Delphi {$IFDEF CONSOLE} Problem

Question

I just tried

program Project1;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  SysUtils;

begin
  {$IFDEF CONSOLE}
    beep;
  {$ENDIF}
end.

and expected to hear a beep during runtime, but not. The following test works, though:

  if IsConsole then
    beep;

Why doesn't the compile-time test work? As far as I can understand from this doc, it sure should work.

Answer 1

The $APPTYPE directive controls whether to generate a Win32 console or graphical UI application, it is NOT a compiler directive.

{$ifdef} tests for user defined compiler directives set by {$define name} statements. As in

{$define KeepDlibTempFiles}

In stead the 'IsConsole' can be used (as you already found out).

Answer 2

It does not work in *.dpr file, but it is OK in a unit (call MakeBeep from console *.dpr):

unit Unit1;

interface

uses
  SysUtils;

procedure MakeBeep;

implementation

procedure MakeBeep;
begin
  {$IFDEF CONSOLE}
    beep;
  {$ENDIF}
end;

Answer 3

If you select "Generate console application" from the linker options, 'CONSOLE' is defined.