How to use PtSettingsExpert
- In the main Delphi menu, select "File", "New", "Other...".
- Under the "New" tab select "Settings unit" to start the expert:
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The expert will try to read a settings storage and generate what it thinks will be the best structure to represent those settings. Choose the type of settings storage (by selecting the appropriate tab) that you want the expert to read from.

- Alternatively, you could select "INI file" and not provide a file name so you can design your settings structure from scratch.
- To get a valid path for the Registry tab:
- Start up RegEdit.exe (usually found in "C:\WINDOWS\").
- Select and right click the key you want to read your settings from.
- Click "Copy Key Name" from the popup menu.
- Paste the name into the edit box under the Registry tab.
- The XML tab requires properly formatted XML.
- Click "Structure..." to see and edit the settings structure:

- By checking the "Show group types" and "Show group settings" you can see the type of each setting and settings group.
- Each type of settings group will be generated as a class. So, settings groups can be of the same type. In the image above, both MainForm and OptionsForm are of the type TFormSettings. However, the editor is built to prevent recursion.
- To create or delete a setting or settings group, right click a node on the tree and select what you wish to do in the popup menu.
- The best way to learn how the editor works is to play with it. It is perfectly safe to do so.
- When you have done as much as you can with the editor, click "Generate" to generate a new Delphi unit. If all the types were defined, and the path entered in step 3 was valid, then you should be able to use the settings unit right away.