How to Run a Silent Console Application in Delphi

 Author: PETER ASCHBACHER (PA-SOFT)

Sometimes, it's necessary to hide the console window of a CONSOLE APPLICATION entirely to avoid distracting the user with an unnecessary command prompt. Fortunately, Delphi provides a straightforward way to achieve this. Below, we'll walk through the steps to create a console application that runs silently without displaying the console window.

program OpenTaskbarSettings;

// The $APPTYPE GUI directive ensures that the application is treated as a GUI application,

// which prevents the console window from being shown.

{$APPTYPE GUI}

uses

  System.SysUtils,

  Winapi.Windows,

  Winapi.ShellAPI;

// Procedure to hide the console window if it exists

procedure HideConsole;

var

  hConsole: HWND;

begin

  // Get the handle of the console window

  hConsole := Winapi.Windows.GetConsoleWindow;

  // If the console window handle is valid, hide the console window

  if hConsole <> 0 then

    ShowWindow(hConsole, SW_HIDE);

end;

// Procedure to open the Taskbar Settings window

procedure DoOpenTaskbarSettings;

begin

  // Use ShellExecute to open the Taskbar Settings window

  Winapi.ShellAPI.ShellExecute(0, 'open', 'ms-settings:taskbar', nil, nil, SW_SHOWNORMAL);

end;

begin

  // Hide the console window immediately upon startup

  HideConsole;

  try

    // Open the Taskbar Settings window

    DoOpenTaskbarSettings;

  except

    // Handle any exceptions that occur

    on E: Exception do

      Writeln(E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);

  end;

end.

Explanation of the Code:

1. // Remove: {$APPTYPE CONSOLE}, instead add:

2. {$APPTYPE GUI}: The $APPTYPE GUI directive* ensures that the application is treated as a GUI application, which prevents the console window from being shown.

3. HideConsole Procedure:

   • GetConsoleWindow: Retrieves the handle of the console window.
   • ShowWindow: Hides the console window if the handle is valid.

4. DoOpenTaskbarSettings Procedure:

   • ShellExecute: Uses the ShellExecute function to open the Taskbar Settings window.

5. Main Block:

   • HideConsole: Hides the console window immediately upon startup.
   • DoOpenTaskbarSettings: Opens the Taskbar Settings window.
   • try...except: Handles any exceptions that may occur during the execution.

This setup will create a console application that hides its console window immediately upon startup, so the console window will not be visible at all while the application runs.

Steps to Implement:

1. Open Delphi.
2. Create a new Console Application.
3. Replace the default code with the above code.
4. Run the application.

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* A "directive" in programming is a special instruction that tells the compiler how to process the code.