TStyledCategoryButtons Demo

Overview

This demo compares TStyledCategoryButtons with the standard VCL TCategoryButtons, showing how to create modern categorized button lists with individual button styling and collapsible categories.

What You'll Learn

• How to create TStyledCategoryButtons with categories
• Adding styled button items to categories
• Comparison with standard TCategoryButtons
• Using notification badges on category items
• Collapsible category groups
• Image and caption alignment options
• Per-category and per-item styling

CategoryButtons Comparison

The demo creates category button controls side-by-side:

Standard TCategoryButtons (Left)

Shows the classic VCL TCategoryButtons for comparison.

TStyledCategoryButtons (Right)

Modern styled category buttons with:

• Individual button styling per item
• Per-category customization
• Notification badge support
• Collapsible categories
• Consistent appearance

Dynamic CategoryButtons Creation

Creating Standard CategoryButtons

procedure TfmStyledCategoryButtons.CreateCategoryButtons;
begin
  FCategoryButtons := TCategoryButtons.Create(Self);
  FCategoryButtons.Parent := Self;
  FCategoryButtons.Align := alLeft;
  FCategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := [boFullSize, boShowCaptions];
  FCategoryButtons.Images := VirtualImageList;
  FCategoryButtons.ButtonWidth := BUTTON_WIDTH;
  FCategoryButtons.ButtonHeight := BUTTON_HEIGHT;
end;

Creating TStyledCategoryButtons

procedure TfmStyledCategoryButtons.CreateStyledCategoryButtons;
begin
  FStyledCategoryButtons := TStyledCategoryButtons.Create(Self);
  FStyledCategoryButtons.Parent := Self;
  FStyledCategoryButtons.Align := alLeft;
  FStyledCategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := [boFullSize, boShowCaptions];
  FStyledCategoryButtons.Images := VirtualImageList;
  FStyledCategoryButtons.ButtonWidth := BUTTON_WIDTH;
  FStyledCategoryButtons.ButtonHeight := BUTTON_HEIGHT;
end;

Creating Categories and Items

Adding Categories

var
  LCategory: TStyledButtonCategory;
begin
  // Create first category
  LCategory := FStyledCategoryButtons.Categories.Add;
  LCategory.Caption := 'Styled Category 1';
end;

Adding Items to Categories

function TfmStyledCategoryButtons.AddStyledButtonToCategoryButtons(
  var ACategory: TStyledButtonCategory;
  const ACaption: string;
  const AImageIndex: Integer;
  const AFamily: TStyledButtonFamily;
  const AClass: TStyledButtonClass;
  const AAppearance: TStyledButtonAppearance): TStyledButtonItem;
begin
  Result := ACategory.Items.Add as TStyledButtonItem;
  Result.Caption := ACaption;
  Result.Hint := Format('Hint of %s button.', [ACaption]);
  Result.ImageIndex := AImageIndex;
  Result.SetButtonStyle(AFamily, AClass, AAppearance);
end;

Complete Example

var
  LCategory: TStyledButtonCategory;
begin
  // Category 1
  LCategory := CategoryButtons.Categories.Add;
  LCategory.Caption := 'File Operations';

  AddStyledButtonToCategoryButtons(LCategory, 'New', 0,
    BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_primary, BOOTSTRAP_OUTLINE);
  AddStyledButtonToCategoryButtons(LCategory, 'Open', 5,
    BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_secondary, BOOTSTRAP_OUTLINE);

  // Category 2
  LCategory := CategoryButtons.Categories.Add;
  LCategory.Caption := 'Edit Operations';

  AddStyledButtonToCategoryButtons(LCategory, 'Cut', 8,
    BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_success, BOOTSTRAP_OUTLINE);
  AddStyledButtonToCategoryButtons(LCategory, 'Paste', 10,
    BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_danger, BOOTSTRAP_OUTLINE);
end;

Category Features

Collapsible Categories

Click on category header to collapse/expand:

// Collapse a category
CategoryButtons.Categories[0].Collapsed := True;

// Expand a category
CategoryButtons.Categories[0].Collapsed := False;

Category Styling

Each category can have custom appearance:

• Header color
• Border style
• Gradient fill
• Custom font

Button Options

Full Size Mode (boFullSize)

Buttons fill the full width:

CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions + [boFullSize];

Show Captions (boShowCaptions)

Display button captions:

CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions + [boShowCaptions];

Bold Category Captions

Draw the category headers in bold:

CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions + [boBoldCaptions];

Use Plus/Minus Icons

Show +/- icons for expand/collapse:

CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions := CategoryButtons.ButtonOptions + [boUsePlusMinus];

Notification Badges

The demo includes notification badges on category items:

procedure TfmStyledCategoryButtons.StyledCategoryButtonsBootstrapGetNotificationBadgeInfo(
  const ACategoryIndex, AButtonItemIndex: Integer;
  var ABadgeContent: string;
  var ASize: TNotificationBadgeSize;
  var APosition: TNotificationBadgePosition;
  var AColor, AFontColor: TColor;
  var AFontStyle: TFontStyles);
begin
  if (ACategoryIndex = 0) and (AButtonItemIndex = 0) then
    ABadgeContent := IntToStr(FNotificationCount + 10)
  else if (ACategoryIndex = 1) and (AButtonItemIndex = 0) then
  begin
    AColor := clBlue;
    ABadgeContent := IntToStr(FNotificationCount + 20);
  end;
end;

