Delphi

Language Guide

Borland®

Delphi ™

Borland Software Corporation

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 Contents
Chapter 1 Chapter 4
Introduction 1-1 Syntactic elements 4-1
What’s in this manual? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 Fundamental syntactic elements . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Using Delphi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 Special symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Typographical conventions . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Other sources of information . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2 Qualified identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Software registration and Reserved words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Directives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Part I Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Basic language description Character strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Comments and compiler directives . . . . . . . . 4-6
Chapter 2 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Overview 2-1 Arithmetic operators . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Program organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1 Boolean operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Delphi source files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2 Logical (bitwise) operators . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Other files used to build applications . . . . 2-2 String operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Compiler-generated files . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Pointer operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Example programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Set operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
A simple console application . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Relational operators . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
A more complicated example . . . . . . . . . 2-4 Class operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
A native application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5 The @ operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Operator precedence rules . . . . . . . . 4-13
Chapter 3 Function calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Programs and units 3-1 Set constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Program structure and syntax . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
The program heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Typecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
The program uses clause . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Value typecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
The block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Variable typecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Unit structure and syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Declarations and statements . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
The unit heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3 Declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
The interface section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Hinting Directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
The implementation section. . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
The initialization section. . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Simple statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
The finalization section . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Assignment statements . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Unit references and the uses clause . . . . . . . 3-5 Procedure and function calls . . . . . . . 4-19
The syntax of a uses clause . . . . . . . . . . 3-6 Goto statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Multiple and indirect unit references . . . . 3-7 Structured statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Circular unit references . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8 Compound statements . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
With statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
If statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23

iii
 Case statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25 Procedural types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30
Control loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27 Procedural types in statements
Repeat statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27 and expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
While statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27 Variant types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
For statements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-28 Variant type conversions . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
Blocks and scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-29 Variants in expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30 Variant arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30 OleVariant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Naming conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-31 Type compatibility and identity . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Type identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Chapter 5 Type compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Data types, variables, and constants 5-1 Assignment-compatibility . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
About types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Declaring types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39
Simple types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Ordinal types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Declaring variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Integer types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-4 Absolute addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
Character types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5 Dynamic variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Boolean types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Thread-local variables . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Enumerated types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6 Declared constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Subrange types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8 True constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-43
Real types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Constant expressions . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
String types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 Resource strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Short strings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 Typed constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
Long strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Array constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45
WideString . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Record constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
About extended character sets . . . . . . 5-13 Procedural constants . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
Working with null-terminated strings . . . . 5-14 Pointer constants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
Using pointers, arrays,
and string constants . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14 Chapter 6
Mixing Delphi strings Procedures and functions 6-1
and null-terminated strings . . . . . . . 5-16 Declaring procedures and functions . . . . . . . 6-2
Structured types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17 Procedure declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18 Function declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 Calling conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Static arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19 Forward and interface declarations . . . . . . 6-6
Dynamic arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20 External declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Array types and assignments . . . . . . . 5-22 Linking to object files . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23 Importing functions from libraries. . . . . 6-7
Variant parts in records . . . . . . . . . . 5-24 Overloading procedures and functions . . . . 6-8
File types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26 Local declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Pointers and pointer types . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27 Nested routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Overview of pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Pointer types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29 Parameter semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-12
Character pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29 Value and variable parameters . . . . . . 6-12
Type-checked pointers . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29 Constant parameters . . . . . . . . . . . 6-13
Other standard pointer types . . . . . . . 5-29 Out parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
Untyped parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14

iv
 String parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-15 Class references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
Array parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16 Class-reference types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
Open array parameters. . . . . . . . . . . 6-16 Constructors and class references . . . . 7-25
Variant open array parameters . . . . . . 6-18 Class operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-25
Default parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19 The is operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
Default parameters and The as operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
overloaded routines. . . . . . . . . . . . 6-20 Class methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-26
Default parameters in forward Exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-27
and interface declarations . . . . . . . . 6-20 When to use exceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . 7-27
Calling procedures and functions . . . . . . . . 6-20 Declaring exception types . . . . . . . . . . 7-28
Open array constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21 Raising and handling exceptions . . . . . . 7-29
Try...except statements . . . . . . . . . . 7-30
Chapter 7 Re-raising exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . 7-32
Classes and objects 7-1 Nested exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-33
Class types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2 Try...finally statements . . . . . . . . . . 7-33
Inheritance and scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3 Standard exception classes and routines . . 7-34
TObject and TClass . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Compatibility of class types . . . . . . . . 7-3 Chapter 8
Object types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 Standard routines and I/O 8-1
Visibility of class members . . . . . . . . . . 7-4 File input and output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Private, protected, and Text files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
public members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5 Untyped files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Published members. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5 Text file device drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Automated members . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-6 Device functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
Forward declarations and The Open function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5
mutually dependent classes . . . . . . . . . 7-6 The InOut function . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-7 The Flush function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8 The Close function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-6
Method declarations Handling null-terminated strings . . . . . . . . . 8-6
and implementations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8 Wide-character strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Inherited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9 Other standard routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
Method binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10 Part II
Static methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-10 Special topics
Virtual and dynamic methods. . . . . . . 7-11
Abstract methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12 Chapter 9
Overloading methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12
Constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-13 Libraries and packages 9-1
Destructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-15 Calling dynamically loadable libraries . . . . . . 9-1
Message methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-15 Static loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Implementing message methods . . . . . 7-16 Dynamic loading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Message dispatching . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-17 Writing dynamically loadable libraries. . . . . . 9-4
Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-17 The exports clause. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Property access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-18 Library initialization code . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Array properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20 Global variables in a library . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Index specifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-21 Libraries and system variables. . . . . . . . . 9-8
Storage specifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-22
Property overrides and redeclarations . . . . 7-23

v
 Exceptions and runtime Chapter 11
errors in libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Shared-memory manager
Memory management 11-1
The memory manager (Windows only) . . . . 11-1
(Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-2
Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Internal data formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Package declarations and source files . . . . 9-10
Integer types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Naming packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Character types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
The requires clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Boolean types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
The contains clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Enumerated types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-3
Compiling packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
Real types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
Generated files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
The Real48 type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
Package-specific compiler
The Single type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-4
directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
The Double type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Package-specific command-line
The Extended type. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
compiler switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
The Comp type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
The Currency type . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Chapter 10 Pointer types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Object interfaces 10-1 Short string types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-5
Interface types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1 Long string types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
IInterface and inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2 Wide string types (Windows) . . . . . . . . 11-6
Interface identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3 Set types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
Calling conventions for interfaces . . . . . . 10-3 Static array types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
Interface properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4 Dynamic array types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-7
Forward declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4 Record types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8
Implementing interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4 File types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9
Method resolution clauses. . . . . . . . . . . 10-5 Procedural types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-10
Changing inherited implementations . . . . 10-6 Class types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-10
Implementing interfaces by delegation . . . 10-7 Class reference types . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-11
Delegating to an Variant types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11-12
interface-type property . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
Delegating to a class-type property . . . . 10-8 Chapter 12
Interface references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
Interface assignment-compatibility. . . . . 10-10
Program control 12-1
Parameters and function results. . . . . . . . . 12-1
Interface typecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
Parameter passing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
Interface querying . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
Register saving conventions . . . . . . . 12-3
Automation objects (Windows only) . . . . . 10-11
Function results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
Dispatch interface types
Method calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
(Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Constructors and destructors. . . . . . . 12-4
Dispatch interface methods
Exit procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-5
(Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Dispatch interface properties . . . . . . 10-12
Accessing Automation objects
(Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Automation object
method-call syntax . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12
Dual interfaces (Windows only) . . . . . . 10-13

vi
Chapter 13 Expression elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-9
Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-9
Inline assembly code 13-1 Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-11
The asm statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-11
Register use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Expression classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-13
Assembler statement syntax . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Expression types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15
Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-2
Expression operators . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
Instruction opcodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Assembly procedures and functions . . . . . 13-18
RET instruction sizing . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Automatic jump sizing . . . . . . . . . . . 13-3
Assembly directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-4
Appendix A
Operands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7 Delphi grammar A-1
Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8
Differences between Delphi Index I-1
and assembler expressions . . . . . . . . . 13-8

vii
 Tables
4.1 Equivalent symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2 8.2 Null-terminated string functions . . . . . . 8-6
4.2 Reserved words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3 8.3 Other standard routines . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
4.3 Directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4 9.1 Compiled package files . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
4.4 Binary arithmetic operators . . . . . . . . 4-7 9.2 Package-specific compiler directives . . . 9-13
4.5 Unary arithmetic operators . . . . . . . . . 4-7 9.3 Package-specific command-line
4.6 Boolean operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8 compiler switches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
4.7 Logical (bitwise) operators . . . . . . . . . 4-9 11.1 Long string dynamic memory
4.8 String operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9 layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
4.9 Character-pointer operators . . . . . . . . 4-10 11.2 Wide string dynamic memory
4.10 Set operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11 layout (Windows). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
4.11 Relational operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11 11.3 Dynamic array memory layout . . . . . . 11-7
4.12 Precedence of operators. . . . . . . . . . . 4-13 11.4 Type alignment masks . . . . . . . . . . . 11-8
5.1 Generic integer types for 32-bit 11.5 Virtual method table layout . . . . . . . .11-11
implementations of Delphi . . . . . . . . . 5-4 13.1 Built-in assembler reserved words . . . . 13-7
5.2 Fundamental integer types . . . . . . . . . 5-4 13.2 String examples and their values . . . . 13-10
5.3 Fundamental real types . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 13.3 CPU registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-11
5.4 Generic real types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 13.4 Symbols recognized by the
5.5 String types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 built-in assembler. . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-12
5.6 Selected pointer types declared 13.5 Predefined type symbols. . . . . . . . . 13-16
in System and SysUtils . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29 13.6 Precedence of built-in
5.7 Variant type conversion rules . . . . . . . 5-34 assembler expression operators . . . . . 13-16
6.1 Calling conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5 13.7 Definitions of built-in assembler
8.1 Input and output procedures expression operators . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16
and functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1

viii
 Chapter

1
Introduction
Chapter1

This manual describes the Delphi programming language as it is used in Borland

development tools.

What’s in this manual?

The first seven chapters describe most of the language elements used in ordinary
programming. Chapter 8 summarizes standard routines for file I/O and string
manipulation.
The next chapters describe language extensions and restrictions for dynamic-link
libraries and packages (Chapter 9), and for object interfaces (Chapter 10). The final
three chapters address advanced topics: memory management (Chapter 11),
program control (Chapter 12), and assembly-language routines within Delphi
programs (Chapter 13).

Using Delphi
The Delphi Language Guide is written to describe the Delphi language for use on either
the Linux or Windows operating systems. Differences in the language relating to
platform dependencies are noted where necessary.
Delphi application developers write and compile their code in the integrated
development environment (IDE). Working in the IDE allows the product to handle
many details of setting up projects and source files, such as maintenance of
dependency information among units. Delphi programming products may enforce
certain constraints on program organization that are not, strictly speaking, part of the
language specification. For example, certain file and program-naming conventions
can be avoided if you write your programs outside of the IDE and compile them from
the command prompt.

Introduction 1-1
Other sources of information

This manual generally assumes that you are working in the IDE and that you are
building applications that use the Borland Component Library (CLX). Occasionally,
however, Delphi-specific rules are distinguished from rules that apply to Object
Pascal programming.

Typographical conventions
Identifiers—that is, names of constants, variables, types, fields, properties,
procedures, functions, programs, units, libraries, and packages—appear in italics in
the text. Delphi operators, reserved words, and directives are in boldface type.
Example code and text that you would type literally (into a file or at the command
prompt) are in monospaced type.
In displayed program listings, reserved words and directives appear in boldface, just
as they do in the text:
function Calculate(X, Y: Integer): Integer;
begin
ƒ
end;
This is how the Code editor displays reserved words and directives, if you have the
Syntax Highlight option turned on.
Some program listings, like the previous example, contain ellipsis marks (... or ƒ). The
ellipses represent additional code that would be included in an actual file. They are
not meant to be copied literally.
In syntax descriptions, italics indicate placeholders for which, in real code, you would
substitute syntactically valid constructions. For example, the heading of the previous
function declaration could be represented as
function functionName(argumentList): returnType;
Syntax descriptions can also contain ellipsis marks (...) and subscripts:
function functionName(arg1, ..., argn): ReturnType;

Other sources of information

The online Help system for your development tool provides information about the
IDE and user interface as well as the most up-to-date reference material for the CLX
libraries. Many programming topics, such as database development, are covered in
depth in the Developer’s Guide. For an overview of the documentation set, see the
Quick Start manual that came with your software package.

1-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Software registration and technical support

Software registration and technical support

Borland Software Corporation offers a range of support plans to fit the needs of
individual developers, consultants, and corporations. To receive help with this
product, return the registration card and select the plan that best suits your needs.
For additional information about technical support and other Borland services,
contact your local sales representative or visit us online at
http://www.borland.com/.

Introduction 1-3
1-4 Delphi Language Guide
 Part

I
Basic language description
Part I

The chapters in Part I present the essential language elements required for most
programming tasks. These chapters include:
• Chapter 2, “Overview”
• Chapter 3, “Programs and units”
• Chapter 4, “Syntactic elements”
• Chapter 5, “Data types, variables, and constants”
• Chapter 6, “Procedures and functions”
• Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”
• Chapter 8, “Standard routines and I/O”

Basic language description

 Chapter

2
Overview
Chapter2

Delphi is a high-level, compiled, strongly typed language that supports structured

and object-oriented design. Based on Object Pascal, its benefits include easy-to-read
code, quick compilation, and the use of multiple unit files for modular programming.
Delphi has special features that support Borland’s component framework and RAD
environment. For the most part, descriptions and examples in this manual assume
that you are using Borland development tools.

Program organization
Programs are usually divided into source-code modules called units. Most programs
begin with a heading, which specifies a name for the program. The heading is
followed by an optional uses clause, then a block of declarations and statements. The
uses clause lists units that are linked into the program; these units, which can be
shared by different programs, often have uses clauses of their own.
The uses clause provides the compiler with information about dependencies among
modules. Because this information is stored in the modules themselves, most Delphi
language programs do not require makefiles, header files, or preprocessor “include”
directives. (The Project Manager generates a makefile each time a project is loaded in
the IDE, but saves these files only for project groups that include more than one
project.)
For further discussion of program structure and dependencies, see Chapter 3,
“Programs and units”.

Overview 2-1
Program organization

Delphi source files

The compiler expects to find Delphi source code in files of three kinds:
• unit source files (which end with the .pas extension)
• project files (which end with the .dpr extension)
• package source files (which end with the .dpk extension)
Unit source files typically contain most of the code in an application. Each
application has a single project file and several unit files; the project file—which
corresponds to the “main” program file in traditional Pascal—organizes the unit files
into an application. Borland development tools automatically maintain a project file
for each application.
If you are compiling a program from the command line, you can put all your source
code into unit (.pas) files. If you use the IDE to build your application, it will produce
a project (.dpr) file.
Package source files are similar to project files, but they are used to construct special
dynamically linkable libraries called packages. For more information about packages,
see Chapter 9, “Libraries and packages”.

Other files used to build applications

In addition to source-code modules, Borland products use several non-Pascal files to
build applications. These files are maintained automatically and include
• form files, which end with the .dfm (Windows-specific) or .xfm (Cross-platform)
extension,
• resource files, which end with the .res extension, and
• project options files, which end with .dof (Windows) or .kof (Linux) extension.
A form file contains the description of the properties of the form and the components
it owns. This description may be present in text form (a format very suitable for
version control) or in a compressed binary format. Each form file represents a single
form, which usually corresponds to a window or dialog box in an application. The
IDE allows you to view and edit form files as text, and to save form files as either text
or binary. Although the default behavior is to save form files as text, they are usually
not edited manually; it is more common to use Borland’s visual design tools for this
purpose. Each project has at least one form, and each form has an associated unit
(.pas) file that, by default, has the same name as the form file.
In addition to form files, each project uses a resource (.res) file to hold the bitmap for
the application’s icon. By default, this file has the same name as the project (.dpr) file.
To change an application’s icon, use the Project Options dialog.
A project options (.dof or .kof) file contains compiler and linker settings, search path
information, version information, and so forth. Each project has an associated project
options file with the same name as the project (.dpr) file. Usually, the options in this
file are set from Project Options dialog.

2-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Example programs

Various tools in the IDE store data in files of other types. Desktop settings (.dsk or
.desk) files contain information about the arrangement of windows and other
configuration options; desktop settings can be project-specific or environment-wide.
These files have no direct effect on compilation.

Compiler-generated files
The first time you build an application or a dynamically linkable library, the compiler
produces a compiled unit (.dcu on Windows, and .dcu or .dpu on Linux) file for each
new unit used in your project; all the .dcu/.dpu files in your project are then linked
to create a single executable or shared library file. The first time you build a package,
the compiler produces a file for each new unit contained in the package, and then
creates both a .dcp and a package file. (For more information about libraries and
packages, see Chapter 9.) If you use the –GD switch, the linker generates a map file
and a .drc file; the .drc file, which contains string resources, can be compiled into a
resource file.
When you build a project, individual units are not recompiled unless their source
(.pas) files have changed since the last compilation, their .dcu/.dpu files cannot be
found, you explicitly tell the compiler to reprocess them, or the interface of the unit
depends on another unit which has been changed. In fact, it is not necessary for a
unit’s source file to be present at all, as long as the compiler can find the compiled
unit file and that unit has no dependencies on other units that have changed.

Example programs
The examples that follow illustrate basic features of Delphi programming. The
examples show simple applications that would not normally be compiled from the
IDE; you can compile them from the command line.

A simple console application

The program below is a simple console application that you can compile and run
from the command prompt.
program Greeting;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

var MyMessage: string;

begin
MyMessage := 'Hello world!';
Writeln(MyMessage);
end.

Overview 2-3
Example programs

The first line declares a program called Greeting. The {$APPTYPE CONSOLE} directive tells
the compiler that this is a console application, to be run from the command line. The
next line declares a variable called MyMessage, which holds a string. (Delphi has
genuine string data types.) The program then assigns the string “Hello world!” to the
variable MyMessage, and sends the contents of MyMessage to the standard output
using the Writeln procedure. (Writeln is defined implicitly in the System unit, which
the compiler automatically includes in every application.)
You can type this program into a file called Greeting.pas or Greeting.dpr and
compile it by entering
DCC32 Greeting
on a Windows-based system, or
dcc Greeting
on a Linux-based system. The resulting executable prints the message “Hello world!”
Note In the previous and subsequent examples for Linux, dcc must be in your path, or you
must enter the full path when executing the dcc executable.
Aside from its simplicity, this example differs in several important ways from
programs that you are likely to write with Borland development tools. First, it is a
console application. Borland development tools are most often used to write
applications with graphical interfaces; hence, you would not ordinarily call Writeln.
Moreover, the entire example program (save for Writeln) is in a single file. In a typical
GUI application, the program heading—the first line of the example—would be
placed in a separate project file that would not contain any of the actual application
logic, other than a few calls to routines defined in unit files.

A more complicated example

The next example shows a program that is divided into two files: a project file and a
unit file. The project file, which you can save as Greeting.dpr, looks like this:
program Greeting;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses Unit1;

begin
PrintMessage('Hello World!');
end.
The first line declares a program called Greeting, which, once again, is a console
application. The uses Unit1; clause tells the compiler that Greeting includes a unit
called Unit1. Finally, the program calls the PrintMessage procedure, passing to it the
string “Hello World!” Where does the PrintMessage procedure come from? It’s

2-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Example programs

defined in Unit1. Here’s the source code for Unit1, which must be saved in a file
called Unit1.pas:
unit Unit1;
interface
procedure PrintMessage(msg: string);
implementation
procedure PrintMessage(msg: string);
begin
Writeln(msg);
end;
end.
Unit1 defines a procedure called PrintMessage that takes a single string as an
argument and sends the string to the standard output. (In Pascal, routines that do not
return a value are called procedures. Routines that return a value are called functions.)
Notice that PrintMessage is declared twice in Unit1. The first declaration, under the
reserved word interface, makes PrintMessage available to other modules (such as
Greeting) that use Unit1. The second declaration, under the reserved word
implementation, actually defines PrintMessage.
You can now compile Greeting from the command line by entering
DCC32 Greeting
on a Windows-based system, or
dcc Greeting
on a Linux-based system. There’s no need to include Unit1 as a command-line
argument. When the compiler processes Greeting.dpr, it automatically looks for unit
files that the Greeting program depends on. The resulting executable does the same
thing as our first example: it prints the message “Hello world!”

A native application
Our next example is an application built using the Component Library for Cross-
Platform (CLX) components in the IDE. This program uses automatically generated
form and resource files, so you won’t be able to compile it from the source code
alone. But it illustrates important features of the Delphi Language. In addition to
multiple units, the program uses classes and objects, which are discussed in
Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”.
The program includes a project file and two new unit files. First, the project file:
program Greeting; { comments are enclosed in braces }
uses
QForms,
Unit1 in ‘Unit1.pas’ {Form1},
Unit2 in ‘Unit2.pas’ {Form2};
{$R *.res} { this directive links the project's resource file }

Overview 2-5
Example programs

begin
{ calls to Application }
Application.Initialize;
Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
Application.CreateForm(TForm2, Form2);
Application.Run;
end.
Once again, our program is called Greeting. It uses three units: QForms, which is part
of CLX; Unit1, which is associated with the application’s main form (Form1); and
Unit2, which is associated with another form (Form2).
The program makes a series of calls to an object named Application, which is an
instance of the TApplication class defined in the Forms unit. (Every project has an
automatically generated Application object.) Two of these calls invoke a TApplication
method named CreateForm. The first call to CreateForm creates Form1, an instance of
the TForm1 class defined in Unit1. The second call to CreateForm creates Form2, an
instance of the TForm2 class defined in Unit2.
Unit1 looks like this:
unit Unit1;

interface

uses {different units would be used for a Windows-specific program}

SysUtils, Types, Classes, QGraphics, QControls, QForms, QDialogs;

type
TForm1 = class(TForm)
Button1: TButton;
procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
end;

var
Form1: TForm1;

implementation

uses Unit2; { this is where Form2 is defined }

{$R *.xfm} { this directive links Unit1's form file and would be .dfm for a Windows-
specific application }

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);

begin
Form2.ShowModal;
end;

end.

2-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Example programs

Unit1 creates a class named TForm1 (derived from TForm) and an instance of this
class, Form1. TForm1 includes a button—Button1, an instance of TButton—and a
procedure named TForm1.Button1Click that is called at runtime whenever the user
presses Button1. TForm1.Button1Click hides Form1 and it displays Form2 (the call to
Form2.ShowModal).
NOTE In the previous example, Form2.ShowModal relies on the use of auto-created forms.
While this is fine for example code, using auto-created forms is actively discouraged.
Form2 is defined in Unit2:
unit Unit2;

interface

uses {different units would be used for a Windows-specific program}

SysUtils, Types, Classes, QGraphics, QControls, QForms, QDialogs;

type
TForm2 = class(TForm)
Label1: TLabel;
CancelButton: TButton;
procedure CancelButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
end;

var
Form2: TForm2;

implementation

uses Unit1;

{$R *.xfm}

procedure TForm2.CancelButtonClick(Sender: TObject);

begin
Form2.Close;
end;

end.
Unit2 creates a class named TForm2 and an instance of this class, Form2. TForm2
includes a button (CancelButton, an instance of TButton) and a label (Label1, an
instance of TLabel). You can’t see this from the source code, but Label1 displays a
caption that reads “Hello world!” The caption is defined in Form2’s form file,
Unit2.xfm.
TForm2 declares and defines a method CancelButtonClick which will be invoked at
runtime whenever the user presses CancelButton; it closes Form2. This procedure
(along with Unit1’s TForm1.Button1Click) is known as an event handler because it
responds to events that occur while the program is running. Event handlers are
assigned to specific events by the form files for Form1 and Form2.

Overview 2-7
 When the Greeting program starts, Form1 is displayed and Form2 is invisible. (By
default, only the first form created in the project file is visible at runtime. This is
called the project’s main form.) When the user presses the button on Form1, Form2,
displays the “Hello world!” greeting. When the user presses the CancelButton or the
Close button on the title bar, Form2 closes.

2-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Chapter

Programs and units

Chapter3
3
A program is constructed from source-code modules called units. Each unit is stored
in its own file and compiled separately; compiled units are linked to create an
application. Units allow you to
• divide large programs into modules that can be edited separately.
• create libraries that you can share among programs.
• distribute libraries to other developers without making the source code available.
In traditional Pascal programming, all source code, including the main program, is
stored in .pas files. Borland tools use a project (.dpr) file to store the “main” program,
while most other source code resides in unit (.pas) files. Each application—or
project—consists of a single project file and one or more unit files. (Strictly speaking,
you needn’t explicitly use any units in a project, but all programs automatically use
the System unit and the SysInit unit.) To build a project, the compiler needs either a
source file or a compiled unit file for each unit.

Program structure and syntax

A program contains
• a program heading,
• a uses clause (optional), and
• a block of declarations and statements.
The program heading specifies a name for the program. The uses clause lists units
used by the program. The block contains declarations and statements that are
executed when the program runs. The IDE expects to find these three elements in a
single project (.dpr) file.

Programs and units 3-1

Program structure and syntax

The following example shows the project file for a program called Editor.
1 program Editor;
2
3 uses
4 QForms, {cross-platform Form}
5 REAbout in 'REAbout.pas' {AboutBox},
6 REMain in 'REMain.pas' {MainForm};
7
8 {$R *.res}
9
10 begin
11 Application.Title := 'Text Editor';
12 Application.CreateForm(TMainForm, MainForm);
13 Application.Run;
14 end.
Line 1 contains the program heading. The uses clause is on lines 3 through 6. Line 8 is
a compiler directive that links the project’s resource file into the program. Lines 10
through 14 contain the block of statements that are executed when the program runs.
Finally, the project file, like all source files, ends with a period.
This is, in fact, a fairly typical project file. Project files are usually short, since most of
a program’s logic resides in its unit files. Project files are generated and maintained
automatically, and it is seldom necessary to edit them manually.

The program heading

The program heading specifies the program’s name. It consists of the reserved word
program, followed by a valid identifier, followed by a semicolon. The identifier must
match the project file name. In the previous example, since the program is called
Editor, the project file should be called Editor.dpr.
In standard Pascal, a program heading can include parameters after the program
name:
program Calc(input, output);
Borland’s Delphi compiler ignores these parameters.

The program uses clause

The uses clause lists units that are incorporated into the program. These units may in
turn have uses clauses of their own. For more information about the uses clause, see
“Unit references and the uses clause” on page 3-5.

The block
The block contains a simple or structured statement that is executed when the
program runs. In most programs, the block consists of a compound statement—
bracketed between the reserved words begin and end—whose component

3-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Unit structure and syntax

statements are simply method calls to the project’s Application object (most projects
have an Application variable that holds an instance of TApplication, TWebApplication,
or TServiceApplication). The block can also contain declarations of constants, types,
variables, procedures, and functions; these declarations must precede the statement
part of the block.

Unit structure and syntax

A unit consists of types (including classes), constants, variables, and routines
(functions and procedures). Each unit is defined in its own unit (.pas) file.
A unit file begins with a unit heading, which is followed by the interface,
implementation, initialization, and finalization sections. The initialization and
finalization sections are optional. A skeleton unit file looks like this:
unit Unit1;

interface

uses { List of units goes here }

{ Interface section goes here }

implementation

uses { List of units goes here }

{ Implementation section goes here }

initialization
{ Initialization section goes here }

finalization
{ Finalization section goes here }

end.
The unit must conclude with the word end followed by a period.

The unit heading

The unit heading specifies the unit’s name. It consists of the reserved word unit,
followed by a valid identifier, followed by a semicolon. For applications developed
using Borland tools, the identifier must match the unit file name. Thus, the unit
heading
unit MainForm;
would occur in a source file called MAINFORM.pas, and the file containing the
compiled unit would be MAINFORM.dcu or MAINFORM.dpu.

Programs and units 3-3

Unit structure and syntax

Unit names must be unique within a project. Even if their unit files are in different
directories, two units with the same name cannot be used in a single program.

The interface section

The interface section of a unit begins with the reserved word interface and continues
until the beginning of the implementation section. The interface section declares
constants, types, variables, procedures, and functions that are available to clients—
that is, to other units or programs that wish to use elements from this interface
section. These entities are called public because a client can access them as if they
were declared in the client itself.
The interface declaration of a procedure or function includes only the routine’s
heading. The block of the procedure or function follows in the implementation
section. Thus procedure and function declarations in the interface section work like
forward declarations, although the forward directive isn’t used.
The interface declaration for a class must include declarations for all class members.
The interface section can include its own uses clause, which must appear
immediately after the word interface. For information about the uses clause, see
“Unit references and the uses clause” on page 3-5.

The implementation section

The implementation section of a unit begins with the reserved word implementation
and continues until the beginning of the initialization section or, if there is no
initialization section, until the end of the unit. The implementation section defines
procedures and functions that are declared in the interface section. Within the
implementation section, these procedures and functions may be defined and called in
any order. You can omit parameter lists from public procedure and function
headings when you define them in the implementation section; but if you include a
parameter list, it must match the declaration in the interface section exactly.
In addition to definitions of public procedures and functions, the implementation
section can declare constants, types (including classes), variables, procedures, and
functions that are private to the unit—that is, inaccessible to clients.
The implementation section can include its own uses clause, which must appear
immediately after the word implementation. For information about the uses clause,
see “Unit references and the uses clause” on page 3-5.

The initialization section

The initialization section is optional. It begins with the reserved word initialization
and continues until the beginning of the finalization section or, if there is no
finalization section, until the end of the unit. The initialization section contains
statements that are executed, in the order in which they appear, on program start-up.

3-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Unit references and the uses clause

So, for example, if you have defined data structures that need to be initialized, you
can do this in the initialization section.
For units in the interface uses list, the initialization sections of units used by a client
are executed in the order in which the units appear in the client’s uses clause.

The finalization section

The finalization section is optional and can appear only in units that have an
initialization section. The finalization section begins with the reserved word
finalization and continues until the end of the unit. It contains statements that are
executed when the main program terminates (unless the Halt procedure is used to
terminate the program). Use the finalization section to free resources that are
allocated in the initialization section.
Finalization sections are executed in the opposite order from initializations. For
example, if your application initializes units A, B, and C, in that order, it will finalize
them in the order C, B, and A.
Once a unit’s initialization code starts to execute, the corresponding finalization
section is guaranteed to execute when the application shuts down. The finalization
section must therefore be able to handle incompletely initialized data, since, if a
runtime error occurs, the initialization code might not execute completely.

Unit references and the uses clause

A uses clause lists units used by the program, library, or unit in which the clause
appears. (For information about libraries, see Chapter 9, “Libraries and packages”).
A uses clause can occur in
• the project file for a program or library,
• the interface section of a unit, and
• the implementation section of a unit.
Most project files contain a uses clause, as do the interface sections of most units. The
implementation section of a unit can contain its own uses clause as well.
The System unit and the SysInit unit are used automatically by every application and
cannot be listed explicitly in the uses clause. (System implements routines for file I/O,
string handling, floating point operations, dynamic memory allocation, and so forth.)
Other standard library units, such as SysUtils, must be included in the uses clause. In
most cases, all necessary units are placed in the uses clause when your project
generates and maintains a source file.
In unit declarations and uses clauses (on Linux particularly), unit names must match
the file names in case. In other contexts (such as qualified identifiers), unit names are
case insensitive. To avoid problems with unit references, refer to the unit source file
explicitly:
uses MyUnit in "myunit.pas";

Programs and units 3-5

Unit references and the uses clause

If such an explicit reference appears in the project file, other source files can refer to
the unit with a simple uses clause that does not need to match case:
uses Myunit;
For more information about the placement and content of the uses clause, see
“Multiple and indirect unit references” on page 3-7 and “Circular unit references” on
page 3-8.

The syntax of a uses clause

A uses clause consists of the reserved word uses, followed by one or more comma-
delimited unit names, followed by a semicolon. Examples:
uses Forms, Main;
uses
Forms,
Main;
uses Windows, Messages, SysUtils, Strings, Classes, Unit2, MyUnit;
uses SysUtils, Types, Classes, QGraphics, QControls, QForms, QDialogs;
In the uses clause of a program or library, any unit name may be followed by the
reserved word in and the name of a source file, with or without a directory path, in
single quotation marks; directory paths can be absolute or relative. Examples:
uses {This example is Windows-specific}
Windows,
Messages,
SysUtils,
Strings in 'C:\Classes\Strings.pas', Classes;
uses {this is a Linux example}
QForms,
Main,
Extra in '../extra/extra.pas';
Include in ... after a unit name when you need to specify the unit’s source file. Since
the IDE expects unit names to match the names of the source files in which they
reside, there is usually no reason to do this. Using in is necessary only when the
location of the source file is unclear, for example when
• You have used a source file that is in a different directory from the project file, and
that directory is not in the compiler’s search path.
• Different directories in the compiler’s search path have identically named units.
• You are compiling a console application from the command line, and you have
named a unit with an identifier that doesn’t match the name of its source file.
The compiler also relies on the in ... construction to determine which units are part of
a project. Only units that appear in a project (.dpr) file’s uses clause followed by in
and a file name are considered to be part of the project; other units in the uses clause
are used by the project without belonging to it. This distinction has no effect on
compilation, but it affects IDE tools like the Project Manager and Project Browser.

3-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Unit references and the uses clause

In the uses clause of a unit, you cannot use in to tell the compiler where to find a
source file. Every unit must be in the compiler’s search path. Moreover, unit names
must match the names of their source files.

Multiple and indirect unit references

The order in which units appear in the uses clause determines the order of their
initialization (see “The initialization section” on page 3-4) and affects the way
identifiers are located by the compiler. If two units declare a variable, constant, type,
procedure, or function with the same name, the compiler uses the one from the unit
listed last in the uses clause. (To access the identifier from the other unit, you would
have to add a qualifier: UnitName.Identifier.)
A uses clause need include only units used directly by the program or unit in which
the clause appears. That is, if unit A references constants, types, variables,
procedures, or functions that are declared in unit B, then A must use B explicitly. If B
in turn references identifiers from unit C, then A is indirectly dependent on C; in this
case, C needn’t be included in a uses clause in A, but the compiler must still be able to
find both B and C in order to process A.
The following example illustrates indirect dependency.
program Prog;
uses Unit2;
const a = b;
ƒ
unit Unit2;
interface
uses Unit1;
const b = c;
ƒ
unit Unit1;
interface
const c = 1;
ƒ
In this example, Prog depends directly on Unit2, which depends directly on Unit1.
Hence Prog is indirectly dependent on Unit1. Because Unit1 does not appear in Prog’s
uses clause, identifiers declared in Unit1 are not available to Prog.
To compile a client module, the compiler needs to locate all units that the client
depends on, directly or indirectly. Unless the source code for these units has
changed, however, the compiler needs only their .dcu (Windows) or .dcu/.dpu
(Linux) files, not their source (.pas) files. If the link partner is a package.
When a change is made in the interface section of a unit, other units that depend on
the change must be recompiled. But when changes are made only in the
implementation or other sections of a unit, dependent units don’t have to be
recompiled. The compiler tracks these dependencies automatically and recompiles
units only when necessary.

Programs and units 3-7

Unit references and the uses clause

Circular unit references

When units reference each other directly or indirectly, the units are said to be
mutually dependent. Mutual dependencies are allowed as long as there are no
circular paths connecting the uses clause of one interface section to the uses clause of
another. In other words, starting from the interface section of a unit, it must never be
possible to return to that unit by following references through interface sections of
other units. For a pattern of mutual dependencies to be valid, each circular reference
path must lead through the uses clause of at least one implementation section.
In the simplest case of two mutually dependent units, this means that the units
cannot list each other in their interface uses clauses. So the following example leads
to a compilation error:
unit Unit1;
interface
uses Unit2;
ƒ
unit Unit2;
interface
uses Unit1;
ƒ
However, the two units can legally reference each other if one of the references is
moved to the implementation section:
unit Unit1;
interface
uses Unit2;
ƒ
unit Unit2;
interface
ƒ
implementation
uses Unit1;
ƒ
To reduce the chance of circular references, it’s a good idea to list units in the
implementation uses clause whenever possible. Only when identifiers from another
unit are used in the interface section is it necessary to list that unit in the interface
uses clause.

3-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Chapter

Syntactic elements
Chapter4
4
The Delphi Language uses the ASCII character set, including the letters A through Z
and a through z, the digits 0 through 9, and other standard characters. It is not case-
sensitive. The space character (ASCII 32) and the control characters (ASCII 0 through
31—including ASCII 13, the return or end-of-line character) are called blanks.
Fundamental syntactic elements, called tokens, combine to form expressions,
declarations, and statements. A statement describes an algorithmic action that can be
executed within a program. An expression is a syntactic unit that occurs within a
statement and denotes a value. A declaration defines an identifier (such as the name of
a function or variable) that can be used in expressions and statements, and, where
appropriate, allocates memory for the identifier.

Fundamental syntactic elements

On the simplest level, a program is a sequence of tokens delimited by separators. A
token is the smallest meaningful unit of text in a program. A separator is either a blank
or a comment. Strictly speaking, it is not always necessary to place a separator
between two tokens; for example, the code fragment
Size:=20;Price:=10;
is perfectly legal. Convention and readability, however, dictate that we write this as
Size := 20;
Price := 10;
Tokens are categorized as special symbols, identifiers, reserved words, directives, numerals,
labels, and character strings. A separator can be part of a token only if the token is a
character string. Adjacent identifiers, reserved words, numerals, and labels must
have one or more separators between them.

Syntactic elements 4-1

Fundamental syntactic elements

Special symbols
Special symbols are non-alphanumeric characters, or pairs of such characters, that
have fixed meanings. The following single characters are special symbols.
# $ & ' ( ) * + , – . / : ; < = > @ [ ] ^ { }
The following character pairs are also special symbols.
(* (. *) .) .. // := <= >= <>

Table 4.1 Equivalent symbols

Special symbol Equivalent symbols
[ (.
] .)
{ (*
] *)

The left bracket [ is equivalent to the character pair of left parenthesis and period (.
The right bracket ] is equivalent to the character pair of period and right parenthesis
.)
The left brace { is equivalent to the character pair of left parenthesis and asterisk (*.
The right brace } is equivalent to the character pair of right parenthesis and asterisk *)
Note %, ?, \, !, " (double quotation marks), _ (underscore), | (pipe), and ~ (tilde) are not
special characters.

Identifiers
Identifiers denote constants, variables, fields, types, properties, procedures,
functions, programs, units, libraries, and packages. An identifier can be of any
length, but only the first 255 characters are significant. An identifier must begin with
a letter or an underscore (_) and cannot contain spaces; letters, digits, and
underscores are allowed after the first character. Reserved words cannot be used as
identifiers.
Since the Delphi Language is case-insensitive, an identifier like CalculateValue could
be written in any of these ways:
CalculateValue
calculateValue
calculatevalue
CALCULATEVALUE
On Linux, the only identifiers for which case is important are unit names. Since unit
names correspond to file names, inconsistencies in case can sometimes affect
compilation (see “Unit references and the uses clause” on page 3-5).

4-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Fundamental syntactic elements

Qualified identifiers
When you use an identifier that has been declared in more than one place, it is
sometimes necessary to qualify the identifier. The syntax for a qualified identifier is
identifier1.identifier2
where identifier1 qualifies identifier2. For example, if two units each declare a variable
called CurrentValue, you can specify that you want to access the CurrentValue in Unit2
by writing
Unit2.CurrentValue
Qualifiers can be iterated. For example,
Form1.Button1.Click
calls the Click method in Button1 of Form1.
If you don’t qualify an identifier, its interpretation is determined by the rules of scope
described in “Blocks and scope” on page 4-29.

Reserved words
The following reserved words cannot be redefined or used as identifiers.

Table 4.2 Reserved words

and downto in or string
array else inherited out then
as end initialization packed threadvar
asm except inline procedure to
begin exports interface program try
case file is property type
class finalization label raise unit
const finally library record until
constructor for mod repeat uses
destructor function nil resourcestring var
dispinterface goto not set while
div if object shl with
do implementation of shr xor

In addition to the words in Table 4.2, private, protected, public, published, and
automated act as reserved words within object type declarations, but are otherwise
treated as directives. The words at and on also have special meanings, and should be
treated as reserved words.

Syntactic elements 4-3

Fundamental syntactic elements

Directives
Directives are words that are sensitive in specific locations within source code.
Directives have special meanings in the Delphi language, but, unlike reserved words,
appear only in contexts where user-defined identifiers cannot occur. Hence—
although it is inadvisable to do so—you can define an identifier that looks exactly
like a directive.

Table 4.3 Directives

absolute dynamic message private resident
abstract export name protected safecall
assembler external near public stdcall
automated far nodefault published stored
cdecl forward overload read varargs
contains implements override readonly virtual
default index package register write
deprecated library pascal reintroduce writeonly
dispid local platform requires

Numerals
Integer and real constants can be represented in decimal notation as sequences of
digits without commas or spaces, and prefixed with the + or – operator to indicate
sign. Values default to positive (so that, for example, 67258 is equivalent to +67258) and
must be within the range of the largest predefined real or integer type.
Numerals with decimal points or exponents denote reals, while other numerals
denote integers. When the character E or e occurs within a real, it means “times ten to
the power of”. For example, 7E–2 means 7 × 10–2, and 12.25e+6 and 12.25e6 both mean
12.25 × 106.
The dollar-sign prefix indicates a hexadecimal numeral—for example, $8F.
Hexadecimal numbers without a preceding '-' unary operator are taken to be positive
values. During an assignment, if a hexadecimal value lies outside the range of the
receiving type an error is raised, except in the case of the Integer (32-bit Integer)
where a warning is raised. In this case, values exceeding the positive range for
Integer are taken to be negative numbers in a manner consistent with 2's complement
integer representation.
For more information about real and integer types, see Chapter 5, “Data types,
variables, and constants”. For information about the data types of numerals, see
“True constants” on page 5-43.

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 Fundamental syntactic elements

Labels
A label is a standard Delphi language identifier with the exception that, unlike other
identifiers, labels can start with a digit. Numeric labels can include no more than ten
digits—that is, a numeral between 0 and 9999999999.
Labels are used in goto statements. For more information about goto statements and
labels, see “Goto statements” on page 4-20.

Character strings
A character string, also called a string literal or string constant, consists of a quoted
string, a control string, or a combination of quoted and control strings. Separators can
occur only within quoted strings.
A quoted string is a sequence of up to 255 characters from the extended ASCII
character set, written on one line and enclosed by apostrophes. A quoted string with
nothing between the apostrophes is a null string. Two sequential apostrophes in a
quoted string denote a single character, namely an apostrophe. For example,
'BORLAND' { BORLAND }
'You''ll see' { You'll see }
'''' { ' }
'' { null string }
' ' { a space }
A control string is a sequence of one or more control characters, each of which consists
of the # symbol followed by an unsigned integer constant from 0 to 255 (decimal or
hexadecimal) and denotes the corresponding ASCII character. The control string
#89#111#117
is equivalent to the quoted string
'You'
You can combine quoted strings with control strings to form larger character strings.
For example, you could use
'Line 1'#13#10'Line 2'
to put a carriage-return–line-feed between “Line 1” and “Line 2”. However, you
cannot concatenate two quoted strings in this way, since a pair of sequential
apostrophes is interpreted as a single character. (To concatenate quoted strings, use
the + operator described in “String operators” on page 4-9, or simply combine them
into a single quoted string.)
A character string’s length is the number of characters in the string. A character string
of any length is compatible with any string type and with the PChar type. A character
string of length 1 is compatible with any character type, and, when extended syntax
is enabled ({$X+}), a character string of length n ≥ 1 is compatible with zero-based
arrays and packed arrays of n characters. For more information about string types,
see Chapter 5, “Data types, variables, and constants”.

Syntactic elements 4-5

Comments and compiler directives

Comments and compiler directives

Comments are ignored by the compiler, except when they function as separators
(delimiting adjacent tokens) or compiler directives.
There are several ways to construct comments:
{ Text between a left brace and a right brace constitutes a comment. }
(* Text between a left-parenthesis-plus-asterisk and an
asterisk-plus-right-parenthesis also constitutes a comment. *)
// Any text between a double-slash and the end of the line constitutes a comment.
Comments that are alike cannot be nested. For instance, {{}} will not work, but (*{}*)
will. This is useful for commenting out sections of code that also contain comments.
A comment that contains a dollar sign ($) immediately after the opening { or (* is a
compiler directive. For example,
{$WARNINGS OFF}
tells the compiler not to generate warning messages.

Expressions
An expression is a construction that returns a value. For example,
X { variable }
@X { address of a variable }
15 { integer constant }
InterestRate { variable }
Calc(X,Y) { function call }
X * Y { product of X and Y }
Z / (1 - Z) { quotient of Z and (1 - Z) }
X = 1.5 { Boolean }
C in Range1 { Boolean }
not Done { negation of a Boolean }
['a','b','c'] { set }
Char(48) { value typecast }
The simplest expressions are variables and constants (described in Chapter 5, “Data
types, variables, and constants”). More complex expressions are built from simpler
ones using operators, function calls, set constructors, indexes, and typecasts.

Operators
Operators behave like predefined functions that are part of the the Delphi language.
For example, the expression (X + Y) is built from the variables X and Y—called
operands—with the + operator; when X and Y represent integers or reals, (X + Y)
returns their sum. Operators include @, not, ^, *, /, div, mod, and, shl, shr, as, +, –, or,
xor, =, >, <, <>, <=, >=, in, and is.

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 Expressions

The operators @, not, and ^ are unary (taking one operand). All other operators are
binary (taking two operands), except that + and – can function as either a unary or
binary operator. A unary operator always precedes its operand (for example, -B),
except for ^, which follows its operand (for example, P^). A binary operator is placed
between its operands (for example, A = 7).
Some operators behave differently depending on the type of data passed to them. For
example, not performs bitwise negation on an integer operand and logical negation
on a Boolean operand. Such operators appear below under multiple categories.
Except for ^, is, and in, all operators can take operands of type Variant. For details,
see “Variant types” on page 5-33.
The sections that follow assume some familiarity with Delphi data types. For
information about data types, see Chapter 5, “Data types, variables, and constants”.
For information about operator precedence in complex expressions, see “Operator
precedence rules” on page 4-13.

Arithmetic operators
Arithmetic operators, which take real or integer operands, include +, –, *, /, div, and
mod.

Table 4.4 Binary arithmetic operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Example
+ addition integer, real integer, real X + Y
– subtraction integer, real integer, real Result - 1
* multiplication integer, real integer, real P * InterestRate
/ real division integer, real real X / 2
div integer division integer integer Total div UnitSize
mod remainder integer integer Y mod 6

Table 4.5 Unary arithmetic operators

Operator Operation Operand type Result type Example
+ sign identity integer, real integer, real +7
– sign negation integer, real integer, real -X

The following rules apply to arithmetic operators.

• The value of x/y is of type Extended, regardless of the types of x and y. For other
arithmetic operators, the result is of type Extended whenever at least one operand
is a real; otherwise, the result is of type Int64 when at least one operand is of type
Int64; otherwise, the result is of type Integer. If an operand’s type is a subrange of
an integer type, it is treated as if it were of the integer type.
• The value of x div y is the value of x/y rounded in the direction of zero to the
nearest integer.

Syntactic elements 4-7

Expressions

• The mod operator returns the remainder obtained by dividing its operands. In
other words, x mod y = x – (x div y) * y.
• A runtime error occurs when y is zero in an expression of the form x/y, x div y, or
x mod y.

Boolean operators
The Boolean operators not, and, or, and xor take operands of any Boolean type and
return a value of type Boolean.

Table 4.6 Boolean operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Example
not negation Boolean Boolean not (C in MySet)
and conjunction Boolean Boolean Done and (Total > 0)
or disjunction Boolean Boolean A or B
xor exclusive disjunction Boolean Boolean A xor B

These operations are governed by standard rules of Boolean logic. For example, an
expression of the form x and y is True if and only if both x and y are True.

