Use PDF Viewer Project and Form Templates

• Aug 11, 2026
• 5 minutes to read

The VCL Template Kit ships with automatically installed Project and Form templates for the ExpressPDFViewer Suite. These templates are designed to reduce time spent on repetitive project and form setups, as well as improve onboarding for new VCL developers and boost productivity in experienced teams.

In this topic…

• Project Template
  • Result: Generated Project
    • Sample Document
    • UI Elements & End-User Functionality
    • Run & Test the App
• Form Template
  • Result: Generated Form
    • Use the Generated Form
• Application Builder Options
  • Step 1 — Select Navigation Type
  • Step 2 — Add Views to the Application
  • Result: Generated Project

Project Template

The PDF Viewer Application template creates a single-form application that contains the TdxPDFViewer component with a Ribbon UI and built-in print functionality (using the TdxComponentPrinter component).

To run the Application/Project Wizard, select the following item in the RAD Studio IDE menu:

File → New → DevExpress VCL v26.1 Application/Project - Delphi

Select PDF Viewer Application in the Office-Inspired Controls category and click Create Project.

Result: Generated Project

The TdxPDFViewer component occupies the main form area. The generated form is derived from the TdxRibbonForm class and encapsulates all best app building practices for high-DPI multi-monitor environments.

Sample Document

The TdxPDFViewer component is empty at design time. The generated project includes the main form’s OnCreate event handler that loads a sample document (Pdf.pdf) located within the nested Data project folder.

UI Elements & End-User Functionality

In addition to the TdxPDFViewer positioned using the TdxLayoutControl component, the main application form includes a Ribbon UI with an embedded TdxOfficeSearchBox editor and the following buttons from left to right:

Open

Displays the Open dialog that allows users to select and open a PDF document.

Close

Closes the currently displayed PDF document.

Print

Displays the Print dialog.

Find

Displays or hides the Search panel.

Select Tool | Hand Tool

Allow you to switch between Select and Hand tools.

Select All

Selects all document content except images.

Navigation

Displays a drop-down menu populated with the following document navigation commands:

First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page | Previous View | Next View

Rotate View

Displays a drop-down menu with Rotate Clockwise and Rotate Counterclockwise commands that allow users to rotate document pages.

Zoom Out | Zoom In

Zoom the document out or in by a fixed percentage (OptionsZoom.ZoomStep).

Zoom

Displays a drop-down menu populated with the following commands:

• Fixed Zoom Values: 10% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 100% | 125% | 150% | 200% | 400% | 500%
• Actual Size | Zoom to Page Level | Fit Width

Run & Test the App

Build and run the generated project. Use Ribbon buttons to execute corresponding end-user commands.

Form Template

The PDF Viewer Form template allows you to add a configured DevExpress form with a TdxPDFViewer component to an existing application.

To run the Form/User Control Wizard, select the following item in the RAD Studio IDE menu:

File → New → DevExpress VCL v26.1 Form/User Control - Delphi

Select PDF Viewer Form in the Office-Inspired Controls category and click Create Form.

Result: Generated Form

The template creates a child form derived from the TdxRibbonForm class. The created form includes the same UI elements and has the same layout as the main form created by the PDF Viewer Application template.

Use the Generated Form

The form template does not automatically associate the generated form with existing app functionality. You need to manually display the form in code. For example:

Delphi

uses
  uChildForm;  // Adds the generated form's unit explicitly

procedure TMainForm1.cxPDFViewerDisplayButton1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ChildForm.Show;  // Displays the generated form
end;

Application Builder Options

Application Builder is a universal application template designed to combine multiple business scenarios, UI layouts, and navigation options. You can add one or multiple views with pre-configured DevExpress UI controls based on project requirements.

The Application Builder template wizard contains two steps:

Step 1 — Select Navigation Type

This step allows you to select a navigation UI type (sidebar and/or tabbed MDI layout) designed to switch between multiple Views on the same application form:

Scroll the Application Builder pane down to select required Views (Step 2).

Step 2 — Add Views to the Application

Step 2 lists multiple options that allow you to add one or multiple Views dedicated to corresponding UI controls.

All available options are grouped into the following categories: All, Grid, TreeList, Chart, Reporting & Data Analysis, Scheduler, Word, Excel, and PDF. Select PDF to display the corresponding View.

You can click individual Views to select or deselect them. Select all required Views and click Create Project to add them to the generated project.

Result: Generated Project

The generated project includes a TdxNavBar control as a sidebar and displays selected Views as frames on the same application form. Each View includes a Ribbon UI.

Individual application Views use the same sample data and layouts as corresponding standalone project templates.