CEF4Delphi

CEF4Delphi is an open source project designed to embed Chromium-based browsers into applications developed with Delphi or Lazarus/FPC. It supports multiple platforms including Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

Key features include:

• Support for VCL, FireMonkey (FMX), and Lazarus components.
• Based on DCEF3 and fpCEF3.
• Current version uses CEF 151.3.14 (Chromium 151.0.7922.72).

In CEF4Delphi, TCEFWorkScheduler is responsible for feeding the CEF message loop by calling DoMessageLoopWork().

On macOS, using this scheduler is currently the only way to successfully run the CEF message loop.

On macOS, the CEF message loop must be manually fed. The ExternalPumpBrowser example demonstrates how to use TCEFWorkScheduler and TCEFLinkedWindowParent to achieve this.

TCEFWorkScheduler feeds the CEF message loop by calling DoMessageLoopWork(). This is currently the only way to run the CEF message loop on macOS.

The TCEFWorkScheduler is responsible for feeding the CEF message loop by calling DoMessageLoopWork().

Note for macOS users: On macOS, using TCEFWorkScheduler to call DoMessageLoopWork() is currently the only way to run the CEF message loop.

This pattern is used to manage the CEF message loop, specifically for environments like macOS where manual message loop pumping is required.

• TCEFWorkScheduler is responsible for feeding the CEF message loop by calling DoMessageLoopWork().
• TCEFLinkedWindowParent is used in conjunction with the scheduler to handle window parenting/linking.

On macOS, using TCEFWorkScheduler to call DoMessageLoopWork() is currently the only way to run the CEF message loop.

To run a project using CEF4Delphi on Linux, follow these steps:

1. Download the CEF framework.
2. Place the contents of the CEF "Release" folder into the same directory as your application executable. Alternatively, you can point GlobalCEFApp.FrameworkDirPath to the location of the libraries.

Important Implementation Requirements for Linux:

• Subprocess Initialization: You must modify your project source (.lpr) to add InitSubProcess to the uses clause. This must be placed before the Interfaces unit.
• Cleanup: The call to DestroyGlobalCEFApp must be located in a unit that is not used by the InitSubProcess unit (including any nested dependencies).

To use CEF4Delphi, you must download the corresponding CEF binaries from Spotify. Ensure you select the version that matches your target platform and architecture:

• Windows 32 bits
• Windows 64 bits
• Linux x86 64 bits
• Linux ARM 32 bits
• Linux ARM 64 bits
• MacOS x86 64 bits

To run a project using CEF4Delphi on Windows, you must provide the CEF framework binaries:

1. Download the CEF framework.
2. Place the contents of the CEF "Release" folder into the same directory as your application executable.

Alternatively, you can configure the application to look in a specific location by setting the GlobalCEFApp.FrameworkDirPath property to the path containing the libraries.

To run the application on Windows or Linux, you must provide the CEF framework binaries.

1. Download the CEF framework.
2. Place the contents of the CEF "Release" folder into the same directory as your executable.

Alternative Configuration: You can specify a custom path for the libraries by setting the GlobalCEFApp.FrameworkDirPath property.

When developing for macOS, you may need to perform the following configurations:

1. Network Access: Sign your application with an Outgoing network socket entitlement in the helpers to ensure network connectivity.
2. Hide Helpers from Dock: To prevent helper processes from appearing in the macOS Dock, set LSUIElement=1 in the application's info.plist.

Setting up a macOS application requires creating an App Bundle and placing the framework in a specific location:

1. In your project options, create an App Bundle.
2. Download the CEF framework and place the contents of the CEF "Release" folder into: ExternalPumpBrowser.app/Contents/Frameworks/Chromium Embedded Framework.framework. The directory structure should contain:
   • Chromium Embedded Framework
   • Libraries/*
   • Resources/*
3. Open the AppHelper project, create an App Bundle, and compile AppHelper.
4. Run the create_mac_helper.sh script.
5. Open the ExternalPumpBrowser project, compile, and run.