31/10/22, 21:49 Which is the proper way to terminate a delphi application?

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Which is the proper way to terminate a delphi application?

Asked 7 years, 5 months ago Modified 8 months ago Viewed 52k times

I would like to terminate a Delphi application without executing any other code line and I'm
wondering about which is the proper way to do this. Furthermore, I would like to know if
25 there's something wrong in what I'm actually doing at the moment. Basically, my code looks
like this:

//Freeing all objects (Obj1.Free, etc..)

Application.Terminate;
Halt;

Is this the right way to stop a Delphi application or should it be done in another way?

delphi terminate halt

Share Follow asked May 23, 2015 at 17:06

Hwau
810 3 12 19

2 Closing the main form is the proper way to go. If you like you can go straigt forward with
Application.MainForm.Close; – Sir Rufo May 23, 2015 at 17:24

1 Closing the MainForm simply calls Application.Terminate , so you can call that directly when needed.
However, do not that it can only be called in the context of the main thread, not a worker thread.
– Remy Lebeau May 23, 2015 at 17:26

4 @RemyLebeau Calling Application.MainForm.Close won't simply call Application.Terminate but

it will process both OnCloseQuery and OnClose events of the main form if they were assigned. You
can even prevent the application from closing by setting CanClose variable of OnCloseQuery event to
false. But calling Application.Terminate won't process those events. – SilverWarior May 24, 2015 at
1:13

To prevent additional code in the current procedure from executing, use Exit; after
Application.Terminate; instead of Halt; – crefird May 25, 2015 at 11:58

@SilverWarior - yes, the Close will first call DoClose() then Terminate. – Server Overflow Mar 29, 2019 at
11:51

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4 Answers
Highest score (default)

Application.Terminate() breaks the message loops in TApplication.Run() and

TForm.ShowModal() , allowing the main thread to exit normally, perform necessary cleanups, etc.
38
Vcl.Forms.TApplication.Terminate

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30415407/which-is-the-proper-way-to-terminate-a-delphi-application 1/4
31/10/22, 21:49 Which is the proper way to terminate a delphi application? - Stack Overflow

Ends application execution.

Call Terminate to end the application programmatically. By calling Terminate rather

than freeing the application object, you allow the application to shut down in an
orderly fashion.

Terminate calls the Windows API PostQuitMessage function to perform an orderly

shutdown of the application. Terminate is not immediate. Terminate is called
automatically on a WM_QUIT message and when the main form closes.

Halt() , on the other hand, is an immediate abnormal termination. Basically, ripping the
process out of memory. Use it only in extreme situations where no other option is available.

System.Halt

Initiates the abnormal termination of a program.

Halt performs an abnormal termination of a program and returns to the operating

system.

To perform a normal termination of a Delphi application, call the Terminate method

on the global Application object. If the application does not use a unit that provides
an Application object, call the Exit procedure from the main Program block.

Share Follow answered May 23, 2015 at 17:36

Remy Lebeau
524k 29 429 731

In this specific case, my goal is that to stop application without executing any other code line (I just
want to free everything and terminate the application). As Application.Terminate is not immediate,
should I use Halt or are there any possible trouble in using this? – Hwau May 24, 2015 at 8:23

2 Halt does not free very much, but it does try to do some internal system cleanup. If your goal is to
just bail out of the process immediately, you can use Halt() , but if that is still too much code to
execute, then you will have to resort to the Win32 API TerminateProcess() function. – Remy Lebeau
May 24, 2015 at 8:31

Thanks for clarification, I suppose Halt is enough for my requirements. Your messages have been really
helpful, +1 and accepted. – Hwau May 24, 2015 at 8:41

I would like to terminate a Delphi application without executing any other code.

12
Neither Application.Terminate nor Halt will achieve that. The former performs an orderly
termination. Lots of code will execute. Calling Halt is more hopeful. That is an abnormal
termination. But unit finalization code is executed.

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31/10/22, 21:49 Which is the proper way to terminate a delphi application? - Stack Overflow

If you wish to exit as quickly as possible, executing the minimum amount of code along the
way, call ExitProcess . That's the final step of Halt and by calling ExitProcess directly you
avoid all the steps that Halt takes before it calls ExitProcess .

Share Follow answered May 24, 2015 at 8:33

David Heffernan
593k 42 1040 1455

4 ExitProcess will execute code. Such as DllMain. One should use TerminateProcess. – Alex May 24, 2015
at 22:22

@Alex TerminateProcess is indeed even more brutal. – David Heffernan May 25, 2015 at 5:09

TerminateProcess was once necessary evil for me. A third party library we needed was causing an
exception at exit. TerminateProcess = Exception gone. :-) – nurettin Feb 27, 2017 at 13:38

If you do not know the state of all threads in your process, it is better to call TerminateProcess than
ExitProcess – Ian Boyd Oct 24, 2017 at 14:24

I had some problems with Application.Terminate, because I had to start the Form Close
procedure, so I did only:
2
Form1.Close;

I found a new solution inside .dproj

begin
ReportMemoryLeaksOnShutdown := True;
Application.Initialize;
Application.CreateForm(TFormMain, FormMain);
if Not(VerifyCode()) then
begin
ShowMessage('Software unregistered!');
Application.Terminate;
end
else
Application.Run;
end.

Share Follow edited Feb 8 at 18:13 answered Jul 7, 2021 at 14:11

Wellington Telles Cunha
276 2 16

Just to leave a point on a extra problem if code must be on main form OnCreate.

1 Try such code on the Main Form OnCreate event. It does not work as expected, main form is
shown, then the application is finished.

To be able to see it, add another form and put on its creation a long loop.

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31/10/22, 21:49 Which is the proper way to terminate a delphi application? - Stack Overflow

It seems like all the Application.CreateForm on the main project source are executed.

Sample code:

procedure TMyMainForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);

begin
ShowMessage('[1] This must allways be shown');
if mrOK=MessageDlg('Exit?',mtConfirmation,[mbOK,mbCancel],0)
then begin
Application.Terminate;
Exit;
end;
ShowMessage('[2] This must not allways be shown');
end;
procedure TMyOtherForm.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
ShowMessage('[3] This must not allways be shown');
end;

With that code messages [1] and [3] are allways shown.

Only way to not show [3] is to call Halt.

Note: Why such code on MainForm OnCreate? Simple answer could be, the exe checks
conditions to be run and see they are not meet (missing files, etc), rude one (sorry for that),
just because i want/need to.

Share Follow answered Apr 28, 2016 at 7:18

Anonymous
39 1

Application.ShowMainForm := False; – Nashev Sep 15, 2016 at 14:47

I mean, when on main form creating You call Application.Terminate, it almost do nothing, because main
form creating are processed before Application.Run call from main application source in project file
".dpr". Terminate are breaks main loop, but it still not started! And Application.Run before start main
message handling loop goes to show previously created MainForm. But there are solition: it have
special flag to do not show form. Make Application.ShowMainForm := False; and main form will not
shown at all. – Nashev Sep 15, 2016 at 15:05

But [3] You still will see, it part of form's constructor. Exit from constructor does not break object's
construction. It can be breaked by raising an exception/ You can call Abort, for example, but some thing
will be must handle it. – Nashev Sep 15, 2016 at 15:06

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30415407/which-is-the-proper-way-to-terminate-a-delphi-application 4/4