Complete versus short-circuit Boolean evaluation

The compiler supports two modes of evaluation for the and and or operators:
complete evaluation and short-circuit (partial) evaluation. Complete evaluation means
that each conjunct or disjunct is evaluated, even when the result of the entire
expression is already determined. Short-circuit evaluation means strict left-to-right
evaluation that stops as soon as the result of the entire expression is determined. For
example, if the expression A and B is evaluated under short-circuit mode when A is
False, the compiler won’t evaluate B; it knows that the entire expression is False as
soon as it evaluates A.
Short-circuit evaluation is usually preferable because it guarantees minimum
execution time and, in most cases, minimum code size. Complete evaluation is
sometimes convenient when one operand is a function with side effects that alter the
execution of the program.
Short-circuit evaluation also allows the use of constructions that might otherwise
result in illegal runtime operations. For example, the following code iterates through
the string S, up to the first comma.
while (I <= Length(S)) and (S[I] <> ',') do
begin
ƒ
Inc(I);
end;
In a case where S has no commas, the last iteration increments I to a value which is
greater than the length of S. When the while condition is next tested, complete
evaluation results in an attempt to read S[I], which could cause a runtime error.
Under short-circuit evaluation, in contrast, the second part of the while condition—
(S[I] <> ',')—is not evaluated after the first part fails.

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 Expressions

Use the $B compiler directive to control evaluation mode. The default state is {$B–},
which enables short-circuit evaluation. To enable complete evaluation locally, add
the {$B+} directive to your code. You can also switch to complete evaluation on a
project-wide basis by selecting Complete Boolean Evaluation in the Compiler
Options dialog (all source units will need to be recompiled).
Note If either operand involves a variant, the compiler always performs complete
evaluation (even in the {$B–} state).

Logical (bitwise) operators

The following logical operators perform bitwise manipulation on integer operands.
For example, if the value stored in X (in binary) is 001101 and the value stored in Y is
100001, the statement
Z := X or Y;
assigns the value 101101 to Z.

Table 4.7 Logical (bitwise) operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Examples
not bitwise negation integer integer not X
and bitwise and integer integer X and Y
or bitwise or integer integer X or Y
xor bitwise xor integer integer X xor Y
shl bitwise shift left integer integer X shl 2
shr bitwise shift right integer integer Y shr I

The following rules apply to bitwise operators.

• The result of a not operation is of the same type as the operand.
• If the operands of an and, or, or xor operation are both integers, the result is of the
predefined integer type with the smallest range that includes all possible values of
both types.
• The operations x shl y and x shr y shift the value of x to the left or right by y bits,
which (if x is an unsigned integer) is equivalent to multiplying or dividing x by 2y;
the result is of the same type as x. For example, if N stores the value 01101 (decimal
13), then N shl 1 returns 11010 (decimal 26). Note that the value of y is interpreted
modulo the size of the type of x. Thus for example, if x is an integer, x shl 40 is
interpreted as x shl 8 because an integer is 32 bits and 40 mod 32 is 8.

String operators
The relational operators =, <>, <, >, <=, and >= all take string operands (see
“Relational operators” on page 4-11). The + operator concatenates two strings.

Table 4.8 String operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Example
+ concatenation string, packed string, character string S + '. '

Syntactic elements 4-9

Expressions

The following rules apply to string concatenation.

• The operands for + can be strings, packed strings (packed arrays of type Char), or
characters. However, if one operand is of type WideChar, the other operand must
be a long string (AnsiString or WideString).
• The result of a + operation is compatible with any string type. However, if the
operands are both short strings or characters, and their combined length is greater
than 255, the result is truncated to the first 255 characters.

Pointer operators
The relational operators <, >, <=, and >= can take operands of type PChar and
PWideChar (see “Relational operators” on page 4-11). The following operators also
take pointers as operands. For more information about pointers, see “Pointers and
pointer types” on page 5-27.

Table 4.9 Character-pointer operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Example
+ pointer addition character pointer, integer character pointer P + I
- pointer subtraction character pointer, integer character pointer, integer P - Q
^ pointer dereference pointer base type of pointer P^
= equality pointer Boolean P = Q
<> inequality pointer Boolean P <> Q

The ^ operator dereferences a pointer. Its operand can be a pointer of any type except
the generic Pointer, which must be typecast before dereferencing.
P = Q is True just in case P and Q point to the same address; otherwise, P <> Q is True.
You can use the + and – operators to increment and decrement the offset of a
character pointer. You can also use – to calculate the difference between the offsets of
two character pointers. The following rules apply.
• If I is an integer and P is a character pointer, then P + I adds I to the address given
by P; that is, it returns a pointer to the address I characters after P. (The expression
I + P is equivalent to P + I.) P – I subtracts I from the address given by P; that is, it
returns a pointer to the address I characters before P. This is true for PChar
pointers; for PWideChar pointers P + I adds SizeOf(WideChar) to P.
• If P and Q are both character pointers, then P – Q computes the difference between
the address given by P (the higher address) and the address given by Q (the lower
address); that is, it returns an integer denoting the number of characters between P
and Q. P + Q is not defined.

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 Expressions

Set operators
The following operators take sets as operands.

Table 4.10 Set operators

Operator Operation Operand types Result type Example
+ union set set Set1 + Set2
– difference set set S - T
* intersection set set S * T
<= subset set Boolean Q <= MySet
>= superset set Boolean S1 >= S2
= equality set Boolean S2 = MySet
<> inequality set Boolean MySet <> S1
in membership ordinal, set Boolean A in Set1

The following rules apply to +, –, and *.

• An ordinal O is in X + Y if and only if O is in X or Y (or both). O is in X – Y if and
only if O is in X but not in Y. O is in X * Y if and only if O is in both X and Y.
• The result of a +, –, or * operation is of the type set of A..B, where A is the smallest
ordinal value in the result set and B is the largest.
The following rules apply to <=, >=, =, <>, and in.
• X <= Y is True just in case every member of X is a member of Y; Z >= W is
equivalent to W <= Z. U = V is True just in case U and V contain exactly the same
members; otherwise, U <> V is True.
• For an ordinal O and a set S, O in S is True just in case O is a member of S.

Relational operators
Relational operators are used to compare two operands. The operators =, <>, <=, and
>= also apply to sets (see “Set operators” on page 4-11); = and <> also apply to
pointers (see “Pointer operators” on page 4-10).

Table 4.11 Relational operators

Result
Operator Operation Operand types type Example
= equality simple, class, class reference, interface, string, Boolean I = Max
packed string
<> inequality simple, class, class reference, interface, string, Boolean X <> Y
packed string
< less-than simple, string, packed string, PChar Boolean X < Y
> greater-than simple, string, packed string, PChar Boolean Len > 0
<= less-than-or- simple, string, packed string, PChar Boolean Cnt <= I
equal-to
>= greater-than- simple, string, packed string, PChar Boolean I >= 1
or-equal-to

Syntactic elements 4-11

Expressions

For most simple types, comparison is straightforward. For example, I = J is True just
in case I and J have the same value, and I <> J is True otherwise. The following rules
apply to relational operators.
• Operands must be of compatible types, except that a real and an integer can be
compared.
• Strings are compared according to the ordinal values that make up the characters
that make up the string. Character types are treated as strings of length 1.
• Two packed strings must have the same number of components to be compared.
When a packed string with n components is compared to a string, the packed
string is treated as a string of length n.
• Use the operators <, >, <=, and >= to compare PChar (and PWideChar) operands
only if the two pointers point within the same character array.
• The operators = and <> can take operands of class and class-reference types. With
operands of a class type, = and <> are evaluated according the rules that apply to
pointers: C = D is True just in case C and D point to the same instance object, and C
<> D is True otherwise. With operands of a class-reference type, C = D is True just
in case C and D denote the same class, and C <> D is True otherwise. This does not
compare the data stored in the classes. For more information about classes, see
Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”.

Class operators
The operators as and is take classes and instance objects as operands; as operates on
interfaces as well. For more information, see Chapter 7, “Classes and objects” and
Chapter 10, “Object interfaces”.
The relational operators = and <> also operate on classes. See “Relational operators”
on page 4-11.

The @ operator
The @ operator returns the address of a variable, or of a function, procedure, or
method; that is, @ constructs a pointer to its operand. For more information about
pointers, see “Pointers and pointer types” on page 5-27. The following rules apply to
@.
• If X is a variable, @X returns the address of X. (Special rules apply when X is a
procedural variable; see “Procedural types in statements and expressions” on
page 5-32.) The type of @X is Pointer if the default {$T–} compiler directive is in
effect. In the {$T+} state, @X is of type ^T, where T is the type of X (This distinction
is important for assignment compatibility, see “Assignment-compatibility” on
page 5-38).
• If F is a routine (a function or procedure), @F returns F’s entry point. The type of
@F is always Pointer.

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• When @ is applied to a method defined in a class, the method identifier must be

qualified with the class name. For example,
@TMyClass.DoSomething
points to the DoSomething method of TMyClass. For more information about
classes and methods, see Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”.
Note When using the @ operator, it is not possible to take the address of an interface
method as the address is not known at compile time and cannot be extracted at
runtime.

Operator precedence rules

In complex expressions, rules of precedence determine the order in which operations
are performed.

Table 4.12 Precedence of operators

Operators Precedence
@, not first (highest)
*, /, div, mod, and, shl, shr, as second
+, –, or, xor third
=, <>, <, >, <=, >=, in, is fourth (lowest)

An operator with higher precedence is evaluated before an operator with lower

precedence, while operators of equal precedence associate to the left. Hence the
expression
X + Y * Z
multiplies Y times Z, then adds X to the result; * is performed first, because is has a
higher precedence than +. But
X - Y + Z
first subtracts Y from X, then adds Z to the result; – and + have the same precedence,
so the operation on the left is performed first.
You can use parentheses to override these precedence rules. An expression within
parentheses is evaluated first, then treated as a single operand. For example,
(X + Y) * Z
multiplies Z times the sum of X and Y.
Parentheses are sometimes needed in situations where, at first glance, they seem not
to be. For example, consider the expression
X = Y or X = Z
The intended interpretation of this is obviously
(X = Y) or (X = Z)

Syntactic elements 4-13

Expressions

Without parentheses, however, the compiler follows operator precedence rules and
reads it as
(X = (Y or X)) = Z
which results in a compilation error unless Z is Boolean.
Parentheses often make code easier to write and to read, even when they are, strictly
speaking, superfluous. Thus the first example could be written as
X + (Y * Z)
Here the parentheses are unnecessary (to the compiler), but they spare both
programmer and reader from having to think about operator precedence.

Function calls
Because functions return a value, function calls are expressions. For example, if
you’ve defined a function called Calc that takes two integer arguments and returns an
integer, then the function call Calc(24, 47) is an integer expression. If I and J are
integer variables, then I + Calc(J, 8) is also an integer expression. Examples of
function calls include
Sum(A, 63)
Maximum(147, J)
Sin(X + Y)
Eof(F)
Volume(Radius, Height)
GetValue
TSomeObject.SomeMethod(I,J);
For more information about functions, see Chapter 6, “Procedures and functions”.

Set constructors
A set constructor denotes a set-type value. For example,
[5, 6, 7, 8]
denotes the set whose members are 5, 6, 7, and 8. The set constructor
[ 5..8 ]
could also denote the same set.
The syntax for a set constructor is
[ item1, ..., itemn ]
where each item is either an expression denoting an ordinal of the set’s base type or a
pair of such expressions with two dots (..) in between. When an item has the form x..y,
it is shorthand for all the ordinals in the range from x to y, including y; but if x is
greater than y, then x..y, the set [x..y], denotes nothing and is the empty set. The set
constructor [ ] denotes the empty set, while [x] denotes the set whose only member
is the value of x.

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Examples of set constructors:

[red, green, MyColor]
[1, 5, 10..K mod 12, 23]
['A'..'Z', 'a'..'z', Chr(Digit + 48)]
For more information about sets, see “Sets” on page 5-18.

Indexes
Strings, arrays, array properties, and pointers to strings or arrays can be indexed. For
example, if FileName is a string variable, the expression FileName[3] returns the third
character in the string denoted by FileName, while FileName[I + 1] returns the
character immediately after the one indexed by I. For information about strings, see
“String types” on page 5-11. For information about arrays and array properties, see
“Arrays” on page 5-19 and “Array properties” on page 7-20.

Typecasts
It is sometimes useful to treat an expression as if it belonged to different type. A
typecast allows you to do this by, in effect, temporarily changing an expression’s
type. For example, Integer('A') casts the character A as an integer.
The syntax for a typecast is
typeIdentifier(expression)
If the expression is a variable, the result is called a variable typecast; otherwise, the
result is a value typecast. While their syntax is the same, different rules apply to the
two kinds of typecast.

Value typecasts
In a value typecast, the type identifier and the cast expression must both be ordinal or
pointer types. Examples of value typecasts include
Integer('A')
Char(48)
Boolean(0)
Color(2)
Longint(@Buffer)
The resulting value is obtained by converting the expression in parentheses. This
may involve truncation or extension if the size of the specified type differs from that
of the expression. The expression’s sign is always preserved.
The statement
I := Integer('A');
assigns the value of Integer('A'), which is 65, to the variable I.
A value typecast cannot be followed by qualifiers and cannot appear on the left side
of an assignment statement.

Syntactic elements 4-15

Expressions

Variable typecasts
You can cast any variable to any type, provided their sizes are the same and you do
not mix integers with reals. (To convert numeric types, rely on standard functions
like Int and Trunc.) Examples of variable typecasts include
Char(I)
Boolean(Count)
TSomeDefinedType(MyVariable)
Variable typecasts can appear on either side of an assignment statement. Thus
var MyChar: char;
ƒ
Shortint(MyChar) := 122;
assigns the character z (ASCII 122) to MyChar.
You can cast variables to a procedural type. For example, given the declarations
type Func = function(X: Integer): Integer;
var
F: Func;
P: Pointer;
N: Integer;
you can make the following assignments.
F := Func(P); { Assign procedural value in P to F }
Func(P) := F; { Assign procedural value in F to P }
@F := P; { Assign pointer value in P to F }
P := @F; { Assign pointer value in F to P }
N := F(N); { Call function via F }
N := Func(P)(N); { Call function via P }
Variable typecasts can also be followed by qualifiers, as illustrated in the following
example.
type
TByteRec = record
Lo, Hi: Byte;
end;
TWordRec = record
Low, High: Word;
end;
PByte = ^Byte;
var
B: Byte;
W: Word;
L: Longint;
P: Pointer;
begin
W := $1234;
B := TByteRec(W).Lo;
TByteRec(W).Hi := 0;
L := $01234567;
W := TWordRec(L).Low;
B := TByteRec(TWordRec(L).Low).Hi;
B := PByte(L)^;
end;

4-16 Delphi Language Guide

 Declarations and statements

In this example, TByteRec is used to access the low- and high-order bytes of a word,
and TWordRec to access the low- and high-order words of a long integer. You could
call the predefined functions Lo and Hi for the same purpose, but a variable typecast
has the advantage that it can be used on the left side of an assignment statement.
For information about typecasting pointers, see “Pointers and pointer types” on
page 5-27. For information about casting class and interface types, see “The as
operator” on page 7-26 and “Interface typecasts” on page 10-10.

Declarations and statements

Aside from the uses clause (and reserved words like implementation that demarcate
parts of a unit), a program consists entirely of declarations and statements, which are
organized into blocks.

Declarations
The names of variables, constants, types, fields, properties, procedures, functions,
programs, units, libraries, and packages are called identifiers. (Numeric constants like
26057 are not identifiers.) Identifiers must be declared before you can use them; the
only exceptions are a few predefined types, routines, and constants that the compiler
understands automatically, the variable Result when it occurs inside a function block,
and the variable Self when it occurs inside a method implementation.
A declaration defines an identifier and, where appropriate, allocates memory for it.
For example,
var Size: Extended;
declares a variable called Size that holds an Extended (real) value, while
function DoThis(X, Y: string): Integer;
declares a function called DoThis that takes two strings as arguments and returns an
integer. Each declaration ends with a semicolon. When you declare several variables,
constants, types, or labels at the same time, you need only write the appropriate
reserved word once:
var
Size: Extended;
Quantity: Integer;
Description: string;
The syntax and placement of a declaration depend on the kind of identifier you are
defining. In general, declarations can occur only at the beginning of a block or at the
beginning of the interface or implementation section of a unit (after the uses clause).
Specific conventions for declaring variables, constants, types, functions, and so forth
are explained in the chapters on those topics.

Syntactic elements 4-17

Declarations and statements

Hinting Directives
The “hint” directives platform, deprecated, and library may be appended to any
declaration. These directives will produce warnings at compile time. Hint directives
can be applied to type declarations, variable declarations, class and structure
declarations, field declarations within classes or records, procedure, function and
method declarations, and unit declarations.
When a hint directive appears in a unit declaration, it means that the hint applies to
everything in the unit. For example, the Windows 3.1 style OleAuto.pas unit on
Windows is completely deprecated. Any reference to that unit or any symbol in that
unit will produce a deprecation message.
The platform hinting directive on a symbol or unit indicates that it may not exist or
that the implementation may vary considerably on different platforms. The library
hinting directive on a symbol or unit indicates that the code may not exist or the
implementation may vary considerably on different library architectures.
The platform and library directives do not specify which platform or library. If your
goal is writing platform-independent code, you do not need to know which platform
a symbol is specific to; it is sufficient that the symbol be marked as specific to some
platform to let you know it may cause problems for your goal of portability.
In the case of a procedure or function declaration, the hint directive should be
separated from the rest of the declaration with a semicolon. Examples:
procedure SomeOldRoutine; stdcall; deprecated;
var VersionNumber: Real library;
type AppError = class(Exception)
ƒ
end platform;
When source code is compiled in the {$HINTS ON} {$WARNINGS ON} state, each
reference to an identifier declared with one of these directives generates an
appropriate hint or warning. Use platform to mark items that are specific to a
particular operating environment (such as Windows or Linux), deprecated to
indicate that an item is obsolete or supported only for backward compatibility, and
library to flag dependencies on a particular library or component framework (such
as CLX).

Statements
Statements define algorithmic actions within a program. Simple statements—like
assignments and procedure calls—can combine to form loops, conditional
statements, and other structured statements.
Multiple statements within a block, and in the initialization or finalization section of
a unit, are separated by semicolons.

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 Declarations and statements

Simple statements
A simple statement doesn’t contain any other statements. Simple statements include
assignments, calls to procedures and functions, and goto jumps.

Assignment statements
An assignment statement has the form
variable := expression
where variable is any variable reference—including a variable, variable typecast,
dereferenced pointer, or component of a structured variable—and expression is any
assignment-compatible expression (within a function block, variable can be replaced
with the name of the function being defined. See Chapter 6, “Procedures and
functions”). The := symbol is sometimes called the assignment operator.
An assignment statement replaces the current value of variable with the value of
expression. For example,
I := 3;
assigns the value 3 to the variable I. The variable reference on the left side of the
assignment can appear in the expression on the right. For example,
I := I + 1;
increments the value of I. Other assignment statements include
X := Y + Z;
Done := (I >= 1) and (I < 100);
Hue1 := [Blue, Succ(C)];
I := Sqr(J) - I * K;
Shortint(MyChar) := 122;
TByteRec(W).Hi := 0;
MyString[I] := 'A';
SomeArray[I + 1] := P^;
TMyObject.SomeProperty := True;

Procedure and function calls

A procedure call consists of the name of a procedure (with or without qualifiers),
followed by a parameter list (if required). Examples include
PrintHeading;
Transpose(A, N, M);
Find(Smith, William);
Writeln('Hello world!');
DoSomething();
Unit1.SomeProcedure;
TMyObject.SomeMethod(X,Y);
With extended syntax enabled ({$X+}), function calls, like calls to procedures, can be
treated as statements in their own right:
MyFunction(X);

Syntactic elements 4-19

Declarations and statements

When you use a function call in this way, its return value is discarded.
For more information about procedures and functions, see Chapter 6, “Procedures
and functions”.

Goto statements
A goto statement, which has the form
goto label
transfers program execution to the statement marked by the specified label. To mark
a statement, you must first declare the label. Then precede the statement you want to
mark with the label and a colon:
label: statement
Declare labels like this:
label label;
You can declare several labels at once:
label label1, ..., labeln;
A label can be any valid identifier or any numeral between 0 and 9999.
The label declaration, marked statement, and goto statement must belong to the same
block. (See “Blocks and scope” on page 4-29.) Hence it is not possible to jump into or
out of a procedure or function. Do not mark more than one statement in a block with
the same label.
For example,
label StartHere;
ƒ
StartHere: Beep;
goto StartHere;
creates an infinite loop that calls the Beep procedure repeatedly.
Aditionally, it is not possible to jump into or out of a try/finally or try/except
statement.
The goto statement is generally discouraged in structured programming. It is,
however, sometimes used as a way of exiting from nested loops, as in the following
example.
procedure FindFirstAnswer;
var X, Y, Z, Count: Integer;
label FoundAnAnswer;
begin
Count := SomeConstant;
for X := 1 to Count do
for Y := 1 to Count do
for Z := 1 to Count do
if ... { some condition holds on X, Y, and Z } then
goto FoundAnAnswer;

4-20 Delphi Language Guide

 Declarations and statements

ƒ {code to execute if no answer is found }

Exit;

FoundAnAnswer:
ƒ { code to execute when an answer is found }
end;
Notice that we are using goto to jump out of a nested loop. Never jump into a loop or
other structured statement, since this can have unpredictable effects.

Structured statements
Structured statements are built from other statements. Use a structured statement
when you want to execute other statements sequentially, conditionally, or
repeatedly.
• A compound or with statement simply executes a sequence of constituent
statements.
• A conditional statement—that is, an if or case statement—executes at most one of
its constituents, depending on specified criteria.
• Loop statements—including repeat, while, and for loops—execute a sequence of
constituent statements repeatedly.
• A special group of statements—including raise, try...except, and try...finally
constructions—create and handle exceptions. For information about exception
generation and handling, see “Exceptions” on page 7-27.

Compound statements
A compound statement is a sequence of other (simple or structured) statements to be
executed in the order in which they are written. The compound statement is
bracketed by the reserved words begin and end, and its constituent statements are
separated by semicolons. For example:
begin
Z := X;
X := Y;
Y := Z;
end;
The last semicolon before end is optional. So we could have written this as
begin
Z := X;
X := Y;
Y := Z
end;

Syntactic elements 4-21

Declarations and statements

Compound statements are essential in contexts where Delphi syntax requires a single
statement. In addition to program, function, and procedure blocks, they occur within
other structured statements, such as conditionals or loops. For example:
begin
I := SomeConstant;
while I > 0 do
begin
ƒ
I := I - 1;
end;
end;
You can write a compound statement that contains only a single constituent
statement; like parentheses in a complex term, begin and end sometimes serve to
disambiguate and to improve readability. You can also use an empty compound
statement to create a block that does nothing:
begin
end;

With statements
A with statement is a shorthand for referencing the fields of a record or the fields,
properties, and methods of an object. The syntax of a with statement is
with obj do statement
or
with obj1, ..., objn do statement
where obj is an expression yielding a reference to a record, object instance, class
instance, interface or class type (metaclass) instance, and statement is any simple or
structured statement. Within statement, you can refer to fields, properties, and
methods of obj using their identifiers alone—without qualifiers.
For example, given the declarations
type TDate = record
Day: Integer;
Month: Integer;
Year: Integer;
end;
var OrderDate: TDate;
you could write the following with statement.
with OrderDate do
if Month = 12 then
begin
Month := 1;
Year := Year + 1;
end
else
Month := Month + 1;

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 Declarations and statements

This is equivalent to
if OrderDate.Month = 12 then
begin
OrderDate.Month := 1;
OrderDate.Year := OrderDate.Year + 1;
end
else
OrderDate.Month := OrderDate.Month + 1;
If the interpretation of obj involves indexing arrays or dereferencing pointers, these
actions are performed once, before statement is executed. This makes with statements
efficient as well as concise. It also means that assignments to a variable within
statement cannot affect the interpretation of obj during the current execution of the
with statement.
Each variable reference or method name in a with statement is interpreted, if
possible, as a member of the specified object or record. If there is another variable or
method of the same name that you want to access from the with statement, you need
to prepend it with a qualifier, as in the following example.
with OrderDate do
begin
Year := Unit1.Year
ƒ
end;
When multiple objects or records appear after with, the entire statement is treated
like a series of nested with statements. Thus
with obj1, obj2, ..., objn do statement
is equivalent to
with obj1 do
with obj2 do
ƒ
with objn do
statement
In this case, each variable reference or method name in statement is interpreted, if
possible, as a member of objn; otherwise it is interpreted, if possible, as a member of
objn–1; and so forth. The same rule applies to interpreting the objs themselves, so that,
for instance, if objn is a member of both obj1 and obj2, it is interpreted as obj2.objn.

If statements
There are two forms of if statement: if...then and the if...then...else. The syntax of an
if...then statement is
if expression then statement
where expression returns a Boolean value. If expression is True, then statement is
executed; otherwise it is not. For example,
if J <> 0 then Result := I/J;

Syntactic elements 4-23

Declarations and statements

The syntax of an if...then...else statement is

if expression then statement1 else statement2
where expression returns a Boolean value. If expression is True, then statement1 is
executed; otherwise statement2 is executed. For example,
if J = 0 then
Exit
else
Result := I/J;
The then and else clauses contain one statement each, but it can be a structured
statement. For example,
if J <> 0 then
begin
Result := I/J;
Count := Count + 1;
end
else if Count = Last then
Done := True
else
Exit;
Notice that there is never a semicolon between the then clause and the word else.
You can place a semicolon after an entire if statement to separate it from the next
statement in its block, but the then and else clauses require nothing more than a
space or carriage return between them. Placing a semicolon immediately before else
(in an if statement) is a common programming error.
A special difficulty arises in connection with nested if statements. The problem arises
because some if statements have else clauses while others do not, but the syntax for
the two kinds of statement is otherwise the same. In a series of nested conditionals
where there are fewer else clauses than if statements, it may not seem clear which
else clauses are bound to which ifs. Consider a statement of the form
if expression1 then if expression2 then statement1 else statement2;
There would appear to be two ways to parse this:
if expression1 then [ if expression2 then statement1 else statement2 ];
if expression1 then [ if expression2 then statement1 ] else statement2;
The compiler always parses in the first way. That is, in real code, the statement
if ... { expression1 } then
if ... { expression2 } then
... { statement1 }
else
... { statement2 } ;

4-24 Delphi Language Guide

 Declarations and statements

is equivalent to
if ... { expression1 } then
begin
if ... { expression2 } then
... { statement1 }
else
... { statement2 }
end;
The rule is that nested conditionals are parsed starting from the innermost
conditional, with each else bound to the nearest available if on its left. To force the
compiler to read our example in the second way, you would have to write it
explicitly as
if ... { expression1 } then
begin
if ... { expression2 } then
... { statement1 }
end
else
... { statement2 } ;

Case statements
The case statement may provide a readable alternative to deeply nested if
conditionals. A case statement has the form
case selectorExpression of
caseList1: statement1;
ƒ
caseListn: statementn;
end
where selectorExpression is any expression of an ordinal type (string types are invalid)
and each caseList is one of the following:
• A numeral, declared constant, or other expression that the compiler can evaluate
without executing your program. It must be of an ordinal type compatible with
selectorExpression. Thus 7, True, 4 + 5 * 3, 'A', and Integer('A') can all be used as
caseLists, but variables and most function calls cannot. (A few built-in functions
like Hi and Lo can occur in a caseList. See “Constant expressions” on page 5-44.)
• A subrange having the form First..Last, where First and Last both satisfy the
criterion above and First is less than or equal to Last.
• A list having the form item1, ..., itemn, where each item satisfies one of the criteria
above.

Syntactic elements 4-25

Declarations and statements

Each value represented by a caseList must be unique in the case statement; subranges
and lists cannot overlap. A case statement can have a final else clause:
case selectorExpression of
caseList1: statement1;
ƒ
caseListn: statementn;
else
statements;
end
where statements is a semicolon-delimited sequence of statements. When a case
statement is executed, at most one of statement1 ... statementn is executed. Whichever
caseList has a value equal to that of selectorExpression determines the statement to be
used. If none of the caseLists has the same value as selectorExpression, then the
statements in the else clause (if there is one) are executed.
The case statement
case I of
1..5: Caption := 'Low';
6..9: Caption := 'High';
0, 10..99: Caption := 'Out of range';
else
Caption := '';
end;
is equivalent to the nested conditional
if I in [1..5] then
Caption := 'Low'
else if I in [6..10] then
Caption := 'High'
else if (I = 0) or (I in [10..99]) then
Caption := 'Out of range'
else
Caption := '';
Other examples of case statements:
case MyColor of
Red: X := 1;
Green: X := 2;
Blue: X := 3;
Yellow, Orange, Black: X := 0;
end;
case Selection of
Done: Form1.Close;
Compute: CalculateTotal(UnitCost, Quantity);
else
Beep;
end;

4-26 Delphi Language Guide

 Declarations and statements

Control loops
Loops allow you to execute a sequence of statements repeatedly, using a control
condition or variable to determine when the execution stops. Delphi has three kinds
of control loop: repeat statements, while statements, and for statements.
You can use the standard Break and Continue procedures to control the flow of a
repeat, while, or for statement. Break terminates the statement in which it occurs,
while Continue begins executing the next iteration of the sequence. For more
information about these procedures, see the online Help.

Repeat statements
The syntax of a repeat statement is
repeat statement1; ...; statementn; until expression
where expression returns a Boolean value. (The last semicolon before until is
optional.) The repeat statement executes its sequence of constituent statements
continually, testing expression after each iteration. When expression returns True, the
repeat statement terminates. The sequence is always executed at least once because
expression is not evaluated until after the first iteration.
Examples of repeat statements include
repeat
K := I mod J;
I := J;
J := K;
until J = 0;
repeat
Write('Enter a value (0..9): ');
Readln(I);
until (I >= 0) and (I <= 9);

While statements
A while statement is similar to a repeat statement, except that the control condition is
evaluated before the first execution of the statement sequence. Hence, if the condition
is false, the statement sequence is never executed.
The syntax of a while statement is
while expression do statement
where expression returns a Boolean value and statement can be a compound statement.
The while statement executes its constituent statement repeatedly, testing expression
before each iteration. As long as expression returns True, execution continues.

Syntactic elements 4-27

Declarations and statements

Examples of while statements include

while Data[I] <> X do I := I + 1;
while I > 0 do
begin
if Odd(I) then Z := Z * X;
I := I div 2;
X := Sqr(X);
end;
while not Eof(InputFile) do
begin
Readln(InputFile, Line);
Process(Line);
end;

For statements
A for statement, unlike a repeat or while statement, requires you to specify explicitly
the number of iterations you want the loop to go through. The syntax of a for
statement is
for counter := initialValue to finalValue do statement
or
for counter := initialValue downto finalValue do statement
where
• counter is a local variable (declared in the block containing the for statement) of
ordinal type, without any qualifiers.
• initialValue and finalValue are expressions that are assignment-compatible with
counter.
• statement is a simple or structured statement that does not change the value of
counter.
The for statement assigns the value of initialValue to counter, then executes statement
repeatedly, incrementing or decrementing counter after each iteration. (The for...to
syntax increments counter, while the for...downto syntax decrements it.) When
counter returns the same value as finalValue, statement is executed once more and the
for statement terminates. In other words, statement is executed once for every value
in the range from initialValue to finalValue. If initialValue is equal to finalValue,
statement is executed exactly once. If initialValue is greater than finalValue in a for...to
statement, or less than finalValue in a for...downto statement, then statement is never
executed. After the for statement terminates (provided this was not forced by a break
or an exit procedure), the value of counter is undefined.

4-28 Delphi Language Guide

 Blocks and scope

For purposes of controlling execution of the loop, the expressions initialValue and
finalValue are evaluated only once, before the loop begins. Hence the for...to
statement is almost, but not quite, equivalent to this while construction:
begin
counter := initialValue;
while counter <= finalValue do
begin
statement;
counter := Succ(counter);
end;
end
The difference between this construction and the for...to statement is that the while
loop reevaluates finalValue before each iteration. This can result in noticeably slower
performance if finalValue is a complex expression, and it also means that changes to
the value of finalValue within statement can affect execution of the loop.
Examples of for statements:
for I := 2 to 63 do
if Data[I] > Max then
Max := Data[I];
for I := ListBox1.Items.Count - 1 downto 0 do
ListBox1.Items[I] := UpperCase(ListBox1.Items[I]);
for I := 1 to 10 do
for J := 1 to 10 do
begin
X := 0;
for K := 1 to 10 do
X := X + Mat1[I, K] * Mat2[K, J];
Mat[I, J] := X;
end;
for C := Red to Blue do Check(C);

Blocks and scope

Declarations and statements are organized into blocks, which define local namespaces
(or scopes) for labels and identifiers. Blocks allow a single identifier, such as a variable
name, to have different meanings in different parts of a program. Each block is part
of the declaration of a program, function, or procedure; each program, function, or
procedure declaration has one block.

Syntactic elements 4-29

 Blocks
A block consists of a series of declarations followed by a compound statement. All
declarations must occur together at the beginning of the block. So the form of a block
is
declarations
begin
statements
end
The declarations section can include, in any order, declarations for variables, constants
(including resource strings), types, procedures, functions, and labels. In a program
block, the declarations section can also include one or more exports clauses (see
Chapter 9, “Libraries and packages”).
For example, in a function declaration like
function UpperCase(const S: string): string;
var
Ch: Char;
L: Integer;
Source, Dest: PChar;
begin
ƒ
end;
the first line of the declaration is the function heading and all of the succeeding lines
make up the block. Ch, L, Source, and Dest are local variables; their declarations apply
only to the UpperCase function block and override—in this block only—any
declarations of the same identifiers that may occur in the program block or in the
interface or implementation section of a unit.

Scope
An identifier, such as a variable or function name, can be used only within the scope
of its declaration. The location of a declaration determines its scope. An identifier
declared within the declaration of a program, function, or procedure has a scope
limited to the block in which it is declared. An identifier declared in the interface
section of a unit has a scope that includes any other units or programs that use the
unit where the declaration occurs. Identifiers with narrower scope—especially
identifiers declared in functions and procedures—are sometimes called local, while
identifiers with wider scope are called global.

4-30 Delphi Language Guide

The rules that determine identifier scope are summarized below.

If the identifier is declared in ... its scope extends ...

the declaration section of a program, function, from the point where it is declared to the end of
or procedure the current block, including all blocks enclosed
within that scope.
the interface section of a unit from the point where it is declared to the end of
the unit, and to any other unit or program that
uses that unit. (See Chapter 3, “Programs and
units”.)
the implementation section of a unit, but not from the point where it is declared to the end of
within the block of any function or procedure the unit. The identifier is available to any
function or procedure in the unit, including the
initialization and finalization sections, if present.
the definition of a record type (that is, the from the point of its declaration to the end of the
identifier is the name of a field in the record) record-type definition. (See “Records” on
page 5-23.)
the definition of a class (that is, the identifier is from the point of its declaration to the end of the
the name of a data field property or method in class-type definition, and also includes
the class) descendants of the class and the blocks of all
methods in the class and its descendants. (See
Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”.)

Naming conflicts
When one block encloses another, the former is called the outer block and the latter the
inner block. If an identifier declared in an outer block is redeclared in an inner block,
the inner declaration takes precedence over the outer one and determines the
meaning of the identifier for the duration of the inner block. For example, if you
declare a variable called MaxValue in the interface section of a unit, and then declare
another variable with the same name in a function declaration within that unit, any
unqualified occurrences of MaxValue in the function block are governed by the
second, local declaration. Similarly, a function declared within another function
creates a new, inner scope in which identifiers used by the outer function can be
redeclared locally.
The use of multiple units further complicates the definition of scope. Each unit listed
in a uses clause imposes a new scope that encloses the remaining units used and the
program or unit containing the uses clause. The first unit in a uses clause represents
the outermost scope and each succeeding unit represents a new scope inside the
previous one. If two or more units declare the same identifier in their interface
sections, an unqualified reference to the identifier selects the declaration in the
innermost scope—that is, in the unit where the reference itself occurs, or, if that unit
doesn’t declare the identifier, in the last unit in the uses clause that does declare the
identifier.

Syntactic elements 4-31

 The System and SysInit units are used automatically by every program or unit. The
declarations in System, along with the predefined types, routines, and constants that
the compiler understands automatically, always have the outermost scope.
You can override these rules of scope and bypass an inner declaration by using a
qualified identifier (see “Qualified identifiers” on page 4-3) or a with statement (see
“With statements” on page 4-22).

4-32 Delphi Language Guide

 Chapter

Data types, variables, and constants

Chapter5
5
A type is essentially a name for a kind of data. When you declare a variable you must
specify its type, which determines the set of values the variable can hold and the
operations that can be performed on it. Every expression returns data of a particular
type, as does every function. Most functions and procedures require parameters of
specific types.
The Delphi language is a “strongly typed” language, which means that it
distinguishes a variety of data types and does not always allow you to substitute one
type for another. This is usually beneficial because it lets the compiler treat data
intelligently and validate your code more thoroughly, preventing hard-to-diagnose
runtime errors. When you need greater flexibility, however, there are mechanisms to
circumvent strong typing. These include typecasting (see “Typecasts” on page 4-15),
pointers (see “Pointers and pointer types” on page 5-27), variants (see “Variant types”
on page 5-33), variant parts in records (see “Variant parts in records” on page 5-24),
and absolute addressing of variables (see “Absolute addresses” on page 5-41).

About types
There are several ways to categorize Delphi data types:
• Some types are predefined (or built-in); the compiler recognizes these automatically,
without the need for a declaration. Almost all of the types documented in this
language reference are predefined. Other types are created by declaration; these
include user-defined types and the types defined in the product libraries.
• Types can be classified as either fundamental or generic. The range and format of a
fundamental type is the same in all implementations of the Delphi language,
regardless of the underlying CPU and operating system. The range and format of
a generic type is platform-specific and could vary across different
implementations. Most predefined types are fundamental, but a handful of
integer, character, string, and pointer types are generic. It’s a good idea to use
generic types when possible, since they provide optimal performance and

Data types, variables, and constants 5-1

About types

portability. However, changes in storage format from one implementation of a

generic type to the next could cause compatibility problems—for example, if you
are streaming content to a file as raw, binary data, without type and versioning
information.
• Types can be classified as simple, string, structured, pointer, procedural, or variant. In
addition, type identifiers themselves can be regarded as belonging to a special
“type” because they can be passed as parameters to certain functions (such as
High, Low, and SizeOf).
The outline below shows the taxonomy of Delphi data types.
simple
ordinal
integer
character
Boolean
enumerated
subrange
real
string
structured
set
array
record
file
class
class reference
interface
pointer
procedural
variant
type identifier
The standard function SizeOf operates on all variables and type identifiers. It returns
an integer representing the amount of memory (in bytes) required to store data of the
specified type. For example, SizeOf(Longint) returns 4, since a Longint variable uses
four bytes of memory.
Type declarations are illustrated in the sections that follow. For general information
about type declarations, see “Declaring types” on page 5-39.

5-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Simple types

Simple types
Simple types, which include ordinal types and real types, define ordered sets of
values.

Ordinal types
Ordinal types include integer, character, Boolean, enumerated, and subrange types. An
ordinal type defines an ordered set of values in which each value except the first has
a unique predecessor and each value except the last has a unique successor. Further,
each value has an ordinality which determines the ordering of the type. In most cases,
if a value has ordinality n, its predecessor has ordinality n–1 and its successor has
ordinality n+1.
• For integer types, the ordinality of a value is the value itself.
• Subrange types maintain the ordinalities of their base types.
• For other ordinal types, by default the first value has ordinality 0, the next value
has ordinality 1, and so forth. The declaration of an enumerated type can explicitly
override this default.
Several predefined functions operate on ordinal values and type identifiers. The most
important of them are summarized below.

Function Parameter Return value Remarks

Ord ordinal expression ordinality of expression’s Does not take Int64
value arguments.
Pred ordinal expression predecessor of expression’s
value
Succ ordinal expression successor of expression’s
value
High ordinal type identifier or highest value in type Also operates on short-string
variable of ordinal type types and arrays.
Low ordinal type identifier or lowest value in type Also operates on short-string
variable of ordinal type types and arrays.

For example, High(Byte) returns 255 because the highest value of type Byte is 255, and
Succ(2) returns 3 because 3 is the successor of 2.
The standard procedures Inc and Dec increment and decrement the value of an
ordinal variable. For example, Inc(I) is equivalent to I := Succ(I) and, if I is an
integer variable, to I := I + 1.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-3

Simple types

Integer types
An integer type represents a subset of the whole numbers. The generic integer types
are Integer and Cardinal; use these whenever possible, since they result in the best
performance for the underlying CPU and operating system. The table below gives
their ranges and storage formats for the current 32-bit Delphi compiler.

Table 5.1 Generic integer types for 32-bit implementations of Delphi

Type Range Format
Integer –2147483648..2147483647 signed 32-bit
Cardinal 0..4294967295 unsigned 32-bit

Fundamental integer types include Shortint, Smallint, Longint, Int64, Byte, Word, and
Longword.

Table 5.2 Fundamental integer types

Type Range Format
Shortint –128..127 signed 8-bit
Smallint –32768..32767 signed 16-bit
Longint –2147483648..2147483647 signed 32-bit
63 63
Int64 –2 ..2 –1 signed 64-bit
Byte 0..255 unsigned 8-bit
Word 0..65535 unsigned 16-bit
Longword 0..4294967295 unsigned 32-bit

In general, arithmetic operations on integers return a value of type Integer—which, in

its current implementation, is equivalent to the 32-bit Longint. Operations return a
value of type Int64 only when performed on one or more Int64 operand. Hence the
following code produces incorrect results.
var
I: Integer;
J: Int64;
ƒ
I := High(Integer);
J := I + 1;
To get an Int64 return value in this situation, cast I as Int64:
ƒ
J := Int64(I) + 1;
For more information, see “Arithmetic operators” on page 4-7.
Note Some standard routines that take integer arguments truncate Int64 values to 32 bits.
However, the High, Low, Succ, Pred, Inc, Dec, IntToStr, and IntToHex routines fully
support Int64 arguments. Also, the Round, Trunc, StrToInt64, and StrToInt64Def
functions return Int64 values. A few routines cannot take Int64 values at all.

5-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Simple types

When you increment the last value or decrement the first value of an integer type, the
result wraps around the beginning or end of the range. For example, the Shortint type
has the range –128..127; hence, after execution of the code
var I: Shortint;
ƒ
I := High(Shortint);
I := I + 1;
the value of I is –128. If compiler range-checking is enabled, however, this code
generates a runtime error.

Character types
The fundamental character types are AnsiChar and WideChar. AnsiChar values are
byte-sized (8-bit) characters ordered according to the locale character set which is
possibly multibyte. AnsiChar was originally modeled after the ANSI character set
(thus its name) but has now been broadened to refer to the current locale character
set.
WideChar characters use more than one byte to represent every character. In the
current implementations, WideChar is word-sized (16-bit) characters ordered
according to the Unicode character set (note that it could be longer in future
implementations). The first 256 Unicode characters correspond to the ANSI
characters.
Note On Linux, wchar_t widechar is 32 bits per character. The 16-bit Unicode standard
that Delphi WideChars support is a subset of the 32-bit UCS standard supported by
Linux and the GNU libraries. Delphi WideChar data must be widened to 32 bits per
character before it can be passed to an OS function as wchar_t.
The generic character type is Char, which is equivalent to AnsiChar. Because the
implementation of Char is subject to change, it’s a good idea to use the standard
function SizeOf rather than a hard-coded constant when writing programs that may
need to handle characters of different sizes.
A string constant of length 1, such as 'A', can denote a character value. The
predefined function Chr returns the character value for any integer in the range of
AnsiChar or WideChar; for example, Chr(65) returns the letter A.
Character values, like integers, wrap around when decremented or incremented past
the beginning or end of their range (unless range-checking is enabled). For example,
after execution of the code
var
Letter: Char;
I: Integer;
begin
Letter := High(Letter);
for I := 1 to 66 do
Inc(Letter);
end;
Letter has the value A (ASCII 65).

Data types, variables, and constants 5-5

Simple types

For more information about Unicode characters, see “About extended character sets”
on page 5-13 and “Working with null-terminated strings” on page 5-14.

Boolean types
The four predefined Boolean types are Boolean, ByteBool, WordBool, and LongBool.
Boolean is the preferred type. The others exist to provide compatibility with other
languages and operating system libraries.
A Boolean variable occupies one byte of memory, a ByteBool variable also occupies
one byte, a WordBool variable occupies two bytes (one word), and a LongBool variable
occupies four bytes (two words).
Boolean values are denoted by the predefined constants True and False. The
following relationships hold.

Boolean ByteBool, WordBool, LongBool

False < True False <> True
Ord(False) = 0 Ord(False) = 0
Ord(True) = 1 Ord(True) <> 0
Succ(False) = True Succ(False) = True
Pred(True) = False Pred(False) = True

A value of type ByteBool, LongBool, or WordBool is considered True when its ordinality
is nonzero. If such a value appears in a context where a Boolean is expected, the
compiler automatically converts any value of nonzero ordinality to True.
The previous remarks refer to the ordinality of Boolean values, not to the values
themselves. In Delphi, Boolean expressions cannot be equated with integers or reals.
Hence, if X is an integer variable, the statement
if X then ...;
generates a compilation error. Casting the variable to a Boolean type is unreliable,
but each of the following alternatives will work.
if X <> 0 then ...; { use longer expression that returns Boolean value }
var OK: Boolean { use Boolean variable }
ƒ
if X <> 0 then OK := True;
if OK then ...;

Enumerated types
An enumerated type defines an ordered set of values by simply listing identifiers that
denote these values. The values have no inherent meaning. To declare an
enumerated type, use the syntax
type typeName = (val1, ..., valn)
where typeName and each val are valid identifiers. For example, the declaration
type Suit = (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);

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 Simple types

defines an enumerated type called Suit whose possible values are Club, Diamond,
Heart, and Spade, where Ord(Club) returns 0, Ord(Diamond) returns 1, and so forth.
When you declare an enumerated type, you are declaring each val to be a constant of
type typeName. If the val identifiers are used for another purpose within the same
scope, naming conflicts occur. For example, suppose you declare the type
type TSound = (Click, Clack, Clock);
Unfortunately, Click is also the name of a method defined for TControl and all of the
objects in CLX that descend from it. So if you’re writing an application and you
create an event handler like
procedure TForm1.DBGrid1Enter(Sender: TObject);
var Thing: TSound;
begin
ƒ
Thing := Click;
ƒ
end;
you’ll get a compilation error; the compiler interprets Click within the scope of the
procedure as a reference to TForm’s Click method. You can work around this by
qualifying the identifier; thus, if TSound is declared in MyUnit, you would use
Thing := MyUnit.Click;
A better solution, however, is to choose constant names that are not likely to conflict
with other identifiers. Examples:
type
TSound = (tsClick, tsClack, tsClock);
TMyColor = (mcRed, mcBlue, mcGreen, mcYellow, mcOrange);
Answer = (ansYes, ansNo, ansMaybe);
You can use the (val1, ..., valn) construction directly in variable declarations, as if it
were a type name:
var MyCard: (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);
But if you declare MyCard this way, you can’t declare another variable within the
same scope using these constant identifiers. Thus
var Card1: (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);
var Card2: (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);
generates a compilation error. But
var Card1, Card2: (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);
compiles cleanly, as does
type Suit = (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade);
var
Card1: Suit;
Card2: Suit;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-7

Simple types

Enumerated types with explicitly assigned ordinality

By default, the ordinalities of enumerated values start from 0 and follow the
sequence in which their identifiers are listed in the type declaration. You can override
this by explicitly assigning ordinalities to some or all of the values in the declaration.
To assign an ordinality to a value, follow its identifier with = constantExpression,
where constantExpression is a constant expression that evaluates to an integer. (See
“Constant expressions” on page 5-44) For example,
type Size = (Small = 5, Medium = 10, Large = Small + Medium);
defines a type called Size whose possible values include Small, Medium, and Large,
where Ord(Small) returns 5, Ord(Medium) returns 10, and Ord(Large) returns 15.
An enumerated type is, in effect, a subrange whose lowest and highest values
correspond to the lowest and highest ordinalities of the constants in the declaration.
In the previous example, the Size type has 11 possible values whose ordinalities
range from 5 to 15. (Hence the type array[Size] of Char represents an array of 11
characters.) Only three of these values have names, but the others are accessible
through typecasts and through routines such as Pred, Succ, Inc, and Dec. In the
following example, “anonymous” values in the range of Size are assigned to the
variable X.
var X: Size;
X := Small; // Ord(X) = 5
X := Size(6); // Ord(X) = 6
Inc(X); // Ord(X) = 7
Any value that isn’t explicitly assigned an ordinality has ordinality one greater than
that of the previous value in the list. If the first value isn’t assigned an ordinality, its
ordinality is 0. Hence, given the declaration
type SomeEnum = (e1, e2, e3 = 1);
SomeEnum has only two possible values: Ord(e1) returns 0, Ord(e2) returns 1, and
Ord(e3) also returns 1; because e2 and e3 have the same ordinality, they represent the
same value.

