows NT also has a program named convert.exe. Make sure you are running the right convert utility.

convert.exe processes each file by reading it, converting it, and writing a new file. If the input file has the extension .dfm, it must be in binary format and convert.exe writes a textual file with the extension .txt. If an input file has the extension .txt, it must be a text file, which is converted to binary and written to a .dfm file of the same name.

If a .dfm file is in text format, or a .txt file is binary, convert.exe prints an error message and skips that file.

You can list any number of files and wildcards, and convert.exe processes the files one at a time. If you have many files to convert, list the files or wildcards in a separate text file, and name the file list on the command line after an at sign (@).

Without any switches, convert.exe works the same way it worked in Delphi 4 and earlier. New in Delphi 5 are command-line switches to control the conversion process. Option switches are not case sensitive. Each option can begin with a hyphen (-) or a slash (/). Unlike with the command-line compiler, you cannot concatenate any options, even if you ...