Trying to use both 32 and 64bit IDEs

General Help
1

I am trying to use both the 32 and 64 bit IDEs at the same time. Unfortunately they both end up on the same screen. Is there a way to have separate desktops for them automatically?

2

I didn’t see the issue at first.
I created a Desktop for Upper Monitor, and one for Lower Monitor … but when I got to Startup Desktop, I realised that they are both modifying the same thing.

There IS a command-line arg for using a different regkey … I don’t know the consequences of that … (?)

This is what Google’s sometimes questionable AI response was ..

You can achieve different startup desktops for Delphi by using the Alternate registry key command-line switch. This switch allows you to specify an alternate base registry key, letting you run two copies of the IDE with separate configurations. This is useful for tasks like debugging components without your development IDE interfering, or for keeping your settings separate from other users on the same computer.

How to use the alternate registry key

  1. Identify the registry key you want to use for a specific configuration.

  2. Create a shortcut for Delphi and add the Alternate registry key command-line switch to the shortcut’s target.

  3. Specify the desired registry path after the switch. For example, to use a separate registry hive for a debug instance, you could use this path:
    "C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\RAD Studio\XX.0\bin\bds.exe" -ar "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\RAD Studio\XX.0\Debug"
    (Replace "C:\Program Files\Embarcadero\RAD Studio\XX.0\bin\bds.exe" with the correct path to your Delphi executable, and XX.0 with the appropriate version number, such as 23.0 for Delphi 12 Athens).

Other relevant information

  • Registry hives: The Windows Registry contains different hives, such as HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (for system-wide settings) and HKEY_CURRENT_USER (for user-specific settings).

  • Registry editing: You can edit the registry using regedit.exe but be careful, as incorrect changes can cause system instability.

  • Porting settings: You can also port settings between versions by manually editing .reg files, replacing the old version number with the new one.

3

If you run different IDE instance in different registry key profiles with bds.exe -r , you can have different settings. That way settings saving to one will not affect the other.

See docs:

IDE Command Line Switches and Options - RAD Studio

4

I havent done that for many years, but initially it meant that all libraries had to be re-registered. Which is probably going to be an issue with auto-installers such as TMS and GExperts. I might leave that experimentation for dead time and with Delphi 13.

1 Like
5

Kind of sad isn’t it, when they made a deal about being able to use both at the same time. :slight_smile: Now I have to be extra careful, as we don’t know what else is common.

I have already had one issue where the 64-bit IDE removed a property (as non-existent), when the 32-bit was fine with it.

Which leads me to a big gripe. Why does it have to try and load all projects in a project group, when you load a project group. It should just load and verify each project as you load it.

This behaviour slows it down immensely and it gets into a stupid loop about missing things, (when not all projects have been fixed after a library change), which I would fix, if it would just let me get to it.