converting TForm win32 app to Win7 gadget (delphi)

Question

What is the process of converting win32 application (a small popup window actually) to win7 gadget? Do I need to convert my exe to activex component, can I still use TForm ?

it would be nice to have support for both Win7 + Vista.

Answer 1

The Windows Vista/7 gadgets are essentially mini-HTML applications. The user interface is composed of pages containing regular HTML, CSS ,images and potentially ActiveX controls.

So the only way to use your win32 application into a gadget is convert the application to a Activex Control.

You can read these articles

Activex

• Building ActiveX Controls with Delphi (This article is old but is still useful)
• Delphi and Active Forms
• Converting a standard Delphi Form to an ActiveForm

Gadgets

• Introduction to the Gadget Platform
• Developing a Gadget for Windows Sidebar

Bye.

Answer 2

If you are able to read German, there is a tutorial at www.delphipraxis.net. Perhaps someone may translate it to English...