FMXBridge — Modern FireMonkey UI for Inno Setup (Announcement)

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FMXBridge - Modern FireMonkey UI for Inno Setup

I’d like to introduce "FMXBridge" - a DLL bridge between "Inno Setup" and "FireMonkey (FMX)" that lets you build a modern installer interface (Mica / Acrylic / Tabbed, animations, effects, custom controls) while keeping your existing Inno Setup scripting workflow.

What it is
"FMXBridge" is a library that exports a wide set of FMX interfaces and helper utilities for use from an external host. The typical use case is: Inno Setup handles installation logic, while FMXBridge provides the visual UI layer and rich controls.

What it can do
1) Installer-ready windows and forms

• - Create base forms with different background/system material styles:
• - "Mica"
• - "Tabbed"
• - "Acrylic"
• - "Blur / Gradient / Image / Blank"
• - Control dark/light theme, corner rounding, border color, style updates, and property animations.
• - Use dedicated message forms and splash screens.

2) Large FMX control set

• - Standard controls: buttons, checkboxes, list/tree controls, memo/edit, progress, menus, toolbars, image lists, etc.
• - Layout containers: grid/flow/scroll/scaled/buffered layouts.
• - Extra/custom controls: SVG, HTMLText, GIF, rating bar, marquee, checkbox tree, custom titlebar components.

3) Effects and animations

• - FMX animations (float/color/rect/gradient/bitmap).
• - A broad set of visual and transition effects (blur, bloom, sepia, swipe, dissolve, wave, and more).

4) System and utility features

• - File/folder dialogs (browse/open/save).
• - Window operations (hide/restore/close), basic file operations, and text read/write/append helpers.
• - System information (OS/GPU/CPU/RAM, drives, user info, etc.).

5) 2D/3D and optional extensions

• - 2D shapes + an extended RadiantShapes set.
• - 3D components (Viewport3D, Camera, Light, primitive/mesh objects, etc.).
• - Optional "Skia4Delphi" integration (when built with "SKIA").

What this gives you together with Inno Setup
In short: "you keep the reliable Inno Setup installation engine, but get a desktop-grade UI experience".

In practice, this means:

• - You can hide/minimize the default Inno window and show your own FMX form over the setup flow.
• - You can build a branded installer UI with custom backgrounds, animated transitions, and non-standard controls.
• - You can create a multi-step modern wizard UX while preserving standard Inno Setup logic for files, tasks, and sections.
• - Great fit for launchers/updaters/installers where visual quality and interaction matter.

Technical snapshot

• - DLL: "FMXBridge.dll"
• - Architecture: "Win32"
• - Host: "Inno Setup 7.0.0.0 or Higher"
• - Compiler: "RAD Studio 13.1"
• - Project version: "0.5.0.0"