Subrange types
A subrange type represents a subset of the values in another ordinal type (called the
base type). Any construction of the form Low..High, where Low and High are constant
expressions of the same ordinal type and Low is less than High, identifies a subrange
type that includes all values between Low and High. For example, if you declare the
enumerated type
type TColors = (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Purple, White, Black);
you can then define a subrange type like
type TMyColors = Green..White;
Here TMyColors includes the values Green, Yellow, Orange, Purple, and White.

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 Simple types

You can use numeric constants and characters (string constants of length 1) to define
subrange types:
type
SomeNumbers = -128..127;
Caps = 'A'..'Z';
When you use numeric or character constants to define a subrange, the base type is
the smallest integer or character type that contains the specified range.
The LowerBound..UpperBound construction itself functions as a type name, so you can
use it directly in variable declarations. For example,
var SomeNum: 1..500;
declares an integer variable whose value can be anywhere in the range from 1 to 500.
The ordinality of each value in a subrange is preserved from the base type. (In the
first example, if Color is a variable that holds the value Green, Ord(Color) returns 2
regardless of whether Color is of type TColors or TMyColors.) Values do not wrap
around the beginning or end of a subrange, even if the base is an integer or character
type; incrementing or decrementing past the boundary of a subrange simply converts
the value to the base type. Hence, while
type Percentile = 0..99;
var I: Percentile;
ƒ
I := 100;
produces an error,
ƒ
I := 99;
Inc(I);
assigns the value 100 to I (unless compiler range-checking is enabled).
The use of constant expressions in subrange definitions introduces a syntactic
difficulty. In any type declaration, when the first meaningful character after = is a left
parenthesis, the compiler assumes that an enumerated type is being defined. Hence
the code
const
X = 50;
Y = 10;
type
Scale = (X - Y) * 2..(X + Y) * 2;
produces an error. Work around this problem by rewriting the type declaration to
avoid the leading parenthesis:
type
Scale = 2 * (X - Y)..(X + Y) * 2;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-9

Simple types

Real types
A real type defines a set of numbers that can be represented with floating-point
notation. The table below gives the ranges and storage formats for the fundamental
real types.

Table 5.3 Fundamental real types

Type Range Significant digits Size in bytes
Real48 2.9 x 10–39 .. 1.7 x 1038 11–12 6
Single 1.5 x 10–45 .. 3.4 x 1038 7–8 4
Double 5.0 x 10–324 .. 1.7 x 10308 15–16 8
Extended 3.6 x 10–4951 .. 1.1 x 104932 19–20 10
Comp –263+1 .. 263 –1 19–20 8
Currency –922337203685477.5808.. 922337203685477.5807 19–20 8

The generic type Real, in its current implementation, is equivalent to Double.

Table 5.4 Generic real types

Type Range Significant digits Size in bytes
Real 5.0 x 10–324 .. 1.7 x 10308 15–16 8

Note The six-byte Real48 type was called Real in earlier versions of Object Pascal. If you are
recompiling code that uses the older, six-byte Real type in Delphi, you may want to
change it to Real48. You can also use the {$REALCOMPATIBILITY ON} compiler
directive to turn Real back into the six-byte type.
The following remarks apply to fundamental real types.
• Real48 is maintained for backward compatibility. Since its storage format is not
native to the Intel processor architecture, it results in slower performance than
other floating-point types.
• Extended offers greater precision than other real types but is less portable. Be
careful using Extended if you are creating data files to share across platforms.
• The Comp (computational) type is native to the Intel processor architecture and
represents a 64-bit integer. It is classified as a real, however, because it does not
behave like an ordinal type. (For example, you cannot increment or decrement a
Comp value.) Comp is maintained for backward compatibility only. Use the Int64
type for better performance.
• Currency is a fixed-point data type that minimizes rounding errors in monetary
calculations. It is stored as a scaled 64-bit integer with the four least significant
digits implicitly representing decimal places. When mixed with other real types in
assignments and expressions, Currency values are automatically divided or
multiplied by 10000.

5-10 Delphi Language Guide

 String types

String types
A string represents a sequence of characters. Delphi supports the following
predefined string types.

Table 5.5 String types

Type Maximum length Memory required Used for
ShortString 255 characters 2 to 256 bytes backward compatibility
AnsiString ~231 characters 4 bytes to 2GB 8-bit (ANSI) characters
WideString ~230 characters 4 bytes to 2GB Unicode characters;
multi-user servers and multi-
language applications

AnsiString, sometimes called the long string, is the preferred type for most purposes.
String types can be mixed in assignments and expressions; the compiler
automatically performs required conversions. But strings passed by reference to a
function or procedure (as var and out parameters) must be of the appropriate type.
Strings can be explicitly cast to a different string type (see “Typecasts” on page 4-15).
The reserved word string functions like a generic type identifier. For example,
var S: string;
creates a variable S that holds a string. In the default {$H+} state, the compiler
interprets string (when it appears without a bracketed number after it) as AnsiString.
Use the {$H–} directive to turn string into ShortString.
The standard function Length returns the number of characters in a string. The
SetLength procedure adjusts the length of a string. See the online Help for details.
Comparison of strings is defined by the ordering of the characters in corresponding
positions. Between strings of unequal length, each character in the longer string
without a corresponding character in the shorter string takes on a greater-than value.
For example, “AB” is greater than “A”; that is, 'AB' > 'A' returns True. Zero-length
strings hold the lowest values.
You can index a string variable just as you would an array. If S is a string variable
and i an integer expression, S[i] represents the ith character—or, strictly speaking,
the ith byte—in S. For a ShortString or AnsiString, S[i] is of type AnsiChar; for a
WideString, S[i] is of type WideChar. For single-byte (Western) locales, MyString[2] :=
'A'; assigns the value A to the second character of MyString. The following code uses
the standard AnsiUpperCase function to convert MyString to uppercase.
var I: Integer;
begin
I := Length(MyString);
while I > 0 do
begin
MyString[I] := AnsiUpperCase(MyString[I]);
I := I - 1;
end;
end;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-11

String types

Be careful indexing strings in this way, since overwriting the end of a string can cause
access violations. Also, avoid passing long-string indexes as var parameters, because
this results in inefficient code.
You can assign the value of a string constant—or any other expression that returns a
string—to a variable. The length of the string changes dynamically when the
assignment is made. Examples:
MyString := 'Hello world!';
MyString := 'Hello ' + 'world';
MyString := MyString + '!';
MyString := ' '; { space }
MyString := ''; { empty string }
For more information, see “Character strings” on page 4-5 and “String operators” on
page 4-9.

Short strings
A ShortString is 0 to 255 characters long. While the length of a ShortString can change
dynamically, its memory is a statically allocated 256 bytes; the first byte stores the
length of the string, and the remaining 255 bytes are available for characters. If S is a
ShortString variable, Ord(S[0]), like Length(S), returns the length of S; assigning a
value to S[0], like calling SetLength, changes the length of S. ShortString is maintained
for backward compatibility only.
The Delphi language supports short-string types—in effect, subtypes of ShortString—
whose maximum length is anywhere from 0 to 255 characters. These are denoted by a
bracketed numeral appended to the reserved word string. For example,
var MyString: string[100];
creates a variable called MyString whose maximum length is 100 characters. This is
equivalent to the declarations
type CString = string[100];
var MyString: CString;
Variables declared in this way allocate only as much memory as the type requires—
that is, the specified maximum length plus one byte. In our example, MyString uses
101 bytes, as compared to 256 bytes for a variable of the predefined ShortString type.
When you assign a value to a short-string variable, the string is truncated if it exceeds
the maximum length for the type.
The standard functions High and Low operate on short-string type identifiers and
variables. High returns the maximum length of the short-string type, while Low
returns zero.

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 String types

Long strings
AnsiString, also called a long string, represents a dynamically allocated string whose
maximum length is limited only by available memory.
A long-string variable is a pointer occupying four bytes of memory. When the
variable is empty—that is, when it contains a zero-length string—the pointer is nil
and the string uses no additional storage. When the variable is nonempty, it points a
dynamically allocated block of memory that contains the string value. The eight
bytes before the location contain a 32-bit length indicator and a 32-bit reference
count. This memory is allocated on the heap, but its management is entirely
automatic and requires no user code.
Because long-string variables are pointers, two or more of them can reference the
same value without consuming additional memory. The compiler exploits this to
conserve resources and execute assignments faster. Whenever a long-string variable
is destroyed or assigned a new value, the reference count of the old string (the
variable’s previous value) is decremented and the reference count of the new value
(if there is one) is incremented; if the reference count of a string reaches zero, its
memory is deallocated. This process is called reference-counting. When indexing is
used to change the value of a single character in a string, a copy of the string is made
if—but only if—its reference count is greater than one. This is called copy-on-write
semantics.

WideString
The WideString type represents a dynamically allocated string of 16-bit Unicode
characters. In most respects it is similar to AnsiString. On Win32, WideString is
compatible with the COM BSTR type.
Note Under Win32 WideString values are not reference-counted. Under Linux, they are.

About extended character sets

Windows and Linux both support single-byte and multibyte character sets as well as
Unicode. With a single-byte character set (SBCS), each byte in a string represents one
character.
In a multibyte character set (MBCS), some characters are represented by one byte and
others by more than one byte. The first byte of a multibyte character is called the lead
byte. In general, the lower 128 characters of a multibyte character set map to the 7-bit
ASCII characters, and any byte whose ordinal value is greater than 127 is the lead
byte of a multibyte character. The null value (#0) is always a single-byte character.
Multibyte character sets—especially double-byte character sets (DBCS)—are widely
used for Asian languages.
In the Unicode character set, each character is represented by two bytes. Thus a
Unicode string is a sequence not of individual bytes but of two-byte words. Unicode
characters and strings are also called wide characters and wide character strings. The
first 256 Unicode characters map to the ANSI character set. The Windows operating

Data types, variables, and constants 5-13

String types

system supports Unicode (UCS-2). The Linux operating system supports UCS-4, a
superset of UCS-2. Borland’s RAD products support UCS-2 on both platforms.
The Delphi language supports single-byte and multibyte characters and strings
through the Char, PChar, AnsiChar, PAnsiChar, and AnsiString types. Indexing of
multibyte strings is not reliable, since S[i] represents the ith byte (not necessarily the
ith character) in S. However, the standard string-handling functions have multibyte-
enabled counterparts that also implement locale-specific ordering for characters.
(Names of multibyte functions usually start with Ansi-. For example, the multibyte
version of StrPos is AnsiStrPos.) Multibyte character support is operating-system
dependent and based on the current locale.
Delphi supports Unicode characters and strings through the WideChar, PWideChar,
and WideString types.

Working with null-terminated strings

Many programming languages, including C and C++, lack a dedicated string data
type. These languages, and environments that are built with them, rely on null-
terminated strings. A nul-terminated string is a zero-based array of characters that
ends with NUL (#0); since the array has no length indicator, the first NUL character
marks the end of the string. You can use Delphi constructions and special routines in
the SysUtils unit (see Chapter 8, “Standard routines and I/O”) to handle nul-
terminated strings when you need to share data with systems that use them.
For example, the following type declarations could be used to store null-terminated
strings.
type
TIdentifier = array[0..15] of Char;
TFileName = array[0..259] of Char;
TMemoText = array[0..1023] of WideChar;
With extended syntax enabled ({$X+}), you can assign a string constant to a statically
allocated zero-based character array. (Dynamic arrays won’t work for this purpose.)
If you initialize an array constant with a string that is shorter than the declared length
of the array, the remaining characters are set to #0. For more information about
arrays, see “Arrays” on page 5-19.

Using pointers, arrays, and string constants

To manipulate null-terminated strings, it is often necessary to use pointers. (See
“Pointers and pointer types” on page 5-27.) String constants are assignment-
compatible with the PChar and PWideChar types, which represent pointers to null-
terminated arrays of Char and WideChar values. For example,
var P: PChar;
ƒ
P := 'Hello world!';

5-14 Delphi Language Guide

 String types

points P to an area of memory that contains a null-terminated copy of “Hello world!”

This is equivalent to
const TempString: array[0..12] of Char = 'Hello world!'#0;
var P: PChar;
ƒ
P := @TempString[0];
You can also pass string constants to any function that takes value or const
parameters of type PChar or PWideChar—for example StrUpper('Hello world!'). As
with assignments to a PChar, the compiler generates a null-terminated copy of the
string and gives the function a pointer to that copy. Finally, you can initialize PChar
or PWideChar constants with string literals, alone or in a structured type. Examples:
const
Message: PChar = 'Program terminated';
Prompt: PChar = 'Enter values: ';
Digits: array[0..9] of PChar = (
'Zero', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four',
'Five', 'Six', 'Seven', 'Eight', 'Nine');
Zero-based character arrays are compatible with PChar and PWideChar. When you
use a character array in place of a pointer value, the compiler converts the array to a
pointer constant whose value corresponds to the address of the first element of the
array. For example,
var
MyArray: array[0..32] of Char;
MyPointer: PChar;
begin
MyArray := 'Hello';
MyPointer := MyArray;
SomeProcedure(MyArray);
SomeProcedure(MyPointer);
end;
This code calls SomeProcedure twice with the same value.
A character pointer can be indexed as if it were an array. In the previous example,
MyPointer[0] returns H. The index specifies an offset added to the pointer before it is
dereferenced. (For PWideChar variables, the index is automatically multiplied by
two.) Thus, if P is a character pointer, P[0] is equivalent to P^ and specifies the first
character in the array, P[1] specifies the second character in the array, and so forth;
P[-1] specifies the “character” immediately to the left of P[0]. The compiler performs no
range checking on these indexes.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-15

String types

The StrUpper function illustrates the use of pointer indexing to iterate through a null-
terminated string:
function StrUpper(Dest, Source: PChar; MaxLen: Integer): PChar;
var
I: Integer;
begin
I := 0;
while (I < MaxLen) and (Source[I] <> #0) do
begin
Dest[I] := UpCase(Source[I]);
Inc(I);
end;
Dest[I] := #0;
Result := Dest;
end;

Mixing Delphi strings and null-terminated strings

You can mix long strings (AnsiString values) and null-terminated strings (PChar
values) in expressions and assignments, and you can pass PChar values to functions
or procedures that take long-string parameters. The assignment S := P, where S is a
string variable and P is a PChar expression, copies a null-terminated string into a long
string.
In a binary operation, if one operand is a long string and the other a PChar, the PChar
operand is converted to a long string.
You can cast a PChar value as a long string. This is useful when you want to perform
a string operation on two PChar values. For example,
S := string(P1) + string(P2);
You can also cast a long string as a null-terminated string. The following rules apply.
• If S is a long-string expression, PChar(S) casts S as a null-terminated string; it
returns a pointer to the first character in S.
On Windows:
For example, if Str1 and Str2 are long strings, you could call the Win32 API
MessageBox function like this:
MessageBox(0, PChar(Str1), PChar(Str2), MB_OK);
(The declaration of MessageBox is located in the Windows unit.)
On Linux:
For example, if Str is a long string, you could call the opendir system function
like this:
opendir(PChar(Str));
(The declaration of opendir is located in the Libc unit.)
• You can also use Pointer(S) to cast a long string to an untyped pointer. But if S is
empty, the typecast returns nil.

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 Structured types

• PChar(S) always returns a pointer to a memory block; if S is empty, a pointer to #0

is returned.
• When you cast a long-string variable to a pointer, the pointer remains valid until
the variable is assigned a new value or goes out of scope. If you cast any other
long-string expression to a pointer, the pointer is valid only within the statement
where the typecast is performed.
• When you cast a long-string expression to a pointer, the pointer should usually be
considered read-only. You can safely use the pointer to modify the long string
only when all of the following conditions are satisfied.
• The expression cast is a long-string variable.
• The string is not empty.
• The string is unique—that is, has a reference count of one. To guarantee that the
string is unique, call the SetLength, SetString, or UniqueString procedure.
• The string has not been modified since the typecast was made.
• The characters modified are all within the string. Be careful not to use an out-of-
range index on the pointer.
The same rules apply when mixing WideString values with PWideChar values.

Structured types
Instances of a structured type hold more than one value. Structured types include
sets, arrays, records, and files as well as class, class-reference, and interface types. (For
information about class and class-reference types, see Chapter 7, “Classes and
objects.” For information about interfaces, see Chapter 10, “Object interfaces”).
Except for sets, which hold ordinal values only, structured types can contain other
structured types; a type can have unlimited levels of structuring.
By default, the values in a structured type are aligned on word or double-word
boundaries for faster access. When you declare a structured type, you can include the
reserved word packed to implement compressed data storage. For example,
type TNumbers = packed array[1..100] of Real;
Using packed slows data access and, in the case of a character array, affects type
compatibility (for more information, see Chapter 11, “Memory management”).

Data types, variables, and constants 5-17

Structured types

Sets
A set is a collection of values of the same ordinal type. The values have no inherent
order, nor is it meaningful for a value to be included twice in a set.
The range of a set type is the power set of a specific ordinal type, called the base type;
that is, the possible values of the set type are all the subsets of the base type,
including the empty set. The base type can have no more than 256 possible values,
and their ordinalities must fall between 0 and 255. Any construction of the form
set of baseType
where baseType is an appropriate ordinal type, identifies a set type.
Because of the size limitations for base types, set types are usually defined with
subranges. For example, the declarations
type
TSomeInts = 1..250;
TIntSet = set of TSomeInts;
create a set type called TIntSet whose values are collections of integers in the range
from 1 to 250. You could accomplish the same thing with
type TIntSet = set of 1..250;
Given this declaration, you can create a sets like this:
var Set1, Set2: TIntSet;
ƒ
Set1 := [1, 3, 5, 7, 9];
Set2 := [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
You can also use the set of ... construction directly in variable declarations:
var MySet: set of 'a'..'z';
ƒ
MySet := ['a','b','c'];
Other examples of set types include
set of Byte
set of (Club, Diamond, Heart, Spade)
set of Char;
The in operator tests set membership:
if 'a' in MySet then ... { do something } ;
Every set type can hold the empty set, denoted by []. For more information about
sets, see “Set constructors” on page 4-14 and “Set operators” on page 4-11.

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 Structured types

Arrays
An array represents an indexed collection of elements of the same type (called the
base type). Because each element has a unique index, arrays, unlike sets, can
meaningfully contain the same value more than once. Arrays can be allocated
statically or dynamically.

Static arrays
Static array types are denoted by constructions of the form
array[indexType1, ..., indexTypen] of baseType
where each indexType is an ordinal type whose range does not exceed 2GB. Since the
indexTypes index the array, the number of elements an array can hold is limited by
the product of the sizes of the indexTypes. In practice, indexTypes are usually integer
subranges.
In the simplest case of a one-dimensional array, there is only a single indexType. For
example,
var MyArray: array[1..100] of Char;
declares a variable called MyArray that holds an array of 100 character values. Given
this declaration, MyArray[3] denotes the third character in MyArray. If you create a
static array but don’t assign values to all its elements, the unused elements are still
allocated and contain random data; they are like uninitialized variables.
A multidimensional array is an array of arrays. For example,
type TMatrix = array[1..10] of array[1..50] of Real;
is equivalent to
type TMatrix = array[1..10, 1..50] of Real;
Whichever way TMatrix is declared, it represents an array of 500 real values. A
variable MyMatrix of type TMatrix can be indexed like this: MyMatrix[2,45]; or like
this: MyMatrix[2][45]. Similarly,
packed array[Boolean,1..10,TShoeSize] of Integer;
is equivalent to
packed array[Boolean] of packed array[1..10] of packed array[TShoeSize] of Integer;
The standard functions Low and High operate on array type identifiers and variables.
They return the low and high bounds of the array’s first index type. The standard
function Length returns the number of elements in the array’s first dimension.
A one-dimensional, packed, static array of Char values is called a packed string.
Packed-string types are compatible with string types and with other packed-string
types that have the same number of elements. See “Type compatibility and identity”
on page 5-37.
An array type of the form array[0..x] of Char is called a zero-based character array.
Zero-based character arrays are used to store null-terminated strings and are
compatible with PChar values. See “Working with null-terminated strings” on
page 5-14.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-19

Structured types

Dynamic arrays
Dynamic arrays do not have a fixed size or length. Instead, memory for a dynamic
array is reallocated when you assign a value to the array or pass it to the SetLength
procedure. Dynamic-array types are denoted by constructions of the form
array of baseType
For example,
var MyFlexibleArray: array of Real;
declares a one-dimensional dynamic array of reals. The declaration does not allocate
memory for MyFlexibleArray. To create the array in memory, call SetLength. For
example, given the previous declaration,
SetLength(MyFlexibleArray, 20);
allocates an array of 20 reals, indexed 0 to 19. Dynamic arrays are always integer-
indexed, always starting from 0.
Dynamic-array variables are implicitly pointers and are managed by the same
reference-counting technique used for long strings. To deallocate a dynamic array,
assign nil to a variable that references the array or pass the variable to Finalize; either
of these methods disposes of the array, provided there are no other references to it.
Dynamic arrays are automatically released when their reference-count drops to zero.
Dynamic arrays of length 0 have the value nil. Do not apply the dereference operator
(^) to a dynamic-array variable or pass it to the New or Dispose procedure.
If X and Y are variables of the same dynamic-array type, X := Y points X to the same
array as Y. (There is no need to allocate memory for X before performing this
operation.) Unlike strings and static arrays, COPY-ON-WRITE is not employed for
dynamic arrays, so they are not automatically copied before they are written to. For
example, after this code executes,
var
A, B: array of Integer;
begin
SetLength(A, 1);
A[0] := 1;
B := A;
B[0] := 2;
end;
the value of A[0] is 2. (If A and B were static arrays, A[0] would still be 1.)
Assigning to a dynamic-array index (for example, MyFlexibleArray[2] := 7) does not
reallocate the array. Out-of-range indexes are not reported at compile time.

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 Structured types

In contrast, to make an independent copy of a dynamic array, you must use the
global Copy function:
var
A, B: array of Integer;
begin
SetLength(A, 1);
A[0] := 1;
B := Copy(A);
B[0] := 2; { B[0] <> A[0] }
end;
When dynamic-array variables are compared, their references are compared, not
their array values. Thus, after execution of the code
var
A, B: array of Integer;
begin
SetLength(A, 1);
SetLength(B, 1);
A[0] := 2;
B[0] := 2;
end;
A = B returns False but A[0] = B[0] returns True.
To truncate a dynamic array, pass it to SetLength, or pass it to Copy and assign the
result back to the array variable. (The SetLength procedure is usually faster.) For
example, if A is a dynamic array, A := SetLength(A, 0, 20) truncates all but the first 20
elements of A.
Once a dynamic array has been allocated, you can pass it to the standard functions
Length, High, and Low. Length returns the number of elements in the array, High
returns the array’s highest index (that is, Length–1), and Low returns 0. In the case of a
zero-length array, High returns –1 (with the anomalous consequence that High <
Low).
Note In some function and procedure declarations, array parameters are represented as
array of baseType, without any index types specified. For example,
function CheckStrings(A: array of string): Boolean;
This indicates that the function operates on all arrays of the specified base type,
regardless of their size, how they are indexed, or whether they are allocated statically
or dynamically. See “Open array parameters” on page 6-16.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-21

Structured types

Multidimensional dynamic arrays

To declare multidimensional dynamic arrays, use iterated array of ... constructions.
For example,
type TMessageGrid = array of array of string;
var Msgs: TMessageGrid;
declares a two-dimensional array of strings. To instantiate this array, call SetLength
with two integer arguments. For example, if I and J are integer-valued variables,
SetLength(Msgs,I,J);
allocates an I-by-J array, and Msgs[0,0] denotes an element of that array.
You can create multidimensional dynamic arrays that are not rectangular. The first
step is to call SetLength, passing it parameters for the first n dimensions of the array.
For example,
var Ints: array of array of Integer;
SetLength(Ints,10);
allocates ten rows for Ints but no columns. Later, you can allocate the columns one at
a time (giving them different lengths); for example
SetLength(Ints[2], 5);
makes the third column of Ints five integers long. At this point (even if the other
columns haven’t been allocated) you can assign values to the third column—for
example, Ints[2,4] := 6.
The following example uses dynamic arrays (and the IntToStr function declared in
the SysUtils unit) to create a triangular matrix of strings.
var
A : array of array of string;
I, J : Integer;
begin
SetLength(A, 10);
for I := Low(A) to High(A) do
begin
SetLength(A[I], I);
for J := Low(A[I]) to High(A[I]) do
A[I,J] := IntToStr(I) + ',' + IntToStr(J) + ' ';
end;
end;

Array types and assignments

Arrays are assignment-compatible only if they are of the same type. Because the
Delphi language uses name-equivalence for types, the following code will not
compile.
var
Int1: array[1..10] of Integer;
Int2: array[1..10] of Integer;
ƒ
Int1 := Int2;

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 Structured types

To make the assignment work, declare the variables as

var Int1, Int2: array[1..10] of Integer;
or
type IntArray = array[1..10] of Integer;
var
Int1: IntArray;
Int2: IntArray;

Records
A record (analogous to a structure in some languages) represents a heterogeneous set
of elements. Each element is called a field; the declaration of a record type specifies a
name and type for each field. The syntax of a record type declaration is
type recordTypeName = record
fieldList1: type1;
ƒ
fieldListn: typen;
end
where recordTypeName is a valid identifier, each type denotes a type, and each fieldList
is a valid identifier or a comma-delimited list of identifiers. The final semicolon is
optional.
For example, the following declaration creates a record type called TDateRec.
type
TDateRec = record
Year: Integer;
Month: (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun,
Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec);
Day: 1..31;
end;
Each TDateRec contains three fields: an integer value called Year, a value of an
enumerated type called Month, and another integer between 1 and 31 called Day. The
identifiers Year, Month, and Day are the field designators for TDateRec, and they behave
like variables. The TDateRec type declaration, however, does not allocate any
memory for the Year, Month, and Day fields; memory is allocated when you
instantiate the record, like this:
var Record1, Record2: TDateRec;
This variable declaration creates two instances of TDateRec, called Record1 and
Record2.
You can access the fields of a record by qualifying the field designators with the
record’s name:
Record1.Year := 1904;
Record1.Month := Jun;
Record1.Day := 16;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-23

Structured types

Or use a with statement:

with Record1 do
begin
Year := 1904;
Month := Jun;
Day := 16;
end;
You can now copy the values of Record1’s fields to Record2:
Record2 := Record1;
Because the scope of a field designator is limited to the record in which it occurs, you
don’t have to worry about naming conflicts between field designators and other
variables.
Instead of defining record types, you can use the record ... construction directly in
variable declarations:
var S: record
Name: string;
Age: Integer;
end;
However, a declaration like this largely defeats the purpose of records, which is to
avoid repetitive coding of similar groups of variables. Moreover, separately declared
records of this kind will not be assignment-compatible, even if their structures are
identical (See “Assignment-compatibility” on page 5-38).

Variant parts in records

A record type can have a variant part, which looks like a case statement. The variant
part must follow the other fields in the record declaration.
To declare a record type with a variant part, use the following syntax.
type recordTypeName = record
fieldList1: type1;
ƒ
fieldListn: typen;
case tag: ordinalType of
constantList1: (variant1);
ƒ
constantListn: (variantn);
end;
The first part of the declaration—up to the reserved word case—is the same as that of
a standard record type. The remainder of the declaration—from case to the optional
final semicolon—is called the variant part. In the variant part,
• tag is optional and can be any valid identifier. If you omit tag, omit the colon (:)
after it as well.
• ordinalType denotes an ordinal type.

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 Structured types

• Each constantList is a constant denoting a value of type ordinalType, or a comma-

delimited list of such constants. No value can be represented more than once in the
combined constantLists.
• Each variant is a semicolon-delimited list of declarations resembling the fieldList:
type constructions in the main part of the record type. That is, a variant has the
form
fieldList1: type1;
ƒ
fieldListn: typen;
where each fieldList is a valid identifier or comma-delimited list of identifiers, each
type denotes a type, and the final semicolon is optional. The types must not be long
strings, dynamic arrays, variants (that is, Variant types), or interfaces, nor can they
be structured types that contain long strings, dynamic arrays, variants, or
interfaces; but they can be pointers to these types.
Records with variant parts are complicated syntactically but deceptively simple
semantically. The variant part of a record contains several variants which share the
same space in memory. You can read or write to any field of any variant at any time;
but if you write to a field in one variant and then to a field in another variant, you may
be overwriting your own data. The tag, if there is one, functions as an extra field (of
type ordinalType) in the non-variant part of the record.
Variant parts have two purposes. First, suppose you want to create a record type that
has fields for different kinds of data, but you know that you will never need to use all
of the fields in a single record instance. For example,
type
TEmployee = record
FirstName, LastName: string[40];
BirthDate: TDate;
case Salaried: Boolean of
True: (AnnualSalary: Currency);
False: (HourlyWage: Currency);
end;
The idea here is that every employee has either a salary or an hourly wage, but not
both. So when you create an instance of TEmployee, there is no reason to allocate
enough memory for both fields. In this case, the only difference between the variants
is in the field names, but the fields could just as easily have been of different types.
Consider some more complicated examples:
type
TPerson = record
FirstName, LastName: string[40];
BirthDate: TDate;
case Citizen: Boolean of
True: (Birthplace: string[40]);
False: (Country: string[20];
EntryPort: string[20];
EntryDate, ExitDate: TDate);
end;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-25

Structured types

type
TShapeList = (Rectangle, Triangle, Circle, Ellipse, Other);
TFigure = record
case TShapeList of
Rectangle: (Height, Width: Real);
Triangle: (Side1, Side2, Angle: Real);
Circle: (Radius: Real);
Ellipse, Other: ();
end;
For each record instance, the compiler allocates enough memory to hold all the fields
in the largest variant. The optional tag and the constantLists (like Rectangle, Triangle,
and so forth in the last example) play no role in the way the compiler manages the
fields; they are there only for the convenience of the programmer.
The second reason for variant parts is that they let you treat the same data as
belonging to different types, even in cases where the compiler would not allow a
typecast. For example, if you have a 64-bit Real as the first field in one variant and a
32-bit Integer as the first field in another, you can assign a value to the Real field and
then read back the first 32 bits of it as the value of the Integer field (passing it, say, to a
function that requires integer parameters).

File types
A file a sequence of elements of the same type. Standard I/O routines use the
predefined TextFile or Text type, which represents a file containing characters
organized into lines. For more information about file input and output, see
Chapter 8, “Standard routines and I/O”.
To declare a file type, use the syntax
type fileTypeName = file of type
where fileTypeName is any valid identifier and type is a fixed-size type. Pointer
types—whether implicit or explicit—are not allowed, so a file cannot contain
dynamic arrays, long strings, classes, objects, pointers, variants, other files, or
structured types that contain any of these.
For example,
type
PhoneEntry = record
FirstName, LastName: string[20];
PhoneNumber: string[15];
Listed: Boolean;
end;
PhoneList = file of PhoneEntry;
declares a file type for recording names and telephone numbers.

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 Pointers and pointer types

You can also use the file of ... construction directly in a variable declaration. For
example,
var List1: file of PhoneEntry;
The word file by itself indicates an untyped file:
var DataFile: file;
For more information, see “Untyped files” on page 8-4.
Files are not allowed in arrays or records.

Pointers and pointer types

A pointer is a variable that denotes a memory address. When a pointer holds the
address of another variable, we say that it points to the location of that variable in
memory or to the data stored there. In the case of an array or other structured type, a
pointer holds the address of the first element in the structure. If that address is
already taken, then the pointer holds the address to the first element.
Pointers are typed to indicate the kind of data stored at the addresses they hold. The
general-purpose Pointer type can represent a pointer to any data, while more
specialized pointer types reference only specific types of data. Pointers occupy four
bytes of memory.

Overview of pointers
To see how pointers work, look at the following example.
1 var
2 X, Y: Integer; // X and Y are Integer variables
3 P: ^Integer; // P points to an Integer
4 begin
5 X := 17; // assign a value to X
6 P := @X; // assign the address of X to P
7 Y := P^; // dereference P; assign the result to Y
8 end;
Line 2 declares X and Y as variables of type Integer. Line 3 declares P as a pointer to
an Integer value; this means that P can point to the location of X or Y. Line 5 assigns a
value to X, and line 6 assigns the address of X (denoted by @X) to P. Finally, line 7
retrieves the value at the location pointed to by P (denoted by ^P) and assigns it to Y.
After this code executes, X and Y have the same value, namely 17.
The @ operator, which we have used here to take the address of a variable, also
operates on functions and procedures. For more information, see “The @ operator”
on page 4-12 and “Procedural types in statements and expressions” on page 5-32.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-27

Pointers and pointer types

The symbol ^ has two purposes, both of which are illustrated in our example. When
it appears before a type identifier—
^typeName
—it denotes a type that represents pointers to variables of type typeName. When it
appears after a pointer variable—
pointer^
—it dereferences the pointer; that is, it returns the value stored at the memory address
held by the pointer.
Our example may seem like a roundabout way of copying the value of one variable
to another—something that we could have accomplished with a simple assignment
statement. But pointers are useful for several reasons. First, understanding pointers
will help you to understand the Delphi language, since pointers often operate behind
the scenes in code where they don’t appear explicitly. Any data type that requires
large, dynamically allocated blocks of memory uses pointers. Long-string variables,
for instance, are implicitly pointers, as are class instance variables. Moreover, some
advanced programming techniques require the use of pointers.
Finally, pointers are sometimes the only way to circumvent Delphi’s strict data
typing. By referencing a variable with an all-purpose Pointer, casting the Pointer to a
more specific type, and then dereferencing it, you can treat the data stored by any
variable as if it belonged to any type. For example, the following code assigns data
stored in a real variable to an integer variable.
type
PInteger = ^Integer;
var
R: Single;
I: Integer;
P: Pointer;
PI: PInteger;
begin
ƒ
P := @R;
PI := PInteger(P);
I := PI^;
end;
Of course, reals and integers are stored in different formats. This assignment simply
copies raw binary data from R to I, without converting it.
In addition to assigning the result of an @ operation, you can use several standard
routines to give a value to a pointer. The New and GetMem procedures assign a
memory address to an existing pointer, while the Addr and Ptr functions return a
pointer to a specified address or variable.
Dereferenced pointers can be qualified and can function as qualifiers, as in the
expression P1^.Data^.
The reserved word nil is a special constant that can be assigned to any pointer. When
nil is assigned to a pointer, the pointer doesn’t reference anything.

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 Pointers and pointer types

Pointer types
You can declare a pointer to any type, using the syntax
type pointerTypeName = ^type
When you define a record or other data type, it’s a common practice also to define a
pointer to that type. This makes it easy to manipulate instances of the type without
copying large blocks of memory.
Standard pointer types exist for many purposes. The most versatile is Pointer, which
can point to data of any kind. But a Pointer variable cannot be dereferenced; placing
the ^ symbol after a Pointer variable causes a compilation error. To access the data
referenced by a Pointer variable, first cast it to another pointer type and then
dereference it.

Character pointers
The fundamental types PAnsiChar and PWideChar represent pointers to AnsiChar and
WideChar values, respectively. The generic PChar represents a pointer to a Char (that
is, in its current implementation, to an AnsiChar). These character pointers are used to
manipulate null-terminated strings. (See “Working with null-terminated strings” on
page 5-14.)

Type-checked pointers
The $T compiler directive controls the types of pointer values generated by the @
operator. This directive takes the form of:
{$T+} or {$T-}
In the {$T-} state, the result type of the @ operator is always an untyped pointer that
is compatible with all other pointer types. When @ is applied to a variable reference
in the {$T+} state, the type of the result is ^T, where T is compatible only with
pointers to the type of the variable.

Other standard pointer types

The System and SysUtils units declare many standard pointer types that are
commonly used.

Table 5.6 Selected pointer types declared in System and SysUtils

Pointer type Points to variables of type
PAnsiString, PString AnsiString
PByteArray TByteArray (declared in SysUtils). Used to typecast dynamically
allocated memory for array access.
PCurrency, PDouble, Currency, Double, Extended, Single
PExtended, PSingle
PInteger Integer
POleVariant OleVariant

Data types, variables, and constants 5-29

Procedural types

Table 5.6 Selected pointer types declared in System and SysUtils (continued)
Pointer type Points to variables of type
PShortString ShortString. Useful when porting legacy code that uses the old PString
type.
PTextBuf TTextBuf (declared in SysUtils). TTextBuf is the internal buffer type in a
TTextRec file record.)
PVarRec TVarRec (declared in System)
PVariant Variant
PWideString WideString
PWordArray TWordArray (declared in SysUtils). Used to typecast dynamically
allocated memory for arrays of 2-byte values.

Procedural types
Procedural types allow you to treat procedures and functions as values that can be
assigned to variables or passed to other procedures and functions. For example,
suppose you define a function called Calc that takes two integer parameters and
returns an integer:
function Calc(X,Y: Integer): Integer;
You can assign the Calc function to the variable F:
var F: function(X,Y: Integer): Integer;
F := Calc;
If you take any procedure or function heading and remove the identifier after the
word procedure or function, what’s left is the name of a procedural type. You can
use such type names directly in variable declarations (as in the previous example) or
to declare new types:
type
TIntegerFunction = function: Integer;
TProcedure = procedure;
TStrProc = procedure(const S: string);
TMathFunc = function(X: Double): Double;
var
F: TIntegerFunction; { F is a parameterless function that returns an integer }
Proc: TProcedure; { Proc is a parameterless procedure }
SP: TStrProc; { SP is a procedure that takes a string parameter }
M: TMathFunc; { M is a function that takes a Double (real) parameter
and returns a Double }
procedure FuncProc(P: TIntegerFunction); { FuncProc is a procedure whose only parameter
is a parameterless integer-valued function }

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 Procedural types

The previous variables are all procedure pointers—that is, pointers to the address of a
procedure or function. If you want to reference a method of an instance object (see
Chapter 7, “Classes and objects”), you need to add the words of object to the
procedural type name. For example
type
TMethod = procedure of object;
TNotifyEvent = procedure(Sender: TObject) of object;
These types represent method pointers. A method pointer is really a pair of pointers;
the first stores the address of a method, and the second stores a reference to the object
the method belongs to. Given the declarations
type
TNotifyEvent = procedure(Sender: TObject) of object;
TMainForm = class(TForm)
procedure ButtonClick(Sender: TObject);
ƒ
end;
var
MainForm: TMainForm;
OnClick: TNotifyEvent
we could make the following assignment.
OnClick := MainForm.ButtonClick;
Two procedural types are compatible if they have
• the same calling convention,
• the same return value (or no return value), and
• the same number of parameters, with identically typed parameters in
corresponding positions. (Parameter names do not matter.)
Procedure pointer types are always incompatible with method pointer types. The
value nil can be assigned to any procedural type.
Nested procedures and functions (routines declared within other routines) cannot be
used as procedural values, nor can predefined procedures and functions. If you want
to use a predefined routine like Length as a procedural value, write a wrapper for it:
function FLength(S: string): Integer;
begin
Result := Length(S);
end;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-31

Procedural types

Procedural types in statements and expressions

When a procedural variable is on the left side of an assignment statement, the
compiler expects a procedural value on the right. The assignment makes the variable
on the left a pointer to the function or procedure indicated on the right. In other
contexts, however, using a procedural variable results in a call to the referenced
procedure or function. You can even use a procedural variable to pass parameters:
var
F: function(X: Integer): Integer;
I: Integer;
function SomeFunction(X: Integer): Integer;
ƒ
F := SomeFunction; // assign SomeFunction to F
I := F(4); // call function; assign result to I
In assignment statements, the type of the variable on the left determines the
interpretation of procedure or method pointers on the right. For example,
var
F, G: function: Integer;
I: Integer;
function SomeFunction: Integer;
ƒ
F := SomeFunction; // assign SomeFunction to F
G := F; // copy F to G
I := G; // call function; assign result to I
The first statement assigns a procedural value to F. The second statement copies that
value to another variable. The third statement makes a call to the referenced function
and assigns the result to I. Because I is an integer variable, not a procedural one, the
last assignment actually calls the function (which returns an integer).
In some situations it is less clear how a procedural variable should be interpreted.
Consider the statement
if F = MyFunction then ...;
In this case, the occurrence of F results in a function call; the compiler calls the
function pointed to by F, then calls the function MyFunction, then compares the
results. The rule is that whenever a procedural variable occurs within an expression,
it represents a call to the referenced procedure or function. In a case where F
references a procedure (which doesn’t return a value), or where F references a
function that requires parameters, the previous statement causes a compilation error.
To compare the procedural value of F with MyFunction, use
if @F = @MyFunction then ...;
@F converts F into an untyped pointer variable that contains an address, and
@MyFunction returns the address of MyFunction.
To get the memory address of a procedural variable (rather than the address stored
in it), use @@. For example, @@F returns the address of F.

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 Variant types

The @ operator can also be used to assign an untyped pointer value to a procedural
variable. For example,
var StrComp: function(Str1, Str2: PChar): Integer;
ƒ
@StrComp := GetProcAddress(KernelHandle, 'lstrcmpi');
calls the GetProcAddress function and points StrComp to the result.
Any procedural variable can hold the value nil, which means that it points to
nothing. But attempting to call a nil-valued procedural variable is an error. To test
whether a procedural variable is assigned, use the standard function Assigned:
if Assigned(OnClick) then OnClick(X);

Variant types
Sometimes it is necessary to manipulate data whose type varies or cannot be
determined at compile time. In these cases, one option is to use variables and
parameters of type Variant, which represent values that can change type at runtime.
Variants offer greater flexibility but consume more memory than regular variables,
and operations on them are slower than on statically bound types. Moreover, illicit
operations on variants often result in runtime errors, where similar mistakes with
regular variables would have been caught at compile time. You can also create
custom variant types.
By default, Variants can hold values of any type except records, sets, static arrays,
files, classes, class references, and pointers. In other words, variants can hold
anything but structured types and pointers. They can hold interfaces, whose methods
and properties can be accessed through them. (See Chapter 10, “Object interfaces”.)
They can hold dynamic arrays, and they can hold a special kind of static array called
a variant array. (See “Variant arrays” on page 5-36.) Variants can mix with other
variants and with integer, real, string, and Boolean values in expressions and
assignments; the compiler automatically performs type conversions.
Variants that contain strings cannot be indexed. That is, if V is a variant that holds a
string value, the construction V[1] causes a runtime error.
You can define custom Variants that extend the Variant type to hold arbitrary values.
For example, you can define a Variant string type that allows indexing or that holds a
particular class reference, record type, or static array. Custom Variant types are
defined by creating descendants to the TCustomVariantType class.
Note This, and almost all variant functionality, is implemented in the Variants unit.
A variant occupies 16 bytes of memory and consists of a type code and a value, or
pointer to a value, of the type specified by the code. All variants are initialized on
creation to the special value Unassigned. The special value Null indicates unknown or
missing data.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-33

Variant types

The standard function VarType returns a variant’s type code. The varTypeMask
constant is a bit mask used to extract the code from VarType’s return value, so that,
for example,
VarType(V) and varTypeMask = varDouble
returns True if V contains a Double or an array of Double. (The mask simply hides the
first bit, which indicates whether the variant holds an array.) The TVarData record
type defined in the System unit can be used to typecast variants and gain access to
their internal representation.

Variant type conversions

All integer, real, string, character, and Boolean types are assignment-compatible with
Variant. Expressions can be explicitly cast as variants, and the VarAsType and VarCast
standard routines can be used to change the internal representation of a variant. The
following code demonstrates the use of variants and some of the automatic
conversions performed when variants are mixed with other types.
var
V1, V2, V3, V4, V5: Variant;
I: Integer;
D: Double;
S: string;
begin
V1 := 1; { integer value }
V2 := 1234.5678; { real value }
V3 := 'Hello world!'; { string value }
V4 := '1000'; { string value }
V5 := V1 + V2 + V4; { real value 2235.5678}
I := V1; { I = 1 (integer value) }
D := V2; { D = 1234.5678 (real value) }
S := V3; { S = 'Hello world!' (string value) }
I := V4; { I = 1000 (integer value) }
S := V5; { S = '2235.5678' (string value) }
end;
The compiler performs type conversions according to the following rules.

Table 5.7 Variant type conversion rules

Target
Source integer real string Boolean
integer converts integer converts to converts to returns False if 0, True
formats real string otherwise
representation
real rounds to converts real converts to returns False if 0, True
nearest integer formats string otherwise
representation
using regional
settings

5-34 Delphi Language Guide

 Variant types

Table 5.7 Variant type conversion rules (continued)

string converts to converts to converts returns False if string is
integer, real using string/ “false” (non–case-sensitive)
truncating if regional character or a numeric string that
necessary; raises settings; raises formats evaluates to 0, True if string
exception if exception if is “true” or a nonzero
string is not string is not numeric string; raises
numeric numeric exception otherwise
character same as string same as string same as string same as string (above)
(above) (above) (above)
Boolean False = 0, False = 0, False = “0”, False = False,
True = –1 True = –1 True = “–1” True = True
(255 if Byte)
Unassigned returns 0 returns 0 returns empty returns False
string
Null raises exception raises raises raises exception
exception exception

Out-of-range assignments often result in the target variable getting the highest value
in its range. Invalid variant operations, assignments or casts raise an EVariantError
exception or an exception class decending from EVariantError.
Special conversion rules apply to the TDateTime real type declared in the System unit.
When a TDateTime is converted to any other type, it treated as a normal Double. When
an integer, real, or Boolean is converted to a TDateTime, it is first converted to a
Double, then read as a date-time value. When a string is converted to a TDateTime, it is
interpreted as a date-time value using the regional settings. When an Unassigned
value is converted to TDateTime, it is treated like the real or integer value 0.
Converting a Null value to TDateTime raises an exception.
On Windows, if a variant references a COM interface, any attempt to convert it reads
the object’s default property and converts that value to the requested type. If the
object has no default property, an exception is raised.

Variants in expressions
All operators except ^, is, and in take variant operands. Except for comparisons,
which always return a Boolean result, any operation on a variant value returns a
variant result. If an expression combines variants with statically-typed values, the
statically-typed values are automatically converted to variants.
This is not true for comparisons, where any operation on a Null variant produces a
Null variant. For example:
V := Null + 3;
assigns a Null variant to V. By default, comparisons treat the Null variant as a unique
value that is less than any other value. For example:
If Null > -3 Then... Else...;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-35

Variant types

In this example, the Else part of the If statement will be executed. This behavior can
be changed by setting the NullEqualityRule and NullMagnitudeRule global
variables. Refer to the CLX online documentation for more information.

Variant arrays
You cannot assign an ordinary static array to a variant. Instead, create a variant array
by calling either of the standard functions VarArrayCreate or VarArrayOf. For
example,
V: Variant;
ƒ
V := VarArrayCreate([0,9], varInteger);
creates a variant array of integers (of length 10) and assigns it to the variant V. The
array can be indexed using V[0], V[1], and so forth, but it is not possible to pass a
variant array element as a var parameter. Variant arrays are always indexed with
integers.
The second parameter in the call to VarArrayCreate is the type code for the array’s
base type. For a list of these codes, see the online Help on VarType. Never pass the
code varString to VarArrayCreate; to create a variant array of strings, use varOleStr.
Variants can hold variant arrays of different sizes, dimensions, and base types. The
elements of a variant array can be of any type allowed in variants except ShortString
and AnsiString, and if the base type of the array is Variant, its elements can even be
heterogeneous. Use the VarArrayRedim function to resize a variant array. Other
standard routines that operate on variant arrays include VarArrayDimCount,
VarArrayLowBound, VarArrayHighBound, VarArrayRef, VarArrayLock, and
VarArrayUnlock.
Note Variant arrays of custom variants are not supported, as instances of custom variants
can be added to a VarVariant variant array.
When a variant containing a variant array is assigned to another variant or passed as
a value parameter, the entire array is copied. Don’t perform such operations
unnecessarily, since they are memory-inefficient.

OleVariant
The OleVariant type exists on both the Windows and Linux platforms. The main
difference between Variant and OleVariant is that Variant can contain data types that
only the current application knows what to do with. OleVariant can only contain the
data types defined as compatible with OLE Automation which means that the data
types that can be passed between programs or across the network without worrying
about whether the other end will know how to handle the data.

5-36 Delphi Language Guide

 Type compatibility and identity

When you assign a Variant that contains custom data (such as a Delphi string, or a
one of the new custom variant types) to an OleVariant, the runtime library tries to
convert the Variant into one of the OleVariant standard data types (such as a Delphi
string converts to an OLE BSTR string). For example, if a variant containing an
AnsiString is assigned to an OleVariant, the AnsiString becomes a WideString. The
same is true when passing a Variant to an OleVariant function parameter.

Type compatibility and identity

To understand which operations can be performed on which expressions, we need to
distinguish several kinds of compatibility among types and values. These include
type identity, type compatibility, and assignment-compatibility.

