How to reduce delphi EXE size???

Hi, if your wanting a quick and easy way to size down your exe, the best and simplist has to be ASPACK, all you do is open ASPack and load the exe into the program and compress, and thats it your exe is now almost 50% its normal size.

but with all exe compressions each time you execute a command it has to pass though the memory like 5-8 times.

but you got 2 way up the odds, if you don't compress your Apps, people will ResHaX your Program :( and change your programes layout and stuff, which is a downer, so compress it, is a must for that.

you could learn another lang in delphi like API, take ya like 2-4 months of solid learning and then you will get some small exe sizes.

but if all you want is to make the exe smaller and stop people from ResHaxing then ASPack is the way 2 go, takes 5seconds 2 compress a exe by 50%, easier than learning another part of the lang just for file size.

http://www.aspack.com/

Hope this helps some

If you want 2 Strip the Rellocation Tables You could use this below it will strip off around 50kb or even more

http://www.jrsoftware.org/striprlc.php


this text below is from the web site...

Some have asked why I made StripReloc when there are EXE compression programs such as ASPack and UPX that will trim more bytes off of executables than StripReloc ever could.

The reason is there are downsides to using EXE compressors. Most notably:

Upon startup of a compressed EXE/DLL, all of the code is decompressed from the disk image into memory in one pass, which can cause disk thrashing if the system is low on memory and is forced to access the swap file. In contrast, with uncompressed EXE/DLLs, the OS allocates memory for code pages on demand (i.e. when they are executed).
Multiple instances of a compressed EXE/DLL create multiple instances of the code in memory. If you have a compressed EXE that contains 1 MB of code (before compression) and the user starts 5 instances of it, approximately 4 MB of memory is wasted. Likewise, if you have a DLL that is 1 MB and it is used by 5 running applications, approximately 4 MB of memory is wasted. With uncompressed EXE/DLLs, code is only stored in memory once and is shared between instances.
Some older virus scanners flag compressed EXE/DLLs as being virus-infected. (This is this reason I stopped compressing Inno Setup's EXEs.)

Hello again
Eolaz, tell me what about the api langauge  is it a delphi language?
and how can i open its page in delphi 7?
and is there any book to learn ??
thank u...

for info about WinAPI and Delphi, check out http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/delphizeus/index.html

API is Delphi you can make it with Delphi 7, but there is a slight edge with api, they maybe the same in some cases, but Delphi normal and Delphi api they are 2 separate langs, based around the same methods.

each has there good and bad sides, when working with api, when you work on a large project, it sometimes can get messy, api is for the small basic apps that are easy to make and you can live with the small size.

but if your making big projects with allot of code, you should stick with normal Delphi lang than moving over to api lang.

for most, an exe compressor is all people need, using a compressor is easier that learning a separate lang and the amount of coding time that is involved with api, its much harder and complexes.

api cuts out most of the middle man stuff, so you have 2 do the work your self

it cuts down the time needed to learn the separate lang of api and coding time.

if your making an good large app, then the size probly wouldn't matter once its on the users computer, and a exe compressor like aspack, is a 5 second compress for 50% of your exe size, a 500kb file is like 230kb file and even if it has to go though the memory 5-8x, its unotisble, plus compressing your exe will stop reshaxers leeching your layouts and info that is stored inside your exe.

so in all after working everything out, on how much time to the means of what your trying to do. 4-6months of learning api or a 5second compression with exe reshax protection.

in the end, its up to you which method will suit you.



I my self prefer to compress my files the easy way, less time and no wasted effort coding api, my app is compressed and reshax protected within seconds, so I have more time coding the more important things.

http://www.aspack.com/ - its the easiest and hassle free :) its simple as counting 1 2 3.

beleave me I've tryed it all and in the end, aspack is the best course of action for all your needs :) all that wasted time learning api and faffing around with it, its one hassle I don't need when making a large project, I might as well have stook with cpp, you know what I mean.

http://www.aspack.com/

for your needs at the moment use something easy, and use your time on coding your needed projects.

you should have a more clear outlook on things now. :)

UPX is a good option to ASPack as it's free.

http://upx.sourceforge.net/

Hi mis82 and all,

An another way of reducing executables from getting
big is using Delphi's OO abilities, specially visual
form inheritance. This save a LOT of resources. A
framework to create and setup dynamically some simple
and heavily used custom dialogs also helps.
And using TImageList components instead of setting
icons directly on the buttons/tool buttons/etc.
If you have big bitmaps on the application and use
them in various forms, try to get them on one form
(since the simplest way save them is to put various
TImages on that form - datamodules don't accept visual
components) and the others only reference them.

This can help make the EXE smaller and make the
app get faster.

[]s Fabricio

If you use any of the compression programs mentioned above (with the exception of StripReloc), just keep in mind, that if you run your program 2 times, that your 2 programs occupy much more memory because the program has to be unpacked in memory first.

I only recommend it, when your program is limited to run only once at a time, and is prohibitted frum running multiple times.

From the StripReloc-page, explaining the pro's and con's of compressing:
--
Upon startup of a compressed EXE/DLL, all of the code is decompressed from the disk image into memory in one pass, which can cause disk thrashing if the system is low on memory and is forced to access the swap file. In contrast, with uncompressed EXE/DLLs, the OS allocates memory for code pages on demand (i.e. when they are executed).
Multiple instances of a compressed EXE/DLL create multiple instances of the code in memory. If you have a compressed EXE that contains 1 MB of code (before compression) and the user starts 5 instances of it, approximately 4 MB of memory is wasted. Likewise, if you have a DLL that is 1 MB and it is used by 5 running applications, approximately 4 MB of memory is wasted. With uncompressed EXE/DLLs, code is only stored in memory once and is shared between instances.
--

Greetings Chris

http://www.undu.com/DN970301/00000064.htm

Is these help ?

Someone said adjust Project/Options/Complier will rip off 50 - 100k

ASPACK

I computed the cost of a meg of RAM at $0.50, and a meg of hard drive at $0.001.  The cost overheads of the more capable hardware is more than offset by the cost savings of the libraries.

I use packages for flexibility in remote deployment, and don't worry about the app size.  It would need to save many megs of RAM to pay for my time in development.