Customizing UI with TAdvPanel: Advanced Techniques

Getting Started with TAdvPanel — Features & SetupTAdvPanel is a flexible, feature-rich VCL component commonly used in Delphi applications to create modern, polished user interfaces. It extends the standard TPanel by offering advanced styling, layout, and behavior options that help you build attractive and responsive forms with less code. This guide walks through key features, installation, basic usage, common properties, and practical examples to help you get productive quickly.

What makes TAdvPanel different?

TAdvPanel adds several capabilities that the default Delphi TPanel doesn’t provide:

• Advanced styling: rounded corners, gradients, image backgrounds, custom borders, and shadow effects.
• Content alignment and layout: built-in support for alignment, padding, and automatic resizing.
• Interactive features: hover effects, clickable areas, and support for embedded controls with consistent theming.
• Performance-oriented rendering: optimized painting routines to keep UI responsive even with complex visuals.
• Design-time convenience: a rich set of properties accessible in the Object Inspector and visual preview in the Form Designer.

Installation and setup

1. Obtain TMS Component Pack or the specific package that contains TAdvPanel (TAdvPanel is part of TMS VCL UI Pack / TMS Component Pack depending on the version). Make sure the package version is compatible with your Delphi IDE.
2. Close Delphi (recommended) and follow the vendor instructions to install the package. Typically this involves:
   • Running the installer or
   • Adding the package (.BPL) to Delphi via Component → Install Packages.
3. Restart Delphi. TAdvPanel should appear on the component palette (often under TMS or Adv panels).
4. Drop a TAdvPanel onto a form to begin configuring it.

Key properties and what they do

• BorderStyle / BorderColor: control the panel’s border visibility and color.
• CornerRadius / Rounded: set smooth rounded corners for a modern look.
• GradientStart / GradientEnd / GradientDirection: create linear gradients for backgrounds.
• FillKind / Image / ImageAlign: choose between solid color, gradient, or bitmap fills and position background images.
• Shadow: enable and configure drop shadows (offset, blur, color).
• Padding / Margin / Align: layout controls inside the panel and manage spacing.
• AutoSize / Anchors / AlignWithMargins: determines how it resizes with the parent form.
• OnClick / OnMouseEnter / OnMouseLeave: interactive events to build hover or click behaviors.
• Caption / Font / TextAlign: built-in caption rendering with font and alignment options.
• Transparent: allows the panel to be see-through so underlying controls or backgrounds show through.

Basic example: a stylish header panel

Place a TAdvPanel on a form and set these properties in the Object Inspector (or in code):

• Align = alTop
• Height = 60
• GradientStart = clWhite
• GradientEnd = $00D9EAF7 (a light blue)
• GradientDirection = gdVertical
• CornerRadius = 8
• Shadow.Enabled = True
• Caption = ‘My Application’
• Font.Name = ‘Segoe UI’; Font.Size = 14; Font.Style = [fsBold]

Or create it in code:

uses   Vcl.Graphics, AdvPanel; procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject); var   Panel: TAdvPanel; begin   Panel := TAdvPanel.Create(Self);   Panel.Parent := Self;   Panel.Align := alTop;   Panel.Height := 60;   Panel.GradientStart := clWhite;   Panel.GradientEnd := TColor($00D9EAF7);   Panel.GradientDirection := gdVertical;   Panel.CornerRadius := 8;   Panel.Shadow.Enabled := True;   Panel.Caption := 'My Application';   Panel.Font.Name := 'Segoe UI';   Panel.Font.Size := 14;   Panel.Font.Style := [fsBold]; end; 

Adding controls and layout tips

• Use Padding and internal Align properties to create consistent spacing.
• Combine TAdvPanel with TAdvPanelGroup, TAdvToolBar, or standard VCL controls for complex layouts.
• For responsive designs, prefer Anchors and Align over fixed positions.
• Nest multiple TAdvPanels for layered effects (e.g., background gradient panel, inner rounded panel with content).

Theming and consistent UI

• Define a shared style by setting consistent colors, fonts, and corner radii across panels.
• Use global variables or a style manager (if available in your component suite) to apply theme changes at runtime.
• For multi-form apps, create a utility function that applies your standard panel settings to newly created TAdvPanels.

Performance considerations

• Avoid overly large background images; use vector-like gradients when possible.
• Reduce opacity/alpha blending where not necessary—these can be more expensive to render.
• When quickly updating many panels, call Panel.BeginUpdate/EndUpdate (or disable repaint) if available to batch repaints.
• Test on target hardware, especially for high-DPI displays.

Common issues and troubleshooting

• Component not visible on the palette: ensure package installed and IDE restarted; check package compatibility with your Delphi version.
• Slow repainting: check for complex OnPaint handlers or large images; use optimized image formats and reduce unnecessary repaints.
• Cursor flicker or redraw artifacts: ensure DoubleBuffered = True on parent forms or panels.
• Shadow or rounded corners clip under parent controls: adjust Z-order or set Transparent where appropriate.

Advanced features and tips

• Use OnCustomDraw (if available) to render specialized content inside the panel.
• Combine with animation components to add subtle entrance/exit animations.
• Implement clickable regions by handling mouse events and testing HitTest with rounded shapes.
• Create reusable subclasses or wrappers that preconfigure styles for your application to avoid repetitive property settings.

Example: dynamic panel creation with child controls

procedure TForm1.AddInfoPanel(const AText: string); var   P: TAdvPanel;   L: TLabel;   Btn: TButton; begin   P := TAdvPanel.Create(Self);   P.Parent := ScrollBox1; // or Form   P.Width := 320;   P.Height := 90;   P.Align := alTop;   P.Margins.SetBounds(8,8,8,0);   P.GradientStart := clWhite;   P.GradientEnd := TColor($00F7F9FC);   P.CornerRadius := 6;   L := TLabel.Create(P);   L.Parent := P;   L.Align := alTop;   L.Caption := AText;   L.Font.Size := 10;   L.Height := 48;   Btn := TButton.Create(P);   Btn.Parent := P;   Btn.Align := alBottom;   Btn.Caption := 'Details'; end; 

Resources and next steps

• Experiment in the Form Designer first to get a feel for properties, then migrate commonly used settings to code.
• Review the TMS documentation for the specific version of TAdvPanel you have for any additional properties or events.
• Create a small demo app that showcases your theme, panel behaviors, and layout rules — it’s the fastest way to learn.

TAdvPanel speeds up building modern Delphi UIs by combining rich styling options with practical layout and interaction features. Start by styling a single header or card, then encapsulate your choices into reusable helper routines to keep your application UI consistent and maintainable.