The easy way to update Internet Direct (Indy)

Updating Internet Direct (Indy) 10 component packages in the Delphi IDE to a newer version is quite time-consuming. Doing backups, searching and removing old source and binary files, changing IDE paths – all these steps cause developers to think twice before trying a new release of the Indy library. Quick switching between versions – to do a quick compatibility test – would be very welcome.

But there is a very simple solution: runtime creation of components. Instead of installing new component versions in the IDE palette, just add the Indy library paths to the project or IDE library search path(s).

To to this, add the paths

• <Indy>/Lib/Core
• <Indy>/Lib/System
• <Indy>/Lib/Protocols

to your project. And then instantiate the components at run-time instead of dropping them on a form.

Also if you check out the sources from the Subversion repository, switching between different Indy releases can be done in seconds as a bonus. (To be on the safe side in case of server problems, keep a copy of a working version).