Badge Features

• Per-item badges
• Category and item index-based
• Custom colors
• Custom positions
• Numeric or text content

Image and Caption Alignment

Caption Alignment

CategoryButtons.CaptionAlignment := taLeftJustify;   // Left-aligned
CategoryButtons.CaptionAlignment := taCenter;        // Centered
CategoryButtons.CaptionAlignment := taRightJustify;  // Right-aligned

Image Alignment

CategoryButtons.ImageAlignment := iaLeft;    // Image on left
CategoryButtons.ImageAlignment := iaRight;   // Image on right
CategoryButtons.ImageAlignment := iaTop;     // Image on top
CategoryButtons.ImageAlignment := iaBottom;  // Image on bottom
CategoryButtons.ImageAlignment := iaCenter;  // Image centered (no caption)

Interactive Controls

Control	Function
Width Trackbar	Adjust button width
Height Trackbar	Adjust button height
Show Caption	Toggle caption visibility
Full Size	Toggle full-size mode
Show Icon	Toggle icon visibility
Caption Alignment	Change caption alignment
Image Alignment	Change image position

Button Click Handling

procedure TfmStyledCategoryButtons.CategoryButtonsButtonClicked(
  Sender: TObject;
  const Button: TButtonItem);
begin
  if Assigned(Button) then
    StyledShowMessage(Button.Caption);
end;

Selected Item

Access the currently selected button:

var
  SelectedItem: TButtonItem;
begin
  SelectedItem := CategoryButtons.SelectedItem;
  if Assigned(SelectedItem) then
    ShowMessage(SelectedItem.Caption);
end;

Design-Time Category Buttons

The demo shows category buttons created at design-time:

Classic Style

• Standard VCL appearance
• Collapsible categories

Bootstrap Style

• Modern Bootstrap styling
• Notification badges
• Per-item custom colors

Flat Appearance

Enable flat mode for modern look:

CategoryButtons.Flat := True;

Flat mode removes 3D borders and uses flat colors.

Creating CategoryButtons Programmatically

Complete example with multiple categories:

var
  CatButtons: TStyledCategoryButtons;
  Cat: TStyledButtonCategory;
  Item: TStyledButtonItem;
begin
  // Create component
  CatButtons := TStyledCategoryButtons.CreateStyled(Self,
    BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY,
    btn_primary,
    BOOTSTRAP_NORMAL);
  CatButtons.Parent := Self;
  CatButtons.Align := alLeft;
  CatButtons.Images := ImageList1;
  CatButtons.Flat := True;

  // Add first category
  Cat := CatButtons.Categories.Add;
  Cat.Caption := 'Navigation';

  Item := Cat.Items.Add as TStyledButtonItem;
  Item.Caption := 'Home';
  Item.ImageIndex := 0;
  Item.SetButtonStyle(BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_primary, BOOTSTRAP_NORMAL);

  // Add second category
  Cat := CatButtons.Categories.Add;
  Cat.Caption := 'Tools';
  Cat.Collapsed := True;  // Start collapsed

  Item := Cat.Items.Add as TStyledButtonItem;
  Item.Caption := 'Settings';
  Item.ImageIndex := 1;
  Item.SetButtonStyle(BOOTSTRAP_FAMILY, btn_secondary, BOOTSTRAP_NORMAL);
end;

Key Differences from TCategoryButtons

TStyledCategoryButtons adds:

1. Per-Item Styling: Each item can have unique Family/Class/Appearance
2. Notification Badges: Built-in badge support per item
3. Modern Rendering: Consistent look across Windows versions
4. Enhanced Customization: More visual control
5. DPI Awareness: Automatic scaling
6. Extended Layout: More image/caption positioning options

Use Cases

Application Menus

Create collapsible menu systems:

• File operations category
• Edit operations category
• View options category
• Tools category

Navigation Panels

Organize navigation by topic:

• Main sections as categories
• Sub-pages as items
• Visual hierarchy

Toolboxes

Group related tools:

• Drawing tools category
• Selection tools category
• Editing tools category

Technical Details

Source Location

Demos/source/StyledCategoryButtonsForm.pas

Supported Versions

All Delphi versions (XE6+)

Key Properties

Property	Description
Categories	Collection of button categories
SelectedItem	Currently selected button item
ButtonOptions	Layout and display options
ButtonWidth	Button width
ButtonHeight	Button height
Images	ImageList for icons
ImageAlignment	Icon position relative to caption
CaptionAlignment	Caption text alignment
Flat	Flat appearance mode

Key Events

Event	Description
OnButtonClicked	Fires when item is clicked
OnCategoryCollapase	Fires when category collapses (spelled so in the VCL)
OnGetNotificationBadgeInfo	Provides badge information

See Also

• TStyledCategoryButtons - Description and examples
• TStyledCategoryButtons Reference - Complete technical documentation
• TStyledButtonGroup Reference - Simple button group
• TStyledButton Reference - Base button component