TComponent.Name Property

Specifies the name of the component as referenced in code.

Pascal

property Name: TComponentName;

C++

__property TComponentName Name;

Description

Use Name to change the name of a component to reflect its purpose in the current application. By default, the IDE assigns sequential names based on the type of the component, such as 'Button1', 'Button2', and so on.

Use Name to refer to the component in code.

Warning: Changing Name at runtime causes any references to the old name to become undefined. Any subsequent code that uses the old name will cause an exception.

C++ Examples:

Copy Code

/*
For the following example, add a button, a status bar, and a
list box to the form. Set the SimplePanel property of the
status bar to true, using the object inspector. Also, populate
the OnMouseUp event handler for the list box.  The following
code fills a list box with the names of all components on the
form when the user clicks the button. References to the
components themselves are inserted along with the names. The
components are all inserted at the front of the list, so that
the last component added to the form is the first component
in the list.  When the user right-clicks the name of an
object in the list, the component’s coordinates are displayed
on the status bar. Note that because we are using the right-
click, the item need not be selected.
*/
void __fastcall TForm1::Button1Click(TObject *Sender)
{
  for (int i = 0; i < ComponentCount; i++)
    ListBox1->Items->InsertObject(0,
                                  Components[i]->Name, 
                                  dynamic_cast<TObject *>(Components[i]));
}

void __fastcall TForm1::ListBox1MouseUp(TObject *Sender, TMouseButton Button,
      TShiftState Shift, int X, int Y)
{
  if (Button == mbRight)
  {
    TClass ClassRef;
    int Index = ListBox1->ItemAtPos(Point(X,Y), true);
    // only components that are controls have a position
    // make sure the component is a control
    for (ClassRef = ListBox1->Items->Objects[Index]->ClassType();
         ClassRef != NULL;
         ClassRef = ClassRef->ClassParent())
      if (String(ClassRef->ClassName()) == "TControl")
      {
        TControl *TheObject = dynamic_cast<TControl *>(ListBox1->Items->Objects[Index]);
        StatusBar1->SimpleText =
          TheObject->Name + " is at (" +
          IntToStr(TheObject->Left) + ", " +
          IntToStr(TheObject->Top) + ")";
         break;
      }
    if (ClassRef == NULL) // if it wasn't a control
      MessageBeep(0);
  }
}

Delphi Examples:

Copy Code

{
For the following example, add a button, a status bar, and a
list box to the form. Set the SimplePanel property of the
status bar to true, using the object inspector. Also, populate
the OnMouseUp event handler for the list box.  The following
code fills a list box with the names of all components on the
form when the user clicks the button. References to the
components themselves are inserted along with the names. The
components are all inserted at the front of the list, so that
the last component added to the form is the first component
in the list.  When the user right-clicks the name of an
object in the list, the component’s coordinates are displayed
on the status bar. Note that because we are using the right-
click, the item need not be selected.
}
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
  I: Integer;
begin
  for I := 0 to Form1.ComponentCount-1 do
    ListBox1.Items.InsertObject(
      0, Form1.Components[I].Name, 
      Form1.Components[I] as TObject);
end;

procedure TForm1.ListBox1MouseUp(
  Sender: TObject; Button: TMouseButton; 
  Shift: TShiftState; X,Y: integer);
var
  APoint: TPoint;
  Index: integer;
  TheObject: TControl;
begin
  if Button = mbRight then
  begin
  APoint.X := X;
  APoint.Y := Y;
  Index := ListBox1.ItemAtPos(APoint, True);
  if (ListBox1.Items.Objects[Index] is TControl) then 
  begin
    TheObject := 
      (ListBox1.Items.Objects[Index] as TControl);
    StatusBar1.SimpleText := TheObject.Name + ' is at (' +
                           IntToStr(TheObject.Left) + ', ' +
                           IntToStr(TheObject.Top) + ') ';
  end
  else
    Beep;
  end;
end;