the quick way to get the path to the application exe file:
var
exeFilePath: String;
begin
exeFilePath := ExtractFilePath(Application.ExeName);
end;
***********************************
Useful info to do with file paths:
IF THE USER OPENS OR SAVES FILES IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTORY
TO THE ONE WHERE THE .EXE FILE IS, THEN AS FAR AS THE PROGRAM
IS CONCERNED THE 'CURRENT DIRECTORY' WILL THEREFORE HAVE CHANGED-
so, to avoid 'file not found' errors where we subsequently try
and use a simple filename without the extension, we need to keep
track of the 'startup' directory for the program:
code below illustrates this:
const
helpFileName = 'MyHelp.hlp';
procedure TSrchForm.HelpButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
{run the Helpfile for the application -as it stands, the Helpfile
must be in the STARTUP directory along with the associated contents
file, so both Search.hlp and Search.cnt must be present...}
var
exeFileName, pathToExe, fileName: String;
begin
{because changing the directory in the file List box changes the overall
'current directory' such that the program won't find the Help file if
we're not careful, we need to keep track of the path to the .exe (and
therefore the .hlp) WHEN THE PROGRAM FIRST RUNS...}
exeFileName := Application.ExeName;
pathToExe := ExtractFilePath(exeFileName);
fileName := pathToExe + helpFileName;
Application.HelpFile := fileName;
Application.HelpCommand(HELP_CONTENTS, 0);
end;
See also the InitialDir property of Save and Open Dialog boxes...
*************************************OR***********************************
main form object attributes:
private
var
helpFileName: String;
dictFileName: String;
initialDir: String;
end;
procedure TCWForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
helpFileName := ExpandFileName('Search.hlp');
dictFileName := ExpandFileName('dict.txt');
initialDir := ExtractFilePath(helpFileName);
end;
procedure AnyOldProcedure;
var
fullDictFileName: String;
begin
fullDictFileName := initialDir + dictFileName;
end;
procedure TCWForm.HelpButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
begin
Application.HelpFile := helpFileName;
Application.HelpCommand(HELP_CONTENTS, 0);
end;