How to save components to a file or stream (3)

Problem/Question/Abstract:

In D6, what's the best or usual way to stream an object to text so that it shows up just as it does when you copy an object to the clipboard or when you display a form as text?

Answer:

This example shows how to use the built-in VCL component streaming support to convert any component into a string and convert that string back into a component.

function ComponentToString(Component: TComponent): string;
var
  BinStream: TMemoryStream;
  StrStream: TStringStream;
  s: string;
begin
  BinStream := TMemoryStream.Create;
  try
    StrStream := TStringStream.Create(s);
    try
      BinStream.WriteComponent(Component);
      BinStream.Seek(0, soFromBeginning);
      ObjectBinaryToText(BinStream, StrStream);
      StrStream.Seek(0, soFromBeginning);
      Result := StrStream.DataString;
    finally
      StrStream.Free;
    end;
  finally
    BinStream.Free
  end;
end;

function StringToComponent(Value: string): TComponent;
var
  StrStream: TStringStream;
  BinStream: TMemoryStream;
begin
  StrStream := TStringStream.Create(Value);
  try
    BinStream := TMemoryStream.Create;
    try
      ObjectTextToBinary(StrStream, BinStream);
      BinStream.Seek(0, soFromBeginning);
      Result := BinStream.ReadComponent(nil);
    finally
      BinStream.Free;
    end;
  finally
    StrStream.Free;
  end;
end;