Changing component class at run-time on demand

This is easier as thought (thanks to Hallvard's Blog - Hack#14: Changing the class of an object at run-time):

procedure PatchInstanceClass(Instance: TObject; NewClass: TClass);
type
  PClass = ^TClass;
begin
  if Assigned(Instance) and Assigned(NewClass)
    and NewClass.InheritsFrom(Instance.ClassType)
    and (NewClass.InstanceSize = Instance.InstanceSize) then
  begin
    PClass(Instance)^ := NewClass;
  end;
end;

type
  TMyButton = class(TButton)
  public
    procedure Click; override;
  end;

procedure TMyButton.Click;
begin
  ShowMessage('Click!');
end;

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  PatchInstanceClass(Button1, TMyButton);
end;

Executive summary: Use an interposer class with runtime switching of behaviour.

Although @kobik is using Delphi 5 and cannot do what I describe below, this answers fleshes out the supported way to change the VMT of an instance using TVirtualMethodInterceptor. Mason's comments inspired me to write this.

procedure MakeSuperImageList(ImageList: TImageList);
var
  vmi: TVirtualMethodInterceptor;
begin
  vmi := TVirtualMethodInterceptor.Create(ImageList.ClassType);
  try
    vmi.OnBefore := procedure(Instance: TObject; Method: TRttiMethod;
      const Args: TArray<TValue>; out DoInvoke: Boolean; out Result: TValue)
    var
      Icon: TIcon;
      Canvas: TCanvas;
      Index: Integer;
      X, Y: Integer;
    begin
      if Method.Name<>'DoDraw' then
        exit;

      DoInvoke := False;//don't call TImageList.DoDraw
      Index := Args[0].AsInteger;
      Canvas := Args[1].AsType<TCanvas>;
      X := Args[2].AsInteger;
      Y := Args[3].AsInteger;

      Icon := TIcon.Create;
      try
        ImageList.GetIcon(Index, Icon);
        Canvas.Draw(X, Y, Icon);
      finally
        Icon.Free;
      end;
    end;

    vmi.Proxify(ImageList);
  finally
    vmi.Free;
  end;
end;

I've only compiled this in my head so it will no doubt need debugging. Something tells me that capturing ImageList might not work, in which case you would need to write Instance as TImageList.

Unless you use a VMT modifying based solution, you will have to create new instances (as per Mason's suggestion). And this means that you will also have to modify all references to the image list instances at the same time that you create the new instances. In my view that rules out any proposed solution based on instantiating replacement objects.

So, my conclusion is that to implement your proposed solution in full generality, you need runtime VMT modification. And if you don't have modern Delphi that provides such facilities in a supported way, you will need to hack the VMT.

Now, modifying the VMT, even with virtual method interceptors, is rather distasteful, in my view. I think you are probably going about this the wrong way. I suggest that you use an interposer class (or some other sub-classing technique) and switch behaviour at runtime with a property of the sub-class.

type
  TImageList = class(ImgList.TImageList)
  private
    FIsSuper: Boolean;
  protected
    procedure DoDraw(Index: Integer; Canvas: TCanvas; X, Y: Integer;
      Style: Cardinal; Enabled: Boolean = True); override;
  public
    property IsSuper: Boolean read FIsSuper write FIsSuper;
  end;

TImageList.DoDraw(Index: Integer; Canvas: TCanvas; X, Y: Integer;
  Style: Cardinal; Enabled: Boolean = True);
var
  Icon: TIcon;
begin
  if IsSuper then
  begin
    Icon := TIcon.Create;
    try
      Self.GetIcon(Index, Icon);
      Canvas.Draw(X, Y, Icon);
    finally
      Icon.Free;
    end;
  end
  else
    inherited;
end;
....
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  ImageList2.IsSuper := True;
  ImageList3.IsSuper := True;
end;

There's no automatic way to do that, but you could try something like this:

procedure MakeSuperImageList(var ImageList: TImageList);
var
  new: TImageList;
begin
  if ImageList is TSuperImageList then
    Exit;
  new := TSuperImageList.Create(ImageList.Owner);
  new.Assign(ImageList);
  ImageList.Free;
  ImageList := new;
end;

Depending on how Assign is implemented, it may not quite work as expected, but you can override Assign or AssignTo on TSuperImageList to get the desired behavior.