WPTools is a native Delphi text control to integrate word processing and reporting into your application. Combined with our PDF creator wPDF and the DocX support units you have a powerful component set to convert RTF, DOCX, HTML, XML to PDF.

The central part of the VCL control WPTools is a complete RTF WYSIWYG word processing control which is surprisingly small. In contrast to similar components, WPTools supports editable headers and footers in its perfect page layout mode. Zooming, split-screen, tables, including the possibility of page breaks inside table rows, and a powerful CSS-like paragraph style concept are supported by the modern architecture. Reporting is done using WPReporter, a powerful add-on which can be understood as a very powerful mailmerge implementation. In contrast to mail merge where fields are replaced with the contents of a database, WPReporter also allows integrated loops in the template to creates lists and tables.

WPTools is a true Delphi VCL. It is a word processing VCL and has been on the market since 15. January 1996. Since then its architecture has been modernized several times, growing to reflect the added capabilities of the Delphi compiler. Now it is the state-of-the-art word processing component VCL for Delphi. Licensing for WPTools is still very affordable and it should be noted that it already integrates many features in the basic edition, which would require expensive add-ons for competing ActiveX components. WPTools handles windows messages to make diction software work.

A VCL Demo for WPTools within (among others) Delphi 10.2 Tokyo has been published here.

How to add word processing to your project:

To create a basic, yet powerful word processer in a project the developer just needs to place a few components on the form. These are the TWPRichText editor, a horizontal and a vertical ruler and the customizable TWPToolbar toolbar. After setting a few properties to connect those elements you’re done. Naturally there are a great number of customization options available. Plus, as a developer you are free to either use the toolbar and dialogue components provided or create your own. It is also possible to mix provided logic with custom logic since multiple events make it easy to change the behaviour of the editor.



WPTools is optimal for Delphi-projects:
100% pascal source code available with some editions
100% WYSIWG editing
Powerful mail merge functionality
Optional DocX reading and writing
Access the paragraph and character attributes directly
Powerful basis for innovative text editing features

Dataforms in WPTools

WPTools can be also used to create forms. These are special texts which are generally protected. The user may only edit the text in the marked areas. We call this areas 'Edit Fields': Using Edit Fields you (or the user of your application) can create forms to view and edit the data in a database.Edit fields work like mail merge fields. Merge fields are fields which can be updated though an event - the only difference is, that the objects ...

Different text attributes

WPTools supports many different text attributes font name, size, character set character styles, such as bold, italic, underlined underline color and modes left, right, center and justify alignment shading text and text background colors indents: left, right and first line tab stops: left, right, centered and decimal. new: fill mode subscripts and superscripts additional spacing before & after the paragraph custom line-height hypertext links (hover effects are also possible) borders (new: different colors, width and mode for each border) hidden ...

Header and Footer texts in WPTools

Not only does WPTools support printing of header and footer texts, these texts can also be edited in page layout mode. WYSIWYG editing of headers and footers in page layout mode. Exclusive editing of a header or footer text in normal layout mode. Different headers and footers for the first page or for odd and even pages. Different set of headers for any section in the text. Event OnGetSpecialText to select a header or footer using your own program logic ...

Happy Birthday WPTools

Happy Birthday WPTools! Did you know that WPTools V1 first became available on January 15, 1996? Originally introduced in 1995 as the successor to TurboPascal, Delphi quickly became a very successful Borland product. Then on January 15, 1996 Julian Ziersch published a new component – WPTools - which allowed programmers to easily add word processing features to their projects. At this time it was available in the CompuServe network (remember that?). In 1997 the renowned ZAC catalog listed WPTools as ...

Mail merge in WPTools

"Mail Merge" means the automatic update of data fields in any document. It can be used to do mass mailing or to create customizable database record views. With WPTools merge fields are not destroyed by the merge process, the field data can be exchanged as soon as it changes. So it is possible to scroll through a database with a merge letter being "attached".
It is also possible to read out the contents of the merge field. So the document ...

Multiview (splitscreen) technology

WPTools strictly separates the text data structures from the output logic. This makes it possible to show the same text using an editor and a preview component. Even more impressive is the possibility to edit the same text using different editors! Text paths The multiview technology cannot only be used to implement a splitscreen feature, it can be the solution edit the a text path: This means that different editors are set up to each edit one part of the ...

Powerful Image Support in WPTools

WPTools allows you to embed images in the text. Once they are selected, the editor will display a frame with sizer markers. The images can be resized and moved. If the image is "free floating" not only the frame, but also the anchor will be drawn when the image is selected. Of course it is possible to disable the resizing or only allow resizing which keeps the aspect ratio. Images which are linked to a paragraph can be placed anywhere ...

Repeated header and footer rows

WPTools has the ability to repeat certain rows of a table at the start and the end of a page. These rows can be used to display sub totals if you use the calculation feature included in the WPReporter addon.The displayed numbers are usually updated at paint time, this means changes in the document (for example the change of the page break) causes also the sub totals to be changed to the correct values. The header and footer rows are ...

