FastShareMem still necessary in Delphi-2010?

Question

Hi,

Up until now I am developing using Delphi 7. In order to pass f.e. TStringLists to my DLL's I use the FastShareMem unit as first unit in every program and dll I develop.

If I should migrate to Delphi-2010, Does FastShareMem still necessary ?

Thanks for any insight you may provide.

Answer 1

No, use SimpleShareMem instead as first unit in your Application and DLL.

Delphi 2007 and above include now FastMM as default memory manager, which used by SimpleShareMem and no need to distribute any DLL with your application.

Answer 2

Short answer: No, SimpleShareMem comes with Delphi 2010

Long answer: Yes, Delphi still has its own memory manager and memory claimed from one memory manager (exe) can not be returned to another (dll). But since Delphi 2006 Delphi comes with a new memory manager called FastMM which can do the same as FastShareMem and also does not require any extra dlls to be distributed. You need to use a unit called SimpleShareMem. FastMM also has other nice features you might want to check out. FastMM is also available for Delphi 7 BTW.

You don't need to use any of those tricks if you compile with runtime packages, since the memory manager is then shared. It also comes with the advantage of sharing the same types. No more TFont can not be assigned to TFont problems. Of course this does mean you have to distribute the runtime packages.

Answer 3

See this SO question and my answer there...