Type identity
Type identity is almost straightforward. When one type identifier is declared using
another type identifier, without qualification, they denote the same type. Thus, given
the declarations
type
T1 = Integer;
T2 = T1;
T3 = Integer;
T4 = T2;
T1, T2, T3, T4, and Integer all denote the same type. To create distinct types, repeat the
word type in the declaration. For example,
type TMyInteger = type Integer;
creates a new type called TMyInteger which is not identical to Integer.
Language constructions that function as type names denote a different type each time
they occur. Thus the declarations
type
TS1 = set of Char;
TS2 = set of Char;
create two distinct types, TS1 and TS2. Similarly, the variable declarations
var
S1: string[10];
S2: string[10];
create two variables of distinct types. To create variables of the same type, use
var S1, S2: string[10];
or
type MyString = string[10];
var
S1: MyString;
S2: MyString;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-37

Type compatibility and identity

Type compatibility
Every type is compatible with itself. Two distinct types are compatible if they satisfy
at least one of the following conditions.
• They are both real types.
• They are both integer types.
• One type is a subrange of the other.
• Both types are subranges of the same type.
• Both are set types with compatible base types.
• Both are packed-string types with the same number of characters.
• One is a string type and the other is a string, packed-string, or Char type.
• One type is Variant and the other is an integer, real, string, character, or Boolean
type.
• Both are class, class-reference, or interface types, and one type is derived from the
other.
• One type is PChar or PWideChar and the other is a zero-based character array of the
form array[0..n] of PChar or PWideChar.
• One type is Pointer (an untyped pointer) and the other is any pointer type.
• Both types are (typed) pointers to the same type and the {$T+} compiler directive
is in effect.
• Both are procedural types with the same result type, the same number of
parameters, and type-identity between parameters in corresponding positions.

Assignment-compatibility
Assignment-compatibility is not a symmetric relation. An expression of type T2 can
be assigned to a variable of type T1 if the value of the expression falls in the range of
T1 and at least one of the following conditions is satisfied.
• T1 and T2 are of the same type, and it is not a file type or structured type that
contains a file type at any level.
• T1 and T2 are compatible ordinal types.
• T1 and T2 are both real types.
• T1 is a real type and T2 is an integer type.
• T1 is PChar, PWideChar or any string type and the expression is a string constant.
• T1 and T2 are both string types.
• T1 is a string type and T2 is a Char or packed-string type.
• T1 is a long string and T2 is PChar or PWideChar.

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 Declaring types

• T1 and T2 are compatible packed-string types.

• T1 and T2 are compatible set types.
• T1 and T2 are compatible pointer types.
• T1 and T2 are both class, class-reference, or interface types and T2 is a derived
from T1.
• T1 is an interface type and T2 is a class type that implements T1.
• T1 is PChar or PWideChar and T2 is a zero-based character array of the form
array[0..n] of Char (when T1 is PChar) or of WideChar (when T1 is PWideChar).
• T1 and T2 are compatible procedural types. (A function or procedure identifier is
treated, in certain assignment statements, as an expression of a procedural type.
See “Procedural types in statements and expressions” on page 5-32.)
• T1 is Variant and T2 is an integer, real, string, character, Boolean, interface type or
OleVariant type.
• T1 is an OleVariant and T2 is an integer, real, string, character, Boolean, interface,
or Variant type.
• T1 is an integer, real, string, character, or Boolean type and T2 is Variant or
OleVariant.
• T1 is the IUnknown or IDispatch interface type and T2 is Variant or OleVariant. (The
variant’s type code must be varEmpty, varUnknown, or varDispatch if T1 is
IUnknown, and varEmpty or varDispatch if T1 is IDispatch.)

Declaring types
A type declaration specifies an identifier that denotes a type. The syntax for a type
declaration is
type newTypeName = type
where newTypeName is a valid identifier. For example, given the type declaration
type TMyString = string;
you can make the variable declaration
var S: TMyString;
A type identifier’s scope doesn’t include the type declaration itself (except for pointer
types). So you cannot, for example, define a record type that uses itself recursively.
When you declare a type that is identical to an existing type, the compiler treats the
new type identifier as an alias for the old one. Thus, given the declarations
type TValue = Real;
var
X: Real;
Y: TValue;

Data types, variables, and constants 5-39

Variables

X and Y are of the same type; at runtime, there is no way to distinguish TValue from
Real. This is usually of little consequence, but if your purpose in defining a new type
is to utilize runtime type information—for example, to associate a property editor
with properties of a particular type—the distinction between “different name” and
“different type” becomes important. In this case, use the syntax
type newTypeName = type type
For example,
type TValue = type Real;
forces the compiler to create a new, distinct type called TValue.
For var parameters, types of formal and actual must be identical. For example,
type
TMyType = type Integer
procedure p(var t:TMyType);
begin end;

procedure x;
var
m: TMyType;
i: Integer;
begin
p(m); //Works
p(i); //Error! Types of formal and actual must be identical.
end;
Note This only applies to var parameters, not to const or by-value parameters

Variables
A variable is an identifier whose value can change at runtime. Put differently, a
variable is a name for a location in memory; you can use the name to read or write to
the memory location. Variables are like containers for data, and, because they are
typed, they tell the compiler how to interpret the data they hold.

Declaring variables
The basic syntax for a variable declaration is
var identifierList: type;
where identifierList is a comma-delimited list of valid identifiers and type is any valid
type. For example,
var I: Integer;
declares a variable I of type Integer, while
var X, Y: Real;
declares two variables—X and Y—of type Real.

5-40 Delphi Language Guide

 Variables

Consecutive variable declarations do not have to repeat the reserved word var:
var
X, Y, Z: Double;
I, J, K: Integer;
Digit: 0..9;
Okay: Boolean;
Variables declared within a procedure or function are sometimes called local, while
other variables are called global. Global variables can be initialized at the same time
they are declared, using the syntax
var identifier: type = constantExpression;
where constantExpression is any constant expression representing a value of type type.
(For more information about constant expressions, see “Constant expressions” on
page 5-44.) Thus the declaration
var I: Integer = 7;
is equivalent to the declaration and statement
var I: Integer;
ƒ
I := 7;
Multiple variable declarations (such as var X, Y, Z: Real;) cannot include
initializations, nor can declarations of variant and file-type variables.
If you don’t explicitly initialize a global variable, the compiler initializes it to 0. Local
variables, in contrast, cannot be initialized in their declarations and contain random
data until a value is assigned to them.
When you declare a variable, you are allocating memory which is freed
automatically when the variable is no longer used. In particular, local variables exist
only until the program exits from the function or procedure in which they are
declared. For more information about variables and memory management, see
Chapter 11, “Memory management”.

Absolute addresses
You can create a new variable that resides at the same address as another variable. To
do so, put the directive absolute after the type name in the declaration of the new
variable, followed by the name of an existing (previously declared) variable. For
example,
var
Str: string[32];
StrLen: Byte absolute Str;
specifies that the variable StrLen should start at the same address as Str. Since the first
byte of a short string contains the string’s length, the value of StrLen is the length of
Str.
You cannot initialize a variable in an absolute declaration or combine absolute with
any other directives.

Data types, variables, and constants 5-41

Declared constants

Dynamic variables
You can create dynamic variables by calling the GetMem or New procedure. Such
variables are allocated on the heap and are not managed automatically. Once you
create one, it is your responsibility ultimately to free the variable’s memory; use
FreeMem to destroy variables created by GetMem and Dispose to destroy variables
created by New. Other standard routines that operate on dynamic variables include
ReallocMem, AllocMem, Initialize, Finalize, StrAlloc, and StrDispose.
Long strings, wide strings, dynamic arrays, variants, and interfaces are also heap-
allocated dynamic variables, but their memory is managed automatically.

Thread-local variables
Thread-local (or thread) variables are used in multithreaded applications. A thread-
local variable is like a global variable, except that each thread of execution gets its
own private copy of the variable, which cannot be accessed from other threads.
Thread-local variables are declared with threadvar instead of var. For example,
threadvar X: Integer;
Thread-variable declarations
• cannot occur within a procedure or function.
• cannot include initializations.
• cannot specify the absolute directive.
Dynamic variables that are ordinarily managed by the compiler—long strings, wide
strings, dynamic arrays, variants, and interfaces—can be declared with threadvar,
but the compiler does not automatically free the heap-allocated memory created by
each thread of execution. If you use these data types in thread variables, it is your
responsibility to dispose of their memory from within the thread, before the thread
terminates. For example,
threadvar S: AnsiString;
S := 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
ƒ
S := ''; // free the memory used by S
Note Use of such constructs is discouraged.
You can free a variant by setting it to Unassigned and an interface or dynamic array by
setting it to nil.

Declared constants
Several different language constructions are referred to as “constants”. There are
numeric constants (also called numerals) like 17, and string constants (also called
character strings or string literals) like 'Hello world!'; for information about numeric
and string constants, see Chapter 4, “Syntactic elements”. Every enumerated type
defines constants that represent the values of that type. There are predefined
constants like True, False, and nil. Finally, there are constants that, like variables, are
created individually by declaration.

5-42 Delphi Language Guide

 Declared constants

Declared constants are either true constants or typed constants. These two kinds of
constant are superficially similar, but they are governed by different rules and used
for different purposes.

True constants
A true constant is a declared identifier whose value cannot change. For example,
const MaxValue = 237;
declares a constant called MaxValue that returns the integer 237. The syntax for
declaring a true constant is
const identifier = constantExpression
where identifier is any valid identifier and constantExpression is an expression that the
compiler can evaluate without executing your program. (See “Constant expressions”
on page 5-44 for more information.)
If constantExpression returns an ordinal value, you can specify the type of the declared
constant using a value typecast. For example
const MyNumber = Int64(17);
declares a constant called MyNumber, of type Int64, that returns the integer 17.
Otherwise, the type of the declared constant is the type of the constantExpression.
• If constantExpression is a character string, the declared constant is compatible with
any string type. If the character string is of length 1, it is also compatible with any
character type.
• If constantExpression is a real, its type is Extended. If it is an integer, its type is given
by the table below.

Table 5.8
Range of constant Range of constant Type
(hexadecimal) (decimal)
–$8000000000000000..–$80000001 –263..–2147483649 Int64
–$80000000..–$8001 –2147483648..–32769 Integer
–$8000..–$81 –32768..–129 Smallint
–$80..–1 –128..–1 Shortint
0..$7F 0..127 0..127
$80..$FF 128..255 Byte
$0100..$7FFF 256..32767 0..32767
$8000..$FFFF 32768..65535 Word
$10000..$7FFFFFFF 65536..2147483647 0..2147483647
$80000000..$FFFFFFFF 2147483648..4294967295 Cardinal
$100000000..$7FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF 4294967296..263–1 Int64

Data types, variables, and constants 5-43

Declared constants

Here are some examples of constant declarations:

const
Min = 0;
Max = 100;
Center = (Max - Min) div 2;
Beta = Chr(225);
NumChars = Ord('Z') - Ord('A') + 1;
Message = 'Out of memory';
ErrStr = ' Error: ' + Message + '. ';
ErrPos = 80 - Length(ErrStr) div 2;
Ln10 = 2.302585092994045684;
Ln10R = 1 / Ln10;
Numeric = ['0'..'9'];
Alpha = ['A'..'Z', 'a'..'z'];
AlphaNum = Alpha + Numeric;

Constant expressions
A constant expression is an expression that the compiler can evaluate without
executing the program in which it occurs. Constant expressions include numerals;
character strings; true constants; values of enumerated types; the special constants
True, False, and nil; and expressions built exclusively from these elements with
operators, typecasts, and set constructors. Constant expressions cannot include
variables, pointers, or function calls, except calls to the following predefined
functions:

Abs High Low Pred Succ

Chr Length Odd Round Swap
Hi Lo Ord SizeOf Trunc

This definition of a constant expression is used in several places in Delphi’s syntax

specification. Constant expressions are required for initializing global variables,
defining subrange types, assigning ordinalities to values in enumerated types,
specifying default parameter values, writing case statements, and declaring both true
and typed constants.
Examples of constant expressions:
100
'A'
256 - 1
(2.5 + 1) / (2.5 - 1)
'Borland' + ' ' + 'Developer'
Chr(32)
Ord('Z') - Ord('A') + 1

5-44 Delphi Language Guide

Resource strings
Resource strings are stored as resources and linked into the executable or library so
that they can be modified without recompiling the program. For more information,
see the online Help topics on localizing applications.
Resource strings are declared like other true constants, except that the word const is
replaced by resourcestring. The expression to the right of the = symbol must be a
constant expression and must return a string value. For example,
resourcestring
CreateError = 'Cannot create file %s'; { for explanations of format specifiers, }
OpenError = 'Cannot open file %s'; { see 'Format strings' in the online Help }
LineTooLong = 'Line too long';
ProductName = 'Borland Rocks';
SomeResourceString = SomeTrueConstant;

Typed constants
Typed constants, unlike true constants, can hold values of array, record, procedural,
and pointer types. Typed constants cannot occur in constant expressions.
Declare a typed constant like this:
const identifier: type = value
where identifier is any valid identifier, type is any type except files and variants, and
value is an expression of type type. For example,
const Max: Integer = 100;
In most cases, value must be a constant expression; but if type is an array, record,
procedural, or pointer type, special rules apply.

Array constants
To declare an array constant, enclose the values of the array’s elements, separated by
commas, in parentheses at the end of the declaration. These values must be
represented by constant expressions. For example,
const Digits: array[0..9] of Char = ('0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9');
declares a typed constant called Digits that holds an array of characters.
Zero-based character arrays often represent null-terminated strings, and for this
reason string constants can be used to initialize character arrays. So the previous
declaration can be more conveniently represented as
const Digits: array[0..9] of Char = '0123456789';
To define a multidimensional array constant, enclose the values of each dimension in
a separate set of parentheses, separated by commas. For example,
type TCube = array[0..1, 0..1, 0..1] of Integer;
const Maze: TCube = (((0, 1), (2, 3)), ((4, 5), (6,7)));

Data types, variables, and constants 5-45

 creates an array called Maze where
Maze[0,0,0] = 0
Maze[0,0,1] = 1
Maze[0,1,0] = 2
Maze[0,1,1] = 3
Maze[1,0,0] = 4
Maze[1,0,1] = 5
Maze[1,1,0] = 6
Maze[1,1,1] = 7
Array constants cannot contain file-type values at any level.

Record constants
To declare a record constant, specify the value of each field—as fieldName: value,
with the field assignments separated by semicolons—in parentheses at the end of the
declaration. The values must be represented by constant expressions. The fields must
be listed in the order in which they appear in the record type declaration, and the tag
field, if there is one, must have a value specified; if the record has a variant part, only
the variant selected by the tag field can be assigned values.
Examples:
type
TPoint = record
X, Y: Single;
end;
TVector = array[0..1] of TPoint;
TMonth = (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec);
TDate = record
D: 1..31;
M: TMonth;
Y: 1900..1999;
end;
const
Origin: TPoint = (X: 0.0; Y: 0.0);
Line: TVector = ((X: -3.1; Y: 1.5), (X: 5.8; Y: 3.0));
SomeDay: TDate = (D: 2; M: Dec; Y: 1960);
Record constants cannot contain file-type values at any level.

Procedural constants
To declare a procedural constant, specify the name of a function or procedure that is
compatible with the declared type of the constant. For example,
function Calc(X, Y: Integer): Integer;
begin
ƒ
end;
type TFunction = function(X, Y: Integer): Integer;
const MyFunction: TFunction = Calc;

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Given these declarations, you can use the procedural constant MyFunction in a
function call:
I := MyFunction(5, 7)
You can also assign the value nil to a procedural constant.

Pointer constants
When you declare a pointer constant, you must initialize it to a value that can be
resolved—at least as a relative address—at compile time. There are three ways to do
this: with the @ operator, with nil, and (if the constant is of type PChar or PWideChar)
with a string literal. For example, if I is a global variable of type Integer, you can
declare a constant like
const PI: ^Integer = @I;
The compiler can resolve this because global variables are part of the code segment.
So are functions and global constants:
const PF: Pointer = @MyFunction;
Because string literals are allocated as global constants, you can initialize a PChar
constant with a string literal:
const WarningStr: PChar = 'Warning!';

Data types, variables, and constants 5-47

5-48 Delphi Language Guide
 Chapter

Procedures and functions

Chapter6
6
Procedures and functions, referred to collectively as routines, are self-contained
statement blocks that can be called from different locations in a program. A function
is a routine that returns a value when it executes. A procedure is a routine that does
not return a value.
Function calls, because they return a value, can be used as expressions in
assignments and operations. For example,
I := SomeFunction(X);
calls SomeFunction and assigns the result to I. Function calls cannot appear on the left
side of an assignment statement.
Procedure calls—and, when extended syntax is enabled ({$X+}), function calls—can
be used as complete statements. For example,
DoSomething;
calls the DoSomething routine; if DoSomething is a function, its return value is
discarded.
Procedures and functions can call themselves recursively.

Procedures and functions 6-1

Declaring procedures and functions

Declaring procedures and functions

When you declare a procedure or function, you specify its name, the number and
type of parameters it takes, and, in the case of a function, the type of its return value;
this part of the declaration is sometimes called the prototype, heading, or header. Then
you write a block of code that executes whenever the procedure or function is called;
this part is sometimes called the routine’s body or block.

Procedure declarations
A procedure declaration has the form
procedure procedureName(parameterList); directives;
localDeclarations;
begin
statements
end;
where procedureName is any valid identifier, statements is a sequence of statements
that execute when the procedure is called, and (parameterList), directives;, and
localDeclarations; are optional.
• For information about the parameterList, see “Parameters” on page 6-11.
• For information about directives, see “Calling conventions” on page 6-5, “Forward
and interface declarations” on page 6-6, “External declarations” on page 6-6,
“Overloading procedures and functions” on page 6-8, and “Writing dynamically
loadable libraries” on page 9-4. If you include more than one directive, separate
them with semicolons.
• For information about localDeclarations, which declares local identifiers, see “Local
declarations” on page 6-11.
Here is an example of a procedure declaration:
procedure NumString(N: Integer; var S: string);
var
V: Integer;
begin
V := Abs(N);
S := '';
repeat
S := Chr(V mod 10 + Ord('0')) + S;
V := V div 10;
until V = 0;
if N < 0 then S := '-' + S;
end;
Given this declaration, you can call the NumString procedure like this:
NumString(17, MyString);

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 Declaring procedures and functions

This procedure call assigns the value “17” to MyString (which must be a string
variable).
Within a procedure’s statement block, you can use variables and other identifiers
declared in the localDeclarations part of the procedure. You can also use the parameter
names from the parameter list (like N and S in the previous example); the parameter
list defines a set of local variables, so don’t try to redeclare the parameter names in
the localDeclarations section. Finally, you can use any identifiers within whose scope
the procedure declaration falls.

Function declarations
A function declaration is like a procedure declaration except that it specifies a return
type and a return value. Function declarations have the form
function functionName(parameterList): returnType; directives;
localDeclarations;
begin
statements
end;
where functionName is any valid identifier, returnType is a type identifier, statements is
a sequence of statements that execute when the function is called, and
(parameterList), directives;, and localDeclarations; are optional.
• For information about the parameterList, see “Parameters” on page 6-11.
• For information about directives, see “Calling conventions” on page 6-5, “Forward
and interface declarations” on page 6-6, “External declarations” on page 6-6,
“Overloading procedures and functions” on page 6-8, and “Writing dynamically
loadable libraries” on page 9-4. If you include more than one directive, separate
them with semicolons.
• For information about localDeclarations, which declares local identifiers, see “Local
declarations” on page 6-11.
The function’s statement block is governed by the same rules that apply to
procedures. Within the statement block, you can use variables and other identifiers
declared in the localDeclarations part of the function, parameter names from the
parameter list, and any identifiers within whose scope the function declaration falls.
In addition, the function name itself acts as a special variable that holds the function’s
return value, as does the predefined variable Result.
As long as extended syntax is enabled ({$X+}), Result is implicitly declared in every
function. Do not try to redeclare it.
For example,
function WF: Integer;
begin
WF := 17;
end;

Procedures and functions 6-3

Declaring procedures and functions

defines a constant function called WF that takes no parameters and always returns
the integer value 17. This declaration is equivalent to
function WF: Integer;
begin
Result := 17;
end;
Here is a more complicated function declaration:
function Max(A: array of Real; N: Integer): Real;
var
X: Real;
I: Integer;
begin
X := A[0];
for I := 1 to N - 1 do
if X < A[I] then X := A[I];
Max := X;
end;
You can assign a value to Result or to the function name repeatedly within a
statement block, as long as you assign only values that match the declared return
type. When execution of the function terminates, whatever value was last assigned to
Result or to the function name becomes the function’s return value. For example,
function Power(X: Real; Y: Integer): Real;
var
I: Integer;
begin
Result := 1.0;
I := Y;
while I > 0 do
begin
if Odd(I) then Result := Result * X;
I := I div 2;
X := Sqr(X);
end;
end;
Result and the function name always represent the same value. Hence
function MyFunction: Integer;
begin
MyFunction := 5;
Result := Result * 2;
MyFunction := Result + 1;
end;
returns the value 11. But Result is not completely interchangeable with the function
name. When the function name appears on the left side of an assignment statement,
the compiler assumes that it is being used (like Result) to track the return value; when
the function name appears anywhere else in the statement block, the compiler
interprets it as a recursive call to the function itself. Result, on the other hand, can be
used as a variable in operations, typecasts, set constructors, indexes, and calls to
other routines.

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 Declaring procedures and functions

If the function exits without assigning a value to Result or the function name, then the
function’s return value is undefined.

Calling conventions
When you declare a procedure or function, you can specify a calling convention using
one of the directives register, pascal, cdecl, stdcall, and safecall. For example,
function MyFunction(X, Y: Real): Real; cdecl;
ƒ
Calling conventions determine the order in which parameters are passed to the
routine. They also affect the removal of parameters from the stack, the use of registers
for passing parameters, and error and exception handling. The default calling
convention is register.
• The register and pascal conventions pass parameters from left to right; that is, the
left most parameter is evaluated and passed first and the rightmost parameter is
evaluated and passed last. The cdecl, stdcall, and safecall conventions pass
parameters from right to left.
• For all conventions except cdecl, the procedure or function removes parameters
from the stack upon returning. With the cdecl convention, the caller removes
parameters from the stack when the call returns.
• The register convention uses up to three CPU registers to pass parameters, while
the other conventions pass all parameters on the stack.
• The safecall convention implements exception “firewalls.” On Windows, this
implements interprocess COM error notification.
The table below summarizes calling conventions.

Table 6.1 Calling conventions

Directive Parameter order Clean-up Passes parameters in registers?
register Left-to-right Routine Yes
pascal Left-to-right Routine No
cdecl Right-to-left Caller No
stdcall Right-to-left Routine No
safecall Right-to-left Routine No

The default register convention is the most efficient, since it usually avoids creation
of a stack frame. (Access methods for published properties must use register.) The
cdecl convention is useful when you call functions from shared libraries written in C
or C++, while stdcall and safecall are recommended, in general, for calls to external
code. On Windows, the operating system APIs are stdcall and safecall. Other
operating systems generally use cdecl. (Note that stdcall is more efficient than cdecl.)
The safecall convention must be used for declaring dual-interface methods (see
Chapter 10, “Object interfaces”). The pascal convention is maintained for backward
compatibility. For more information on calling conventions, see Chapter 12,
“Program control”.

Procedures and functions 6-5

Declaring procedures and functions

The directives near, far, and export refer to calling conventions in 16-bit Windows
programming. They have no effect in 32-bit applications and are maintained for
backward compatibility only.

Forward and interface declarations

The forward directive replaces the block, including local variable declarations and
statements, in a procedure or function declaration. For example,
function Calculate(X, Y: Integer): Real; forward;
declares a function called Calculate. Somewhere after the forward declaration, the
routine must be redeclared in a defining declaration that includes a block. The defining
declaration for Calculate might look like this:
function Calculate;
ƒ { declarations }
begin
ƒ { statement block }
end;
Ordinarily, a defining declaration does not have to repeat the routine’s parameter list
or return type, but if it does repeat them, they must match those in the forward
declaration exactly (except that default parameters can be omitted). If the forward
declaration specifies an overloaded procedure or function (see “Overloading
procedures and functions” on page 6-8), then the defining declaration must repeat
the parameter list.
A forward declaration and its defining declaration must appear in the same type
declaration section. That is, you can’t add a new section (such as a var section or
const section) between the forward declaration and the defining declaration. The
defining declaration can be an external or assembler declaration, but it cannot be
another forward declaration.
The purpose of a forward declaration is to extend the scope of a procedure or
function identifier to an earlier point in the source code. This allows other procedures
and functions to call the forward-declared routine before it is actually defined.
Besides letting you organize your code more flexibly, forward declarations are
sometimes necessary for mutual recursions.
The forward directive has no effect in the interface section of a unit. Procedure and
function headers in the interface section behave like forward declarations and must
have defining declarations in the implementation section. A routine declared in the
interface section is available from anywhere else in the unit and from any other unit
or program that uses the unit where it is declared.

External declarations
The external directive, which replaces the block in a procedure or function
declaration, allows you to call routines that are compiled separately from your
program. External routines can come from object files or dynamically loadable
libraries.

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 Declaring procedures and functions

When importing a C function that takes a variable number of parameters, use the
varargs directive. For example,
function printf(Format: PChar): Integer; cdecl; varargs;
The varargs directive works only with external routines and only with the cdecl
calling convention.

Linking to object files

To call routines from a separately compiled object file, first link the object file to your
application using the $L (or $LINK) compiler directive. For example,
On Windows:
{$L BLOCK.OBJ}
On Linux:
{$L block.o}
links BLOCK.OBJ (Windows) or block.o (Linux) into the program or unit in which it
occurs. Next, declare the functions and procedures that you want to call:
procedure MoveWord(var Source, Dest; Count: Integer); external;
procedure FillWord(var Dest; Data: Integer; Count: Integer); external;
Now you can call the MoveWord and FillWord routines from BLOCK.OBJ (Windows)
or block.o (Linux).
Declarations like the ones above are frequently used to access external routines
written in assembly language. You can also place assembly-language routines
directly in your Delphi source code; for more information, see Chapter 13, “Inline
assembly code”.

Importing functions from libraries

To import routines from a dynamically loadable library (.so or .DLL), attach a
directive of the form
external stringConstant;
to the end of a normal procedure or function header, where stringConstant is the
name of the library file in single quotation marks. For example, on Windows
function SomeFunction(S: string): string; external 'strlib.dll';
imports a function called SomeFunction from strlib.dll.
On Linux,
function SomeFunction(S: string): string; external 'strlib.so';
imports a function called SomeFunction from strlib.so.
You can import a routine under a different name from the one it has in the library. If
you do this, specify the original name in the external directive:
external stringConstant1 name stringConstant2;

Procedures and functions 6-7

Declaring procedures and functions

where the first stringConstant gives the name of the library file and the second
stringConstant is the routine’s original name.
On Windows:
The following declaration imports a function from user32.dll (part of the Windows
API).
function MessageBox(HWnd: Integer; Text, Caption: PChar; Flags: Integer): Integer;
stdcall; external 'user32.dll' name 'MessageBoxA';
The function’s original name is MessageBoxA, but it is imported as MessageBox.
Instead of a name, you can use a number to identify the routine you want to
import:
external stringConstant index integerConstant;
where integerConstant is the routine’s index in the export table.
On Linux:
The following declaration imports a standard system function from libc.so.6.
function OpenFile(const PathName: PChar; Flags: Integer): Integer; cdecl;
external 'libc.so.6' name 'open';
The function’s original name is open, but it is imported as OpenFile.
In your importing declaration, be sure to match the exact spelling and case of the
routine’s name. Later, when you call the imported routine, the name is case-
insensitive.
For more information about libraries, see Chapter 9, “Libraries and packages”.

Overloading procedures and functions

You can declare more than one routine in the same scope with the same name. This is
called overloading. Overloaded routines must be declared with the overload directive
and must have distinguishing parameter lists. For example, consider the declarations
function Divide(X, Y: Real): Real; overload;
begin
Result := X/Y;
end;
function Divide(X, Y: Integer): Integer; overload;
begin
Result := X div Y;
end;
These declarations create two functions, both called Divide, that take parameters of
different types. When you call Divide, the compiler determines which function to
invoke by looking at the actual parameters passed in the call. For example,
Divide(6.0, 3.0) calls the first Divide function, because its arguments are real-valued.

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 Declaring procedures and functions

You can pass to an overloaded routine parameters that are not identical in type with
those in any of the routine’s declarations, but that are assignment-compatible with
the parameters in more than one declaration. This happens most frequently when a
routine is overloaded with different integer types or different real types—for
example,
procedure Store(X: Longint); overload;
procedure Store(X: Shortint); overload;
In these cases, when it is possible to do so without ambiguity, the compiler invokes
the routine whose parameters are of the type with the smallest range that
accommodates the actual parameters in the call. (Remember that real-valued
constant expressions are always of type Extended.)
Overloaded routines must be distinguished by the number of parameters they take
or the types of their parameters. Hence the following pair of declarations causes a
compilation error.
function Cap(S: string): string; overload;
ƒ
procedure Cap(var Str: string); overload;
ƒ
But the declarations
function Func(X: Real; Y: Integer): Real; overload;
ƒ
function Func(X: Integer; Y: Real): Real; overload;
ƒ
are legal.
When an overloaded routine is declared in a forward or interface declaration, the
defining declaration must repeat the routine’s parameter list.
The compiler can distinguish between overloaded functions that contain AnsiString/
PChar and WideString/WideChar parameters in the same parameter position.
String constants or literals passed into such an overload situation are translated into
the native string or character type, which is AnsiString/PChar.
procedure test(const S: String); overload;
procedure test(const W: WideString); overload;
var
a: string;
b: widestring;
begin
a := 'a';
b := 'b';
test(a); // calls String version
test(b); // calls WideString version
test('abc'); // calls String version
test(WideString('abc')); // calls widestring version
end;

Procedures and functions 6-9

Declaring procedures and functions

Variants can also be used as parameters in overloaded function declarations. Variant

is considered more general than any simple type. Preference is always given to exact
type matches over variant matches. If a variant is passed into such an overload
situation, and an overload that takes a variant exists in that parameter position, it is
considered to be an exact match for the Variant type.
This can cause some minor side effects with float types. Float types are matched by
size. If there is no exact match for the float variable passed to the overload call but a
variant parameter is available, the variant is taken over any smaller float type.
For example:
procedure foo(i: integer); overload;
procedure foo(d: double); overload;
procedure foo(v: variant); overload;
var
v: variant;
begin
foo(1); // integer version
foo(v); // variant version
foo(1.2); // variant version (float literals -> extended precision)
end;
This example calls the variant version of foo, not the double version, because the 1.2
constant is implicitly an extended type and extended is not an exact match for
double. Extended is also not an exact match for variant, but variant is considered a
more general type (whereas double is a smaller type than extended).
foo(Double(1.2));
This typecast does not work. You should use typed consts instead.
const d: double = 1.2;
begin
foo(d);
end;
The above code works correctly, and calls the double version.
const s: single = 1.2;
begin
foo(s);
end;
The above code also calls the double version of foo. Single is a better fit to double
than to variant.
When declaring a set of overloaded routines, the best way to avoid float promotion to
variant is to declare a version of your overloaded function for each float type (Single,
Double, Extended) along with the variant version.
If you use default parameters in overloaded routines, be careful not to introduce
ambiguous parameter signatures. For more information, see “Default parameters
and overloaded routines” on page 6-20.
You can limit the potential effects of overloading by qualifying a routine’s name
when you call it. For example, Unit1.MyProcedure(X, Y) can call only routines declared

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 Parameters

in Unit1; if no routine in Unit1 matches the name and parameter list in the call, an
error results.
For information about distributing overloaded methods in a class hierarchy, see
“Overloading methods” on page 7-12. For information about exporting overloaded
routines from a shared library, see “The exports clause” on page 9-6.

Local declarations
The body of a function or procedure often begins with declarations of local variables
used in the routine’s statement block. These declarations can also include constants,
types, and other routines. The scope of a local identifier is limited to the routine
where it is declared.

Nested routines
Functions and procedures sometimes contain other functions and procedures within
the local-declarations section of their blocks. For example, the following declaration
of a procedure called DoSomething contains a nested procedure.
procedure DoSomething(S: string);
var
X, Y: Integer;
procedure NestedProc(S: string);
begin
ƒ
end;
begin
ƒ
NestedProc(S);
ƒ
end;
The scope of a nested routine is limited to the procedure or function in which it is
declared. In our example, NestedProc can be called only within DoSomething.
For real examples of nested routines, look at the DateTimeToString procedure, the
ScanDate function, and other routines in the SysUtils unit.

Parameters
Most procedure and function headers include a parameter list. For example, in the
header
function Power(X: Real; Y: Integer): Real;
the parameter list is (X: Real; Y: Integer).
A parameter list is a sequence of parameter declarations separated by semicolons and
enclosed in parentheses. Each declaration is a comma-delimited series of parameter
names, followed in most cases by a colon and a type identifier, and in some cases by

Procedures and functions 6-11

Parameters

the = symbol and a default value. Parameter names must be valid identifiers. Any
declaration can be preceded by var, const, or out. Examples:
(X, Y: Real)
(var S: string; X: Integer)
(HWnd: Integer; Text, Caption: PChar; Flags: Integer)
(const P; I: Integer)
The parameter list specifies the number, order, and type of parameters that must be
passed to the routine when it is called. If a routine does not take any parameters, omit
the identifier list and the parentheses in its declaration:
procedure UpdateRecords;
begin
ƒ
end;
Within the procedure or function body, the parameter names (X and Y in the first
example) can be used as local variables. Do not redeclare the parameter names in the
local declarations section of the procedure or function body.

Parameter semantics
Parameters are categorized in several ways:
• Every parameter is classified as value, variable, constant, or out. Value parameters
are the default; the reserved words var, const, and out indicate variable, constant,
and out parameters, respectively.
• Value parameters are always typed, while constant, variable, and out parameters
can be either typed or untyped.
• Special rules apply to array parameters. See “Array parameters” on page 6-16.
Files and instances of structured types that contain files can be passed only as
variable (var) parameters.

Value and variable parameters

Most parameters are either value parameters (the default) or variable (var)
parameters. Value parameters are passed by value, while variable parameters are
passed by reference. To see what this means, consider the following functions.
function DoubleByValue(X: Integer): Integer; // X is a value parameter
begin
X := X * 2;
Result := X;
end;
function DoubleByRef(var X: Integer): Integer; // X is a variable parameter
begin
X := X * 2;
Result := X;
end;

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 Parameters

These functions return the same result, but only the second one—DoubleByRef—can
change the value of a variable passed to it. Suppose we call the functions like this:
var
I, J, V, W: Integer;
begin
I := 4;
V := 4;
J := DoubleByValue(I); // J = 8, I = 4
W := DoubleByRef(V); // W = 8, V = 8
end;
After this code executes, the variable I, which was passed to DoubleByValue, has the
same value we initially assigned to it. But the variable V, which was passed to
DoubleByRef, has a different value.
A value parameter acts like a local variable that gets initialized to the value passed in
the procedure or function call. If you pass a variable as a value parameter, the
procedure or function creates a copy of it; changes made to the copy have no effect on
the original variable and are lost when program execution returns to the caller.
A variable parameter, on the other hand, acts like a pointer rather than a copy.
Changes made to the parameter within the body of a function or procedure persist
after program execution returns to the caller and the parameter name itself has gone
out of scope.
Even if the same variable is passed in two or more var parameters, no copies are
made. This is illustrated in the following example.
procedure AddOne(var X, Y: Integer);
begin
X := X + 1;
Y := Y + 1;
end;
var I: Integer;
begin
I := 1;
AddOne(I, I);
end;
After this code executes, the value of I is 3.
If a routine’s declaration specifies a var parameter, you must pass an assignable
expression—that is, a variable, typed constant (in the {$J+} state), dereferenced
pointer, field, or indexed variable—to the routine when you call it. To use our
previous examples, DoubleByRef(7) produces an error, although DoubleByValue(7) is
legal.
Indexes and pointer dereferences passed in var parameters—for example,
DoubleByRef(MyArray[I])—are evaluated once, before execution of the routine.

Constant parameters
A constant (const) parameter is like a local constant or read-only variable. Constant
parameters are similar to value parameters, except that you can’t assign a value to a
constant parameter within the body of a procedure or function, nor can you pass one

Procedures and functions 6-13

Parameters

as a var parameter to another routine. (But when you pass an object reference as a
constant parameter, you can still modify the object’s properties.)
Using const allows the compiler to optimize code for structured- and string-type
parameters. It also provides a safeguard against unintentionally passing a parameter
by reference to another routine.
Here, for example, is the header for the CompareStr function in the SysUtils unit:
function CompareStr(const S1, S2: string): Integer;
Because S1 and S2 are not modified in the body of CompareStr, they can be declared
as constant parameters.

Out parameters
An out parameter, like a variable parameter, is passed by reference. With an out
parameter, however, the initial value of the referenced variable is discarded by the
routine it is passed to. The out parameter is for output only; that is, it tells the
function or procedure where to store output, but doesn’t provide any input.
For example, consider the procedure heading
procedure GetInfo(out Info: SomeRecordType);
When you call GetInfo, you must pass it a variable of type SomeRecordType:
var MyRecord: SomeRecordType;
ƒ
GetInfo(MyRecord);
But you’re not using MyRecord to pass any data to the GetInfo procedure; MyRecord is
just a container where you want GetInfo to store the information it generates. The call
to GetInfo immediately frees the memory used by MyRecord, before program control
passes to the procedure.
Out parameters are frequently used with distributed-object models like COM and
CORBA. In addition, you should use out parameters when you pass an uninitialized
variable to a function or procedure.

Untyped parameters
You can omit type specifications when declaring var, const, and out parameters.
(Value parameters must be typed.) For example,
procedure TakeAnything(const C);
declares a procedure called TakeAnything that accepts a parameter of any type. When
you call such a routine, you cannot pass it a numeral or untyped numeric constant.
Within a procedure or function body, untyped parameters are incompatible with
every type. To operate on an untyped parameter, you must cast it. In general, the
compiler cannot verify that operations on untyped parameters are valid.

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 Parameters

The following example uses untyped parameters in a function called Equal that
compares a specified number of bytes of any two variables.
function Equal(var Source, Dest; Size: Integer): Boolean;
type
TBytes = array[0..MaxInt - 1] of Byte;
var
N: Integer;
begin
N := 0;
while (N < Size) and (TBytes(Dest)[N] = TBytes(Source)[N]) do
Inc(N);
Equal := N = Size;
end;
Given the declarations
type
TVector = array[1..10] of Integer;
TPoint = record
X, Y: Integer;
end;
var
Vec1, Vec2: TVector;
N: Integer;
P: TPoint;
you could make the following calls to Equal:
Equal(Vec1, Vec2, SizeOf(TVector)) // compare Vec1 to Vec2
Equal(Vec1, Vec2, SizeOf(Integer) * N) // compare first N elements of Vec1 and Vec2
Equal(Vec1[1], Vec1[6], SizeOf(Integer) * 5) // compare first 5 to last 5 elements of Vec1
Equal(Vec1[1], P, 4) // compare Vec1[1] to P.X and Vec1[2] to P.Y

String parameters
When you declare routines that take short-string parameters, you cannot include
length specifiers in the parameter declarations. That is, the declaration
procedure Check(S: string[20]); // syntax error
causes a compilation error. But
type TString20 = string[20];
procedure Check(S: TString20);
is valid. The special identifier OpenString can be used to declare routines that take
short-string parameters of varying length:
procedure Check(S: OpenString);
When the {$H–} and {$P+} compiler directives are both in effect, the reserved word
string is equivalent to OpenString in parameter declarations.
Short strings, OpenString, $H, and $P are supported for backward compatibility only.
In new code, you can avoid these considerations by using long strings.

Procedures and functions 6-15

Parameters

Array parameters
When you declare routines that take array parameters, you cannot include index type
specifiers in the parameter declarations. That is, the declaration
procedure Sort(A: array[1..10] of Integer); // syntax error
causes a compilation error. But
type TDigits = array[1..10] of Integer;
procedure Sort(A: TDigits);
is valid. For most purposes, however, open array parameters are a better solution.
Since the Delphi language does not implement value semantics for dynamic arrays,
"value" parameters in routines do not represent a full copy of the dynamic array. In
this example
type
TDynamicArray = array of Integer;

procedure p(Value: TDynamicArray);

begin
Value[0] := 1;
end;

procedure Run;
var
a: TDynamicArray;
begin
SetLength(a, 1);
a[0] := 0;
p(a);

Writeln(a[0]); // Prints "1"!

end;
Note that the assignment to Value[0] in routine p will modify the content of dynamic
array of the caller, despite Value being a by-value parameter. If a full copy of the
dynamic array is required, use the Copy standard procedure to create a value copy of
the dynamic array.

Open array parameters

Open array parameters allow arrays of different sizes to be passed to the same
procedure or function. To define a routine with an open array parameter, use the
syntax array of type (rather than array[X..Y] of type) in the parameter declaration.
For example,
function Find(A: array of Char): Integer;
declares a function called Find that takes a character array of any size and returns an
integer.

6-16 Delphi Language Guide

 Parameters

Note The syntax of open array parameters resembles that of dynamic array types, but they
do not mean the same thing. The previous example creates a function that takes any
array of Char elements, including (but not limited to) dynamic arrays. To declare
parameters that must be dynamic arrays, you need to specify a type identifier:
type TDynamicCharArray = array of Char;
function Find(A: TDynamicCharArray): Integer;
For information about dynamic arrays, see “Dynamic arrays” on page 5-20.
Within the body of a routine, open array parameters are governed by the following
rules.
• They are always zero-based. The first element is 0, the second element is 1, and so
forth. The standard Low and High functions return 0 and Length–1, respectively.
The SizeOf function returns the size of the actual array passed to the routine.
• They can be accessed by element only. Assignments to an entire open array
parameter are not allowed.
• They can be passed to other procedures and functions only as open array
parameters or untyped var parameters. They cannot be passed to SetLength.
• Instead of an array, you can pass a variable of the open array parameter’s base
type. It will be treated as an array of length 1.
When you pass an array as an open array value parameter, the compiler creates a
local copy of the array within the routine’s stack frame. Be careful not to overflow the
stack by passing large arrays.
The following examples use open array parameters to define a Clear procedure that
assigns zero to each element in an array of reals and a Sum function that computes
the sum of the elements in an array of reals.
procedure Clear(var A: array of Real);
var
I: Integer;
begin
for I := 0 to High(A) do A[I] := 0;
end;
function Sum(const A: array of Real): Real;
var
I: Integer;
S: Real;
begin
S := 0;
for I := 0 to High(A) do S := S + A[I];
Sum := S;
end;
When you call routines that use open array parameters, you can pass open array
constructors to them. See “Open array constructors” on page 6-21.

Procedures and functions 6-17

Parameters

Variant open array parameters

Variant open array parameters allow you to pass an array of differently typed
expressions to a single procedure or function. To define a routine with a variant open
array parameter, specify array of const as the parameter’s type. Thus
procedure DoSomething(A: array of const);
declares a procedure called DoSomething that can operate on heterogeneous arrays.
The array of const construction is equivalent to array of TVarRec. TVarRec, declared
in the System unit, represents a record with a variant part that can hold values of
integer, Boolean, character, real, string, pointer, class, class reference, interface, and
variant types. TVarRec’s VType field indicates the type of each element in the array.
Some types are passed as pointers rather than values; in particular, long strings are
passed as Pointer and must be typecast to string. See the online Help on TVarRec for
details.
The following example uses a variant open array parameter in a function that creates
a string representation of each element passed to it and concatenates the results into a
single string. The string-handling routines called in this function are defined in
SysUtils.
function MakeStr(const Args: array of const): string;
var
I: Integer;
begin
Result := '';
for I := 0 to High(Args) do
with Args[I] do
case VType of
vtInteger: Result := Result + IntToStr(VInteger);
vtBoolean: Result := Result + BoolToStr(VBoolean);
vtChar: Result := Result + VChar;
vtExtended: Result := Result + FloatToStr(VExtended^);
vtString: Result := Result + VString^;
vtPChar: Result := Result + VPChar;
vtObject: Result := Result + VObject.ClassName;
vtClass: Result := Result + VClass.ClassName;
vtAnsiString: Result := Result + string(VAnsiString);
vtCurrency: Result := Result + CurrToStr(VCurrency^);
vtVariant: Result := Result + string(VVariant^);
vtInt64: Result := Result + IntToStr(VInt64^);
end;
end;
We can call this function using an open array constructor (see “Open array
constructors” on page 6-21). For example,
MakeStr(['test', 100, ' ', True, 3.14159, TForm])
returns the string “test100 T3.14159TForm”.

6-18 Delphi Language Guide

 Parameters

Default parameters
You can specify default parameter values in a procedure or function heading. Default
values are allowed only for typed const and value parameters. To provide a default
value, end the parameter declaration with the = symbol followed by a constant
expression that is assignment-compatible with the parameter’s type.
For example, given the declaration
procedure FillArray(A: array of Integer; Value: Integer = 0);
the following procedure calls are equivalent.
FillArray(MyArray);
FillArray(MyArray, 0);
A multiple-parameter declaration cannot specify a default value. Thus, while
function MyFunction(X: Real = 3.5; Y: Real = 3.5): Real;
is legal,
function MyFunction(X, Y: Real = 3.5): Real; // syntax error
is not.
Parameters with default values must occur at the end of the parameter list. That is, all
parameters following the first declared default value must also have default values.
So the following declaration is illegal.
procedure MyProcedure(I: Integer = 1; S: string); // syntax error
Default values specified in a procedural type override those specified in an actual
routine. Thus, given the declarations
type TResizer = function(X: Real; Y: Real = 1.0): Real;
function Resizer(X: Real; Y: Real = 2.0): Real;
var
F: TResizer;
N: Real;
the statements
F := Resizer;
F(N);
result in the values (N, 1.0) being passed to Resizer.
Default parameters are limited to values that can be specified by a constant
expression. (See “Constant expressions” on page 5-44.) Hence parameters of a
dynamic-array, procedural, class, class-reference, or interface type can have no value
other than nil as their default. Parameters of a record, variant, file, static-array, or
object type cannot have default values at all.
For information about calling routines with default parameter values, see “Calling
procedures and functions.”.

Procedures and functions 6-19

 Default parameters and overloaded routines
If you use default parameter values in an overloaded routine, avoid ambiguous
parameter signatures. Consider, for example, the following.
procedure Confused(I: Integer); overload;
ƒ
procedure Confused(I: Integer; J: Integer = 0); overload;
ƒ
Confused(X); // Which procedure is called?
In fact, neither procedure is called. This code generates a compilation error.

Default parameters in forward and interface declarations

If a routine has a forward declaration or appears in the interface section of a unit,
default parameter values—if there are any—must be specified in the forward or
interface declaration. In this case, the default values can be omitted from the defining
(implementation) declaration; but if the defining declaration includes default values,
they must match those in the forward or interface declaration exactly.

Calling procedures and functions

When you call a procedure or function, program control passes from the point where
the call is made to the body of the routine. You can make the call using the routine’s
declared name (with or without qualifiers) or using a procedural variable that points
to the routine. In either case, if the routine is declared with parameters, your call to it
must pass parameters that correspond in order and type to the routine’s parameter
list. The parameters you pass to a routine are called actual parameters, while the
parameters in the routine’s declaration are called formal parameters.
When calling a routine, remember that
• expressions used to pass typed const and value parameters must be assignment-
compatible with the corresponding formal parameters.
• expressions used to pass var and out parameters must be identically typed with
the corresponding formal parameters, unless the formal parameters are untyped.
• only assignable expressions can be used to pass var and out parameters.
• if a routine’s formal parameters are untyped, numerals and true constants with
numeric values cannot be used as actual parameters.
When you call a routine that uses default parameter values, all actual parameters
following the first accepted default must also use the default values; calls of the form
SomeFunction(,,X) are not legal.

6-20 Delphi Language Guide

You can omit parentheses when passing all and only the default parameters to a
routine. For example, given the procedure
procedure DoSomething(X: Real = 1.0; I: Integer = 0; S: string = '');
the following calls are equivalent.
DoSomething();
DoSomething;

Open array constructors

Open array constructors allow you to construct arrays directly within function and
procedure calls. They can be passed only as open array parameters or variant open
array parameters.
An open array constructor, like a set constructor, is a sequence of expressions
separated by commas and enclosed in brackets.
For example, given the declarations
var I, J: Integer;
procedure Add(A: array of Integer);
you could call the Add procedure with the statement
Add([5, 7, I, I + J]);
This is equivalent to
var Temp: array[0..3] of Integer;
ƒ
Temp[0] := 5;
Temp[1] := 7;
Temp[2] := I;
Temp[3] := I + J;
Add(Temp);
Open array constructors can be passed only as value or const parameters. The
expressions in a constructor must be assignment-compatible with the base type of the
array parameter. In the case of a variant open array parameter, the expressions can be
of different types.