RTF reporting

You can enhance WPToools with "WPReporter" to make it easy to create structured documents using a template. WPReporter is easy to use. It is also possible to convert existing documents into WPReporter template. Please check out our step-by-step guide. You can use the standard text editor as editor for the templates. Only one additional, simple dialog has to be displayed. This new band dialog makes it easy to create bands. It is possible to create a new group inside of ...

Section Support in WPTools

Sections make it possible to use many different header and footer texts and different page sizes in one document. The editor will display an arrow in the left margin where a new section starts. The following code can be used to create a new section: var sectionprops : TWPRTFSectionProps; begin // New Page WPRichText1.InputString(#12); // New section properties sectionprops := WPRichText1.ActiveParagraph.StartNewSection; // Now we can do something with sectionprops ... end; Append text from different memos to document The demo ...

1) Dynamic/Live database tables in the document (included in “Premium” and Bundle editions)

Do you need to present the user the result of a database query and also print it? With WPTools’ dynamic tables the user can not only browse the result of the query, but also change the appearance of the table and the data cells and print it in WYSIWYG manner.

In contrast to “data-grid” solutions, it is also possible to copy part of the created tables and paste them directly into a word processor program or, of course, TWPRichText. The dynamic table feature is controlled by a new component: TableProducer.

2) Improved TWPMMDataProvider

Using this component it is even easier to create a form to display text and images from a database. It also support updating the database when the user changes the text in a field inside of the editor.

It now also supports fields which store the name of a certain image to be loaded into an image object.

3) Sorting and Filtering in tables.

Now it is possible to sort a table by comparing text in a certain column. Similarly it is also possible to hide rows which meet certain criteria. The sorting logic has been developed carefully, so it is possible to even sort a table with mixed data rows such as in the screen shot above. Rows which belong to a certain “master” row, will be handled as if they were children of that row, this means that sorting will not move the data apart and filtering will hide the sub data row when the master data row was also hidden.

API: WPRichText.TableFilterSort

3) Improved style scrolling component – TWPStyleScroller.

With this component the user can quickly select a paragraph styles for the selected text.

4) Numbering has been revised.

Numbering now allows the use of multiple outline groups in one document. When appending a document in WPT format, it is now (optionally) possible that the included outline groups are added which makes sure, that the numbering starts new for each appended text.

The Distance between number text and headline is now automatically adjusted:

The number dialog has been updated and it now also allows the creation of new and additional outline definitions.
While the numbering dialog is open, the current numbers in the document are being highlighted.
Using the context menu of the number items in the dialog it is possible to replace a number- or outline style in the document.

5) Rotated Labels

The improved TWPTextObject makes it possible to display a vertical label in a table.

Example: ATable.rows[0].cols[0].SetTextObject( ”, ‘SomeText’, [wpTextRotate90]);

This feature is not supported in Delphi 5, 6 and 7.

6) Dynamic Objects

This objects are displayed for a paragraph and make it possible to add clickable buttons to a paragraph or cell.

(used for selection marks, cursor and column sort buttons.)

7) Live Binding

The TWPRichText now supports LiveBinding

8) Interactive Cursor and Selection – with touch support

9) Touch support for scrolling and zooming

When a touch screen is used, the text can be scrolled and zoomed using gestures automatically.
Touch.InteractiveGestures := [] disables the touch support if necessary.

10) function TParagraph.CharAttrModify()

Using this new function it is now possible to modify the attributes of text of a TParagraph directly.
This will not change the attributes which are used by all characters, but the “CharAttr” assoziated with each singular character.

procedure TParagraph.CharAttrModify(
WPAT_Code : Integer;
Value : Integer;
ModifyMode : TWPCharAttrModifyMode = wpSetValue;
StartPos : Integer = 0;
Len : Integer = MaxInt );

TWPCharAttrModifyMode = (wpSetValue, wpSetColorValue, wpDelete, wpAddValue, wpSubtractValue {not negative!} , wpOrValue, wpAndNotValue);

11) Property HandleRichEditMsg

If this property is true, the editor accepts some messages also supported by RichEdit. This makes it possible to use dictation software with WPTools. (This also requires that the dictation software recognizes the editor window which is – unfortunately- outside of our control)

12) Much enhanced footnotes in WPTools “Premium”

Footnotes were in WPTools “Premium” since many years now. But with WPTools 8.01 the support was much enhanced. Any footnote may now be longer than one page, in fact it can span multiple pages! (If you need the old behavior which created a new page when a footnote did not fit on the current, you can still activate this in in the property FormatOptionsEx.)

Other improvements and fixes:

+ Print a TWPTextObject as bitmap. This is useful to hide the text from mail service applications (usually printer driver)
which analyse the text on a page to read the address a letter should be sent to. (wpPrintAsBitmap)
+ TableAdd can create up to 3 table header and up to 3 footer rows.
+ TParagraph.QuickFind(‘{~*~}’ … can be used to locate tokens in the text.
+ WPGutter: Collapse grouped areas in a table
+ ValueEdit – preserve value loaded from DFM
+ MailMerge – can be preformed in a “ReadOnly” fashion
+ MailMerge – LoadImageFromFile
and hundreds of more small changes to improve the editing experience
* GetCharAttr has new options
* improved text search

Only for V.I.P