I think I understand what it is you're asking, after your edit.
What you're calling "classes in classes" are called properties
and methods
; they're other classes, variables, or procedures/functions that are declared in their containing class. The "list" you're talking about is called Code Insight
, and it shows you the available properties and methods of the class you're referencing in your code at that point.
This should do something like you describe, and give you an idea of how to implement it in your own code:
unit MyStuffUnit;
interface
uses
SysUtils;
type
TEncryptionType = (etDES, etDES3, etHASH, etBITSHUFFLE);
TMyStuffEncryption = class(TObject)
private
FEncryptType: TEncryptionType;
public
constructor Create;
published
property EncryptionType: TEncryptionType read FEncryptType
write FEncryptType;
end;
TCompressionType = (ctLZW, ctZIP, ctRAR, ctMP3, ctMPG, ctMP4);
TMyStuffCompression = class(TObject)
private
FCompressionType: TCompressionType;
public
constructor Create;
published
property CompressionType: TCompressionType read FCompressionType
write FCompressionType;
end;
TMyStuff = class(TObject)
private
FCompression: TMyStuffCompression;
FEncryption: TMyStuffEncryption;
public
constructor Create;
destructor Destroy; override;
published
property Compression: TMyStuffCompression read FCompression
write FCompression;
property Encryption: TMyStuffEncryption read FEncryption
write FEncryption;
end;
implementation
constructor TMyStuffEncryption.Create;
begin
inherited;
FEncryptType := etDES;
end;
constructor TMyStuffCompression.Create;
begin
inherited;
FCompressionType := ctLZW;
end;
constructor TMyStuff.Create;
begin
inherited;
FCompression := TMyStuffCompression.Create;
FEncryption := TMyStuffEncryption.Create;
end;
destructor TMyStuff.Destroy;
begin
FCompression.Free;
FEncryption.Free;
inherited;
end;
end.
If you create an instance of TMyStuff
in your code, you should be able to type MyStuff.
and get the option of choosing Compression
or Encryption
. Choosing Compression
should allow you to set the CompressionType
property.
This should be enough to get you going. :-) Remember that Delphi includes the source code for the VCL and RTL in almost all editions, so you always have that to look at for examples. (They're not always the very best examples, but they should give you ideas on how to do things.)