Procedures and functions 6-21

6-22 Delphi Language Guide
 Chapter

Classes and objects

Chapter7
7
A class, or class type, defines a structure consisting of fields, methods, and properties.
Instances of a class type are called objects. The fields, methods, and properties of a
class are called its components or members.
• A field is essentially a variable that is part of an object. Like the fields of a record, a
class’s fields represent data items that exist in each instance of the class.
• A method is a procedure or function associated with a class. Most methods
operate on objects—that is, instances of a class. Some methods (called class
methods) operate on class types themselves.
• A property is an interface to data associated with an object (often stored in a field).
Properties have access specifiers, which determine how their data is read and
modified. From other parts of a program—outside of the object itself—a property
appears in most respects like a field.
Objects are dynamically allocated blocks of memory whose structure is determined
by their class type. Each object has a unique copy of every field defined in the class,
but all instances of a class share the same methods. Objects are created and destroyed
by special methods called constructors and destructors.
A variable of a class type is actually a pointer that references an object. Hence more
than one variable can refer to the same object. Like other pointers, class-type
variables can hold the value nil. But you don’t have to explicitly dereference a class-
type variable to access the object it points to. For example, SomeObject.Size := 100
assigns the value 100 to the Size property of the object referenced by SomeObject; you
would not write this as SomeObject^.Size := 100.

Classes and objects 7-1

Class types

Class types
A class type must be declared and given a name before it can be instantiated. (You
cannot define a class type within a variable declaration.) Declare classes only in the
outermost scope of a program or unit, not in a procedure or function declaration.
A class type declaration has the form
type className = class (ancestorClass)
memberList
end;
where className is any valid identifier, (ancestorClass) is optional, and memberList
declares members—that is, fields, methods, and properties—of the class. If you omit
(ancestorClass), then the new class inherits directly from the predefined TObject class.
If you include (ancestorClass) and memberList is empty, you can omit end. A class type
declaration can also include a list of interfaces implemented by the class; see
“Implementing interfaces” on page 10-4.
Methods appear in a class declaration as function or procedure headings, with no
body. Defining declarations for each method occur elsewhere in the program.
For example, here is the declaration of the TMemoryStream class from the Classes unit.
type
TMemoryStream = class(TCustomMemoryStream)
private
FCapacity: Longint;
procedure SetCapacity(NewCapacity: Longint);
protected
function Realloc(var NewCapacity: Longint): Pointer; virtual;
property Capacity: Longint read FCapacity write SetCapacity;
public
destructor Destroy; override;
procedure Clear;
procedure LoadFromStream(Stream: TStream);
procedure LoadFromFile(const FileName: string);
procedure SetSize(NewSize: Longint); override;
function Write(const Buffer; Count: Longint): Longint; override;
end;
TMemoryStream descends from TStream (in the Classes unit), inheriting most of its
members. But it defines—or redefines—several methods and properties, including its
destructor method, Destroy. Its constructor, Create, is inherited without change from
TObject, and so is not redeclared. Each member is declared as private, protected, or
public (this class has no published members); for explanations of these terms, see
“Visibility of class members” on page 7-4.
Given this declaration, you can create an instance of TMemoryStream as follows:
var stream: TMemoryStream;
stream := TMemoryStream.Create;

7-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Class types

Inheritance and scope

When you declare a class, you can specify its immediate ancestor. For example,
type TSomeControl = class(TControl);
declares a class called TSomeControl that descends from TControl. A class type
automatically inherits all of the members from its immediate ancestor. Each class can
declare new members and can redefine inherited ones, but a class cannot remove
members defined in an ancestor. Hence TSomeControl contains all of the members
defined in TControl and in each of TControl‘s ancestors.
The scope of a member’s identifier starts at the point where the member is declared,
continues to the end of the class declaration, and extends over all descendants of the
class and the blocks of all methods defined in the class and its descendants.

TObject and TClass

The TObject class, declared in the System unit, is the ultimate ancestor of all other
classes. TObject defines only a handful of methods, including a basic constructor and
destructor. In addition to TObject, the System unit declares the class-reference type
TClass:
TClass = class of TObject;
For more information about TObject, see the online Help. For more information about
class-reference types, see “Class references” on page 7-24.
If the declaration of a class type doesn’t specify an ancestor, the class inherits directly
from TObject. Thus
type TMyClass = class
ƒ
end;
is equivalent to
type TMyClass = class(TObject)
ƒ
end;
The latter form is recommended for readability.

Compatibility of class types

A class type is assignment-compatible with its ancestors. Hence a variable of a class
type can reference an instance of any descendant type. For example, given the
declarations
type
TFigure = class(TObject);
TRectangle = class(TFigure);
TSquare = class(TRectangle);
var
Fig: TFigure;
the variable Fig can be assigned values of type TFigure, TRectangle, and TSquare.

Classes and objects 7-3

Class types

Object types
As an alternative to class types, you can declare object types using the syntax
type objectTypeName = object (ancestorObjectType)
memberList
end;
where objectTypeName is any valid identifier, (ancestorObjectType) is optional, and
memberList declares fields, methods, and properties. If (ancestorObjectType) is
omitted, then the new type has no ancestor. Object types cannot have published
members.
Since object types do not descend from TObject, they provide no built-in constructors,
destructors, or other methods. You can create instances of an object type using the
New procedure and destroy them with the Dispose procedure, or you can simply
declare variables of an object type, just as you would with records.
Object types are supported for backward compatibility only. Their use is not
recommended.

Visibility of class members

Every member of a class has an attribute called visibility, which is indicated by one of
the reserved words private, protected, public, published, or automated. For
example,
published property Color: TColor read GetColor write SetColor;
declares a published property called Color. Visibility determines where and how a
member can be accessed, with private representing the least accessibility, protected
representing an intermediate level of accessibility, and public, published, and
automated representing the greatest accessibility.
If a member’s declaration appears without its own visibility specifier, the member
has the same visibility as the one that precedes it. Members at the beginning of a class
declaration that don’t have a specified visibility are by default published, provided
the class is compiled in the {$M+} state or is derived from a class compiled in the
{$M+} state; otherwise, such members are public.
For readability, it is best to organize a class declaration by visibility, placing all the
private members together, followed by all the protected members, and so forth. This
way each visibility reserved word appears at most once and marks the beginning of a
new “section” of the declaration. So a typical class declaration should like this:
type
TMyClass = class(TControl)
private
ƒ { private declarations here}
protected
ƒ { protected declarations here }
public
ƒ { public declarations here }
published
ƒ { published declarations here }
end;

7-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Class types

You can increase the visibility of a member in a descendant class by redeclaring it,
but you cannot decrease its visibility. For example, a protected property can be made
public in a descendant, but not private. Moreover, published members cannot
become public in a descendant class. For more information, see “Property overrides
and redeclarations” on page 7-23.

Private, protected, and public members

A private member is invisible outside of the unit or program where its class is
declared. In other words, a private method cannot be called from another module,
and a private field or property cannot be read or written to from another module. By
placing related class declarations in the same module, you can give the classes access
to one another’s private members without making those members more widely
accessible.
A protected member is visible anywhere in the module where its class is declared and
from any descendant class, regardless of the module where the descendant class
appears. A protected method can be called, and a protected field or property read or
written to, from the definition of any method belonging to a class that descends from
the one where the protected member is declared. Members that are intended for use
only in the implementation of derived classes are usually protected.
A public member is visible wherever its class can be referenced.

Published members
Published members have the same visibility as public members. The difference is that
runtime type information (RTTI) is generated for published members. RTTI allows an
application to query the fields and properties of an object dynamically and to locate
its methods. RTTI is used to access the values of properties when saving and loading
form files, to display properties in the Object Inspector, and to associate specific
methods (called event handlers) with specific properties (called events).
Published properties are restricted to certain data types. Ordinal, string, class,
interface, variant, and method-pointer types can be published. So can set types,
provided the upper and lower bounds of the base type have ordinal values between 0
and 31. (In other words, the set must fit in a byte, word, or double word.) Any real
type except Real48 can be published. Properties of an array type (as distinct from
array properties, discussed below) cannot be published.
Some properties, although publishable, are not fully supported by the streaming
system. These include properties of record types, array properties of all publishable
types (see “Array properties” on page 7-20), and properties of enumerated types that
include anonymous values (see “Enumerated types with explicitly assigned
ordinality” on page 5-8). If you publish a property of this kind, the Object Inspector
won’t display it correctly, nor will the property’s value be preserved when objects are
streamed to disk.
All methods are publishable, but a class cannot publish two or more overloaded
methods with the same name. Fields can be published only if they are of a class or
interface type.

Classes and objects 7-5

Class types

A class cannot have published members unless it is compiled in the {$M+} state or
descends from a class compiled in the {$M+} state. Most classes with published
members derive from TPersistent, which is compiled in the {$M+} state, so it is
seldom necessary to use the $M directive.

Automated members
Automated members have the same visibility as public members. The difference is
that Automation type information (required for Automation servers) is generated for
automated members. Automated members typically appear only in Windows classes
and are not recommended for Linux programming. The automated reserved word is
maintained for backward compatibility. The TAutoObject class in the ComObj unit
does not use automated.
The following restrictions apply to methods and properties declared as automated.
• The types of all properties, array property parameters, method parameters, and
function results must be automatable. The automatable types are Byte, Currency,
Real, Double, Longint, Integer, Single, Smallint, AnsiString, WideString, TDateTime,
Variant, OleVariant, WordBool, and all interface types.
• Method declarations must use the default register calling convention. They can be
virtual, but not dynamic.
• Property declarations can include access specifiers (read and write) but other
specifiers (index, stored, default, and nodefault) are not allowed. Access
specifiers must list a method identifier that uses the default register calling
convention; field identifiers are not allowed.
• Property declarations must specify a type. Property overrides are not allowed.
The declaration of an automated method or property can include a dispid directive.
Specifying an already used ID in a dispid directive causes an error.
On Windows, this directive must be followed by an integer constant that specifies an
Automation dispatch ID for the member. Otherwise, the compiler automatically
assigns the member a dispatch ID that is one larger than the largest dispatch ID used
by any method or property in the class and its ancestors. For more information about
Automation (on Windows only), see “Automation objects (Windows only)” on
page 10-11.

Forward declarations and mutually dependent classes

If the declaration of a class type ends with the word class and a semicolon—that is, if
it has the form
type className = class;
with no ancestor or class members listed after the word class—then it is a forward
declaration. A forward declaration must be resolved by a defining declaration of the
same class within the same type declaration section. In other words, between a
forward declaration and its defining declaration, nothing can occur except other type
declarations.

7-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Fields

Forward declarations allow mutually dependent classes. For example,

type
TFigure = class; // forward declaration
TDrawing = class
Figure: TFigure;
ƒ
end;
TFigure = class // defining declaration
Drawing: TDrawing;
ƒ
end;
Do not confuse forward declarations with complete declarations of types that derive
from TObject without declaring any class members.
type
TFirstClass = class; // this is a forward declaration
TSecondClass = class // this is a complete class declaration
end; //
TThirdClass = class(TObject); // this is a complete class declaration

Fields
A field is like a variable that belongs to an object. Fields can be of any type, including
class types. (That is, fields can hold object references.) Fields are usually private.
To define a field member of a class, simply declare the field as you would a variable.
All field declarations must occur before any property or method declarations. For
example, the following declaration creates a class called TNumber whose only
member, other than the methods is inherits from TObject, is an integer field called Int.
type TNumber = class
Int: Integer;
end;
Fields are statically bound; that is, references to them are fixed at compile time. To
see what this means, consider the following code.
type
TAncestor = class
Value: Integer;
end;
TDescendant = class(TAncestor)
Value: string; // hides the inherited Value field
end;
var
MyObject: TAncestor;
begin
MyObject := TDescendant.Create;
MyObject.Value := 'Hello!'; // error
(MyObject as TDescendant).Value := 'Hello!'; // works!
end;

Classes and objects 7-7

Methods

Although MyObject holds an instance of TDescendant, it is declared as TAncestor. The

compiler therefore interprets MyObject.Value as referring to the (integer) field
declared in TAncestor. Both fields, however, exist in the TDescendant object; the
inherited Value is hidden by the new one, and can be accessed through a typecast.

Methods
A method is a procedure or function associated with a class. A call to a method
specifies the object (or, if it is a class method, the class) that the method should
operate on. For example,
SomeObject.Free
calls the Free method in SomeObject.

Method declarations and implementations

Within a class declaration, methods appear as procedure and function headings,
which work like forward declarations. Somewhere after the class declaration, but
within the same module, each method must be implemented by a defining
declaration. For example, suppose the declaration of TMyClass includes a method
called DoSomething:
type
TMyClass = class(TObject)
ƒ
procedure DoSomething;
ƒ
end;
A defining declaration for DoSomething must occur later in the module:
procedure TMyClass.DoSomething;
begin
ƒ
end;
While a class can be declared in either the interface or the implementation section of a
unit, defining declarations for a class’s methods must be in the implementation
section.
In the heading of a defining declaration, the method name is always qualified with
the name of the class to which it belongs. The heading can repeat the parameter list
from the class declaration; if it does, the order, type and names of the parameters
must match exactly, and if the method is a function, the return value must match as
well.

7-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Methods

Method declarations can include special directives that are not used with other
functions or procedures. Directives should appear in the class declaration only, not in
the defining declaration, and should always be listed in the following order:
reintroduce; overload; binding; calling convention; abstract; warning
where binding is virtual, dynamic, or override; calling convention is register, pascal,
cdecl, stdcall, or safecall; and warning is platform, deprecated, or library.

Inherited
The reserved word inherited plays a special role in implementing polymorphic
behavior. It can occur in method definitions, with or without an identifier after it.
If inherited is followed by the name of a member, it represents a normal method call
or reference to a property or field—except that the search for the referenced member
begins with the immediate ancestor of the enclosing method’s class. For example,
when
inherited Create(...);
occurs in the definition of a method, it calls the inherited Create.
When inherited has no identifier after it, it refers to the inherited method with the
same name as the enclosing method or, if the enclosing method is a message handler,
to the inherited message handler for the same message. In this case, inherited takes
no explicit parameters, but passes to the inherited method the same parameters with
which the enclosing method was called. For example,
inherited;
occurs frequently in the implementation of constructors. It calls the inherited
constructor with the same parameters that were passed to the descendant.

Self
Within the implementation of a method, the identifier Self references the object in
which the method is called. For example, here is the implementation of TCollection’s
Add method in the Classes unit.
function TCollection.Add: TCollectionItem;
begin
Result := FItemClass.Create(Self);
end;
The Add method calls the Create method in the class referenced by the FItemClass
field, which is always a TCollectionItem descendant. TCollectionItem.Create takes a
single parameter of type TCollection, so Add passes it the TCollection instance object
where Add is called. This is illustrated in the following code.
var MyCollection: TCollection;
ƒ
MyCollection.Add // MyCollection is passed to the TCollectionItem.Create method

Classes and objects 7-9

Methods

Self is useful for a variety of reasons. For example, a member identifier declared in a
class type might be redeclared in the block of one of the class’s methods. In this case,
you can access the original member identifier as Self.Identifier.
For information about Self in class methods, see “Class methods” on page 7-26.

Method binding
Method bindings can be static (the default), virtual, or dynamic. Virtual and dynamic
methods can be overridden, and they can be abstract. These designations come into
play when a variable of one class type holds a value of a descendant class type. They
determine which implementation is activated when a method is called.

Static methods
Methods are by default static. When a static method is called, the declared (compile-
time) type of the class or object variable used in the method call determines which
implementation to activate. In the following example, the Draw methods are static.
type
TFigure = class
procedure Draw;
end;
TRectangle = class(TFigure)
procedure Draw;
end;
Given these declarations, the following code illustrates the effect of calling a static
method. In the second call to Figure.Draw, the Figure variable references an object of
class TRectangle, but the call invokes the implementation of Draw in TFigure, because
the declared type of the Figure variable is TFigure.
var
Figure: TFigure;
Rectangle: TRectangle;
begin
Figure := TFigure.Create;
Figure.Draw; // calls TFigure.Draw
Figure.Destroy;
Figure := TRectangle.Create;
Figure.Draw; // calls TFigure.Draw
TRectangle(Figure).Draw; // calls TRectangle.Draw
Figure.Destroy;
Rectangle := TRectangle.Create;
Rectangle.Draw; // calls TRectangle.Draw
Rectangle.Destroy;
end;

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 Methods

Virtual and dynamic methods

To make a method virtual or dynamic, include the virtual or dynamic directive in its
declaration. Virtual and dynamic methods, unlike static methods, can be overridden in
descendant classes. When an overridden method is called, the actual (runtime) type
of the class or object used in the method call—not the declared type of the variable—
determines which implementation to activate.
To override a method, redeclare it with the override directive. An override
declaration must match the ancestor declaration in the order and type of its
parameters and in its result type (if any).
In the following example, the Draw method declared in TFigure is overridden in two
descendant classes.
type
TFigure = class
procedure Draw; virtual;
end;
TRectangle = class(TFigure)
procedure Draw; override;
end;
TEllipse = class(TFigure)
procedure Draw; override;
end;
Given these declarations, the following code illustrates the effect of calling a virtual
method through a variable whose actual type varies at runtime.
var
Figure: TFigure;
begin
Figure := TRectangle.Create;
Figure.Draw; // calls TRectangle.Draw
Figure.Destroy;
Figure := TEllipse.Create;
Figure.Draw; // calls TEllipse.Draw
Figure.Destroy;
end;
Only virtual and dynamic methods can be overridden. All methods, however, can be
overloaded; see “Overloading methods” on page 7-12.

Virtual versus dynamic

Virtual and dynamic methods are semantically equivalent. They differ only in the
implementation of method-call dispatching at runtime. Virtual methods optimize for
speed, while dynamic methods optimize for code size.
In general, virtual methods are the most efficient way to implement polymorphic
behavior. Dynamic methods are useful when a base class declares many overridable
methods which are inherited by many descendant classes in an application, but only
occasionally overridden.
Note Only use dynamic methods if there is a clear, observable benefit. Generally, use
virtual methods.

Classes and objects 7-11

Methods

Overriding versus hiding

If a method declaration specifies the same method identifier and parameter signature
as an inherited method, but doesn’t include override, the new declaration merely
hides the inherited one without overriding it. Both methods exist in the descendant
class, where the method name is statically bound. For example,
type
T1 = class(TObject)
procedure Act; virtual;
end;
T2 = class(T1)
procedure Act; // Act is redeclared, but not overridden
end;
var
SomeObject: T1;
begin
SomeObject := T2.Create;
SomeObject.Act; // calls T1.Act
end;

Reintroduce
The reintroduce directive suppresses compiler warnings about hiding previously
declared virtual methods. For example,
procedure DoSomething; reintroduce; // the ancestor class also has a DoSomething method
Use reintroduce when you want to hide an inherited virtual method with a new one.

Abstract methods
An abstract method is a virtual or dynamic method that has no implementation in the
class where it is declared. Its implementation is deferred to a descendant class.
Abstract methods must be declared with the directive abstract after virtual or
dynamic. For example,
procedure DoSomething; virtual; abstract;
You can call an abstract method only in a class or instance of a class in which the
method has been overridden.

Overloading methods
A method can be redeclared using the overload directive. In this case, if the
redeclared method has a different parameter signature from its ancestor, it overloads
the inherited method without hiding it. Calling the method in a descendant class
activates whichever implementation matches the parameters in the call.

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If you overload a virtual method, use the reintroduce directive when you redeclare it
in descendant classes. For example,
type
T1 = class(TObject)
procedure Test(I: Integer); overload; virtual;
end;
T2 = class(T1)
procedure Test(S: string); reintroduce; overload;
end;
ƒ
SomeObject := T2.Create;
SomeObject.Test('Hello!'); // calls T2.Test
SomeObject.Test(7); // calls T1.Test
Within a class, you cannot publish multiple overloaded methods with the same
name. Maintenance of runtime type information requires a unique name for each
published member.
type
TSomeClass = class
published
function Func(P: Integer): Integer;
function Func(P: Boolean): Integer // error
ƒ
Methods that serve as property read or write specifiers cannot be overloaded.
The implementation of an overloaded method must repeat the parameter list from
the class declaration. For more information about overloading, see “Overloading
procedures and functions” on page 6-8.

Constructors
A constructor is a special method that creates and initializes instance objects. The
declaration of a constructor looks like a procedure declaration, but it begins with the
word constructor. Examples:
constructor Create;
constructor Create(AOwner: TComponent);
Constructors must use the default register calling convention. Although the
declaration specifies no return value, a constructor returns a reference to the object it
creates or is called in.
A class can have more than one constructor, but most have only one. It is
conventional to call the constructor Create.
To create an object, call the constructor method on a class type. For example,
MyObject := TMyClass.Create;
This allocates storage for the new object on the heap, sets the values of all ordinal
fields to zero, assigns nil to all pointer and class-type fields, and makes all string
fields empty. Other actions specified in the constructor implementation are
performed next; typically, objects are initialized based on values passed as

Classes and objects 7-13

Methods

parameters to the constructor. Finally, the constructor returns a reference to the

newly allocated and initialized object. The type of the returned value is the same as
the class type specified in the constructor call.
If an exception is raised during execution of a constructor that was invoked on a class
reference, the Destroy destructor is automatically called to destroy the unfinished
object.
When a constructor is called using an object reference (rather than a class reference),
it does not create an object. Instead, the constructor operates on the specified object,
executing only the statements in the constructor’s implementation, and then returns
a reference to the object. A constructor is typically invoked on an object reference in
conjunction with the reserved word inherited to execute an inherited constructor.
Here is an example of a class type and its constructor.
type
TShape = class(TGraphicControl)
private
FPen: TPen;
FBrush: TBrush;
procedure PenChanged(Sender: TObject);
procedure BrushChanged(Sender: TObject);
public
constructor Create(Owner: TComponent); override;
destructor Destroy; override;
ƒ
end;
constructor TShape.Create(Owner: TComponent);
begin
inherited Create(Owner); // Initialize inherited parts
Width := 65; // Change inherited properties
Height := 65;
FPen := TPen.Create; // Initialize new fields
FPen.OnChange := PenChanged;
FBrush := TBrush.Create;
FBrush.OnChange := BrushChanged;
end;
The first action of a constructor is usually to call an inherited constructor to initialize
the object’s inherited fields. The constructor then initializes the fields introduced in
the descendant class. Because a constructor always clears the storage it allocates for a
new object, all fields start with a value of zero (ordinal types), nil (pointer and class
types), empty (string types), or Unassigned (variants). Hence there is no need to
initialize fields in a constructor’s implementation except to nonzero or nonempty
values.
When invoked through a class-type identifier, a constructor declared as virtual is
equivalent to a static constructor. When combined with class-reference types,
however, virtual constructors allow polymorphic construction of objects—that is,
construction of objects whose types aren’t known at compile time. (See “Class
references” on page 7-24.)

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 Methods

Destructors
A destructor is a special method that destroys the object where it is called and
deallocates its memory. The declaration of a destructor looks like a procedure
declaration, but it begins with the word destructor. Example:
destructor SpecialDestructor(SaveData: Boolean);
destructor Destroy; override;
Destructors must use the default register calling convention. Although a class can
have more than one destructor, it is recommended that each class override the
inherited Destroy method and declare no other destructors.
To call a destructor, you must reference an instance object. For example,
MyObject.Destroy;
When a destructor is called, actions specified in the destructor implementation are
performed first. Typically, these consist of destroying any embedded objects and
freeing resources that were allocated by the object. Then the storage that was
allocated for the object is disposed of.
Here is an example of a destructor implementation.
destructor TShape.Destroy;
begin
FBrush.Free;
FPen.Free;
inherited Destroy;
end;
The last action in a destructor’s implementation is typically to call the inherited
destructor to destroy the object’s inherited fields.
When an exception is raised during creation of an object, Destroy is automatically
called to dispose of the unfinished object. This means that Destroy must be prepared
to dispose of partially constructed objects. Because a constructor sets the fields of a
new object to zero or empty values before performing other actions, class-type and
pointer-type fields in a partially constructed object are always nil. A destructor
should therefore check for nil values before operating on class-type or pointer-type
fields. Calling the Free method (defined in TObject), rather than Destroy, offers a
convenient way of checking for nil values before destroying an object.

Message methods
Message methods implement responses to dynamically dispatched messages. The
message method syntax is supported on all platforms. WinCLX uses message
methods to respond to Windows messages. Cross-platform portions of CLX do not
use message methods to respond to system events.
A message method is created by including the message directive in a method
declaration, followed by an integer constant between 1 and 49151 which specifies the
message ID. For message methods in WinCLX controls, the integer constant can be
one of the Windows message IDs defined, along with corresponding record types, in

Classes and objects 7-15

Methods

the Messages unit. A message method must be a procedure that takes a single var
parameter.
For example, on Windows:
type
TTextBox = class(TCustomControl)
private
procedure WMChar(var Message: TWMChar); message WM_CHAR;
ƒ
end;
For example, on Linux or for cross-platform programming, you would handle
messages as follows:
const
ID_REFRESH = $0001;
type
TTextBox = class(TCustomControl)
private
procedure Refresh(var Message: TMessageRecordType); message ID_REFRESH;
ƒ
end;
A message method does not have to include the override directive to override an
inherited message method. In fact, it doesn’t have to specify the same method name
or parameter type as the method it overrides. The message ID alone determines
which message the method responds to and whether it is an override.

Implementing message methods

The implementation of a message method can call the inherited message method, as
in this Windows-specific example:
procedure TTextBox.WMChar(var Message: TWMChar);
begin
if Message.CharCode = Ord(#13) then
ProcessEnter
else
inherited;
end;
On Linux or for cross-platform programming, you would write the same example as
follows:
procedure TTextBox.Refresh(var Message: TMessageRecordType);
begin
if Chr(Message.Code) = #13 then
...
else
inherited;
end;
The inherited statement searches backward through the class hierarchy and invokes
the first message method with the same ID as the current method, automatically
passing the message record to it. If no ancestor class implements a message method

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 Properties

for the given ID, inherited calls the DefaultHandler method originally defined in
TObject.
The implementation of DefaultHandler in TObject simply returns without performing
any actions. By overriding DefaultHandler, a class can implement its own default
handling of messages. On Windows, the DefaultHandler method for WinCLX controls
calls the Windows DefWindowProc function.

Message dispatching
Message handlers are seldom called directly. Instead, messages are dispatched to an
object using the Dispatch method inherited from TObject:
procedure Dispatch(var Message);
The Message parameter passed to Dispatch must be a record whose first entry is a field
of type Word containing a message ID.
Dispatch searches backward through the class hierarchy (starting from the class of the
object where it is called) and invokes the first message method for the ID passed to it.
If no message method is found for the given ID, Dispatch calls DefaultHandler.

Properties
A property, like a field, defines an attribute of an object. But while a field is merely a
storage location whose contents can be examined and changed, a property associates
specific actions with reading or modifying its data. Properties provide control over
access to an object’s attributes, and they allow attributes to be computed.
The declaration of a property specifies a name and a type, and includes at least one
access specifier. The syntax of a property declaration is
property propertyName[indexes]: type index integerConstant specifiers;
where
• propertyName is any valid identifier.
• [indexes] is optional and is a sequence of parameter declarations separated by
semicolons. Each parameter declaration has the form identifier1, ..., identifiern:
type. For more information, see “Array properties” on page 7-20.
• type must be a predefined or previously declared type identifier. That is, property
declarations like property Num: 0..9 ... are invalid.
• the index integerConstant clause is optional. For more information, see “Index
specifiers” on page 7-21.
• specifiers is a sequence of read, write, stored, default (or nodefault), and
implements specifiers. Every property declaration must have at least one read or
write specifier. (For information about implements, see “Implementing interfaces
by delegation” on page 10-7.)

Classes and objects 7-17

Properties

Properties are defined by their access specifiers. Unlike fields, properties cannot be
passed as var parameters, nor can the @ operator be applied to a property. The reason
is that a property doesn’t necessarily exist in memory. It could, for instance, have a
read method that retrieves a value from a database or generates a random value.

Property access
Every property has a read specifier, a write specifier, or both. These are called access
specifiers and they have the form
read fieldOrMethod
write fieldOrMethod
where fieldOrMethod is the name of a field or method declared in the same class as the
property or in an ancestor class.
• If fieldOrMethod is declared in the same class, it must occur before the property
declaration. If it is declared in an ancestor class, it must be visible from the
descendant; that is, it cannot be a private field or method of an ancestor class
declared in a different unit.
• If fieldOrMethod is a field, it must be of the same type as the property.
• If fieldOrMethod is a method, it cannot be dynamic and, if virtual, cannot be
overloaded. Moreover, access methods for a published property must use the
default register calling convention.
• In a read specifier, if fieldOrMethod is a method, it must be a parameterless
function whose result type is the same as the property’s type. (An exception is the
access method for an indexed property or an array property. See “Index
specifiers” on page 7-21 and “Array properties” on page 7-20.)
• In a write specifier, if fieldOrMethod is a method, it must be a procedure that takes
a single value or const parameter of the same type as the property (or more, if it is
an array property or indexed property).
For example, given the declaration
property Color: TColor read GetColor write SetColor;
the GetColor method must be declared as
function GetColor: TColor;
and the SetColor method must be declared as one of these:
procedure SetColor(Value: TColor);
procedure SetColor(const Value: TColor);
(The name of SetColor‘s parameter, of course, doesn’t have to be Value.)

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When a property is referenced in an expression, its value is read using the field or
method listed in the read specifier. When a property is referenced in an assignment
statement, its value is written using the field or method listed in the write specifier.
The example below declares a class called TCompass with a published property called
Heading. The value of Heading is read through the FHeading field and written through
the SetHeading procedure.
type
THeading = 0..359;
TCompass = class(TControl)
private
FHeading: THeading;
procedure SetHeading(Value: THeading);
published
property Heading: THeading read FHeading write SetHeading;
ƒ
end;
Given this declaration, the statements
if Compass.Heading = 180 then GoingSouth;
Compass.Heading := 135;
correspond to
if Compass.FHeading = 180 then GoingSouth;
Compass.SetHeading(135);
In the TCompass class, no action is associated with reading the Heading property; the
read operation consists of retrieving the value stored in the FHeading field. On the
other hand, assigning a value to the Heading property translates into a call to the
SetHeading method, which, presumably, stores the new value in the FHeading field as
well as performing other actions. For example, SetHeading might be implemented like
this:
procedure TCompass.SetHeading(Value: THeading);
begin
if FHeading <> Value then
begin
FHeading := Value;
Repaint; // update user interface to reflect new value
end;
end;
A property whose declaration includes only a read specifier is a read-only property,
and one whose declaration includes only a write specifier is a write-only property. It
is an error to assign a value to a read-only property or use a write-only property in an
expression.

Classes and objects 7-19

Properties

Array properties
Array properties are indexed properties. They can represent things like items in a list,
child controls of a control, and pixels of a bitmap.
The declaration of an array property includes a parameter list that specifies the
names and types of the indexes. For example,
property Objects[Index: Integer]: TObject read GetObject write SetObject;
property Pixels[X, Y: Integer]: TColor read GetPixel write SetPixel;
property Values[const Name: string]: string read GetValue write SetValue;
The format of an index parameter list is the same as that of a procedure’s or
function’s parameter list, except that the parameter declarations are enclosed in
brackets instead of parentheses. Unlike arrays, which can use only ordinal-type
indexes, array properties allow indexes of any type.
For array properties, access specifiers must list methods rather than fields. The
method in a read specifier must be a function that takes the number and type of
parameters listed in the property’s index parameter list, in the same order, and
whose result type is identical to the property’s type. The method in a write specifier
must be a procedure that takes the number and type of parameters listed in the
property’s index parameter list, in the same order, plus an additional value or const
parameter of the same type as the property.
For example, the access methods for the array properties above might be declared as
function GetObject(Index: Integer): TObject;
function GetPixel(X, Y: Integer): TColor;
function GetValue(const Name: string): string;
procedure SetObject(Index: Integer; Value: TObject);
procedure SetPixel(X, Y: Integer; Value: TColor);
procedure SetValue(const Name, Value: string);
An array property is accessed by indexing the property identifier. For example, the
statements
if Collection.Objects[0] = nil then Exit;
Canvas.Pixels[10, 20] := clRed;
Params.Values['PATH'] := 'C:\BIN';
correspond to
if Collection.GetObject(0) = nil then Exit;
Canvas.SetPixel(10, 20, clRed);
Params.SetValue('PATH', 'C:\BIN');
On Linux, you would use a path such as ‘/bin’ in place of ‘C:\BIN’ in the above
example.

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 Properties

The definition of an array property can be followed by the default directive, in which
case the array property becomes the default property of the class. For example,
type
TStringArray = class
public
property Strings[Index: Integer]: string ...; default;
ƒ
end;
If a class has a default property, you can access that property with the abbreviation
object[index], which is equivalent to object.property[index]. For example, given the
declaration above, StringArray.Strings[7] can be abbreviated to StringArray[7]. A class
can have only one default property. Changing or hiding the default property in
descendant classes may lead to unexpected behavior, since the compiler always
binds to properties statically.

Index specifiers
Index specifiers allow several properties to share the same access method while
representing different values. An index specifier consists of the directive index
followed by an integer constant between –2147483647 and 2147483647. If a property
has an index specifier, its read and write specifiers must list methods rather than
fields. For example,
type
TRectangle = class
private
FCoordinates: array[0..3] of Longint;
function GetCoordinate(Index: Integer): Longint;
procedure SetCoordinate(Index: Integer; Value: Longint);
public
property Left: Longint index 0 read GetCoordinate write SetCoordinate;
property Top: Longint index 1 read GetCoordinate write SetCoordinate;
property Right: Longint index 2 read GetCoordinate write SetCoordinate;
property Bottom: Longint index 3 read GetCoordinate write SetCoordinate;
property Coordinates[Index: Integer]: Longint read GetCoordinate write SetCoordinate;
ƒ
end;
An access method for a property with an index specifier must take an extra value
parameter of type Integer. For a read function, it must be the last parameter; for a
write procedure, it must be the second-to-last parameter (preceding the parameter
that specifies the property value). When a program accesses the property, the
property’s integer constant is automatically passed to the access method.

Classes and objects 7-21

Properties

Given the declaration above, if Rectangle is of type TRectangle, then

Rectangle.Right := Rectangle.Left + 100;
corresponds to
Rectangle.SetCoordinate(2, Rectangle.GetCoordinate(0) + 100);

Storage specifiers
The optional stored, default, and nodefault directives are called storage specifiers.
They have no effect on program behavior, but control whether or not to save the
values of published properties in form files.
The stored directive must be followed by True, False, the name of a Boolean field, or
the name of a parameterless method that returns a Boolean value. For example,
property Name: TComponentName read FName write SetName stored False;
If a property has no stored directive, it is treated as if stored True were specified.
The default directive must be followed by a constant of the same type as the
property. For example,
property Tag: Longint read FTag write FTag default 0;
To override an inherited default value without specifying a new one, use the
nodefault directive. The default and nodefault directives are supported only for
ordinal types and for set types, provided the upper and lower bounds of the set’s
base type have ordinal values between 0 and 31; if such a property is declared
without default or nodefault, it is treated as if nodefault were specified. For reals,
pointers, and strings, there is an implicit default value of 0, nil, and '' (the empty
string), respectively.
Note You can’t use the ordinal value 2147483648 has a default value. This value is used
internally to represent nodefault.
When saving a component’s state, the storage specifiers of the component’s
published properties are checked. If a property’s current value is different from its
default value (or if there is no default value) and the stored specifier is True, then the
property’s value is saved. Otherwise, the property’s value is not saved.
Note Property values are not automatically initialized to the default value. That is, the
default directive controls only when property values are saved to the form file, but
not the initial value of the property on a newly created instance.
Storage specifiers are not supported for array properties. The default directive has a
different meaning when used in an array property declaration. See “Array
properties” on page 7-20.

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Property overrides and redeclarations

A property declaration that doesn’t specify a type is called a property override.
Property overrides allow you to change a property’s inherited visibility or specifiers.
The simplest override consists only of the reserved word property followed by an
inherited property identifier; this form is used to change a property’s visibility. For
example, if an ancestor class declares a property as protected, a derived class can
redeclare it in a public or published section of the class. Property overrides can
include read, write, stored, default, and nodefault directives; any such directive
overrides the corresponding inherited directive. An override can replace an inherited
access specifier, add a missing specifier, or increase a property’s visibility, but it
cannot remove an access specifier or decrease a property’s visibility. An override can
include an implements directive, which adds to the list of implemented interfaces
without removing inherited ones.
The following declarations illustrate the use of property overrides.
type
TAncestor = class
ƒ
protected
property Size: Integer read FSize;
property Text: string read GetText write SetText;
property Color: TColor read FColor write SetColor stored False;
ƒ
end;
type
TDerived = class(TAncestor)
ƒ
protected
property Size write SetSize;
published
property Text;
property Color stored True default clBlue;
ƒ
end;
The override of Size adds a write specifier to allow the property to be modified. The
overrides of Text and Color change the visibility of the properties from protected to
published. The property override of Color also specifies that the property should be
filed if its value isn’t clBlue.
A redeclaration of a property that includes a type identifier hides the inherited
property rather than overriding it. This means that a new property is created with the
same name as the inherited one. Any property declaration that specifies a type must
be a complete declaration, and must therefore include at least one access specifier.
Whether a property is hidden or overridden in a derived class, property look-up is
always static. That is, the declared (compile-time) type of the variable used to identify
an object determines the interpretation of its property identifiers. Hence, after the
following code executes, reading or assigning a value to MyObject.Value invokes
Method1 or Method2, even though MyObject holds an instance of TDescendant. But you

Classes and objects 7-23

Class references

can cast MyObject to TDescendant to access the descendant class’s properties and their
access specifiers.
type
TAncestor = class
ƒ
property Value: Integer read Method1 write Method2;
end;
TDescendant = class(TAncestor)
ƒ
property Value: Integer read Method3 write Method4;
end;
var MyObject: TAncestor;
ƒ
MyObject := TDescendant.Create;

Class references
Sometimes operations are performed on a class itself, rather than on instances of a
class (that is, objects). This happens, for example, when you call a constructor method
using a class reference. You can always refer to a specific class using its name, but at
times it is necessary to declare variables or parameters that take classes as values, and
in these situations you need class-reference types.

Class-reference types
A class-reference type, sometimes called a metaclass, is denoted by a construction of
the form
class of type
where type is any class type. The identifier type itself denotes a value whose type is
class of type. If type1 is an ancestor of type2, then class of type2 is assignment-
compatible with class of type1. Thus
type TClass = class of TObject;
var AnyObj: TClass;
declares a variable called AnyObj that can hold a reference to any class. (The
definition of a class-reference type cannot occur directly in a variable declaration or
parameter list.) You can assign the value nil to a variable of any class-reference type.
To see how class-reference types are used, look at the declaration of the constructor
for TCollection (in the Classes unit):
type TCollectionItemClass = class of TCollectionItem;
ƒ
constructor Create(ItemClass: TCollectionItemClass);

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 Class references

This declaration says that to create a TCollection instance object, you must pass to the
constructor the name of a class descending from TCollectionItem.
Class-reference types are useful when you want to invoke a class method or virtual
constructor on a class or object whose actual type is unknown at compile time.

Constructors and class references

A constructor can be called using a variable of a class-reference type. This allows
construction of objects whose type isn’t known at compile time. For example,
type TControlClass = class of TControl;
function CreateControl(ControlClass: TControlClass;
const ControlName: string; X, Y, W, H: Integer): TControl;
begin
Result := ControlClass.Create(MainForm);
with Result do
begin
Parent := MainForm;
Name := ControlName;
SetBounds(X, Y, W, H);
Visible := True;
end;
end;
The CreateControl function requires a class-reference parameter to tell it what kind of
control to create. It uses this parameter to call the class’s constructor. Because class-
type identifiers denote class-reference values, a call to CreateControl can specify the
identifier of the class to create an instance of. For example,
CreateControl(TEdit, 'Edit1', 10, 10, 100, 20);
Constructors called using class references are usually virtual. The constructor
implementation activated by the call depends on the runtime type of the class
reference.

Class operators
Every class inherits from TObject methods called ClassType and ClassParent that
return, respectively, a reference to the class of an object and of an object’s immediate
ancestor. Both methods return a value of type TClass (where TClass = class of
TObject), which can be cast to a more specific type. Every class also inherits a method
called InheritsFrom that tests whether the object where it is called descends from a
specified class. These methods are used by the is and as operators, and it is seldom
necessary to call them directly.

Classes and objects 7-25

Class references

The is operator
The is operator, which performs dynamic type checking, is used to verify the actual
runtime class of an object. The expression
object is class
returns True if object is an instance of the class denoted by class or one of its
descendants, and False otherwise. (If object is nil, the result is False.) If the declared
type of object is unrelated to class—that is, if the types are distinct and one is not an
ancestor of the other—a compilation error results. For example,
if ActiveControl is TEdit then TEdit(ActiveControl).SelectAll;
This statement casts a variable to TEdit after first verifying that the object it references
is an instance of TEdit or one of its descendants.

The as operator
The as operator performs checked typecasts. The expression
object as class
returns a reference to the same object as object, but with the type given by class. At
runtime, object must be an instance of the class denoted by class or one of its
descendants, or be nil; otherwise an exception is raised. If the declared type of object
is unrelated to class—that is, if the types are distinct and one is not an ancestor of the
other—a compilation error results. For example,
with Sender as TButton do
begin
Caption := '&Ok';
OnClick := OkClick;
end;
The rules of operator precedence often require as typecasts to be enclosed in
parentheses. For example,
(Sender as TButton).Caption := '&Ok';

Class methods
A class method is a method (other than a constructor) that operates on classes instead
of objects. The definition of a class method must begin with the reserved word class.
For example,
type
TFigure = class
public
class function Supports(Operation: string): Boolean; virtual;
class procedure GetInfo(var Info: TFigureInfo); virtual;
ƒ
end;

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 Exceptions

The defining declaration of a class method must also begin with class. For example,
class procedure TFigure.GetInfo(var Info: TFigureInfo);
begin
ƒ
end;
In the defining declaration of a class method, the identifier Self represents the class
where the method is called (which could be a descendant of the class in which it is
defined). If the method is called in the class C, then Self is of the type class of C. Thus
you cannot use Self to access fields, properties, and normal (object) methods, but you
can use it to call constructors and other class methods.
A class method can be called through a class reference or an object reference. When it
is called through an object reference, the class of the object becomes the value of Self.

Exceptions
An exception is raised when an error or other event interrupts normal execution of a
program. The exception transfers control to an exception handler, which allows you to
separate normal program logic from error-handling. Because exceptions are objects,
they can be grouped into hierarchies using inheritance, and new exceptions can be
introduced without affecting existing code. An exception can carry information, such
as an error message, from the point where it is raised to the point where it is handled.
When an application uses the SysUtils unit, most runtime errors are automatically
converted into exceptions. Many errors that would otherwise terminate an
application—such as insufficient memory, division by zero, and general protection
faults—can be caught and handled.

When to use exceptions

Exceptions provide an elegant way to trap runtime errors without halting the
program and without awkward conditional statements. The requirements imposed
by exception handling semantics impose a code/data size and runtime performance
penalty. While it is possible to raise exceptions for almost any reason, and to protect
almost any block of code by wrapping it in a try...except or try...finally statement, in
practice these tools are best reserved for special situations.
Exception handling is appropriate for errors whose chances of occurring are low or
difficult to assess, but whose consequences are likely to be catastrophic (such as
crashing the application); for error conditions that are complicated or difficult to test
for in if...then statements; and when you need to respond to exceptions raised by the
operating system or by routines whose source code you don’t control. Exceptions are
commonly used for hardware, memory, I/O, and operating-system errors.

Classes and objects 7-27

Exceptions

Conditional statements are often the best way to test for errors. For example, suppose
you want to make sure that a file exists before trying to open it. You could do it this
way:
try
AssignFile(F, FileName);
Reset(F); // raises an EInOutError exception if file is not found
except
on Exception do ...
end;
But you could also avoid the overhead of exception handling by using
if FileExists(FileName) then // returns False if file is not found; raises no exception
begin
AssignFile(F, FileName);
Reset(F);
end;
Assertions provide another way of testing a Boolean condition anywhere in your
source code. When an Assert statement fails, the program either halts with a runtime
error or (if it uses the SysUtils unit) raises an EAssertionFailed exception. Assertions
should be used only to test for conditions that you do not expect to occur. For more
information, see the online Help for the standard procedure Assert.

Declaring exception types

Exception types are declared just like other classes. In fact, it is possible to use an
instance of any class as an exception, but it is recommended that exceptions be
derived from the Exception class defined in SysUtils.
You can group exceptions into families using inheritance. For example, the following
declarations in SysUtils define a family of exception types for math errors.
type
EMathError = class(Exception);
EInvalidOp = class(EMathError);
EZeroDivide = class(EMathError);
EOverflow = class(EMathError);
EUnderflow = class(EMathError);
Given these declarations, you can define a single EMathError exception handler that
also handles EInvalidOp, EZeroDivide, EOverflow, and EUnderflow.
Exception classes sometimes define fields, methods, or properties that convey
additional information about the error. For example,
type EInOutError = class(Exception)
ErrorCode: Integer;
end;

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 Exceptions

Raising and handling exceptions

To raise an exception object, use an instance of the exception class with a raise
statement. For example,
raise EMathError.Create;
In general, the form of a raise statement is
raise object at address
where object and at address are both optional; see “Re-raising exceptions” on
page 7-32. When an address is specified, it can be any expression that evaluates to a
pointer type, but is usually a pointer to a procedure or function. For example:
raise Exception.Create('Missing parameter') at @MyFunction;
Use this option to raise the exception from an earlier point in the stack than the one
where the error actually occurred.
When an exception is raised—that is, referenced in a raise statement—it is governed
by special exception-handling logic. A raise statement never returns control in the
normal way. Instead, it transfers control to the innermost exception handler that can
handle exceptions of the given class. (The innermost handler is the one whose
try...except block was most recently entered but has not yet exited.)
For example, the function below converts a string to an integer, raising an
ERangeError exception if the resulting value is outside a specified range.
function StrToIntRange(const S: string; Min, Max: Longint): Longint;
begin
Result := StrToInt(S); // StrToInt is declared in SysUtils
if (Result < Min) or (Result > Max) then
raise ERangeError.CreateFmt(
'%d is not within the valid range of %d..%d',
[Result, Min, Max]);
end;
Notice the CreateFmt method called in the raise statement. Exception and its
descendants have special constructors that provide alternative ways to create
exception messages and context IDs. See the online Help for details.
A raised exception is destroyed automatically after it is handled. Never attempt to
destroy a raised exception manually.
Note Raising an exception in the initialization section of a unit may not produce the
intended result. Normal exception support comes from the SysUtils unit, which must
be initialized before such support is available. If an exception occurs during
initialization, all initialized units—including SysUtils—are finalized and the
exception is re-raised. Then the exception is caught and handled, usually by
interrupting the program. Similarly, raising an exception in the finalization section of
a unit may not lead to the intended result if SysUtils has already been finalized when
the exception has been raised.

Classes and objects 7-29

Exceptions

Try...except statements
Exceptions are handled within try...except statements. For example,
try
X := Y/Z;
except
on EZeroDivide do HandleZeroDivide;
end;
This statement attempts to divide Y by Z, but calls a routine named HandleZeroDivide
if an EZeroDivide exception is raised.
The syntax of a try...except statement is
try statements except exceptionBlock end
where statements is a sequence of statements (delimited by semicolons) and
exceptionBlock is either
• another sequence of statements or
• a sequence of exception handlers, optionally followed by
else statements
An exception handler has the form
on identifier: type do statement
where identifier: is optional (if included, identifier can be any valid identifier), type is a
type used to represent exceptions, and statement is any statement.
A try...except statement executes the statements in the initial statements list. If no
exceptions are raised, the exception block (exceptionBlock) is ignored and control
passes to the next part of the program.
If an exception is raised during execution of the initial statements list, either by a raise
statement in the statements list or by a procedure or function called from the
statements list, an attempt is made to “handle” the exception:
• If any of the handlers in the exception block matches the exception, control passes
to the first such handler. An exception handler “matches” an exception just in case
the type in the handler is the class of the exception or an ancestor of that class.
• If no such handler is found, control passes to the statement in the else clause, if
there is one.
• If the exception block is just a sequence of statements without any exception
handlers, control passes to the first statement in the list.
If none of the conditions above is satisfied, the search continues in the exception
block of the next-most-recently entered try...except statement that has not yet exited.
If no appropriate handler, else clause, or statement list is found there, the search
propagates to the next-most-recently entered try...except statement, and so forth. If
the outermost try...except statement is reached and the exception is still not handled,
the program terminates.

