How can I get Delphi 2010 IDE to show a split view with a form and its code at the same time?

Question

I program in Delphi 2010, and I have enough screen space to show both a form and its code (that is, the code and design tabs of a form) at the same time, but so far I haven't had any luck trying to make that happen. Is there a way to customize the IDE to show both at the same time?

Answer 1

Set your desktop to "Classic Undocked"

Then you need to uncheck the embedded designer option in the VCL Designer options page:

You'll also have to restart the IDE for those changes to take effect.

Answer 2

The option Andreas is talking about is located under Tools | Options | Environment options | VCL Designer. It is called Embedded designer.

When you uncheck that a form will be displayed free-floating at its designed position instead of embedded in the docked editor. You need to restart the IDE for the option to take effect.

To show both form and code you will have to change your layout and/or move the form to a position where it doesn't cover the code editor.

As an alternative you could opt for the classic undocked layout. That way you can certainly position form and code editor not to overlap. To activate that you need View | Desktops | Classic Undocked.

Note: be aware that the position of the form at designtime is reflected at run-time if you have a form's Position property set to poDesigned.

Answer 3

Cool hack for Delphi XE4-XE7:

Changing 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Embarcadero\\BDS\\11.0\\Form Design\\Embedded Designer' to FALSE will bring the classic designed back.