Linux Programming Tips

This article applies to Linux only.

See also: Multiplatform Programming Guide

Other Interfaces

• Lazarus known issues (things that will never be fixed) - A list of interface compatibility issues
• Win32/64 Interface - The winapi interface for Windows 95/98/Me/2K/XP/Vista, but not CE
• Windows CE Interface - For Pocket PC and Smartphones
• Carbon Interface - The Carbon interface for Mac OS X
• Cocoa Interface - The Cocoa interface for Mac OS X
• Qt Interface - The Qt 4 interface for Unixes, Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux-based PDAs
• GTK1 Interface - The gtk1 interface for Unixes, Mac OS X (X11), Windows
• GTK2 Interface - The gtk2 interface for Unixes, Mac OS X (X11), Windows
• GTK3 Interface - The gtk3 interface for Unixes, Mac OS X (X11), Windows
• fpGUI Interface - Based on the fpGUI library, which is a cross-platform toolkit completely written in Object Pascal
• Custom Drawn Interface - A cross-platform LCL backend written completely in Object Pascal inside Lazarus. The Lazarus interface to Android.

Platform specific Tips

• Windows Programming Tips - Desktop Windows programming tips.
• Linux Programming Tips - How to execute particular programming tasks in Linux
• OS X Programming Tips - Lazarus installation, useful tools, Unix commands, and more...
• WinCE Programming Tips - Using the telephone API, sending SMSes, and more...
• Android Programming - For Android smartphones and tablets
• iPhone/iPod development - About using Objective Pascal to develop iOS applications

Interfaces Development Articles

• Carbon interface internals - If you want to help improving the Carbon interface
• Windows CE Development Notes - For Pocket PC and Smartphones
• Adding a new interface - How to add a new widget set interface
• LCL Defines - Choosing the right options to recompile LCL
• LCL Internals - Some info about the inner workings of the LCL

How to...

Write a daemon

To write a daemon (service application), please see Daemons and Services

Get the list of mounted partitions

Read and parse the file /etc/mtab

An example of such a file:

/dev/sda5 / ext4 rw,commit=0 0 0
none /proc proc rw 0 0
/dev/sda7 /home ext4 rw,commit=0 0 0
none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc binfmt_misc rw 0 0
gvfs-fuse-daemon /home/felipe/.gvfs fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon rw,nosuid,nodev,user=felipe 0 0
truecrypt /tmp/.truecrypt_aux_mnt1 fuse.truecrypt rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other 0 0
/dev/mapper/truecrypt1 /media/truecrypt1 vfat rw,uid=500,gid=500,umask=077 0 0

Perform text-to-speech (TTS) or how to let my computer speak

See

• [1] examples for calling espeak

to do: incorporate those examples

Install Lazarus on Raspberry Pi

• Lazarus on Raspberry Pi

Test whether an Application is already running

Here's a unit that works under both Windows and Linux

• There's no need to pass the full application path to the function - the ExeName will usually do

unit uappisrunning;
 
{$mode objfpc}{$H+}
 
interface
 
uses
  Classes, SysUtils
  {$IFDEF WINDOWS}, Windows, JwaTlHelp32{$ENDIF}
  {$IFDEF LINUX},process{$ENDIF};
// JwaTlHelp32 is in fpc\packages\winunits-jedi\src\jwatlhelp32.pas
 
// Returns TRUE if EXEName is running under Windows or Linux
// Don't pass an .exe extension to Linux!
function AppIsRunning(const ExeName: string):Boolean;
 
implementation
// These functions return Zero if app is NOT running
// Override them if you have a better implementation
{$IFDEF WINDOWS}
function WindowsAppIsRunning(const ExeName: string): integer;
var
  ContinueLoop: BOOL;
  FSnapshotHandle: THandle;
  FProcessEntry32: TProcessEntry32;
begin
  FSnapshotHandle := CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0);
  FProcessEntry32.dwSize := SizeOf(FProcessEntry32);
  ContinueLoop := Process32First(FSnapshotHandle, FProcessEntry32);
  Result := 0;
  while integer(ContinueLoop) <> 0 do
    begin
    if ((UpperCase(ExtractFileName(FProcessEntry32.szExeFile)) =
      UpperCase(ExeName)) or (UpperCase(FProcessEntry32.szExeFile) =
      UpperCase(ExeName))) then
      begin
      Inc(Result);
      // SendMessage(Exit-Message) possible?
      end;
    ContinueLoop := Process32Next(FSnapshotHandle, FProcessEntry32);
    end;
  CloseHandle(FSnapshotHandle);
end;
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF LINUX}
function LinuxAppIsRunning(const ExeName: string): integer;
var
  t: TProcess;
  s: TStringList;
begin
  Result := 0;
  t := tprocess.Create(nil);
  t.CommandLine := 'ps -C ' + ExeName;
  t.Options := [poUsePipes, poWaitonexit];
    try
    t.Execute;
    s := TStringList.Create;
      try
      s.LoadFromStream(t.Output);
      Result := Pos(ExeName, s.Text);
      finally
      s.Free;
      end;
    finally
    t.Free;
    end;
end;
{$ENDIF}
function AppIsRunning(const ExeName: string):Boolean;
begin
{$IFDEF WINDOWS}
  Result:=(WindowsAppIsRunning(ExeName) > 0);
{$ENDIF}
{$IFDEF LINUX}
  Result:=(LinuxAppIsRunning(ExeName) > 0);
{$ENDIF}
end;
end.

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