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 Exceptions

When an exception is handled, the stack is traced back to the procedure or function
containing the try...except statement where the handling occurs, and control is
transferred to the executed exception handler, else clause, or statement list. This
process discards all procedure and function calls that occurred after entering the
try...except statement where the exception is handled. The exception object is then
automatically destroyed through a call to its Destroy destructor and control is passed
to the statement following the try...except statement. (If a call to the Exit, Break, or
Continue standard procedure causes control to leave the exception handler, the
exception object is still automatically destroyed.)
In the example below, the first exception handler handles division-by-zero
exceptions, the second one handles overflow exceptions, and the final one handles all
other math exceptions. EMathError appears last in the exception block because it is
the ancestor of the other two exception classes; if it appeared first, the other two
handlers would never be invoked.
try
ƒ
except
on EZeroDivide do HandleZeroDivide;
on EOverflow do HandleOverflow;
on EMathError do HandleMathError;
end;
An exception handler can specify an identifier before the name of the exception class.
This declares the identifier to represent the exception object during execution of the
statement that follows on...do. The scope of the identifier is limited to that statement.
For example,
try
ƒ
except
on E: Exception do ErrorDialog(E.Message, E.HelpContext);
end;
If the exception block specifies an else clause, the else clause handles any exceptions
that aren’t handled by the block’s exception handlers. For example,
try
ƒ
except
on EZeroDivide do HandleZeroDivide;
on EOverflow do HandleOverflow;
on EMathError do HandleMathError;
else
HandleAllOthers;
end;
Here, the else clause handles any exception that isn’t an EMathError.

Classes and objects 7-31

Exceptions

An exception block that contains no exception handlers, but instead consists only of a
list of statements, handles all exceptions. For example,
try
ƒ
except
HandleException;
end;
Here, the HandleException routine handles any exception that occurs as a result of
executing the statements between try and except.

Re-raising exceptions
When the reserved word raise occurs in an exception block without an object
reference following it, it raises whatever exception is handled by the block. This
allows an exception handler to respond to an error in a limited way and then re-raise
the exception. Re-raising is useful when a procedure or function has to clean up after
an exception occurs but cannot fully handle the exception.
For example, the GetFileList function allocates a TStringList object and fills it with file
names matching a specified search path:
function GetFileList(const Path: string): TStringList;
var
I: Integer;
SearchRec: TSearchRec;
begin
Result := TStringList.Create;
try
I := FindFirst(Path, 0, SearchRec);
while I = 0 do
begin
Result.Add(SearchRec.Name);
I := FindNext(SearchRec);
end;
except
Result.Free;
raise;
end;
end;
GetFileList creates a TStringList object, then uses the FindFirst and FindNext functions
(defined in SysUtils) to initialize it. If the initialization fails—for example because the
search path is invalid, or because there is not enough memory to fill in the string
list—GetFileList needs to dispose of the new string list, since the caller does not yet
know of its existence. For this reason, initialization of the string list is performed in a
try...except statement. If an exception occurs, the statement’s exception block
disposes of the string list, then re-raises the exception.

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Nested exceptions
Code executed in an exception handler can itself raise and handle exceptions. As long
as these exceptions are also handled within the exception handler, they do not affect
the original exception. However, once an exception raised in an exception handler
propagates beyond that handler, the original exception is lost. This is illustrated by
the Tan function below.
type
ETrigError = class(EMathError);
function Tan(X: Extended): Extended;
begin
try
Result := Sin(X) / Cos(X);
except
on EMathError do
raise ETrigError.Create('Invalid argument to Tan');
end;
end;
If an EMathError exception occurs during execution of Tan, the exception handler
raises an ETrigError. Since Tan does not provide a handler for ETrigError, the
exception propagates beyond the original exception handler, causing the EMathError
exception to be destroyed. To the caller, it appears as if the Tan function has raised an
ETrigError exception.

Try...finally statements
Sometimes you want to ensure that specific parts of an operation are completed,
whether or not the operation is interrupted by an exception. For example, when a
routine acquires control of a resource, it is often important that the resource be
released, regardless of whether the routine terminates normally. In these situations,
you can use a try...finally statement.
The following example shows how code that opens and processes a file can ensure
that the file is ultimately closed, even if an error occurs during execution.
Reset(F);
try
ƒ // process file F
finally
CloseFile(F);
end;
The syntax of a try...finally statement is
try statementList1 finally statementList2 end

Classes and objects 7-33

 where each statementList is a sequence of statements delimited by semicolons. The
try...finally statement executes the statements in statementList1 (the try clause). If
statementList1 finishes without raising exceptions, statementList2 (the finally clause) is
executed. If an exception is raised during execution of statementList1, control is
transferred to statementList2; once statementList2 finishes executing, the exception is
re-raised. If a call to the Exit, Break, or Continue procedure causes control to leave
statementList1, statementList2 is automatically executed. Thus the finally clause is
always executed, regardless of how the try clause terminates.
If an exception is raised but not handled in the finally clause, that exception is
propagated out of the try...finally statement, and any exception already raised in the
try clause is lost. The finally clause should therefore handle all locally raised
exceptions, so as not to disturb propagation of other exceptions.

Standard exception classes and routines

The SysUtils and System units declare several standard routines for handling
exceptions, including ExceptObject, ExceptAddr, and ShowException. SysUtils, System
and other units also include dozens of exception classes, all of which (aside from
OutlineError) derive from Exception.
The Exception class has properties called Message and HelpContext that can be used to
pass an error description and a context ID for context-sensitive online
documentation. It also defines various constructor methods that allow you to specify
the description and context ID in different ways. See the online Help for details.

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 Chapter

Standard routines and I/O

Chapter8
8
This chapter discusses text and file I/O and summarizes standard library routines.
Many of the procedures and functions listed here are defined in the System and
SysInit units, which are implicitly used with every application. Others are built into
the compiler but are treated as if they were in the System unit.
Some standard routines are in units such as SysUtils, which must be listed in a uses
clause to make them available in programs. You cannot, however, list System in a
uses clause, nor should you modify the System unit or try to rebuild it explicitly.
For more information about the routines listed here, see the online Help.

File input and output

The table below lists input and output routines.

Table 8.1 Input and output procedures and functions

Procedure or
function Description
Append Opens an existing text file for appending.
AssignFile Assigns the name of an external file to a file variable.
BlockRead Reads one or more records from an untyped file.
BlockWrite Writes one or more records into an untyped file.
ChDir Changes the current directory.
CloseFile Closes an open file.
Eof Returns the end-of-file status of a file.
Eoln Returns the end-of-line status of a text file.
Erase Erases an external file.
FilePos Returns the current file position of a typed or untyped file.
FileSize Returns the current size of a file; not used for text files.

Standard routines and I/O 8-1

File input and output

Table 8.1 Input and output procedures and functions (continued)

Procedure or
function Description
Flush Flushes the buffer of an output text file.
GetDir Returns the current directory of a specified drive.
IOResult Returns an integer value that is the status of the last I/O function performed.
MkDir Creates a subdirectory.
Read Reads one or more values from a file into one or more variables.
Readln Does what Read does and then skips to beginning of next line in the text file.
Rename Renames an external file.
Reset Opens an existing file.
Rewrite Creates and opens a new file.
RmDir Removes an empty subdirectory.
Seek Moves the current position of a typed or untyped file to a specified component.
Not used with text files.
SeekEof Returns the end-of-file status of a text file.
SeekEoln Returns the end-of-line status of a text file.
SetTextBuf Assigns an I/O buffer to a text file.
Truncate Truncates a typed or untyped file at the current file position.
Write Writes one or more values to a file.
Writeln Does the same as Write, and then writes an end-of-line marker to the text file.

A file variable is any variable whose type is a file type. There are three classes of file:
typed, text, and untyped. The syntax for declaring file types is given in “File types” on
page 5-26.
Before a file variable can be used, it must be associated with an external file through a
call to the AssignFile procedure. An external file is typically a named disk file, but it
can also be a device, such as the keyboard or the display. The external file stores the
information written to the file or supplies the information read from the file.
Once the association with an external file is established, the file variable must be
“opened” to prepare it for input or output. An existing file can be opened via the
Reset procedure, and a new file can be created and opened via the Rewrite procedure.
Text files opened with Reset are read-only and text files opened with Rewrite and
Append are write-only. Typed files and untyped files always allow both reading and
writing regardless of whether they were opened with Reset or Rewrite.
Every file is a linear sequence of components, each of which has the component type
(or record type) of the file. The components are numbered starting with zero.
Files are normally accessed sequentially. That is, when a component is read using the
standard procedure Read or written using the standard procedure Write, the current
file position moves to the next numerically ordered file component. Typed files and
untyped files can also be accessed randomly through the standard procedure Seek,
which moves the current file position to a specified component. The standard
functions FilePos and FileSize can be used to determine the current file position and
the current file size.

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 File input and output

When a program completes processing a file, the file must be closed using the
standard procedure CloseFile. After a file is closed, its associated external file is
updated. The file variable can then be associated with another external file.
By default, all calls to standard I/O procedures and functions are automatically
checked for errors, and if an error occurs an exception is raised (or the program is
terminated if exception handling is not enabled). This automatic checking can be
turned on and off using the {$I+} and {$I–} compiler directives. When I/O checking is
off—that is, when a procedure or function call is compiled in the {$I–} state—an I/O
error doesn’t cause an exception to be raised; to check the result of an I/O operation,
you must call the standard function IOResult instead.
You must call the IOResult function to clear an error, even if you aren’t interested in
the error. If you don’t clear an error and {$I+} is the current state, the next I/O
function call will fail with the lingering IOResult error.

Text files
This section summarizes I/O using file variables of the standard type Text.
When a text file is opened, the external file is interpreted in a special way: It is
considered to represent a sequence of characters formatted into lines, where each line
is terminated by an end-of-line marker (a carriage-return character, possibly
followed by a linefeed character). The type Text is distinct from the type file of Char.
For text files, there are special forms of Read and Write that let you read and write
values that are not of type Char. Such values are automatically translated to and from
their character representation. For example, Read(F, I), where I is a type Integer
variable, reads a sequence of digits, interprets that sequence as a decimal integer, and
stores it in I.
There are two standard text file variables, Input and Output. The standard file
variable Input is a read-only file associated with the operating system’s standard
input (typically, the keyboard). The standard file variable Output is a write-only file
associated with the operating system’s standard output (typically, the display).
Before an application begins executing, Input and Output are automatically opened,
as if the following statements were executed:
AssignFile(Input, '');
Reset(Input);
AssignFile(Output, '');
Rewrite(Output);
Note For Win32 applications, text-oriented I/O is available only in console applications—
that is, applications compiled with the “Generate console application” option
checked on the Linker page of the Project Options dialog box or with the -cc
command-line compiler option. In a GUI (non-console) application, any attempt to
read or write using Input or Output will produce an I/O error.

Standard routines and I/O 8-3

Text file device drivers

Some of the standard I/O routines that work on text files don’t need to have a file
variable explicitly given as a parameter. If the file parameter is omitted, Input or
Output is assumed by default, depending on whether the procedure or function is
input- or output-oriented. For example, Read(X) corresponds to Read(Input, X) and
Write(X) corresponds to Write(Output, X).
If you do specify a file when calling one of the input or output routines that work on
text files, the file must be associated with an external file using AssignFile, and
opened using Reset, Rewrite, or Append. An error occurs if you pass a file that was
opened with Reset to an output-oriented procedure or function. An error also occurs
if you pass a file that was opened with Rewrite or Append to an input-oriented
procedure or function.

Untyped files
Untyped files are low-level I/O channels used primarily for direct access to disk files
regardless of type and structuring. An untyped file is declared with the word file
and nothing more. For example,
var DataFile: file;
For untyped files, the Reset and Rewrite procedures allow an extra parameter to
specify the record size used in data transfers. For historical reasons, the default
record size is 128 bytes. A record size of 1 is the only value that correctly reflects the
exact size of any file. (No partial records are possible when the record size is 1.)
Except for Read and Write, all typed-file standard procedures and functions are also
allowed on untyped files. Instead of Read and Write, two procedures called BlockRead
and BlockWrite are used for high-speed data transfers.

Text file device drivers

You can define your own text file device drivers for your programs. A text file device
driver is a set of four functions that completely implement an interface between
Delphi’s file system and some device.
The four functions that define each device driver are Open, InOut, Flush, and Close.
The function header of each function is
function DeviceFunc(var F: TTextRec): Integer;
where DeviceFunc is the name of the function (that is, Open, InOut, Flush, or Close). For
information about the TTextRec type, see the online Help. The return value of a
device-interface function becomes the value returned by IOResult. If the return value
is zero, the operation was successful.

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 Text file device drivers

To associate the device-interface functions with a specific file, you must write a
customized Assign procedure. The Assign procedure must assign the addresses of the
four device-interface functions to the four function pointers in the text file variable. In
addition, it should store the fmClosed “magic” constant in the Mode field, store the
size of the text file buffer in BufSize, store a pointer to the text file buffer in BufPtr, and
clear the Name string.
Assuming, for example, that the four device-interface functions are called DevOpen,
DevInOut, DevFlush, and DevClose, the Assign procedure might look like this:
procedure AssignDev(var F: Text);
begin
with TTextRec(F) do
begin
Mode := fmClosed;
BufSize := SizeOf(Buffer);
BufPtr := @Buffer;
OpenFunc := @DevOpen;
InOutFunc := @DevInOut;
FlushFunc := @DevFlush;
CloseFunc := @DevClose;
Name[0] := #0;
end;
end;
The device-interface functions can use the UserData field in the file record to store
private information. This field isn’t modified by the product file system at any time.

Device functions
The functions that make up a text file device driver are described below.

The Open function

The Open function is called by the Reset, Rewrite, and Append standard procedures to
open a text file associated with a device. On entry, the Mode field contains fmInput,
fmOutput, or fmInOut to indicate whether the Open function was called from Reset,
Rewrite, or Append.
The Open function prepares the file for input or output, according to the Mode value.
If Mode specified fmInOut (indicating that Open was called from Append), it must be
changed to fmOutput before Open returns.
Open is always called before any of the other device-interface functions. For that
reason, AssignDev only initializes the OpenFunc field, leaving initialization of the
remaining vectors up to Open. Based on Mode, Open can then install pointers to either
input- or output-oriented functions. This saves the InOut, Flush functions and the
CloseFile procedure from determining the current mode.

Standard routines and I/O 8-5

Handling null-terminated strings

The InOut function

The InOut function is called by the Read, Readln, Write, Writeln, Eof, Eoln, SeekEof,
SeekEoln, and CloseFile standard routines whenever input or output from the device is
required.
When Mode is fmInput, the InOut function reads up to BufSize characters into BufPtr^,
and returns the number of characters read in BufEnd. In addition, it stores zero in
BufPos. If the InOut function returns zero in BufEnd as a result of an input request, Eof
becomes True for the file.
When Mode is fmOutput, the InOut function writes BufPos characters from BufPtr^,
and returns zero in BufPos.

The Flush function

The Flush function is called at the end of each Read, Readln, Write, and Writeln. It can
optionally flush the text file buffer.
If Mode is fmInput, the Flush function can store zero in BufPos and BufEnd to flush the
remaining (unread) characters in the buffer. This feature is seldom used.
If Mode is fmOutput, the Flush function can write the contents of the buffer exactly like
the InOut function, which ensures that text written to the device appears on the
device immediately. If Flush does nothing, the text doesn’t appear on the device until
the buffer becomes full or the file is closed.

The Close function

The Close function is called by the CloseFile standard procedure to close a text file
associated with a device. (The Reset, Rewrite, and Append procedures also call Close if
the file they are opening is already open.) If Mode is fmOutput, then before calling
Close, the file system calls the InOut function to ensure that all characters have been
written to the device.

Handling null-terminated strings

The Delphi language’s extended syntax allows the Read, Readln, Str, and Val standard
procedures to be applied to zero-based character arrays, and allows the Write,
Writeln, Val, AssignFile, and Rename standard procedures to be applied to both zero-
based character arrays and character pointers. In addition, the following functions
are provided for handling null-terminated strings. For more information about null-
terminated strings, see “Working with null-terminated strings” on page 5-14.

Table 8.2 Null-terminated string functions

Function Description
StrAlloc Allocates a character buffer of a given size on the heap.
StrBufSize Returns the size of a character buffer allocated using StrAlloc or StrNew.
StrCat Concatenates two strings.
StrComp Compares two strings.

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 Handling null-terminated strings

Table 8.2 Null-terminated string functions (continued)

Function Description
StrCopy Copies a string.
StrDispose Disposes a character buffer allocated using StrAlloc or StrNew.
StrECopy Copies a string and returns a pointer to the end of the string.
StrEnd Returns a pointer to the end of a string.
StrFmt Formats one or more values into a string.
StrIComp Compares two strings without case sensitivity.
StrLCat Concatenates two strings with a given maximum length of the resulting string.
StrLComp Compares two strings for a given maximum length.
StrLCopy Copies a string up to a given maximum length.
StrLen Returns the length of a string.
StrLFmt Formats one or more values into a string with a given maximum length.
StrLIComp Compares two strings for a given maximum length without case sensitivity.
StrLower Converts a string to lowercase.
StrMove Moves a block of characters from one string to another.
StrNew Allocates a string on the heap.
StrPCopy Copies a Pascal string to a null-terminated string.
StrPLCopy Copies a Pascal string to a null-terminated string with a given maximum length.
StrPos Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of a given substring within a string.
StrRScan Returns a pointer to the last occurrence of a given character within a string.
StrScan Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of a given character within a string.
StrUpper Converts a string to uppercase.

Standard string-handling functions have multibyte-enabled counterparts that also

implement locale-specific ordering for characters. Names of multibyte functions start
with Ansi-. For example, the multibyte version of StrPos is AnsiStrPos. Multibyte
character support is operating-system dependent and based on the current locale.

Wide-character strings
The System unit provides three functions, WideCharToString, WideCharLenToString,
and StringToWideChar, that can be used to convert null-terminated wide character
strings to single- or double-byte long strings.
Assignment will also convert between strings. For instance, the following are both
valid:
MyAnsiString := MyWideString;
MyWideString := MyAnsiString;
For more information about wide-character strings, see “About extended character
sets” on page 5-13.

Standard routines and I/O 8-7

Other standard routines

Other standard routines

The table below lists frequently used procedures and functions found in Borland
product libraries. This is not an exhaustive inventory of standard routines. For more
information about these and other routines, see the online Help.

Table 8.3 Other standard routines

Procedure or
function Description
Addr Returns a pointer to a specified object.
AllocMem Allocates a memory block and initializes each byte to zero.
ArcTan Calculates the arctangent of the given number.
Assert Raises an exception if the passed expression does not evaluate to true.
Assigned Tests for a nil (unassigned) pointer or procedural variable.
Beep Generates a standard beep.
Break Causes control to exit a for, while, or repeat statement.
ByteToCharIndex Returns the position of the character containing a specified byte in a string.
Chr Returns the character for a specified integer value.
Close Closes a file.
CompareMem Performs a binary comparison of two memory images.
CompareStr Compares strings case sensitively.
CompareText Compares strings by ordinal value and is not case sensitive.
Continue Returns control to the next iteration of for, while, or repeat statements.
Copy Returns a substring of a string or a segment of a dynamic array.
Cos Calculates the cosine of an angle.
CurrToStr Converts a currency variable to a string.
Date Returns the current date.
DateTimeToStr Converts a variable of type TDateTime to a string.
DateToStr Converts a variable of type TDateTime to a string.
Dec Decrements an ordinal variable or a typed pointer variable.
Dispose Releases dynamically allocated variable memory.
ExceptAddr Returns the address at which the current exception was raised.
Exit Exits from the current procedure.
Exp Calculates the exponential of X.
FillChar Fills contiguous bytes with a specified value.
Finalize Uninitializes a dynamically allocated variable.
FloatToStr Converts a floating point value to a string.
FloatToStrF Converts a floating point value to a string, using specified format.
FmtLoadStr Returns formatted output using a resourced format string.
FmtStr Assembles a formatted string from a series of arrays.
Format Assembles a string from a format string and a series of arrays.
FormatDateTime Formats a date-and-time value.

8-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Other standard routines

Table 8.3 Other standard routines (continued)

Procedure or
function Description
FormatFloat Formats a floating point value.
FreeMem Releases allocated memory.
GetMem Allocates dynamic memory and a pointer to the address of the block.
Halt Initiates abnormal termination of a program.
Hi Returns the high-order byte of an expression as an unsigned value.
High Returns the highest value in the range of a type, array, or string.
Inc Increments an ordinal variable or a typed pointer variable.
Initialize Initializes a dynamically allocated variable.
Insert Inserts a substring at a specified point in a string.
Int Returns the integer part of a real number.
IntToStr Converts an integer to a string.
Length Returns the length of a string or array.
Lo Returns the low-order byte of an expression as an unsigned value.
Low Returns the lowest value in the range of a type, array, or string.
LowerCase Converts an ASCII string to lowercase.
MaxIntValue Returns the largest signed value in an integer array.
MaxValue Returns the largest signed value in an array.
MinIntValue Returns the smallest signed value in an integer array.
MinValue Returns smallest signed value in an array.
New Creates a dynamic allocated variable memory and references it with a
specified pointer.
Now Returns the current date and time.
Ord Returns the ordinal integer value of an ordinal-type expression.
Pos Returns the index of the first single-byte character of a specified substring
in a string.
Pred Returns the predecessor of an ordinal value.
Ptr Converts a value to a pointer.
Random Generates random numbers within a specified range.
ReallocMem Reallocates a dynamically allocatable memory.
Round Returns the value of a real rounded to the nearest whole number.
SetLength Sets the dynamic length of a string variable or array.
SetString Sets the contents and length of the given string.
ShowException Displays an exception message with its address.
ShowMessage Displays a message box with an unformatted string and an OK button.
ShowMessageFmt Displays a message box with a formatted string and an OK button.
Sin Returns the sine of an angle in radians.
SizeOf Returns the number of bytes occupied by a variable or type.
Sqr Returns the square of a number.
Sqrt Returns the square root of a number.
Str Converts an integer or real number into a string.

Standard routines and I/O 8-9

Other standard routines

Table 8.3 Other standard routines (continued)

Procedure or
function Description
StrToCurr Converts a string to a currency value.
StrToDate Converts a string to a date format (TDateTime).
StrToDateTime Converts a string to a TDateTime.
StrToFloat Converts a string to a floating-point value.
StrToInt Converts a string to an integer.
StrToTime Converts a string to a time format (TDateTime).
StrUpper Returns an ASCII string in upper case.
Succ Returns the successor of an ordinal value.
Sum Returns the sum of the elements from an array.
Time Returns the current time.
TimeToStr Converts a variable of type TDateTime to a string.
Trunc Truncates a real number to an integer.
UniqueString Ensures that a string has only one reference. (The string may be copied to
produce a single reference.)
UpCase Converts a character to uppercase.
UpperCase Returns a string in uppercase.
VarArrayCreate Creates a variant array.
VarArrayDimCount Returns number of dimensions of a variant array.
VarArrayHighBound Returns high bound for a dimension in a variant array.
VarArrayLock Locks a variant array and returns a pointer to the data.
VarArrayLowBound Returns the low bound of a dimension in a variant array.
VarArrayOf Creates and fills a one-dimensional variant array.
VarArrayRedim Resizes a variant array.
VarArrayRef Returns a reference to the passed variant array.
VarArrayUnlock Unlocks a variant array.
VarAsType Converts a variant to specified type.
VarCast Converts a variant to a specified type, storing the result in a variable.
VarClear Clears a variant.
VarCopy Copies a variant.
VarToStr Converts variant to string.
VarType Returns type code of specified variant.

For information on format strings, see “Format strings” in the online Help.

8-10 Delphi Language Guide

 Part

II
Special topics
Part II

The chapters in Part II cover specialized language features and advanced topics.
These chapters include:
• Chapter 9, “Libraries and packages”
• Chapter 10, “Object interfaces”
• Chapter 11, “Memory management”
• Chapter 12, “Program control”
• Chapter 13, “Inline assembly code”

Special topics
 Chapter

Libraries and packages

Chapter9
9
A dynamically loadable library is a dynamic-link library (DLL) on Windows or a
shared object library file on Linux. It is a collection of routines that can be called by
applications and by other DLLs or shared objects. Like units, dynamically loadable
libraries contain sharable code or resources. But this type of library is a separately
compiled executable that is linked at runtime to the programs that use it.
To distinguish them from stand-alone executables, on Windows files containing
compiled DLLs are named with the .DLL extension. On Linux, files containing
shared object files are named with a .so extension. Delphi programs can call DLLs or
shared objects written in other languages, and applications written in other
languages can call DLLs or shared objects written in Delphi.

Calling dynamically loadable libraries

You can call operating system routines directly, but they are not linked to your
application until runtime. This means that the library need not be present when you
compile your program. It also means that there is no compile-time validation of
attempts to import a routine.
Before you can call routines defined in a shared object, you must import them. This
can be done in two ways: by declaring an external procedure or function, or by direct
calls to the operating system. Whichever method you use, the routines are not linked
to your application until runtime.
The Delphi language does not support importing of variables from shared libraries.

Libraries and packages 9-1

Calling dynamically loadable libraries

Static loading
The simplest way to import a procedure or function is to declare it using the external
directive. For example,
On Windows:
procedure DoSomething; external 'MYLIB.DLL';
On Linux:
procedure DoSomething; external 'mylib.so';
If you include this declaration in a program, MYLIB.DLL (Windows) or mylib.so
(Linux) is loaded once, when the program starts. Throughout execution of the
program, the identifier DoSomething always refers to the same entry point in the same
shared library.
Declarations of imported routines can be placed directly in the program or unit
where they are called. To simplify maintenance, however, you can collect external
declarations into a separate “import unit” that also contains any constants and types
required for interfacing with the library. Other modules that use the import unit can
call any routines declared in it.
For more information about external declarations, see “External declarations” on
page 6-6.

Dynamic loading
You can access routines in a library through direct calls to OS library functions,
including LoadLibrary, FreeLibrary, and GetProcAddress. In Windows, these functions
are declared in Windows.pas; on Linux, they are implemented for compatibility in
SysUtils.pas; the actual Linux OS routines are dlopen, dlclose, and dlsym (all declared
in libc; see the man pages for more information). In this case, use procedural-type
variables to reference the imported routines.
For example, on Windows or Linux:
uses Windows, ...; {On Linux, replace Windows with SysUtils }
type
TTimeRec = record
Second: Integer;
Minute: Integer;
Hour: Integer;
end;
TGetTime = procedure(var Time: TTimeRec);
THandle = Integer;
var
Time: TTimeRec;
Handle: THandle;
GetTime: TGetTime;
ƒ

9-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Calling dynamically loadable libraries

begin
Handle := LoadLibrary('libraryname');
if Handle <> 0 then
begin
@GetTime := GetProcAddress(Handle, 'GetTime');
if @GetTime <> nil then
begin
GetTime(Time);
with Time do
WriteLn('The time is ', Hour, ':', Minute, ':', Second);
end;
FreeLibrary(Handle);
end;
end;
When you import routines this way, the library is not loaded until the code
containing the call to LoadLibrary executes. The library is later unloaded by the call to
FreeLibrary. This allows you to conserve memory and to run your program even
when some of the libraries it uses are not present.
This same example can also be written on Linux as follows:
uses Libc, ...;
type
TTimeRec = record
Second: Integer;
Minute: Integer;
Hour: Integer;
end;
TGetTime = procedure(var Time: TTimeRec);
THandle = Pointer;
var
Time: TTimeRec;
Handle: THandle;
GetTime: TGetTime;
ƒ
begin
Handle := dlopen('datetime.so', RTLD_LAZY);
if Handle <> 0 then
begin
@GetTime := dlsym(Handle, 'GetTime');
if @GetTime <> nil then
begin
GetTime(Time);
with Time do
WriteLn('The time is ', Hour, ':', Minute, ':', Second);
end;
dlclose(Handle);
end;
end;

Libraries and packages 9-3

Writing dynamically loadable libraries

In this case, when importing routines, the shared object is not loaded until the code
containing the call to dlopen executes. The shared object is later unloaded by the call
to dlclose. This also allows you to conserve memory and to run your program even
when some of the shared objects it uses are not present.

Writing dynamically loadable libraries

The main source for a dynamically loadable library is identical to that of a program,
except that it begins with the reserved word library (instead of program).
Only routines that a library explicitly exports are available for importing by other
libraries or programs. The following example shows a library with two exported
functions, Min and Max.
library MinMax;
function Min(X, Y: Integer): Integer; stdcall;
begin
if X < Y then Min := X else Min := Y;
end;
function Max(X, Y: Integer): Integer; stdcall;
begin
if X > Y then Max := X else Max := Y;
end;
exports
Min,
Max;
begin
end.
If you want your library to be available to applications written in other languages, it’s
safest to specify stdcall in the declarations of exported functions. Other languages
may not support Delphi’s default register calling convention.
Note If your application includes VisualCLX components, you must use packages instead
of DLLs or shared objects. Only packages can manage the startup and shutdown of
the Qt shared libraries.

9-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Writing dynamically loadable libraries

Libraries can be built from multiple units. In this case, the library source file is
frequently reduced to a uses clause, an exports clause, and the initialization code. For
example,
library Editors;
uses EdInit, EdInOut, EdFormat, EdPrint;
exports
InitEditors,
DoneEditors name Done,
InsertText name Insert,
DeleteSelection name Delete,
FormatSelection,
PrintSelection name Print,
ƒ
SetErrorHandler;
begin
InitLibrary;
end.
You can put exports clauses in the interface or implementation section of a unit. Any
library that includes such a unit in its uses clause automatically exports the routines
listed the unit’s exports clauses—without the need for an exports clause of its own.
The directive local, which marks routines as unavailable for export, is platform-
specific and has no effect in Windows programming.
On Linux, the local directive provides a slight performance optimization for routines
that are compiled into a library but are not exported. This directive can be specified
for stand-alone procedures and functions, but not for methods. A routine declared
with local—for example,
function Contraband(I: Integer): Integer; local;
does not refresh the EBX register and hence
• cannot be exported from a library.
• cannot be declared in the interface section of a unit.
• cannot have its address taken or be assigned to a procedural-type variable.
• if it is a pure assembler routine, cannot be called from another unit unless the caller
sets up EBX.

Libraries and packages 9-5

Writing dynamically loadable libraries

The exports clause

A routine is exported when it is listed in an exports clause, which has the form
exports entry1, ..., entryn;
where each entry consists of the name of a procedure, function, or variable (which
must be declared prior to the exports clause), followed by a parameter list (only if
exporting a routine that is overloaded), and an optional name specifier. You can
qualify the procedure or function name with the name of a unit.
(Entries can also include the directive resident, which is maintained for backward
compatibility and is ignored by the compiler.)
On Windows only, an index specifier consists of the directive index followed by a
numeric constant between 1 and 2,147,483,647. (For more efficient programs, use low
index values.) If an entry has no index specifier, the routine is automatically assigned
a number in the export table.
Note Use of index specifiers, which are supported for backward compatibility only, is
discouraged and may cause problems for other development tools.
A name specifier consists of the directive name followed by a string constant. If an
entry has no name specifier, the routine is exported under its original declared name,
with the same spelling and case. Use a name clause when you want to export a
routine under a different name. For example,
exports
DoSomethingABC name 'DoSomething';
When you export an overloaded function or procedure from a dynamically loadable
library, you must specify its parameter list in the exports clause. For example,
exports
Divide(X, Y: Integer) name 'Divide_Ints',
Divide(X, Y: Real) name 'Divide_Reals';
On Windows, do not include index specifiers in entries for overloaded routines.
An exports clause can appear anywhere and any number of times in the declaration
part of a program or library, or in the interface or implementation section of a unit.
Programs seldom contain an exports clause.

9-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Writing dynamically loadable libraries

Library initialization code

The statements in a library’s block constitute the library’s initialization code. These
statements are executed once every time the library is loaded. They typically perform
tasks like registering window classes and initializing variables. Library initialization
code can also install an entry point procedure using the DllProc variable. The DllProc
variable is similar to an exit procedure, which is described in “Exit procedures” on
page 12-5; the entry point procedure executes when the library is loaded or
unloaded.
Library initialization code can signal an error by setting the ExitCode variable to a
nonzero value. ExitCode is declared in the System unit and defaults to zero, indicating
successful initialization. If a library’s initialization code sets ExitCode to another
value, the library is unloaded and the calling application is notified of the failure.
Similarly, if an unhandled exception occurs during execution of the initialization
code, the calling application is notified of a failure to load the library.
Here is an example of a library with initialization code and an entry point procedure.
library Test;
var
SaveDllProc: Pointer;
procedure LibExit(Reason: Integer);
begin
if Reason = DLL_PROCESS_DETACH then
begin
ƒ // library exit code
end;
SaveDllProc(Reason); // call saved entry point procedure
end;
begin
ƒ // library initialization code
SaveDllProc := DllProc; // save exit procedure chain
DllProc := @LibExit; // install LibExit exit procedure
end.
DllProc is called when the library is first loaded into memory, when a thread starts or
stops, or when the library is unloaded. The initialization parts of all units used by a
library are executed before the library’s initialization code, and the finalization parts
of those units are executed after the library’s entry point procedure.

Libraries and packages 9-7

Writing dynamically loadable libraries

Global variables in a library

Global variables declared in a shared library cannot be imported by a Delphi
application.
A library can be used by several applications at once, but each application has a copy
of the library in its own process space with its own set of global variables. For
multiple libraries—or multiple instances of a library—to share memory, they must
use memory-mapped files. Refer to the your system documentation for further
information.

Libraries and system variables

Several variables declared in the System unit are of special interest to those
programming libraries. Use IsLibrary to determine whether code is executing in an
application or in a library; IsLibrary is always False in an application and True in a
library. During a library’s lifetime, HInstance contains its instance handle. CmdLine is
always nil in a library.
The DLLProc variable allows a library to monitor calls that the operating system
makes to the library entry point. This feature is normally used only by libraries that
support multithreading. DLLProc is available on both Windows and Linux but its use
differs on each. On Windows, DLLProc is used in multithreading applications; on
Linux, it is used to determine when your library is being unloaded. You should use
finalization sections, rather than exit procedures, for all exit behavior. (See “The
finalization section” on page 3-5.)
To monitor operating-system calls, create a callback procedure that takes a single
integer parameter—for example,
procedure DLLHandler(Reason: Integer);
and assign the address of the procedure to the DLLProc variable. When the procedure
is called, it passes to it one of the following values.

DLL_PROCESS_DETACHIndicates that the library is detaching from the address

space of the calling process as a result of a clean exit or a
call to FreeLibrary (dlclose on Linux).
DLL_PROCESS_ATTACHIndicates that the library is attaching to the address space
of the calling process as the result of a call to LoadLibrary
(dlopen on Linux).
DLL_THREAD_ATTACH Indicates that the current process is creating a new thread
(Windows only).
DLL_THREAD_DETACH Indicates that a thread is exiting cleanly (Windows only).

In the body of the procedure, you can specify actions to take depending on which
parameter is passed to the procedure.

9-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Writing dynamically loadable libraries

Exceptions and runtime errors in libraries

When an exception is raised but not handled in a dynamically loadable library, it
propagates out of the library to the caller. If the calling application or library is itself
written in Delphi, the exception can be handled through a normal try...except
statement.
Note Under Linux, this is only possible if the library and application have both been built
with the same set of (base) runtime packages (which contains the EH code) or if both
link to ShareExcept.
On Windows, if the calling application or library is written in another language, the
exception can be handled as an operating-system exception with the exception code
$0EEDFADE. The first entry in the ExceptionInformation array of the operating-system
exception record contains the exception address, and the second entry contains a
reference to the Delphi exception object.
Generally, you should not let exceptions escape from your library. On Windows,
Delphi exceptions map to the OS exception model; Linux does not have an exception
model.
If a library does not use the SysUtils unit, exception support is disabled. In this case,
when a runtime error occurs in the library, the calling application terminates.
Because the library has no way of knowing whether it was called from a Delphi
program, it cannot invoke the application’s exit procedures; the application is simply
aborted and removed from memory.

Shared-memory manager (Windows only)

On Windows, if a DLL exports routines that pass long strings or dynamic arrays as
parameters or function results (whether directly or nested in records or objects), then
the DLL and its client applications (or DLLs) must all use the ShareMem unit. The
same is true if one application or DLL allocates memory with New or GetMem which
is deallocated by a call to Dispose or FreeMem in another module. ShareMem should
always be the first unit listed in any program or library uses clause where it occurs.
ShareMem is the interface unit for the BORLANDMM.DLL memory manager, which
allows modules to share dynamically allocated memory. BORLANDMM.DLL must
be deployed with applications and DLLs that use ShareMem. When an application or
DLL uses ShareMem, its memory manager is replaced by the memory manager in
BORLANDMM.DLL.
Note Linux uses glibc’s malloc to manage shared memory.

Libraries and packages 9-9

Packages

Packages
A package is a specially compiled library used by applications, the IDE, or both.
Packages allow you to rearrange where code resides without affecting the source
code. This is sometimes referred to as application partitioning.
Runtime packages provide functionality when a user runs an application. Design-time
packages are used to install components in the IDE and to create special property
editors for custom components. A single package can function at both design time
and runtime, and design-time packages frequently work by referencing runtime
packages in their requires clauses.
To distinguish them from other libraries, packages are stored in files:
On Windows:
Package files end with the .bpl (Borland package library) extension.
On Linux:
Packages generally begin with the prefix bpl and have a .so extension.
Ordinarily, packages are loaded statically when an applications starts. But you can
use the LoadPackage and UnloadPackage routines (in the SysUtils unit) to load packages
dynamically.
Note When an application utilizes packages, the name of each packaged unit still must
appear in the uses clause of any source file that references it. For more information
about packages, see the online Help.

Package declarations and source files

Each package is declared in a separate source file, which should be saved with the
.dpk extension to avoid confusion with other files containing Delphi code. A package
source file does not contain type, data, procedure, or function declarations. Instead, it
contains:
• a name for the package.
• a list of other packages required by the new package. These are packages to which
the new package is linked.
• a list of unit files contained by, or bound into, the package when it is compiled. The
package is essentially a wrapper for these source-code units, which provide the
functionality of the compiled package.
A package declaration has the form
package packageName;
requiresClause;
containsClause;
end.

9-10 Delphi Language Guide

 Packages

where packageName is any valid identifier. The requiresClause and containsClause are
both optional. For example, the following code declares the DATAX package.
package DATAX;
requires
rtl,
clx;
contains Db, DBLocal, DBXpress, ... ;
end.
The requires clause lists other, external packages used by the package being
declared. It consists of the directive requires, followed by a comma-delimited list of
package names, followed by a semicolon. If a package does not reference other
packages, it does not need a requires clause.
The contains clause identifies the unit files to be compiled and bound into the
package. It consists of the directive contains, followed by a comma-delimited list of
unit names, followed by a semicolon. Any unit name may be followed by the
reserved word in and the name of a source file, with or without a directory path, in
single quotation marks; directory paths can be absolute or relative. For example,
On Windows:
contains MyUnit in 'C:\MyProject\MyUnit.pas'; // Windows
On Linux:
contains MyUnit in '/home/developer/MyProject/MyUnit.pas'; // Linux

Note Thread-local variables (declared with threadvar) in a packaged unit cannot be

accessed from clients that use the package.

Naming packages
A compiled package involves several generated files. For example, the source file for
the package called DATAX is DATAX.dpk, from which the compiler generates an
executable and a binary image called
On Windows:
DATAX.bpl and DATAX.dcp
On Linux:
bplDATAX.so and DATAX.dcp.
DATAX is used to refer to the package in the requires clauses of other packages, or
when using the package in an application. Package names must be unique within a
project.

Libraries and packages 9-11

Packages

The requires clause

The requires clause lists other, external packages that are used by the current
package. It functions like the uses clause in a unit file. An external package listed in
the requires clause is automatically linked at compile time into any application that
uses both the current package and one of the units contained in the external package.
If the unit files contained in a package make references to other packaged units, the
other packages should be included in the first package’s requires clause. If the other
packages are omitted from the requires clause, the compiler loads the referenced
units from their .dcu (Windows and Linux) or .dpu (Linux) files.

Avoiding circular package references

Packages cannot contain circular references in their requires clauses. This means that
• A package cannot reference itself in its own requires clause.
• A chain of references must terminate without rereferencing any package in the
chain. If package A requires package B, then package B cannot require package A;
if package A requires package B and package B requires package C, then package
C cannot require package A.

Duplicate package references

The compiler ignores duplicate references in a package’s requires clause. For
programming clarity and readability, however, duplicate references should be
removed.

The contains clause

The contains clause identifies the unit files to be bound into the package. Do not
include file-name extensions in the contains clause.

Avoiding redundant source code uses

A package cannot be listed in the contains clause of another package or the uses
clause of a unit.
All units included directly in a package’s contains clause, or indirectly in the uses
clauses of those units, are bound into the package at compile time. The units
contained (directly or indirectly) in a package cannot be contained in any other
packages referenced in requires clause of that package.
A unit cannot be contained (directly or indirectly) in more than one package used by
the same application.

9-12 Delphi Language Guide

Compiling packages
Packages are ordinarily compiled from the IDE using .dpk files generated by the
Package editor. You can also compile .dpk files directly from the command line.
When you build a project that contains a package, the package is implicitly
recompiled, if necessary.

Generated files
The following table lists the files produced by the successful compilation of a
package.

Table 9.1 Compiled package files

File extension Contents
dcp A binary image containing a package header and the concatenation of
all dcu (Windows and Linux) or dpu (Linux) files in the package. A
single dcp file is created for each package. The base name for the dcp
is the base name of the dpk source file.
dcu A binary image for a unit file contained in a package. One dcu or dpu
dpu (Linux) file is created, when necessary, for each unit file.
.bpl (Windows) The runtime package. This file is a shared library with special Borland-
bpl<package>.so (Linux) specific features. The base name for the package is the base name of
the dpk source file.

Several compiler directives and command-line switches are available to support

package compilation.

Package-specific compiler directives

The following table lists package-specific compiler directives that can be inserted into
source code. See the online Help for details.

Table 9.2 Package-specific compiler directives

Directive Purpose
{$IMPLICITBUILD OFF} Prevents a package from being implicitly recompiled later.
Use in .dpk files when compiling packages that provide
low-level functionality, that change infrequently between
builds, or whose source code will not be distributed.
{$G–} or {$IMPORTEDDATA OFF} Disables creation of imported data references. This
directive increases memory-access efficiency, but prevents
the unit where it occurs from referencing variables in
other packages.
{$WEAKPACKAGEUNIT ON} Packages unit “weakly,” as explained in the online Help.
{$DENYPACKAGEUNIT ON} Prevents unit from being placed in a package.
{$DESIGNONLY ON} Compiles the package for installation in the IDE. (Put in
.dpk file.)
{$RUNONLY ON} Compiles the package as runtime only. (Put in .dpk file.)

Libraries and packages 9-13

 Including {$DENYPACKAGEUNIT ON} in source code prevents the unit file from
being packaged. Including {$G–} or {$IMPORTEDDATA OFF} may prevent a
package from being used in the same application with other packages.
Other compiler directives may be included, if appropriate, in package source code.

Package-specific command-line compiler switches

The following package-specific switches are available for the command-line
compiler. See the online Help for details.

Table 9.3 Package-specific command-line compiler switches

Switch Purpose
–$G– Disables creation of imported data references. Using this switch increases
memory-access efficiency, but prevents packages compiled with it from
referencing variables in other packages.
–LE path Specifies the directory where the compiled package file will be placed.
–LN path Specifies the directory where the package dcp file will be placed.
–LUpackageName Specifies additional runtime packages to use in an application. Used when
[;packageName2;...] compiling a project.
–Z Prevents a package from being implicitly recompiled later. Use when
compiling packages that provide low-level functionality, that change
infrequently between builds, or whose source code will not be distributed.

Using the –$G– switch may prevent a package from being used in the same
application with other packages.
Other command-line options may be used, if appropriate, when compiling packages.

9-14 Delphi Language Guide

 Chapter

10
Object interfaces
Chapter10

An object interface—or simply interface—defines methods that can be implemented by

a class. Interfaces are declared like classes, but cannot be directly instantiated and do
not have their own method definitions. Rather, it is the responsibility of any class that
supports an interface to provide implementations for the interface’s methods. A
variable of an interface type can reference an object whose class implements that
interface; however, only methods declared in the interface can be called using such a
variable.
Interfaces offer some of the advantages of multiple inheritance without the semantic
difficulties. They are also essential for using distributed object models (such as
CORBA and SOAP). Using a distributed object model, custom objects that support
interfaces can interact with objects written in C++, Java, and other languages.

Interface types
Interfaces, like classes, can be declared only in the outermost scope of a program or
unit, not in a procedure or function declaration. An interface type declaration has the
form
type interfaceName = interface (ancestorInterface)
['{GUID}']
memberList
end;
where (ancestorInterface) and ['{GUID}'] are optional. In most respects, interface
declarations resemble class declarations, but the following restrictions apply.
• The memberList can include only methods and properties. Fields are not allowed in
interfaces.
• Since an interface has no fields, property read and write specifiers must be
methods.

Object interfaces 10-1

Interface types

• All members of an interface are public. Visibility specifiers and storage specifiers
are not allowed. (But an array property can be declared as default.)
• Interfaces have no constructors or destructors. They cannot be instantiated, except
through classes that implement their methods.
• Methods cannot be declared as virtual, dynamic, abstract, or override. Since
interfaces do not implement their own methods, these designations have no
meaning.
Here is an example of an interface declaration:
type
IMalloc = interface(IInterface)
['{00000002-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}']
function Alloc(Size: Integer): Pointer; stdcall;
function Realloc(P: Pointer; Size: Integer): Pointer; stdcall;
procedure Free(P: Pointer); stdcall;
function GetSize(P: Pointer): Integer; stdcall;
function DidAlloc(P: Pointer): Integer; stdcall;
procedure HeapMinimize; stdcall;
end;
In some interface declarations, the interface reserved word is replaced by
dispinterface. This construction (along with the dispid, read only, and write only
directives) is platform-specific and is not used in Linux programming.

IInterface and inheritance

An interface, like a class, inherits all of its ancestors’ methods. But interfaces, unlike
classes, do not implement methods. What an interface inherits is the obligation to
implement methods—an obligation that is passed onto any class supporting the
interface.
The declaration of an interface can specify an ancestor interface. If no ancestor is
specified, the interface is a direct descendant of IInterface, which is defined in the
System unit and is the ultimate ancestor of all other interfaces. IInterface declares three
methods: QueryInterface, _AddRef, and _Release.
Note IInterface is equivalent to IUnknown. You should generally use IInterface for platform
independent applications and reserve the use of IUnknown for specific programs that
include Windows dependencies.
QueryInterface provides the means to obtain a reference to the different interfaces that
an object supports. _AddRef and _Release provide lifetime memory management for
interface references. The easiest way to implement these methods is to derive the
implementing class from the System unit’s TInterfacedObject. It is also possible to
dispense with any of these methods by implementing it as an empty function; COM
objects (Windows only), however, must be managed through _AddRef and _Release.

10-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Interface types

Interface identification
An interface declaration can specify a globally unique identifier (GUID), represented
by a string literal enclosed in brackets immediately preceding the member list. The
GUID part of the declaration must have the form
['{xxxxxxxx–xxxx–xxxx–xxxx–xxxxxxxxxxxx}']
where each x is a hexadecimal digit (0 through 9 or A through F). On Windows, the
Type Library editor automatically generates GUIDs for new interfaces. You can also
generate GUIDs by pressing Ctrl+Shift+G in the Code editor.
A GUID is a 16-byte binary value that uniquely identifies an interface. If an interface
has a GUID, you can use interface querying to get references to its implementations.
(See “Interface querying” on page 10-10.)
The TGUID and PGUID types, declared in the System unit, are used to manipulate
GUIDs.
type
PGUID = ^TGUID;
TGUID = packed record
D1: Longword;
D2: Word;
D3: Word;
D4: array[0..7] of Byte;
end;
When you declare a typed constant of type TGUID, you can use a string literal to
specify its value. For example,
const IID_IMalloc: TGUID = '{00000002-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}';
In procedure and function calls, either a GUID or an interface identifier can serve as a
value or constant parameter of type TGUID. For example, given the declaration
function Supports(Unknown: IInterface; const IID: TGUID): Boolean;
Supports can be called in either of two ways
if Supports(Allocator, IMalloc) then ...
or
if Supports(Allocator, IID_IMalloc) then ...

