Executing Commands from the Microsoft Ribbon?

Question

I have created my first non Delphi Ribbon using the Microsoft Ribbon Framework thanks to the help and advice provided in this thread.

Following the guide that A.Bouchez posted in that thread I have managed to compile my project and see the Microsoft Ribbon in action.

However, I cannot seem to get the Ribbon to respond to input when a Command is executed.

I always use the TActionManager to manage my Events, so all I need is to link each TAction from the TActionManager into the Ribbon. Following the tutorial linked above, I tried the following to no avail:

// actNew is the name of a TAction set in the TActionManager
procedure TfrmMain.actNewExecute(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ShowMessage('execute new event');
end;

procedure TfrmMain.CommandCreated(const Sender: TUIRibbon; const Command: TUICommand);
begin
  inherited;

  case Command.CommandId of
    cmdNew: // cmdNew was defined in the Ribbon Designer
    begin
      // link the ribbon commands to the TActions
      actNew.OnExecute(Command as TUICommandAction); // obviously will not work
    end;
  end;
end;

So, how do I assign my TActions to the Ribbon?

Thanks.

Seems like Delphi developers are the only people bothering to use the Windows Ribbon Framework. :) — Ian Boyd, Jun 15 '11 at 23:27
@Ian, the reason I chose to use the Microsoft Ribbon Implementation was simple, the Delphi TRibbon does not look or function as good. I have not tried the TMS or DevExpress Components but they also dont appear to look as smooth and complete as the Microsoft one. The Microsoft Ribbon works amazingly well. — , Jun 16 '11 at 08:06
On the other hand the Windows Ribbon Framework ribbon doesn't honor the user's font preferences (e.g. IconTitleFont); nor is there any way to manually define the font. (Note: it does honor fonts if they get **over** 14pt, but anything smaller will not get honored by the ribbon). And while the ribbon doesn't honor the user's color preferences, you *can* specify a theme color for the ribbon. — Ian Boyd, Jun 16 '11 at 15:53

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-16T08:13:32.490

I found out how to execute the commands from viewing the samples provided (dont know how I missed them!). The events seem to have to be defined independent of TActions, so I guess that is the way to go.

It is possible though linking the Actions OnExecute handler inside the procedure that is used for calling commands for the Ribbon, example:

private
  CommandNew: TUICommandAction;
  procedure CommandNewExecute(const Args: TUICommandActionEventArgs);

  procedure UpdateRibbonControls;
strict protected
  procedure RibbonLoaded; override;
  procedure CommandCreated(const Sender: TUIRibbon; const Command: TUICommand); override;

implementation

procedure TfrmMain.RibbonLoaded;
begin
  inherited;

  Color:= ColorAdjustLuma(Ribbon.BackgroundColor, -25, False);
  UpdateRibbonControls;
end;

// set command states here
procedure TfrmMain.UpdateRibbonControls;
begin
  if Assigned(CommandNew) then
    CommandNew.Enabled:= True;
end;

// assign the commands
procedure TfrmMain.CommandCreated(const Sender: TUIRibbon; const Command: TUICommand);
begin
  inherited;

  case Command.CommandId of
    cmdNew: // command id defined in the ribbon designer
    begin
      CommandNew:= Command as TUICommandAction;
      CommandNew.OnExecute:= NewExecute;
    end;
  end;
end;

// command events
procedure TfrmMain.NewExecute(const Args: TUICommandActionEventArgs);
begin
  actNew.OnExecute(nil); // < this is calling the event code from a TAction      
end;

The Samples folder inside the Ribbon Framework will demonstrate this more clearer. The Framework can be found here: http://www.bilsen.com/windowsribbon/index.shtml

Executing Commands from the Microsoft Ribbon?

1 Answers1