Calling conventions for interfaces

The default calling convention for interface methods is register, but interfaces shared
among modules (especially if they are written in different languages) should declare
all methods with stdcall. Use safecall to implement CORBA interfaces. On Windows,
you can use safecall to implement methods of dual interfaces (as described in “Dual
interfaces (Windows only)” on page 10-13).
For more information about calling conventions, see “Calling conventions” on
page 6-5.

Object interfaces 10-3

Implementing interfaces

Interface properties
Properties declared in an interface are accessible only through expressions of the
interface type; they cannot be accessed through class-type variables. Moreover,
interface properties are visible only within programs where the interface is compiled.
In an interface, property read and write specifiers must be methods, since fields are
not available.

Forward declarations
An interface declaration that ends with the reserved word interface and a semicolon,
without specifying an ancestor, GUID, or member list, is a forward declaration. A
forward declaration must be resolved by a defining declaration of the same interface
within the same type declaration section. In other words, between a forward
declaration and its defining declaration, nothing can occur except other type
declarations.
Forward declarations allow mutually dependent interfaces. For example,
type
IControl = interface;
IWindow = interface
['{00000115-0000-0000-C000-000000000044}']
function GetControl(Index: Integer): IControl;
ƒ
end;
IControl = interface
['{00000115-0000-0000-C000-000000000049}']
function GetWindow: IWindow;
ƒ
end;
Mutually derived interfaces are not allowed. For example, it is not legal to derive
IWindow from IControl and also derive IControl from IWindow.

Implementing interfaces
Once an interface has been declared, it must be implemented in a class before it can
be used. The interfaces implemented by a class are specified in the class’s declaration,
after the name of the class’s ancestor. Such declarations have the form
type className = class (ancestorClass, interface1, ..., interfacen)
memberList
end;
For example,
type
TMemoryManager = class(TInterfacedObject, IMalloc, IErrorInfo)
ƒ
end;

10-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Implementing interfaces

declares a class called TMemoryManager that implements the IMalloc and IErrorInfo
interfaces. When a class implements an interface, it must implement (or inherit an
implementation of) each method declared in the interface.
Here is the declaration of TInterfacedObject in the System unit.
type
TInterfacedObject = class(TObject, IInterface)
protected
FRefCount: Integer;
function QueryInterface(const IID: TGUID; out Obj): HResult; stdcall;
function _AddRef: Integer; stdcall;
function _Release: Integer; stdcall;
public
procedure AfterConstruction; override;
procedure BeforeDestruction; override;
class function NewInstance: TObject; override;
property RefCount: Integer read FRefCount;
end;
TInterfacedObject implements the IInterface interface. Hence TInterfacedObject declares
and implements each of IInterface’s three methods.
Classes that implement interfaces can also be used as base classes. (The first example
above declares TMemoryManager as a direct descendent of TInterfacedObject.) Since
every interface inherits from IInterface, a class that implements interfaces must
implement the QueryInterface, _AddRef, and _Release methods. The System unit’s
TInterfacedObject implements these methods and is thus a convenient base from
which to derive other classes that implement interfaces.
When an interface is implemented, each of its methods is mapped onto a method in
the implementing class that has the same result type, the same calling convention, the
same number of parameters, and identically typed parameters in each position. By
default, each interface method is mapped to a method of the same name in the
implementing class.

Method resolution clauses

You can override the default name-based mappings by including method resolution
clauses in a class declaration. When a class implements two or more interfaces that
have identically named methods, use method resolution clauses to resolve the
naming conflicts.
A method resolution clause has the form
procedure interface.interfaceMethod = implementingMethod;
or
function interface.interfaceMethod = implementingMethod;
where implementingMethod is a method declared in the class or one of its ancestors.
The implementingMethod can be a method declared later in the class declaration, but
cannot be a private method of an ancestor class declared in another module.

Object interfaces 10-5

Implementing interfaces

For example, the class declaration

type
TMemoryManager = class(TInterfacedObject, IMalloc, IErrorInfo)
function IMalloc.Alloc = Allocate;
procedure IMalloc.Free = Deallocate;
ƒ
end;
maps IMalloc’s Alloc and Free methods onto TMemoryManager’s Allocate and Deallocate
methods.
A method resolution clause cannot alter a mapping introduced by an ancestor class.

Changing inherited implementations

Descendant classes can change the way a specific interface method is implemented
by overriding the implementing method. This requires that the implementing
method be virtual or dynamic.
A class can also reimplement an entire interface that it inherits from an ancestor class.
This involves relisting the interface in the descendant class’s declaration. For
example,
type
IWindow = interface
['{00000115-0000-0000-C000-000000000146}']
procedure Draw;
ƒ
end;
TWindow = class(TInterfacedObject, IWindow) // TWindow implements IWindow
procedure Draw;
ƒ
end;
TFrameWindow = class(TWindow, IWindow) // TFrameWindow reimplements IWindow
procedure Draw;
ƒ
end;
Reimplementing an interface hides the inherited implementation of the same
interface. Hence method resolution clauses in an ancestor class have no effect on the
reimplemented interface.

10-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Implementing interfaces

Implementing interfaces by delegation

The implements directive allows you to delegate implementation of an interface to a
property in the implementing class. For example,
property MyInterface: IMyInterface read FMyInterface implements IMyInterface;
declares a property called MyInterface that implements the interface IMyInterface.
The implements directive must be the last specifier in the property declaration and
can list more than one interface, separated by commas. The delegate property
• must be of a class or interface type.
• cannot be an array property or have an index specifier.
• must have a read specifier. If the property uses a read method, that method must
use the default register calling convention and cannot be dynamic (though it can
be virtual) or specify the message directive.
Note The class you use to implement the delegated interface should derive from
TAggregatedObject.

Delegating to an interface-type property

If the delegate property is of an interface type, that interface, or an interface from
which it derives, must occur in the ancestor list of the class where the property is
declared. The delegate property must return an object whose class completely
implements the interface specified by the implements directive, and which does so
without method resolution clauses. For example,
type
IMyInterface = interface
procedure P1;
procedure P2;
end;
TMyClass = class(TObject, IMyInterface)
FMyInterface: IMyInterface;
property MyInterface: IMyInterface read FMyInterface implements IMyInterface;
end;
var
MyClass: TMyClass;
MyInterface: IMyInterface;
begin
MyClass := TMyClass.Create;
MyClass.FMyInterface := ... // some object whose class implements IMyInterface
MyInterface := MyClass;
MyInterface.P1;
end;

Object interfaces 10-7

Implementing interfaces

Delegating to a class-type property

If the delegate property is of a class type, that class and its ancestors are searched for
methods implementing the specified interface before the enclosing class and its
ancestors are searched. Thus it is possible to implement some methods in the class
specified by the property, and others in the class where the property is declared.
Method resolution clauses can be used in the usual way to resolve ambiguities or
specify a particular method. An interface cannot be implemented by more than one
class-type property. For example,
type
IMyInterface = interface
procedure P1;
procedure P2;
end;
TMyImplClass = class
procedure P1;
procedure P2;
end;
TMyClass = class(TInterfacedObject, IMyInterface)
FMyImplClass: TMyImplClass;
property MyImplClass: TMyImplClass read FMyImplClass implements IMyInterface;
procedure IMyInterface.P1 = MyP1;
procedure MyP1;
end;
procedure TMyImplClass.P1;
ƒ
procedure TMyImplClass.P2;
ƒ
procedure TMyClass.MyP1;
ƒ
var
MyClass: TMyClass;
MyInterface: IMyInterface;
begin
MyClass := TMyClass.Create;
MyClass.FMyImplClass := TMyImplClass.Create;
MyInterface := MyClass;
MyInterface.P1; // calls TMyClass.MyP1;
MyInterface.P2; // calls TImplClass.P2;
end;

10-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Interface references

Interface references
If you declare a variable of an interface type, the variable can reference instances of
any class that implements the interface. Such variables allow you to call interface
methods without knowing at compile time where the interface is implemented. But
they are subject to the following:
• An interface-type expression gives you access only to methods and properties
declared in the interface, not to other members of the implementing class.
• An interface-type expression cannot reference an object whose class implements a
descendant interface, unless the class (or one that it inherits from) explicitly
implements the ancestor interface as well.
For example,
type
IAncestor = interface
end;
IDescendant = interface(IAncestor)
procedure P1;
end;
TSomething = class(TInterfacedObject, IDescendant)
procedure P1;
procedure P2;
end;
ƒ
var
D: IDescendant;
A: IAncestor;
begin
D := TSomething.Create; // works!
A := TSomething.Create; // error
D.P1; // works!
D.P2; // error
end;
In this example,
• A is declared as a variable of type IAncestor. Because TSomething does not list
IAncestor among the interfaces it implements, a TSomething instance cannot be
assigned to A. But if we changed TSomething’s declaration to
TSomething = class(TInterfacedObject, IAncestor, IDescendant)
ƒ
the first error would become a valid assignment.
• D is declared as a variable of type IDescendant. While D references an instance of
TSomething, we cannot use it to access TSomething’s P2 method, since P2 is not a
method of IDescendant. But if we changed D’s declaration to
D: TSomething;
the second error would become a valid method call.

Object interfaces 10-9

Interface references

Interface references are typically managed through reference-counting, which

depends on the _AddRef and _Release methods inherited from IInterface. Using the
default implementation of reference counting, when an object is referenced only
through interfaces, there is no need to destroy it manually; the object is automatically
destroyed when the last reference to it goes out of scope. Some classes implement
interfaces to bypass this default lifetime management, and some hybrid objects use
reference counting only when the object does not have an owner.
Global interface-type variables can be initialized only to nil.
To determine whether an interface-type expression references an object, pass it to the
standard function Assigned.

Interface assignment-compatibility
Variables of a given class type are assignment-compatible with any interface type
implemented by the class. Variables of an interface type are assignment-compatible
with any ancestor interface type. The value nil can be assigned to any interface-type
variable.
An interface-type expression can be assigned to a variant. If the interface is of type
IDispatch or a descendant, the variant receives the type code varDispatch. Otherwise,
the variant receives the type code varUnknown.
A variant whose type code is varEmpty, varUnknown, or varDispatch can be assigned
to an IInterface variable. A variant whose type code is varEmpty or varDispatch can be
assigned to an IDispatch variable.

Interface typecasts
An interface-type expression can be cast to Variant. If the interface is of type IDispatch
or a descendant, the resulting variant has the type code varDispatch. Otherwise, the
resulting variant has the type code varUnknown.
A variant whose type code is varEmpty, varUnknown, or varDispatch can be cast to
IInterface. A variant whose type code is varEmpty or varDispatch can be cast to
IDispatch.

Interface querying
You can use the as operator to perform checked interface typecasts. This is known as
interface querying, and it yields an interface-type expression from an object reference
or from another interface reference, based on the actual (runtime) type of the object.
An interface query has the form
object as interface
where object is an expression of an interface or variant type or denotes an instance of
a class that implements an interface, and interface is any interface declared with a
GUID.

10-10 Delphi Language Guide

 Automation objects (Windows only)

An interface query returns nil if object is nil. Otherwise, it passes the GUID of interface
to the QueryInterface method in object, raising an exception unless QueryInterface
returns zero. If QueryInterface returns zero (indicating that object’s class implements
interface), the interface query returns an interface reference to object.

Automation objects (Windows only)

An object whose class implements the IDispatch interface (declared in the System unit)
is an Automation object. Automation is available on Windows only.

Dispatch interface types (Windows only)

Dispatch interface types define the methods and properties that an Automation
object implements through IDispatch. Calls to methods of a dispatch interface are
routed through IDispatch’s Invoke method at runtime; a class cannot implement a
dispatch interface.
A dispatch interface type declaration has the form
type interfaceName = dispinterface
['{GUID}']
memberList
end;
where ['{GUID}'] is optional and memberList consists of property and method
declarations. Dispatch interface declarations are similar to regular interface
declarations, but they cannot specify an ancestor. For example,
type
IStringsDisp = dispinterface
['{EE05DFE2-5549-11D0-9EA9-0020AF3D82DA}']
property ControlDefault[Index: Integer]: OleVariant dispid 0; default;
function Count: Integer; dispid 1;
property Item[Index: Integer]: OleVariant dispid 2;
procedure Remove(Index: Integer); dispid 3;
procedure Clear; dispid 4;
function Add(Item: OleVariant): Integer; dispid 5;
function _NewEnum: IUnknown; dispid -4;
end;

Dispatch interface methods (Windows only)

Methods of a dispatch interface are prototypes for calls to the Invoke method of the
underlying IDispatch implementation. To specify an Automation dispatch ID for a
method, include the dispid directive in its declaration, followed by an integer
constant; specifying an already used ID causes an error.
A method declared in a dispatch interface cannot contain directives other than
dispid. Parameter and result types must be automatable—that is, they must be Byte,
Currency, Real, Double, Longint, Integer, Single, Smallint, AnsiString, WideString,
TDateTime, Variant, OleVariant, WordBool, or any interface type.

Object interfaces 10-11

Automation objects (Windows only)

Dispatch interface properties

Properties of a dispatch interface do not include access specifiers. They can be
declared as read only or write only. To specify a dispatch ID for a property, include
the dispid directive in its declaration, followed by an integer constant; specifying an
already used ID causes an error. Array properties can be declared as default. No
other directives are allowed in dispatch-interface property declarations.

Accessing Automation objects (Windows only)

Use variants to access Automation objects. When a variant references an Automation
object, you can call the object’s methods and read or write to its properties through
the variant. To do this, you must include ComObj in the uses clause of one of your
units or your program or library.
Automation object method calls are bound at runtime and require no previous
method declarations. The validity of these calls is not checked at compile time.
The following example illustrates Automation method calls. The CreateOleObject
function (defined in ComObj) returns an IDispatch reference to an Automation object
and is assignment-compatible with the variant Word.
var
Word: Variant;
begin
Word := CreateOleObject('Word.Basic');
Word.FileNew('Normal');
Word.Insert('This is the first line'#13);
Word.Insert('This is the second line'#13);
Word.FileSaveAs('c:\temp\test.txt', 3);
end;
You can pass interface-type parameters to Automation methods.
Variant arrays with an element type of varByte are the preferred method of passing
binary data between Automation controllers and servers. Such arrays are subject to
no translation of their data, and can be efficiently accessed using the VarArrayLock
and VarArrayUnlock routines.

Automation object method-call syntax

The syntax of an Automation object method call or property access is similar to that
of a normal method call or property access. Automation method calls, however, can
use both positional and named parameters. (But some Automation servers do not
support named parameters.)
A positional parameter is simply an expression. A named parameter consists of a
parameter identifier, followed by the := symbol, followed by an expression.
Positional parameters must precede any named parameters in a method call. Named
parameters can be specified in any order.

10-12 Delphi Language Guide

 Automation objects (Windows only)

Some Automation servers allow you to omit parameters from a method call,
accepting their default values. For example,
Word.FileSaveAs('test.doc');
Word.FileSaveAs('test.doc', 6);
Word.FileSaveAs('test.doc',,,'secret');
Word.FileSaveAs('test.doc', Password := 'secret');
Word.FileSaveAs(Password := 'secret', Name := 'test.doc');
Automation method call parameters can be of integer, real, string, Boolean, and
variant types. A parameter is passed by reference if the parameter expression
consists only of a variable reference, and if the variable reference is of type Byte,
Smallint, Integer, Single, Double, Currency, TDateTime, AnsiString, WordBool, or Variant.
If the expression is not of one of these types, or if it is not just a variable, the
parameter is passed by value. Passing a parameter by reference to a method that
expects a value parameter causes COM to fetch the value from the reference
parameter. Passing a parameter by value to a method that expects a reference
parameter causes an error.

Dual interfaces (Windows only)

A dual interface is an interface that supports both compile-time binding and runtime
binding through Automation. Dual interfaces must descend from IDispatch.
All methods of a dual interface (except from those inherited from IInterface and
IDispatch) must use the safecall convention, and all method parameter and result
types must be automatable. (The automatable types are Byte, Currency, Real, Double,
Real48, Integer, Single, Smallint, AnsiString, ShortString, TDateTime, Variant,
OleVariant, and WordBool.)

Object interfaces 10-13

10-14 Delphi Language Guide
 Chapter

Memory management
Chapter11
11
This chapter explains how programs use memory and describes the internal formats
of Delphi data types.

The memory manager (Windows only)

Note Linux uses glibc functions such as malloc for memory management. For information,
refer to the malloc man page on your Linux system.
On Windows systems, the memory manager manages all dynamic memory
allocations and deallocations in an application. The New, Dispose, GetMem,
ReallocMem, and FreeMem standard procedures use the memory manager, and all
objects and long strings are allocated through the memory manager.
On Windows, the memory manager is optimized for applications that allocate large
numbers of small- to medium-sized blocks, as is typical for object-oriented
applications and applications that process string data. Other memory managers, such
as the implementations of GlobalAlloc, LocalAlloc, and private heap support in
Windows, typically do not perform well in such situations, and would slow down an
application if they were used directly.
To ensure the best performance, the memory manager interfaces directly with the
Win32 virtual memory API (the VirtualAlloc and VirtualFree functions). The memory
manager reserves memory from the operating system in 1Mb sections of address
space, and commits memory as required in 16K increments. It decommits and
releases unused memory in 16K and 1Mb sections. For smaller blocks, committed
memory is further suballocated.
Memory manager blocks are always rounded upward to a 4-byte boundary, and
always include a 4-byte header in which the size of the block and other status bits are
stored. This means that memory manager blocks are always double-word-aligned,
which guarantees optimal CPU performance when addressing the block.

Memory management 11-1

The memory manager (Windows only)

The memory manager maintains two status variables, AllocMemCount and

AllocMemSize, which contain the number of currently allocated memory blocks and
the combined size of all currently allocated memory blocks. Applications can use
these variables to display status information for debugging.
The System unit provides two procedures, GetMemoryManager and
SetMemoryManager, that allow applications to intercept low-level memory manager
calls. The System unit also provides a function called GetHeapStatus that returns a
record containing detailed memory-manager status information. For further
information about these routines, see the online Help.

Variables
Global variables are allocated on the application data segment and persist for the
duration of the program. Local variables (declared within procedures and functions)
reside in an application’s stack. Each time a procedure or function is called, it
allocates a set of local variables; on exit, the local variables are disposed of. Compiler
optimization may eliminate variables earlier.
Note On Linux, stack size is set by the environment only.
On Windows, an application’s stack is defined by two values: the minimum stack size
and the maximum stack size. The values are controlled through the $MINSTACKSIZE
and $MAXSTACKSIZE compiler directives, and default to 16,384 (16K) and
1,048,576 (1Mb) respectively. An application is guaranteed to have the minimum
stack size available, and an application’s stack is never allowed to grow larger than
the maximum stack size. If there is not enough memory available to satisfy an
application’s minimum stack requirement, Windows will report an error upon
attempting to start the application.
If a Windows application requires more stack space than specified by the minimum
stack size, additional memory is automatically allocated in 4K increments. If
allocation of additional stack space fails, either because more memory is not available
or because the total size of the stack would exceed the maximum stack size, an
EStackOverflow exception is raised. (Stack overflow checking is completely automatic.
The $S compiler directive, which originally controlled overflow checking, is
maintained for backward compatibility.)
On Windows or Linux, dynamic variables created with the GetMem or New
procedure are heap-allocated and persist until they are deallocated with FreeMem or
Dispose.
Long strings, wide strings, dynamic arrays, variants, and interfaces are heap-
allocated, but their memory is managed automatically.

11-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Internal data formats

Internal data formats

The following sections describe the internal formats of Delphi data types.

Integer types
The format of an integer-type variable depends on its minimum and maximum
bounds.
• If both bounds are within the range –128..127 (Shortint), the variable is stored as a
signed byte.
• If both bounds are within the range 0..255 (Byte), the variable is stored as an
unsigned byte.
• If both bounds are within the range –32768..32767 (Smallint), the variable is stored
as a signed word.
• If both bounds are within the range 0..65535 (Word), the variable is stored as an
unsigned word.
• If both bounds are within the range –2147483648..2147483647 (Longint), the
variable is stored as a signed double word.
• If both bounds are within the range 0..4294967295 (Longword), the variable is
stored as an unsigned double word.
• Otherwise, the variable is stored as a signed quadruple word (Int64).

Character types
A Char, an AnsiChar, or a subrange of a Char type is stored as an unsigned byte. A
WideChar is stored as an unsigned word.

Boolean types
A Boolean type is stored as a Byte, a ByteBool is stored as a Byte, a WordBool type is
stored as a Word, and a LongBool is stored as a Longint.
A Boolean can assume the values 0 (False) and 1 (True). ByteBool, WordBool, and
LongBool types can assume the values 0 (False) or nonzero (True).

Enumerated types
An enumerated type is stored as an unsigned byte if the enumeration has no more
than 256 values and the type was declared in the {$Z1} state (the default). If an
enumerated type has more than 256 values, or if the type was declared in the {$Z2}
state, it is stored as an unsigned word. If an enumerated type is declared in the {$Z4}
state, it is stored as an unsigned double-word.

Memory management 11-3

Internal data formats

Real types
The real types store the binary representation of a sign (+ or –), an exponent, and a
significand. A real value has the form
+/– significand * 2exponent
where the significand has a single bit to the left of the binary decimal point. (That is, 0
<= significand < 2.)
In the figures that follow, the most significant bit is always on the left and the least
significant bit on the right. The numbers at the top indicate the width (in bits) of each
field, with the leftmost items stored at the highest addresses. For example, for a
Real48 value, e is stored in the first byte, f in the following five bytes, and s in the most
significant bit of the last byte.

The Real48 type

A 6-byte (48-bit) Real48 number is divided into three fields:
1 39 8
s f e

If 0 < e <= 255, the value v of the number is given by

v = (–1)s * 2(e–129) * (1.f)
If e = 0, then v = 0.
The Real48 type can’t store denormals, NaNs, and infinities. Denormals become zero
when stored in a Real48, while NaNs and infinities produce an overflow error if an
attempt is made to store them in a Real48.

The Single type

A 4-byte (32-bit) Single number is divided into three fields:
1 8 23
s e f

The value v of the number is given by

if 0 < e < 255, then v = (–1)s * 2(e–127) * (1.f)
if e = 0 and f <> 0, then v = (–1)s * 2(–126) * (0.f)
if e = 0 and f = 0, then v = (–1)s * 0
if e = 255 and f = 0, then v = (–1)s * Inf
if e = 255 and f <> 0, then v is a NaN

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 Internal data formats

The Double type

An 8-byte (64-bit) Double number is divided into three fields:
1 11 52
s e f

The value v of the number is given by

if 0 < e < 2047, then v = (–1)s * 2(e–1023) * (1.f)
if e = 0 and f <> 0, then v = (–1)s * 2(–1022) * (0.f)
if e = 0 and f = 0, then v = (–1)s * 0
if e = 2047 and f = 0, then v = (–1)s * Inf
if e = 2047 and f <> 0, then v is a NaN

The Extended type

A 10-byte (80-bit) Extended number is divided into four fields:
1 15 1 63
s e i f

The value v of the number is given by

if 0 <= e < 32767, then v = (–1)s * 2(e–16383) * (i.f)
if e = 32767 and f = 0, then v = (–1)s * Inf
if e = 32767 and f <> 0, then v is a NaN

The Comp type

An 8-byte (64-bit) Comp number is stored as a signed 64-bit integer.

The Currency type

An 8-byte (64-bit) Currency number is stored as a scaled and signed 64-bit integer
with the four least-significant digits implicitly representing four decimal places.

Pointer types
A Pointer type is stored in 4 bytes as a 32-bit address. The pointer value nil is stored
as zero.

Short string types

A string occupies as many bytes as its maximum length plus one. The first byte
contains the current dynamic length of the string, and the following bytes contain the
characters of the string.
The length byte and the characters are considered unsigned values. Maximum string
length is 255 characters plus a length byte (string[255]).

Memory management 11-5

Internal data formats

Long string types

A long string variable occupies four bytes of memory which contain a pointer to a
dynamically allocated string. When a long string variable is empty (contains a zero-
length string), the string pointer is nil and no dynamic memory is associated with the
string variable. For a nonempty string value, the string pointer points to a
dynamically allocated block of memory that contains the string value in addition to a
32-bit length indicator and a 32-bit reference count. The table below shows the layout
of a long-string memory block.

Table 11.1 Long string dynamic memory layout

Offset Contents
–8 32-bit reference-count
–4 length in bytes
0..Length – 1 character string
Length NULL character

The NULL character at the end of a long string memory block is automatically
maintained by the compiler and the built-in string handling routines. This makes it
possible to typecast a long string directly to a null-terminated string.
For string constants and literals, the compiler generates a memory block with the
same layout as a dynamically allocated string, but with a reference count of –1. When
a long string variable is assigned a string constant, the string pointer is assigned the
address of the memory block generated for the string constant. The built-in string
handling routines know not to attempt to modify blocks that have a reference count
of –1.

Wide string types (Windows)

On Windows, a wide string variable occupies four bytes of memory which contain a
pointer to a dynamically allocated string. When a wide string variable is empty
(contains a zero-length string), the string pointer is nil and no dynamic memory is
associated with the string variable. For a nonempty string value, the string pointer
points to a dynamically allocated block of memory that contains the string value in
addition to a 32-bit length indicator. The table below shows the layout of a wide
string memory block on Windows.

Table 11.2 Wide string dynamic memory layout (Windows)

Offset Contents
–4 32-bit length indicator (in bytes)
0..Length – 1 character string
Length NULL character

The string length is the number of bytes, so it is twice the number of wide characters
contained in the string.

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 Internal data formats

The NULL character at the end of a wide string memory block is automatically
maintained by the compiler and the built-in string handling routines. This makes it
possible to typecast a wide string directly to a null-terminated string.
Note On Linux, wide strings are implemented exactly as long strings.

Set types
A set is a bit array where each bit indicates whether an element is in the set or not.
The maximum number of elements in a set is 256, so a set never occupies more than
32 bytes. The number of bytes occupied by a particular set is equal to
(Max div 8) – (Min div 8) + 1
where Max and Min are the upper and lower bounds of the base type of the set. The
byte number of a specific element E is
(E div 8) – (Min div 8)
and the bit number within that byte is
E mod 8
where E denotes the ordinal value of the element. When possible, the compiler stores
sets in CPU registers, but a set always resides in memory if it is larger than the
generic Integer type or if the program contains code that takes the address of the set.

Static array types

A static array is stored as a contiguous sequence of variables of the component type
of the array. The components with the lowest indexes are stored at the lowest
memory addresses. A multidimensional array is stored with the rightmost
dimension increasing first.

Dynamic array types

A dynamic-array variable occupies four bytes of memory which contain a pointer to
the dynamically allocated array. When the variable is empty (uninitialized) or holds
a zero-length array, the pointer is nil and no dynamic memory is associated with the
variable. For a nonempty array, the variable points to a dynamically allocated block
of memory that contains the array in addition to a 32-bit length indicator and a 32-bit
reference count. The table below shows the layout of a dynamic-array memory block.

Table 11.3 Dynamic array memory layout

Offset Contents
–8 32-bit reference-count
–4 32-bit length indicator (number of elements)
0..Length * (size of element) – 1 array elements

Memory management 11-7

Internal data formats

Record types
When a record type is declared in the {$A+} state (the default), and when the
declaration does not include a packed modifier, the type is an unpacked record type,
and the fields of the record are aligned for efficient access by the CPU. The alignment
is controlled by the type of each field and by whether fields are declared together.
Every data type has an inherent alignment, which is automatically computed by the
compiler. The alignment can be 1, 2, 4, or 8, and represents the byte boundary that a
value of the type must be stored on to provide the most efficient access. The table
below lists the alignments for all data types.

Table 11.4 Type alignment masks

Type Alignment
Ordinal types size of the type (1, 2, 4, or 8)
Real types 2 for Real48, 4 for Single, 8 for Double and Extended
Short string types 1
Array types same as the element type of the array.
Record types the largest alignment of the fields in the record
Set types size of the type if 1, 2, or 4, otherwise 1
All other types determined by the $A directive.

To ensure proper alignment of the fields in an unpacked record type, the compiler
inserts an unused byte before fields with an alignment of 2, and up to three unused
bytes before fields with an alignment of 4, if required. Finally, the compiler rounds
the total size of the record upward to the byte boundary specified by the largest
alignment of any of the fields.
If two fields share a common type specification, they are packed even if the
declaration does not include the packed modifier and the record type is not declared
in the {$A–} state. Thus, for example, given the following declaration
type
TMyRecord = record
A, B: Extended;
C: Extended;
end;
A and B are packed (aligned on byte boundaries) because they share the same type
specification. The compiler pads the structure with unused bytes to ensure that C
appears on a quadword boundary.
When a record type is declared in the {$A–} state, or when the declaration includes
the packed modifier, the fields of the record are not aligned, but are instead assigned
consecutive offsets. The total size of such a packed record is simply the size of all the
fields. Because data alignment can change, it's a good idea to pack any record
structure that you intend to write to disk or pass in memory to another module
compiled using a different version of the compiler.

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 Internal data formats

File types
File types are represented as records. Typed files and untyped files occupy 332 bytes,
which are laid out as follows:
type
TFileRec = packed record
Handle: Integer;
Mode: word;
Flags: word;
case Byte of
0: (RecSize: Cardinal);
1: (BufSize: Cardinal;
BufPos: Cardinal;
BufEnd: Cardinal;
BufPtr: PChar;
OpenFunc: Pointer;
InOutFunc: Pointer;
FlushFunc: Pointer;
CloseFunc: Pointer;
UserData: array[1..32] of Byte;
Name: array[0..259] of Char; );
end;
Text files occupy 460 bytes, which are laid out as follows:
type
TTextBuf = array[0..127] of Char;
TTextRec = packed record
Handle: Integer;
Mode: word;
Flags: word;
BufSize: Cardinal;
BufPos: Cardinal;
BufEnd: Cardinal;
BufPtr: PChar;
OpenFunc: Pointer;
InOutFunc: Pointer;
FlushFunc: Pointer;
CloseFunc: Pointer;
UserData: array[1..32] of Byte;
Name: array[0..259] of Char;
Buffer: TTextBuf;
end;
Handle contains the file’s handle (when the file is open).
The Mode field can assume one of the values
const
fmClosed = $D7B0;
fmInput = $D7B1;
fmOutput = $D7B2;
fmInOut = $D7B3;

Memory management 11-9

Internal data formats

where fmClosed indicates that the file is closed, fmInput and fmOutput indicate a text
file that has been reset (fmInput) or rewritten (fmOutput), fmInOut indicates a typed or
untyped file that has been reset or rewritten. Any other value indicates that the file
variable is not assigned (and hence not initialized).
The UserData field is available for user-written routines to store data in.
Name contains the file name, which is a sequence of characters terminated by a null
character (#0).
For typed files and untyped files, RecSize contains the record length in bytes, and the
Private field is unused but reserved.
For text files, BufPtr is a pointer to a buffer of BufSize bytes, BufPos is the index of the
next character in the buffer to read or write, and BufEnd is a count of valid characters
in the buffer. OpenFunc, InOutFunc, FlushFunc, and CloseFunc are pointers to the I/O
routines that control the file; see “Device functions” on page 8-5. Flags determines
the line break style as follows:

bit 0 clear LF line breaks

bit 0 set CRLF line breaks

All other Flags bits are reserved for future use. See also DefaultTextLineBreakStyle and
SetLineBreakStyle.

Procedural types
A procedure pointer is stored as a 32-bit pointer to the entry point of a procedure or
function. A method pointer is stored as a 32-bit pointer to the entry point of a
method, followed by a 32-bit pointer to an object.

Class types
A class-type value is stored as a 32-bit pointer to an instance of the class, which is
called an object. The internal data format of an object resembles that of a record. The
object’s fields are stored in order of declaration as a sequence of contiguous variables.
Fields are always aligned, corresponding to an unpacked record type. Any fields
inherited from an ancestor class are stored before the new fields defined in the
descendant class.
The first 4-byte field of every object is a pointer to the virtual method table (VMT) of the
class. There is exactly one VMT per class (not one per object); distinct class types, no
matter how similar, never share a VMT. VMT’s are built automatically by the
compiler, and are never directly manipulated by a program. Pointers to VMT’s,
which are automatically stored by constructor methods in the objects they create, are
also never directly manipulated by a program.
The layout of a VMT is shown in the following table. At positive offsets, a VMT
consists of a list of 32-bit method pointers—one per user-defined virtual method in
the class type—in order of declaration. Each slot contains the address of the

11-10 Delphi Language Guide

 Internal data formats

corresponding virtual method’s entry point. This layout is compatible with a C++ v-
table and with COM. At negative offsets, a VMT contains a number of fields that are
internal to Delphi’s implementation. Applications should use the methods defined in
TObject to query this information, since the layout is likely to change in future
implementations of the Delphi language.

Table 11.5 Virtual method table layout

Offset Type Description
–76 Pointer pointer to virtual method table (or nil)
–72 Pointer pointer to interface table (or nil)
–68 Pointer pointer to Automation information table (or nil)
–64 Pointer pointer to instance initialization table (or nil)
–60 Pointer pointer to type information table (or nil)
–56 Pointer pointer to field definition table (or nil)
–52 Pointer pointer to method definition table (or nil)
–48 Pointer pointer to dynamic method table (or nil)
–44 Pointer pointer to short string containing class name
–40 Cardinal instance size in bytes
–36 Pointer pointer to a pointer to ancestor class (or nil)
–32 Pointer pointer to entry point of SafecallException method (or nil)
–28 Pointer entry point of AfterConstruction method
–24 Pointer entry point of BeforeDestruction method
–20 Pointer entry point of Dispatch method
–16 Pointer entry point of DefaultHandler method
–12 Pointer entry point of NewInstance method
–8 Pointer entry point of FreeInstance method
–4 Pointer entry point of Destroy destructor
0 Pointer entry point of first user-defined virtual method
4 Pointer entry point of second user-defined virtual method
ƒ ƒ ƒ

Class reference types

A class-reference value is stored as a 32-bit pointer to the virtual method table (VMT)
of a class.

Memory management 11-11

Internal data formats

Variant types
A variant is stored as a 16-byte record that contains a type code and a value (or a
reference to a value) of the type given by the code. The System and Variants units
define constants and types for variants.
The TVarData type represents the internal structure of a Variant variable (on
Windows, this is identical to the Variant type used by COM and the Win32 API). The
TVarData type can be used in typecasts of Variant variables to access the internal
structure of a variable.
The VType field of a TVarData record contains the type code of the variant in the
lower twelve bits (the bits defined by the varTypeMask constant). In addition, the
varArray bit may be set to indicate that the variant is an array, and the varByRef bit
may be set to indicate that the variant contains a reference as opposed to a value.
The Reserved1, Reserved2, and Reserved3 fields of a TVarData record are unused.
The contents of the remaining eight bytes of a TVarData record depend on the VType
field. If neither the varArray nor the varByRef bits are set, the variant contains a value
of the given type.
If the varArray bit is set, the variant contains a pointer to a TVarArray structure that
defines an array. The type of each array element is given by the varTypeMask bits in
the VType field.
If the varByRef bit is set, the variant contains a reference to a value of the type given
by the varTypeMask and varArray bits in the VType field.
The varString type code is private. Variants containing a varString value should never
be passed to a non-Delphi function. On Windows, Delphi's Automation support
automatically converts varString variants to varOleStr variants before passing them as
parameters to external functions.
On Linux, VT_decimal is not supported.

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 Chapter

12
Program control
Chapter12

This chapter explains how parameters and function results are stored and
transferred. The final section discusses exit procedures.

Parameters and function results

Treatment of parameters and function results is determined by several factors,
including calling conventions, parameter semantics, and the type and size of the
value being passed.

Parameter passing
Parameters are transferred to procedures and functions via CPU registers or the
stack, depending on the routine’s calling convention. For information about calling
conventions, see “Calling conventions” on page 6-5.
Variable (var) parameters are always passed by reference, as 32-bit pointers that
point to the actual storage location.
Value and constant (const) parameters are passed by value or by reference,
depending on the type and size of the parameter:
• An ordinal parameter is passed as an 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit value, using the
same format as a variable of the corresponding type.
• A real parameter is always passed on the stack. A Single parameter occupies 4
bytes, and a Double, Comp, or Currency parameter occupies 8 bytes. A Real48
occupies 8 bytes, with the Real48 value stored in the lower 6 bytes. An Extended
occupies 12 bytes, with the Extended value stored in the lower 10 bytes.
• A short-string parameter is passed as a 32-bit pointer to a short string.

Program control 12-1

Parameters and function results

• A long-string or dynamic-array parameter is passed as a 32-bit pointer to the

dynamic memory block allocated for the long string. The value nil is passed for an
empty long string.
• A pointer, class, class-reference, or procedure-pointer parameter is passed as a 32-
bit pointer.
• A method pointer is passed on the stack as two 32-bit pointers. The instance
pointer is pushed before the method pointer so that the method pointer occupies
the lowest address.
• Under the register and pascal conventions, a variant parameter is passed as a
32-bit pointer to a Variant value.
• Sets, records, and static arrays of 1, 2, or 4 bytes are passed as 8-bit, 16-bit, and
32-bit values. Larger sets, records, and static arrays are passed as 32-bit pointers to
the value. An exception to this rule is that records are always passed directly on
the stack under the cdecl, stdcall, and safecall conventions; the size of a record
passed this way is rounded upward to the nearest double-word boundary.
• An open-array parameter is passed as two 32-bit values. The first value is a pointer
to the array data, and the second value is one less than the number of elements in
the array.
When two parameters are passed on the stack, each parameter occupies a multiple of
4 bytes (a whole number of double words). For an 8-bit or 16-bit parameter, even
though the parameter occupies only a byte or a word, it is passed as a double word.
The contents of the unused parts of the double word are undefined.
Under the pascal, cdecl, stdcall and safecall conventions, all parameters are passed
on the stack. Under the pascal convention, parameters are pushed in the order of
their declaration (left-to-right), so that the first parameter ends up at the highest
address and the last parameter ends up at the lowest address. Under the cdecl,
stdcall, and safecall conventions, parameters are pushed in reverse order of
declaration (right-to-left), so that the first parameter ends up at the lowest address
and the last parameter ends up at the highest address.
Under the register convention, up to three parameters are passed in CPU registers,
and the rest (if any) are passed on the stack. The parameters are passed in order of
declaration (as with the pascal convention), and the first three parameters that
qualify are passed in the EAX, EDX, and ECX registers, in that order. Real, method-
pointer, variant, Int64, and structured types (see “Structured types” on page 5-17 do
not qualify as register parameters, but all other parameters do. If more than three
parameters qualify as register parameters, the first three are passed in EAX, EDX,
and ECX, and the remaining parameters are pushed onto the stack in order of
declaration. For example, given the declaration
procedure Test(A: Integer; var B: Char; C: Double; const D: string; E: Pointer);
a call to Test passes A in EAX as a 32-bit integer, B in EDX as a pointer to a Char, and
D in ECX as a pointer to a long-string memory block; C and E are pushed onto the
stack as two double-words and a 32-bit pointer, in that order.

12-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Parameters and function results

Register saving conventions

Procedures and functions must preserve the EBX, ESI, EDI, and EBP registers, but
can modify the EAX, EDX, and ECX registers. When implementing a constructor or
destructor in assembler, be sure to preserve the DL register. Procedures and
functions are invoked with the assumption that the CPU’s direction flag is cleared
(corresponding to a CLD instruction) and must return with the direction flag cleared.
Note Delphi language procedures and functions are generally invoked with the
assumption that the FPU stack is empty: The compiler tries to use all eight FPU stack
entries when it generates code.
When working with the MMX and XMM instructions, be user to preserve the values
of the xmm and mm registers. Delphi functions are invoked with the assumption that
the x87 FPU data registers are available for use by x87 floating point instructions.
That is, the compiler assumes that the EMMS/FEMMS has been called after MMX
operations. Delphi functions do not make any assumptions about the state and
content of xmm registers. They do not guarantee that the content of xmm registers is
unchanged.

Function results
The following conventions are used for returning function result values.
• Ordinal results are returned, when possible, in a CPU register. Bytes are returned
in AL, words are returned in AX, and double-words are returned in EAX.
• Real results are returned in the floating-point coprocessor’s top-of-stack register
(ST(0)). For function results of type Currency, the value in ST(0) is scaled by 10000.
For example, the Currency value 1.234 is returned in ST(0) as 12340.
• For a string, dynamic array, method pointer, of variant result, the effects are the
same as if the function result were declared as an additional var parameter
following the declared parameters. In other words, the caller passes an additional
32-bit pointer that points to a variable in which to return the function result.
• Pointer, class, class-reference, and procedure-pointer results are returned in EAX.
• For static-array, record, and set results, if the value occupies one byte it is returned
in AL; if the value occupies two bytes it is returned in AX; and if the value
occupies four bytes it is returned in EAX. Otherwise, the result is returned in an
additional var parameter that is passed to the function after the declared
parameters.

Program control 12-3

Parameters and function results

Method calls
Methods use the same calling conventions as ordinary procedures and functions,
except that every method has an additional implicit parameter Self, which is a
reference to the instance or class in which the method is called. The Self parameter is
passed as a 32-bit pointer.
• Under the register convention, Self behaves as if it were declared before all other
parameters. It is therefore always passed in the EAX register.
• Under the pascal convention, Self behaves as if it were declared after all other
parameters (including the additional var parameter sometimes passed for a
function result). It is therefore pushed last, ending up at a lower address than all
other parameters.
• Under the cdecl, stdcall, and safecall conventions, Self behaves as if it were
declared before all other parameters, but after the additional var parameter (if any)
passed for a function result. It is therefore the last to be pushed, except for the
additional var parameter.

Constructors and destructors

Constructors and destructors use the same calling conventions as other methods,
except that an additional Boolean flag parameter is passed to indicate the context of
the constructor or destructor call.
A value of False in the flag parameter of a constructor call indicates that the
constructor was invoked through an instance object or using the inherited keyword.
In this case, the constructor behaves like an ordinary method. A value of True in the
flag parameter of a constructor call indicates that the constructor was invoked
through a class reference. In this case, the constructor creates an instance of the class
given by Self, and returns a reference to the newly created object in EAX.
A value of False in the flag parameter of a destructor call indicates that the destructor
was invoked using the inherited keyword. In this case, the destructor behaves like an
ordinary method. A value of True in the flag parameter of a destructor call indicates
that the destructor was invoked through an instance object. In this case, the
destructor deallocates the instance given by Self just before returning.
The flag parameter behaves as if it were declared before all other parameters. Under
the register convention, it is passed in the DL register. Under the pascal convention,
it is pushed before all other parameters. Under the cdecl, stdcall, and safecall
conventions, it is pushed just before the Self parameter.
Since the DL register indicates whether the constructor or destructor is the outermost
in the call stack, you must restore the value of DL before exiting so that
BeforeDestruction or AfterConstruction can be called properly.

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 Exit procedures

Exit procedures
Exit procedures ensure that specific actions—such as updating and closing files—are
carried out before a program terminates. The ExitProc pointer variable allows you to
“install” an exit procedure, so that it is always called as part of the program’s
termination—whether the termination is normal, forced by a call to Halt, or the result
of a runtime error. An exit procedure takes no parameters.
Note It is recommended that you use finalization sections rather than exit procedures for
all exit behavior. (See “The finalization section” on page 3-5.) Exit procedures are
available only for executables. For shared objects (Linux) or .DLLs (Windows) you
can use a similar variable, DllProc, which is called when the library is loaded as well
as when it is unloaded. For packages, exit behavior must be implemented in a
finalization section. All exit procedures are called before execution of finalization
sections.
Units as well as programs can install exit procedures. A unit can install an exit
procedure as part of its initialization code, relying on the procedure to close files or
perform other clean-up tasks.
When implemented properly, an exit procedure is part of a chain of exit procedures.
The procedures are executed in reverse order of installation, ensuring that the exit
code of one unit isn’t executed before the exit code of any units that depend on it. To
keep the chain intact, you must save the current contents of ExitProc before pointing
it to the address of your own exit procedure. Also, the first statement in your exit
procedure must reinstall the saved value of ExitProc.
The following code shows a skeleton implementation of an exit procedure.
var
ExitSave: Pointer;
procedure MyExit;
begin
ExitProc := ExitSave; // always restore old vector first
ƒ
end;
begin
ExitSave := ExitProc;
ExitProc := @MyExit;
ƒ
end.
On entry, the code saves the contents of ExitProc in ExitSave, then installs the MyExit
procedure. When called as part of the termination process, the first thing MyExit does
is reinstall the previous exit procedure.
The termination routine in the runtime library keeps calling exit procedures until
ExitProc becomes nil. To avoid infinite loops, ExitProc is set to nil before every call, so
the next exit procedure is called only if the current exit procedure assigns an address
to ExitProc. If an error occurs in an exit procedure, it is not called again.

Program control 12-5

 An exit procedure can learn the cause of termination by examining the ExitCode
integer variable and the ErrorAddr pointer variable. In case of normal termination,
ExitCode is zero and ErrorAddr is nil. In case of termination through a call to Halt,
ExitCode contains the value passed to Halt and ErrorAddr is nil. In case of termination
due to a runtime error, ExitCode contains the error code and ErrorAddr contains the
address of the invalid statement.
The last exit procedure (the one installed by the runtime library) closes the Input and
Output files. If ErrorAddr is not nil, it outputs a runtime error message. To output
your own runtime error message, install an exit procedure that examines ErrorAddr
and outputs a message if it’s not nil; before returning, set ErrorAddr to nil so that the
error is not reported again by other exit procedures.
Once the runtime library has called all exit procedures, it returns to the operating
system, passing the value stored in ExitCode as a return code.

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 Chapter

13
Inline assembly code
Chapter13

The built-in assembler allows you to write assembly code within Delphi programs. It
has the following features:
• Allows for inline assembly
• Supports all instructions found in the Intel Pentium III, Intel MMX extensions,
Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), and the AMD Athlon (including 3D Now!)
• Provides no macro support, but allows for pure assembly function procedures
• Permits the use of Delphi identifiers, such as constants, types, and variables in
assembly statements
As an alternative to the built-in assembler, you can link to object files that contain
external procedures and functions. See “Linking to object files” on page 6-7 for more
information.
Note If you have external assembly code that you want to use in your applications, you
should consider rewriting it in the Delphi language or minimally reimplement it
using the inline assembler.

The asm statement

The built-in assembler is accessed through asm statements, which have the form
asm statementList end
where statementList is a sequence of assembly statements separated by semicolons,
end-of-line characters, or Delphi comments.
Comments in an asm statement must be in Delphi style. A semicolon does not
indicate that the rest of the line is a comment.
The reserved word inline and the directive assembler are maintained for backward
compatibility only. They have no effect on the compiler.

Inline assembly code 13-1

Assembler statement syntax

Register use
In general, the rules of register use in an asm statement are the same as those of an
external procedure or function. An asm statement must preserve the EDI, ESI, ESP,
EBP, and EBX registers, but can freely modify the EAX, ECX, and EDX registers. On
entry to an asm statement, EBP points to the current stack frame and ESP points to
the top of the stack. Except for ESP and EBP, an asm statement can assume nothing
about register contents on entry to the statement.

Assembler statement syntax

This syntax of an assembly statement is
Label: Prefix Opcode Operand1, Operand2
where Label is a label, Prefix is an assembly prefix opcode (operation code), Opcode is
an assembly instruction opcode or directive, and Operand is an assembly expression.
Label and Prefix are optional. Some opcodes take only one operand, and some take
none.
Comments are allowed between assembly statements, but not within them. For
example,
MOV AX,1 {Initial value} { OK }
MOV CX,100 {Count} { OK }
MOV {Initial value} AX,1; { Error! }
MOV CX, {Count} 100 { Error! }

Labels
Labels are used in built-in assembly statements as they are in the Delphi language—
by writing the label and a colon before a statement. There is no limit to a label’s
length. As in Delphi, labels must be declared in a label declaration part in the block
containing the asm statement. The one exception to this rule is local labels.
Local labels are labels that start with an at-sign (@). They consist of an at-sign
followed by one or more letters, digits, underscores, or at-signs. Use of local labels is
restricted to asm statements, and the scope of a local label extends from the asm
reserved word to the end of the asm statement that contains it. A local label doesn’t
have to be declared.

13-2 Delphi Language Guide

 Assembler statement syntax

Instruction opcodes
The built-in assembler supports all of the Intel-documented opcodes for general
application use. Note that operating system privileged instructions may not be
supported. Specifically, the following families of instructions are supported:
• Pentium family
• Pentium Pro and Pentium II
• Pentium III
• Pentium 4
In addition, the built-in assembler supports the following instruction sets
• AMD 3DNow! (from the AMD K6 onwards)
• AMD Enhanced 3DNow! (from the AMD Athlon onwards)
For a complete description of each instruction, refer to your microprocessor
documentation.

RET instruction sizing

The RET instruction opcode always generates a near return.

Automatic jump sizing

Unless otherwise directed, the built-in assembler optimizes jump instructions by
automatically selecting the shortest, and therefore most efficient, form of a jump
instruction. This automatic jump sizing applies to the unconditional jump instruction
(JMP), and to all conditional jump instructions when the target is a label (not a
procedure or function).
For an unconditional jump instruction (JMP), the built-in assembler generates a short
jump (one-byte opcode followed by a one-byte displacement) if the distance to the
target label is –128 to 127 bytes. Otherwise it generates a near jump (one-byte opcode
followed by a two-byte displacement).
For a conditional jump instruction, a short jump (one-byte opcode followed by a one-
byte displacement) is generated if the distance to the target label is –128 to 127 bytes.
Otherwise, the built-in assembler generates a short jump with the inverse condition,
which jumps over a near jump to the target label (five bytes in total). For example, the
assembly statement
JC Stop
where Stop isn’t within reach of a short jump, is converted to a machine code
sequence that corresponds to this:
JNC Skip
JMP Stop
Skip:
Jumps to the entry points of procedures and functions are always near.

Inline assembly code 13-3

Assembler statement syntax

Assembly directives
The built-in assembler supports three assembly define directives: DB (define byte),
DW (define word), and DD (define double word). Each generates data corresponding
to the comma-separated operands that follow the directive.
The DB directive generates a sequence of bytes. Each operand can be a constant
expression with a value between –128 and 255, or a character string of any length.
Constant expressions generate one byte of code, and strings generate a sequence of
bytes with values corresponding to the ASCII code of each character.
The DW directive generates a sequence of words. Each operand can be a constant
expression with a value between –32,768 and 65,535, or an address expression. For an
address expression, the built-in assembler generates a near pointer—that is, a word
that contains the offset part of the address.
The DD directive generates a sequence of double words. Each operand can be a
constant expression with a value between –2,147,483,648 and 4,294,967,295, or an
address expression. For an address expression, the built-in assembler generates a far
pointer—that is, a word that contains the offset part of the address, followed by a
word that contains the segment part of the address.
The DQ directive defines a quad word for Int64 values.
The data generated by the DB, DW, and DD directives is always stored in the code
segment, just like the code generated by other built-in assembly statements. To
generate uninitialized or initialized data in the data segment, you should use Delphi
var or const declarations.
Some examples of DB, DW, and DD directives follow.
asm
DB FFH { One byte }
DB 0,99 { Two bytes }
DB 'A' { Ord('A') }
DB 'Hello world...',0DH,0AH { String followed by CR/LF }
DB 12,"string" { Delphi style string }
DW 0FFFFH { One word }
DW 0,9999 { Two words }
DW 'A' { Same as DB 'A',0 }
DW 'BA' { Same as DB 'A','B' }
DW MyVar { Offset of MyVar }
DW MyProc { Offset of MyProc }
DD 0FFFFFFFFH { One double-word }
DD 0,999999999 { Two double-words }
DD 'A' { Same as DB 'A',0,0,0 }
DD 'DCBA' { Same as DB 'A','B','C','D' }
DD MyVar { Pointer to MyVar }
DD MyProc { Pointer to MyProc }
end;

13-4 Delphi Language Guide

 Assembler statement syntax

When an identifier precedes a DB, DW, or DD directive, it causes the declaration of a

byte-, word-, or double-word-sized variable at the location of the directive. For
example, the assembler allows the following:
ByteVar DB ?
WordVar DW ?
IntVar DD ?
ƒ
MOV AL,ByteVar
MOV BX,WordVar
MOV ECX,IntVar
The built-in assembler doesn’t support such variable declarations. The only kind of
symbol that can be defined in an inline assembly statement is a label. All variables
must be declared using Delphi syntax; the preceding construction can be replaced by
var
ByteVar: Byte;
WordVar: Word;
IntVar: Integer;
ƒ
asm
MOV AL,ByteVar
MOV BX,WordVar
MOV ECX,IntVar
end;
SMALL and LARGE can be used determine the width of a displacement:
MOV EAX, [LARGE $1234]
This instruction generates a “normal” move with a 32-bit displacement ($00001234).
MOV EAX, [SMALL $1234]
The second instruction will generate a move with an address size override prefix and
a 16-bit displacement ($1234).
SMALL can be used to save space. The following example generates an address size
override and a 2-byte address (in total three bytes)
MOV EAX, [SMALL 123]
as opposed to
MOV EAX, [123]
which will generate no address size override and a 4-byte address (in total four
bytes).
Two additional directives allow assembly code to access dynamic and virtual
methods: VMTOFFSET and DMTINDEX.
VMTOFFSET retrieves the offset in bytes of the virtual method pointer table entry of
the virtual method argument from the beginning of the virtual method table (VMT).
This directive needs a fully specified class name with a method name as a parameter
(for example, TExample.VirtualMethod), or an interface name and an interface
method name.

Inline assembly code 13-5

Assembler statement syntax

DMTINDEX retrieves the dynamic method table index of the passed dynamic
method. This directive also needs a fully specified class name with a method name as
a parameter, for example, TExample.DynamicMethod. To invoke the dynamic
method, call System.@CallDynaInst with the (E)SI register containing the value
obtained from DMTINDEX.
Note Methods with the message directive are implemented as dynamic methods and can
also be called using the DMTINDEX technique. For example:
TMyClass = class
procedure x; message MYMESSAGE;
end;
The following example uses both DMTINDEX and VMTOFFSET to access dynamic
and virtual methods:
program Project2;

type
TExample = class
procedure DynamicMethod; dynamic;
procedure VirtualMethod; virtual;
end;

procedure TExample.DynamicMethod;
begin

end;

procedure TExample.VirtualMethod;
begin

end;

procedure CallDynamicMethod(e: TExample);

asm
// Save ESI register
PUSH ESI

// Instance pointer needs to be in EAX

MOV EAX, e
// DMT entry index needs to be in (E)SI
MOV ESI, DMTINDEX TExample.DynamicMethod
// Now call the method
CALL System.@CallDynaInst

// Restore ESI register

POP ESI
end;

13-6 Delphi Language Guide

 Assembler statement syntax

procedure CallVirtualMethod(e: TExample);

asm
// Instance pointer needs to be in EAX
MOV EAX, e

// Retrieve VMT table entry

MOV EDX, [EAX]

// Now call the method at offset VMTOFFSET

CALL DWORD PTR [EDX + VMTOFFSET TExample.VirtualMethod]
end;

var
e: TExample;

begin
e := TExample.Create;
try
CallDynamicMethod(e);
CallVirtualMethod(e);
finally
e.Free;
end;
end.

Operands
Inline assembler operands are expressions that consist of constants, registers,
symbols, and operators.
Within operands, the following reserved words have predefined meanings:
Table 13.1 Built-in assembler reserved words

AH CL DX ESP mm4 SHL WORD

AL CS EAX FS mm5 SHR xmm0
AND CX EBP GS mm6 SI xmm1
AX DH EBX HIGH mm7 SMALL xmm2
BH DI ECX LARGE MOD SP xmm3
BL DL EDI LOW NOT SS xmm4
BP CL EDX mm0 OFFSET ST xmm5
BX DMTINDEX EIP mm1 OR TBYTE xmm6
BYTE DS ES mm2 PTR TYPE xmm7
CH DWORD ESI mm3 QWORD VMTOFFSET XOR

Inline assembly code 13-7

Expressions

Reserved words always take precedence over user-defined identifiers. For example,
var
Ch: Char;
ƒ
asm
MOV CH, 1
end;
loads 1 into the CH register, not into the Ch variable. To access a user-defined symbol
with the same name as a reserved word, you must use the ampersand (&) override
operator:
MOV &Ch, 1
It is best to avoid user-defined identifiers with the same names as built-in assembler
reserved words.

Expressions
The built-in assembler evaluates all expressions as 32-bit integer values. It doesn’t
support floating-point and string values, except string constants.
Expressions are built from expression elements and operators, and each expression has
an associated expression class and expression type.

Differences between Delphi and assembler expressions

The most important difference between Delphi expressions and built-in assembler
expressions is that assembler expressions must resolve to a constant value- that is a
value that can be computed at compile time. For example, given the declarations
const
X = 10;
Y = 20;
var
Z: Integer;
the following is a valid statement.
asm
MOV Z,X+Y
end;
Because both X and Y are constants, the expression X + Y is a convenient way of
writing the constant 30, and the resulting instruction simply moves of the value 30
into the variable Z. But if X and Y are variables—
var
X, Y: Integer;

13-8 Delphi Language Guide

 Expressions

the built-in assembler cannot compute the value of X + Y at compile time. In this case,
to move the sum of X and Y into Z you would use
asm
MOV EAX,X
ADD EAX,Y
MOV Z,EAX
end;
In a Delphi expression, a variable reference denotes the contents of the variable. But in
an assembler expression, a variable reference denotes the address of the variable. In
Delphi the expression X + 4 (where X is a variable) means the contents of X plus 4,
while to the built-in assembler it means the contents of the word at the address four
bytes higher than the address of X. So, even though you’re allowed to write
asm
MOV EAX,X+4
end;
this code doesn’t load the value of X plus 4 into AX; instead, it loads the value of a
word stored four bytes beyond X. The correct way to add 4 to the contents of X is
asm
MOV EAX,X
ADD EAX,4
end;

Expression elements
The elements of an expression are constants, registers, and symbols.

Constants
The built-in assembler supports two types of constant: numeric constants and string
constants.

Numeric constants
Numeric constants must be integers, and their values must be between –2,147,483,648
and 4,294,967,295.
By default, numeric constants use decimal notation, but the built-in assembler also
supports binary, octal, and hexadecimal. Binary notation is selected by writing a B
after the number, octal notation by writing an O after the number, and hexadecimal
notation by writing an H after the number or a $ before the number.
Numeric constants must start with one of the digits 0 through 9 or the $ character.
When you write a hexadecimal constant using the H suffix, an extra zero is required
in front of the number if the first significant digit is one of the digits A through F. For
example, 0BAD4H and $BAD4 are hexadecimal constants, but BAD4H is an identifier
because it starts with a letter.

Inline assembly code 13-9

Expressions

String constants
String constants must be enclosed in single or double quotation marks. Two
consecutive quotation marks of the same type as the enclosing quotation marks count
as only one character. Here are some examples of string constants:
'Z'
'Delphi'
‘Linux’
"That's all folks"
'"That''s all folks," he said.'
'100'
'"'
"'"
String constants of any length are allowed in DB directives, and cause allocation of a
sequence of bytes containing the ASCII values of the characters in the string. In all
other cases, a string constant can be no longer than four characters and denotes a
numeric value which can participate in an expression. The numeric value of a string
constant is calculated as
Ord(Ch1) + Ord(Ch2) shl 8 + Ord(Ch3) shl 16 + Ord(Ch4) shl 24
where Ch1 is the rightmost (last) character and Ch4 is the leftmost (first) character. If
the string is shorter than four characters, the leftmost characters are assumed to be
zero. The following table shows string constants and their numeric values.

Table 13.2 String examples and their values

String Value
'a' 00000061H
'ba' 00006261H
'cba' 00636261H
'dcba' 64636261H
'a ' 00006120H
' a' 20202061H
'a' * 2 000000E2H
'a'-'A' 00000020H
not 'a' FFFFFF9EH

13-10 Delphi Language Guide

 Expressions

Registers
The following reserved symbols denote CPU registers in the inline assembler:

Table 13.3 CPU registers

32-bit general purpose EAX EBX ECX EDX 32-bit pointer or index ESP EBP ESI EDI
16-bit general purpose AX BX CX DX 16-bit pointer or index SP BP SI DI
8-bit low registers AL BL CL DL 16-bit segment registers CS DS SS ES
32-bit segment registers FS GS
8-bit high registers AH BH CH DH Coprocessor register stack ST

When an operand consists solely of a register name, it is called a register operand. All
registers can be used as register operands, and some registers can be used in other
contexts.
The base registers (BX and BP) and the index registers (SI and DI) can be written
within square brackets to indicate indexing. Valid base/index register combinations
are [BX], [BP], [SI], [DI], [BX+SI], [BX+DI], [BP+SI], and [BP+DI]. You can also index
with all the 32-bit registers—for example, [EAX+ECX], [ESP], and [ESP+EAX+5].
The segment registers (ES, CS, SS, DS, FS, and GS) are supported, but segments are
normally not useful in 32-bit applications.
The symbol ST denotes the topmost register on the 8087 floating-point register stack.
Each of the eight floating-point registers can be referred to using ST(X), where X is a
constant between 0 and 7 indicating the distance from the top of the register stack.

Symbols
The built-in assembler allows you to access almost all Delphi identifiers in assembly
language expressions, including constants, types, variables, procedures, and
functions. In addition, the built-in assembler implements the special symbol @Result,
which corresponds to the Result variable within the body of a function. For example,
the function
function Sum(X, Y: Integer): Integer;
begin
Result := X + Y;
end;
could be written in assembly language as
function Sum(X, Y: Integer): Integer; stdcall;
begin
asm
MOV EAX,X
ADD EAX,Y
MOV @Result,EAX
end;
end;

Inline assembly code 13-11

Expressions

The following symbols cannot be used in asm statements:

• Standard procedures and functions (for example, WriteLn and Chr).
• String, floating-point, and set constants (except when loading registers).
• Labels that aren’t declared in the current block.
• The @Result symbol outside of functions.
The following table summarizes the kinds of symbol that can be used in asm
statements.

Table 13.4 Symbols recognized by the built-in assembler

Symbol Value Class Type
Label Address of label Memory reference Size of type
Constant Value of constant Immediate value 0
Type 0 Memory reference Size of type
Field Offset of field Memory Size of type
Variable Address of variable Memory reference Size of type
Procedure Address of procedure Memory reference Size of type
Function Address of function Memory reference Size of type
Unit 0 Immediate value 0
@Result Result variable offset Memory reference Size of type

With optimizations disabled, local variables (variables declared in procedures and

functions) are always allocated on the stack and accessed relative to EBP, and the
value of a local variable symbol is its signed offset from EBP. The assembler
automatically adds [EBP] in references to local variables. For example, given the
declaration
var Count: Integer;
within a function or procedure, the instruction
MOV EAX,Count
assembles into MOV EAX,[EBP–4].
The built-in assembler treats var parameters as a 32-bit pointers, and the size of a var
parameter is always 4. The syntax for accessing a var parameter is different from that
for accessing a value parameter. To access the contents of a var parameter, you must
first load the 32-bit pointer and then access the location it points to. For example,
function Sum(var X, Y: Integer): Integer; stdcall;
begin
asm
MOV EAX,X
MOV EAX,[EAX]
MOV EDX,Y
ADD EAX,[EDX]
MOV @Result,EAX
end;
end;

13-12 Delphi Language Guide

 Expressions

Identifiers can be qualified within asm statements. For example, given the
declarations
type
TPoint = record
X, Y: Integer;
end;
TRect = record
A, B: TPoint;
end;
var
P: TPoint;
R: TRect;
the following constructions can be used in an asm statement to access fields.
MOV EAX,P.X
MOV EDX,P.Y
MOV ECX,R.A.X
MOV EBX,R.B.Y
A type identifier can be used to construct variables on the fly. Each of the following
instructions generates the same machine code, which loads the contents of [EDX] into
EAX.
MOV EAX,(TRect PTR [EDX]).B.X
MOV EAX,TRect([EDX]).B.X
MOV EAX,TRect[EDX].B.X
MOV EAX,[EDX].TRect.B.X

Expression classes
The built-in assembler divides expressions into three classes: registers, memory
references, and immediate values.
An expression that consists solely of a register name is a register expression.
Examples of register expressions are AX, CL, DI, and ES. Used as operands, register
expressions direct the assembler to generate instructions that operate on the CPU
registers.
Expressions that denote memory locations are memory references. Delphi’s labels,
variables, typed constants, procedures, and functions belong to this category.
Expressions that aren’t registers and aren’t associated with memory locations are
immediate values. This group includes Delphi’s untyped constants and type
identifiers.

Inline assembly code 13-13

Expressions

Immediate values and memory references cause different code to be generated when
used as operands. For example,
const
Start = 10;
var
Count: Integer;
ƒ
asm
MOV EAX,Start { MOV EAX,xxxx }
MOV EBX,Count { MOV EBX,[xxxx] }
MOV ECX,[Start] { MOV ECX,[xxxx] }
MOV EDX,OFFSET Count { MOV EDX,xxxx }
end;
Because Start is an immediate value, the first MOV is assembled into a move
immediate instruction. The second MOV, however, is translated into a move memory
instruction, as Count is a memory reference. In the third MOV, the brackets convert
Start into a memory reference (in this case, the word at offset 10 in the data segment).
In the fourth MOV, the OFFSET operator converts Count into an immediate value
(the offset of Count in the data segment).
The brackets and OFFSET operator complement each other. The following asm
statement produces identical machine code to the first two lines of the previous asm
statement.
asm
MOV EAX,OFFSET [Start]
MOV EBX,[OFFSET Count]
end;
Memory references and immediate values are further classified as either relocatable or
absolute. Relocation is the process by which the linker assigns absolute addresses to
symbols. A relocatable expression denotes a value that requires relocation at link
time, while an absolute expression denotes a value that requires no such relocation.
Typically, expressions that refer to labels, variables, procedures, or functions are
relocatable, since the final address of these symbols is unknown at compile time.
Expressions that operate solely on constants are absolute.
The built-in assembler allows you to carry out any operation on an absolute value,
but it restricts operations on relocatable values to addition and subtraction of
constants.

13-14 Delphi Language Guide

 Expressions

Expression types
Every built-in assembler expression has a type—or, more correctly, a size, because
the assembler regards the type of an expression simply as the size of its memory
location. For example, the type of an Integer variable is four, because it occupies 4
bytes. The built-in assembler performs type checking whenever possible, so in the
instructions
var
QuitFlag: Boolean;
OutBufPtr: Word;
ƒ
asm
MOV AL,QuitFlag
MOV BX,OutBufPtr
end;
the assembler checks that the size of QuitFlag is one (a byte), and that the size of
OutBufPtr is two (a word). The instruction
MOV DL,OutBufPtr
produces an error because DL is a byte-sized register and OutBufPtr is a word. The
type of a memory reference can be changed through a typecast; these are correct
ways of writing the previous instruction:
MOV DL,BYTE PTR OutBufPtr
MOV DL,Byte(OutBufPtr)
MOV DL,OutBufPtr.Byte
These MOV instructions all refer to the first (least significant) byte of the OutBufPtr
variable.
In some cases, a memory reference is untyped. One example is an immediate value
(Buffer) enclosed in square brackets:
procedure Example(var Buffer);
asm
MOV AL, [Buffer]
MOV CX, [Buffer]
MOV EDX, [Buffer]
The built-in assembler permits these instructions, because the expression [Buffer] has
no type—it just means “the contents of the location indicated by Buffer,” and the type
can be determined from the first operand (byte for AL, word for CX, and double-
word for EDX).
In cases where the type can’t be determined from another operand, the built-in
assembler requires an explicit typecast. For example,
INC BYTE PTR [ECX]
IMUL WORD PTR [EDX]

Inline assembly code 13-15

 The following table summarizes the predefined type symbols that the built-in
assembler provides in addition to any currently declared Delphi types.

Table 13.5 Predefined type symbols

Symbol Type
BYTE 1
WORD 2
DWORD 4
QWORD 8
TBYTE 10

Expression operators
The built-in assembler provides a variety of operators. Precedence rules are different
from that of the Delphi language; for example, in an asm statement, AND has lower
precedence than the addition and subtraction operators. The following table lists the
built-in assembler’s expression operators in decreasing order of precedence.

Table 13.6 Precedence of built-in assembler expression operators

Operators Remarks Precedence
& highest
(), [], ., HIGH, LOW
+, – unary + and –
:
OFFSET, TYPE, PTR, *, /, MOD, SHL, SHR, +, –
binary + and –
NOT, AND, OR, XOR lowest

The following table defines the built-in assembler’s expression operators.

Table 13.7 Definitions of built-in assembler expression operators

Operator Description
& Identifier override. The identifier immediately following the ampersand is treated as
a user-defined symbol, even if the spelling is the same as a built-in assembler
reserved symbol.
(...) Subexpression. Expressions within parentheses are evaluated completely prior to
being treated as a single expression element. Another expression can precede the
expression within the parentheses; the result in this case is the sum of the values of
the two expressions, with the type of the first expression.
[...] Memory reference. The expression within brackets is evaluated completely prior to
being treated as a single expression element. Another expression can precede the
expression within the brackets; the result in this case is the sum of the values of the
two expressions, with the type of the first expression. The result is always a memory
reference.

13-16 Delphi Language Guide

Table 13.7 Definitions of built-in assembler expression operators (continued)
Operator Description
. Structure member selector. The result is the sum of the expression before the period
and the expression after the period, with the type of the expression after the period.
Symbols belonging to the scope identified by the expression before the period can be
accessed in the expression after the period.
HIGH Returns the high-order 8 bits of the word-sized expression following the operator.
The expression must be an absolute immediate value.
LOW Returns the low-order 8 bits of the word-sized expression following the operator. The
expression must be an absolute immediate value.
+ Unary plus. Returns the expression following the plus with no changes. The
expression must be an absolute immediate value.
– Unary minus. Returns the negated value of the expression following the minus. The
expression must be an absolute immediate value.
+ Addition. The expressions can be immediate values or memory references, but only
one of the expressions can be a relocatable value. If one of the expressions is a
relocatable value, the result is also a relocatable value. If either of the expressions is a
memory reference, the result is also a memory reference.
– Subtraction. The first expression can have any class, but the second expression must
be an absolute immediate value. The result has the same class as the first expression.
: Segment override. Instructs the assembler that the expression after the colon belongs
to the segment given by the segment register name (CS, DS, SS, FS, GS, or ES) before
the colon. The result is a memory reference with the value of the expression after the
colon. When a segment override is used in an instruction operand, the instruction is
prefixed with an appropriate segment-override prefix instruction to ensure that the
indicated segment is selected.
OFFSET Returns the offset part (double word) of the expression following the operator. The
result is an immediate value.
TYPE Returns the type (size in bytes) of the expression following the operator. The type of
an immediate value is 0.
PTR Typecast operator. The result is a memory reference with the value of the expression
following the operator and the type of the expression in front of the operator.
* Multiplication. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the result
is an absolute immediate value.
/ Integer division. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the result
is an absolute immediate value.
MOD Remainder after integer division. Both expressions must be absolute immediate
values, and the result is an absolute immediate value.
SHL Logical shift left. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the result
is an absolute immediate value.
SHR Logical shift right. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the
result is an absolute immediate value.
NOT Bitwise negation. The expression must be an absolute immediate value, and the
result is an absolute immediate value.
AND Bitwise AND. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the result is
an absolute immediate value.

Inline assembly code 13-17

 Table 13.7 Definitions of built-in assembler expression operators (continued)
Operator Description
OR Bitwise OR. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the result is an
absolute immediate value.
XOR Bitwise exclusive OR. Both expressions must be absolute immediate values, and the
result is an absolute immediate value.

Assembly procedures and functions

You can write complete procedures and functions using inline assembly language
code, without including a begin...end statement. For example,
function LongMul(X, Y: Integer): Longint;
asm
MOV EAX,X
IMUL Y
end;
The compiler performs several optimizations on these routines:
• No code is generated to copy value parameters into local variables. This affects all
string-type value parameters and other value parameters whose size isn’t 1, 2, or 4
bytes. Within the routine, such parameters must be treated as if they were var
parameters.
• Unless a function returns a string, variant, or interface reference, the compiler
doesn’t allocate a function result variable; a reference to the @Result symbol is an
error. For strings, variants, and interfaces, the caller always allocates an @Result
pointer.
• The compiler only generates stack frames for nested routines, for routines that
have local parameters, or for routines that have parameters on the stack.
• The automatically generated entry and exit code for the routine looks like this:
PUSH EBP ;Present if Locals <> 0 or Params <> 0
MOV EBP,ESP ;Present if Locals <> 0 or Params <> 0
SUB ESP,Locals ;Present if Locals <> 0
ƒ
MOV ESP,EBP ;Present if Locals <> 0
POP EBP ;Present if Locals <> 0 or Params <> 0
RET Params ;Always present
If locals include variants, long strings, or interfaces, they are initialized to zero but
not finalized.
• Locals is the size of the local variables and Params is the size of the parameters. If
both Locals and Params are zero, there is no entry code, and the exit code consists
simply of a RET instruction.

13-18 Delphi Language Guide

Assembly language functions return their results as follows.
• Ordinal values are returned in AL (8-bit values), AX (16-bit values), or EAX (32-bit
values).
• Real values are returned in ST(0) on the coprocessor’s register stack. (Currency
values are scaled by 10000.)
• Pointers, including long strings, are returned in EAX.
• Short strings and variants are returned in the temporary location pointed to by
@Result.

Inline assembly code 13-19

13-20 Delphi Language Guide
 Appendix

A
Delphi grammar
Appendix A

Goal -> (Program | Package | Library | Unit)

Program -> [PROGRAM Ident ['(' IdentList ')'] ';']
ProgramBlock '.'
Unit -> UNIT Ident [PortabilityDirective] ';'
InterfaceSection
ImplementationSection
InitSection '.'
Package -> PACKAGE Ident ';'
[RequiresClause]
[ContainsClause]
END '.'
Library -> LIBRARY Ident ';'
ProgramBlock '.'
ProgramBlock -> [UsesClause]
Block
UsesClause -> USES IdentList ';'
PortabilityDirective -> platform
-> deprecated
-> library
InterfaceSection -> INTERFACE
[UsesClause]
[InterfaceDecl]...
InterfaceDecl -> ConstSection
-> TypeSection
-> VarSection
-> ExportedHeading
ExportedHeading -> ProcedureHeading ';' [Directive]
-> FunctionHeading ';' [Directive]

Delphi grammar A-1

 ImplementationSection -> IMPLEMENTATION
[UsesClause]
[DeclSection]...
[ExportsStmt]...
Block -> [DeclSection]
[ExportsStmt]...
CompoundStmt
[ExportsStmt]...
ExportsStmt -> EXPORTS ExportsItem [, ExportsItem]...
ExportsItem -> Ident [NAME|INDEX “‘” ConstExpr “‘”]
[INDEX|NAME “‘” ConstExpr “‘”]
DeclSection -> LabelDeclSection
-> ConstSection
-> TypeSection
-> VarSection
-> ProcedureDeclSection
LabelDeclSection -> LABEL LabelId
ConstSection -> CONST (ConstantDecl ';')...
ConstantDecl -> Ident '=' ConstExpr [PortabilityDirective]
-> Ident ':' TypeId '=' TypedConstant [PortabilityDirective]
TypeSection -> TYPE (TypeDecl ';')
TypeDecl -> Ident '=' [TYPE] Type [PortabilityDirective]
-> Ident '=' [TYPE] RestrictedType [PortabilityDirective]
TypedConstant -> (ConstExpr | ArrayConstant | RecordConstant)
ArrayConstant -> '(' TypedConstant ',' ')'
RecordConstant -> '(' RecordFieldConstant ';'... ')'
RecordFieldConstant -> Ident ':' TypedConstant
Type -> TypeId
-> SimpleType
-> StrucType
-> PointerType
-> StringType
-> ProcedureType
-> VariantType
-> ClassRefType
RestrictedType -> ObjectType
-> ClassType
-> InterfaceType
ClassRefType -> CLASS OF TypeId
SimpleType -> (OrdinalType | RealType)

A-2 Delphi Language Guide

RealType -> REAL48
-> REAL
-> SINGLE
-> DOUBLE
-> EXTENDED
-> CURRENCY
-> COMP
OrdinalType -> (SubrangeType | EnumeratedType | OrdIdent)
OrdIdent -> SHORTINT
-> SMALLINT
-> INTEGER
-> BYTE
-> LONGINT
-> INT64
-> WORD
-> BOOLEAN
-> CHAR
-> WIDECHAR
-> LONGWORD
-> PCHAR
VariantType -> VARIANT
-> OLEVARIANT
SubrangeType -> ConstExpr '..' ConstExpr
EnumeratedType -> '(' EnumeratedTypeElement ','... ')'
EnumeratedTypeElement -> Ident [ '=' ConstExpr ]
StringType -> STRING
-> ANSISTRING
-> WIDESTRING
-> STRING '[' ConstExpr ']'
StrucType -> [PACKED] (ArrayType | SetType | FileType | RecType [PACKED])
ArrayType -> ARRAY ['[' OrdinalType ','... ']'] OF Type [PortabilityDirective]
RecType -> RECORD [FieldList] END [PortabilityDirective]
FieldList -> FieldDecl ';'... [VariantSection] [';']
FieldDecl -> IdentList ':' Type [PortabilityDirective]
VariantSection -> CASE [Ident ':'] TypeId OF RecVariant ';'...
RecVariant -> ConstExpr ','... ':' '(' [FieldList] ')'
SetType -> SET OF OrdinalType [PortabilityDirective]
FileType -> FILE OF TypeId [PortabilityDirective]
PointerType -> '^' TypeId [PortabilityDirective]
ProcedureType -> (ProcedureHeading | FunctionHeading) [OF OBJECT]

Delphi grammar A-3

 VarSection -> VAR (VarDecl ';')...
VarDecl
On Windows -> IdentList ':' Type [(ABSOLUTE (Ident | ConstExpr)) | '=' ConstExpr]
[PortabilityDirective]
On Linux -> IdentList ':' Type [ABSOLUTE (Ident) | '=' ConstExpr] [PortabilityDirective]
Expression -> SimpleExpression [RelOp SimpleExpression]...
SimpleExpression -> ['+' | '-'] Term [AddOp Term]...
Term -> Factor [MulOp Factor]...
Factor -> Designator ['(' ExprList ')']
-> '@' Designator
-> Number
-> String
-> NIL
-> '(' Expression ')'
-> NOT Factor
-> SetConstructor
-> TypeId '(' Expression ')'
RelOp -> '>'
-> '<'
-> '<='
-> '>='
-> '<>'
-> IN
-> IS
-> AS
AddOp -> '+'
-> '-'
-> OR
-> XOR
MulOp -> '*'
-> '/'
-> DIV
-> MOD
-> AND
-> SHL
-> SHR
Designator -> QualId ['.' Ident | '[' ExprList ']' | '^']...
SetConstructor -> '[' [SetElement ','...] ']'
SetElement -> Expression ['..' Expression]
ExprList -> Expression ','...
Statement -> [LabelId ':'] [SimpleStatement | StructStmt]
StmtList -> Statement ';'
SimpleStatement -> Designator ['(' [ExprList] ')']
-> Designator ':=' Expression
-> INHERITED
-> GOTO LabelId

A-4 Delphi Language Guide

StructStmt -> CompoundStmt
-> ConditionalStmt
-> LoopStmt
-> WithStmt
-> TryExceptStmt
-> TryFinallyStmt
-> RaiseStmt
-> AssemblerStmt
CompoundStmt -> BEGIN StmtList END
ConditionalStmt -> IfStmt
-> CaseStmt
IfStmt -> IF Expression THEN Statement [ELSE Statement]
CaseStmt -> CASE Expression OF CaseSelector ';'... [ELSE StmtList] [';'] END
CaseSelector -> CaseLabel ','... ':' Statement
CaseLabel -> ConstExpr ['..' ConstExpr]
LoopStmt -> RepeatStmt
-> WhileStmt
-> ForStmt
RepeatStmt -> REPEAT Statement UNTIL Expression
WhileStmt -> WHILE Expression DO Statement
ForStmt -> FOR QualId ':=' Expression (TO | DOWNTO) Expression DO Statement
WithStmt -> WITH IdentList DO Statement
TryExceptStmt -> TRY
Statement...
EXCEPT
ExceptionBlock
END
ExceptionBlock -> [ON [Ident ‘:’] TypeID DO Statement]...
[ELSE Statement...]
TryFinallyStmt -> TRY
Statement
FINALLY
Statement
END
RaiseStmt -> RAISE [object] [AT address]
AssemblerStatement -> ASM
-> <assemblylanguage>
-> END
ProcedureDeclSection -> ProcedureDecl
-> FunctionDecl
ProcedureDecl -> ProcedureHeading ';' [Directive] [PortabilityDirective]
Block ';'
FunctionDecl -> FunctionHeading ';' [Directive] [PortabilityDirective]
Block ';'

Delphi grammar A-5

 FunctionHeading -> FUNCTION Ident [FormalParameters] ':' (SimpleType | STRING)
ProcedureHeading -> PROCEDURE Ident [FormalParameters]
FormalParameters -> '(' [FormalParm ';'...] ')'
FormalParm -> [VAR | CONST | OUT] Parameter
Parameter -> IdentList [':' ([ARRAY OF] SimpleType | STRING | FILE)]
-> Ident ':' SimpleType '=' ConstExpr
Directive -> CDECL
-> REGISTER
-> DYNAMIC
-> VIRTUAL
-> EXPORT
-> EXTERNAL
-> NEAR
-> FAR
-> FORWARD
-> MESSAGE ConstExpr
-> OVERRIDE
-> OVERLOAD
-> PASCAL
-> REINTRODUCE
-> SAFECALL
-> STDCALL
-> VARARGS
-> LOCAL
-> ABSTRACT
ObjectType -> OBJECT [ObjHeritage] [ObjFieldList] [MethodList] END
ObjHeritage -> '(' QualId ')'
MethodList -> (MethodHeading [';' VIRTUAL]) ';'...
MethodHeading -> ProcedureHeading
-> FunctionHeading
-> ConstructorHeading
-> DestructorHeading
ConstructorHeading -> CONSTRUCTOR Ident [FormalParameters]
DestructorHeading -> DESTRUCTOR Ident [FormalParameters]
ObjFieldList -> (IdentList ':' Type) ';'
InitSection -> INITIALIZATION StmtList [FINALIZATION StmtList] END
-> BEGIN StmtList END
-> END
ClassType -> CLASS [ClassHeritage]
[ClassVisibility]
[ClassFieldList]
[ClassMethodList]
[ClassPropertyList]
END
ClassHeritage -> '(' IdentList ')'
ClassVisibility -> [PUBLIC | PROTECTED | PRIVATE | PUBLISHED]

A-6 Delphi Language Guide

ClassFieldList -> (ClassVisibility ObjFieldList) ';'...
ClassMethodList -> (ClassVisibility MethodList) ';'...
ClassPropertyList -> (ClassVisibility PropertyList ';')...
PropertyList -> PROPERTY Ident [PropertyInterface] [PropertySpecifiers]
[PortabilityDirective]
PropertyInterface -> [PropertyParameterList] ':' Ident
PropertyParameterList -> '[' (IdentList ':' TypeId) ';'... ']'
PropertySpecifiers -> [INDEX ConstExpr]
[READ Ident]
[WRITE Ident]
[STORED (Ident | Constant)]
[(DEFAULT ConstExpr) | NODEFAULT]
[IMPLEMENTS TypeId]
InterfaceType -> INTERFACE [InterfaceHeritage]
[ClassMethodList]
[ClassPropertyList]
...
END
InterfaceHeritage -> '(' IdentList ')'
RequiresClause -> REQUIRES IdentList... ';'
ContainsClause -> CONTAINS IdentList... ';'
IdentList -> Ident ','...
QualId -> [UnitId '.'] Ident
TypeId -> [UnitId '.'] <type-identifier>
Ident -> <identifier>
ConstExpr -> <constant-expression>
UnitId -> <unit-identifier>
LabelId -> <label-identifier>
Number -> <number>
String -> <string>

Delphi grammar A-7

A-8 Delphi Language Guide
 Index
Symbols A arrays 5-3, 5-19 to 5-23
’array of const’ 6-18
- 4-4, 4-7, 4-10, 4-11 $A directive 11-8 accessing with
" 13-10 absolute PByteArray 5-29
# 4-5 directive 5-41 accessing with
$ 4-4, 4-6 expressions 13-14 PWordArray 5-30
(*, *) 4-6 abstract methods 7-12 assignments and 5-22
(, ) 4-2, 4-13, 4-15, 5-6, 5-45, 6-2, access specifiers 7-1, 7-17, 7-18 character 4-5, 5-14, 5-15,
6-3, 6-11, 7-2, 10-1 array properties 7-20 5-17, 5-19
* 4-2, 4-7, 4-11 Automation 7-6 character arrays and string
+ 4-4, 4-7, 4-9, 4-10, 4-11 calling convention 6-5, 7-18 constants 4-5, 5-14, 5-45
, 3-6, 4-25, 5-6, 5-23, 5-25, 6-11, index specifiers and 7-21 constant 5-45
7-17, 9-6, 9-11, 10-7, 13-2 overloading 7-13, 7-18 dynamic 5-20, 5-42, 6-17,
. 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 4-14, 5-28, 9-10, overriding 7-23 11-7
10-5 actual parameters 6-20 indexes 4-15
/ 4-2, 4-7 Add method (TCollection) 7-9 multidimensional 5-19, 5-22
// 4-6 addition 4-7 open array
: 4-2, 4-19, 4-25, 5-23, 5-24, 5-40, pointers 4-10 constructors 6-18, 6-21
5-45, 6-3, 6-11, 7-17, 7-20, 7-30, Addr function 5-28 parameters 6-12, 6-16
13-2 _AddRef method 10-2, 10-5, static 5-19, 11-7
:= 4-19, 4-28 10-10 variants and 5-33, 5-36
named parameters 10-12 address as 4-12, 7-25, 7-26, 10-10
; 3-2, 3-6, 4-17, 4-18, 4-21, 4-27, operator 4-12 ASCII 4-1, 4-5, 5-13
5-23, 5-24, 5-40, 6-2, 6-3, 6-11, address operator 5-27, 5-32, asm statements 13-1, 13-18
7-2, 7-6, 9-6, 9-10, 10-1, 10-4, 5-33, 5-47 assembler (directive) 6-6, 13-1
10-11 properties and 7-18 assembly language
before ’else’ 4-24 alignment (data) 5-17, 11-8 assembler routines 13-18
< 4-2, 4-10, 4-11 AllocMemCount variable 11-2 built-in assembler 13-1 to
<= 4-10, 4-11 AllocMemSize variable 11-2 13-19
<> 4-10, 4-11 alphanumeric characters 4-1, Delphi and 13-5, 13-8, 13-9,
= 4-2, 4-10, 4-11, 4-19, 5-39, 5-41, 4-2 13-11, 13-13, 13-16
5-43, 5-45, 6-11, 6-19, 10-5 ancestors 7-3 external routines 6-7
> 4-2, 4-10, 4-11 and 4-8, 4-9 Assert procedure 7-28
>= 4-10, 4-11 anonymous values (enumerated assertions 7-28
@ 4-7, 4-12, 5-27, 5-32, 5-33, 5-47, types) 5-8, 7-5 Assign procedure
7-18 ANSI characters 5-5, 5-13 custom 8-5
@@ 5-32 AnsiChar type 5-5, 5-11, 5-14, Assigned function 5-33, 10-10
@Result 13-11, 13-18 5-29, 11-3 AssignFile procedure 8-2, 8-4,
[, ] 4-14, 4-15, 5-11, 5-12, 5-18, AnsiString type 5-11, 5-13, 5-14, 8-6
5-33, 6-15, 6-16, 6-21, 7-17, 7-20, 5-16, 5-29 assignment statements 4-19
7-21, 10-1, 10-11 memory management 11-6 typecasts 4-15, 4-16
^ 4-7, 4-10, 5-20, 5-29 variant arrays and 5-36 assignment-compatibility 5-38,
and variants 5-35 Append procedure 8-2, 8-4, 8-5, 7-3, 10-10
pointer overview 5-28 8-6 at (reserved word) 7-29
_ 4-2 application partitioning 9-10 automatable types 7-6, 10-11
{, } 4-6, 10-1, 10-11 Application variable 2-6, 3-3 automated class members 7-4,
’ 4-5, 9-11, 10-1, 10-11 arithmetic operators 4-7, 5-4 7-6
array properties 7-5, 7-20 Automation 7-6, 10-11 to 10-13
default 7-21 dual interfaces 10-13
in dispatch interfaces 10-12 method calls 10-12
storage specifiers and 7-22 variants and 11-12

Index I-1
B case-sensitivity 4-1, 4-2, 6-8
unit names and files 4-2
$B directive 4-9 -cc compiler switch 8-3
base types 5-8, 5-18, 5-19, 5-20 cdecl (calling convention) 6-5, 12-2
begin (reserved word) 3-2, 4-21, 6-2, 6-3 constructors and destructors 12-4
binary operators 4-7 Self 12-4
binding varargs 6-7
fields 7-7 Char type 5-5, 5-14, 5-29, 11-3
methods 7-10 character operators 4-9
bitwise operators,not 4-9 character sets
blanks 4-1 ANSI 5-5, 5-13
BlockRead procedure 8-4 extended 5-13
blocks 4-29 to 4-30 multibyte (MBCS) 5-13
function 3-4, 6-2, 6-3 Pascal 4-1, 4-2, 4-5
library 9-7 single-byte (SBCS) 5-13
outer and inner 4-31 character strings 4-1, 4-5, 5-47
procedure 3-4, 6-2, 6-3 characters
program 3-1, 3-2 pointers 5-29
scope 4-29 to 4-32 string literals as 4-5, 5-5
try...except 7-29, 7-32 types 5-5, 11-3
try...finally 7-33 wide 5-13, 11-3
BlockWrite procedure 8-4 checked typecasts
body (routine) 6-2 interfaces 10-10
boldface 1-2 objects 7-26
Boolean operators 4-8 Chr function 5-5
complete vs. partial evaluation 4-8 circular references
Boolean types 5-6, 11-3 packages 9-12
BORLANDMM.DLL 9-9 units 3-8
Break procedure 4-27 classes 7-1 to 7-34
exception handlers 7-31 class methods 7-1, 7-26
in try...finally block 7-34 class references 7-24
BSTR type (COM) 5-13 class types 7-1, 7-2
built-in assembler 13-1 to 13-19 comparison 4-12
built-in types 5-1 compatibility 7-3, 10-10
by reference (parameters) 6-12, 6-14, 10-13, 12-1 declaring class types 7-2, 7-4, 7-6, 7-7, 7-8, 7-17,
by value (parameters) 6-12, 10-13, 12-1 10-5
Byte type 5-4, 11-3 files and 5-26
assembler 13-16 memory 11-10
ByteBool type 5-6, 11-3 metaclasses 7-24
operators 4-12, 7-25
C scope 4-31
variants and 5-33
C 6-7 Classes unit 7-9, 7-24
C++ 10-1, 11-11 ClassParent method 7-25
calling conventions 5-31, 6-5, 12-1 class-reference types 7-24
access specifiers 6-5, 7-18 comparison 4-12
interfaces 10-3, 10-7 constructors and 7-25
methods 12-4 memory 11-11
shared libraries 9-4 variants and 5-33
varargs directive 6-7 ClassType method 7-25
calling routines 9-1 clients 3-4
Cardinal type 5-4 Close function 8-4, 8-6
carriage-return 4-1, 4-5 CloseFile function 8-6
case (reserved word) 4-25, 5-24 CloseFile procedure 8-6
case statements 4-25 CLX 1-2

I-2 Delphi Language Guide

CmdLine variable 9-8 constructors 7-1, 7-9, 7-13
COM 10-4 calling conventions 12-4
interfaces 10-2, 10-11 to 10-13 class references and 7-25
out parameters 6-14 exceptions 7-29, 7-34
variants and 5-33, 5-35, 11-12 contains clause 9-11, 9-12
COM error handling 6-5 context-sensitive Help (error-handling) 7-34
comments 4-1, 4-6 Continue procedure 4-27
ComObj unit 7-6, 10-12 exception handlers 7-31
Comp type 5-10, 11-5 in try...finally block 7-34
comparison control
classes 4-12 characters 4-1, 4-5
class-reference types 4-12 loops 4-21, 4-27
dynamic arrays 5-21 program 12-1 to 12-6
integer types 4-12 strings 4-5
objects 4-12 conversion
packed strings 4-12 variants 5-33, 5-34 to 5-35, 5-36
PChar type 4-12 Copy function 5-21
real types 4-12 copy-on-write semantics 5-13
relational operators 4-11 CORBA
strings 4-12, 5-11 interfaces 10-3
compiler 2-2, 2-3, 2-5, 3-1 out parameters 6-14
command-line 2-3 to 2-5 Create method 7-13
directives 3-2, 4-6 Currency type 5-10, 5-29, 11-5
packages 9-13
complete evaluation 4-8 D
compound statements 4-21
concatenation (strings) 4-9 data
conditional statements 4-21 alignment 5-17, 11-8
conjunction 4-8 formats, internal 11-3 to 11-12
console applications 2-3, 8-3 .dcp files 9-13, 2-3
const (reserved word) 5-43, 5-45, 6-12, 6-13, 6-18, .dcu files 2-3, 3-7, 9-12, 9-13
12-1 Dec procedure 5-3
constant expression declarations 4-1, 4-17, 4-30
array constants 5-45 class 7-2, 7-7, 7-8, 7-17, 10-5
case statements 4-25 constant 5-43, 5-45
constant declarations 5-43, 5-45, 5-46 defining 6-6, 7-6, 7-8, 10-4
default paramters 6-19 field 7-7
defined 5-44 forward 3-4, 6-6, 7-6, 10-4
enumerated types 5-8 function 6-2, 6-3
initializing variables 5-41 implementation 7-8
subrange types 5-8, 5-9 interface 3-4
type 5-43, 6-9 local 6-11
constant parameters 6-12, 6-13, 6-20, 12-1 method 7-8
open array constructors 6-21 package 9-10
constants 4-6, 5-42 procedure 6-2
array 5-45 property 7-17, 7-20
assembler 13-9 type 5-39
declared 5-42 variable 5-40
pointer 5-47 declared types 5-1
procedural 5-46 decrementing ordinals 5-3, 5-5
record 5-46 default (directive) 7-21, 10-12
true 5-43 default parameters 6-12, 6-19 to 6-20
type compatibility 5-43 Automation objects 10-13
typed 5-45 forward and interface declarations 6-20
constants 5-47 overloading and 6-10, 6-20
procedural types 6-19

Index I-3
default properties 7-21 DLLs 9-1 to 9-9
interfaces 10-2 calling routines in 6-7
default property (COM object) 5-35 dynamic arrays in 9-9
default specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-22 dynamic variables in 9-9
DefaultHandler method 7-17 exceptions 9-9
defining declarations 6-6, 7-6, 7-8, 10-4 global variables 9-8
DefWindowProc function 7-17 loading dynamically 9-2
delegated interface 10-7 loading statically 9-2
delegation (interface implementation) 10-7 long strings in 9-9
Delphi 2-1 multithreading 9-8
$DENYPACKAGEUNIT directive 9-13 variables 9-1
dependency, units 3-7 to 3-8 writing 9-4
deprecated (directive) 4-18 dlopen 9-2
dereference operator 4-10, 5-20 dlsym 9-2
pointer overview 5-28 DMTINDEX 13-6
variants and 5-35 do (reserved word) 4-22, 4-27, 4-28, 7-30
descendants 7-3, 7-5 .dof files 2-2
$DESIGNONLY directive 9-13 Double type 5-10, 11-5
design-time packages 9-10 downto (reserved word) 4-28
.desk files 2-3 .dpk files 2-2, 9-13
desktop settings files 2-3 .dpr files 2-2, 3-1, 3-6
Destroy method 7-14, 7-15, 7-31 .dpu files 2-3, 3-7, 9-12, 9-13
destructors 7-1, 7-14, 7-15 .drc files 2-3
calling conventions 12-4 .dsk files 2-3
device drivers, text-file 8-4 dual interfaces 10-3, 10-13
device functions 8-4, 8-5 methods 6-5
.dfm files 2-2, 2-7, 7-5 DWORD type (assembler) 13-16
difference (sets) 4-11 dynamic arrays 5-20, 11-7
directives 4-1, 4-4 assigning to 5-20
assembler 13-4 comparison 5-21
compiler 3-2, 4-6 files and 5-26
list 4-4 freeing 5-42
order 7-9 in dynamically loadable libraries 9-9
directory paths memory management 11-2
in uses clause 3-6 multidimensional 5-22
disjunction 4-8 open array parameters and 6-17
bitwise 4-9 records and 5-25
dispatch interface types 10-11 truncating 5-21
Dispatch method 7-17 variants and 5-33
dispatching messages 7-17 dynamic methods 7-10, 7-11
dispatching method calls 7-11 dynamic variables 5-42
dispid (directive) 7-6, 10-2, 10-11, 10-12 in dynamically loadable libraries 9-9
dispinterface 10-11 dynamically loadable libraries 6-7, 9-1 to 9-14
dispinterface (reserved word) 10-2 dynamic arrays 9-9
Dispose procedure 5-20, 5-42, 7-4, 9-9, 11-1, 11-2 dynamic variables 9-9
div 4-7 exceptions 9-9
division 4-7 global variables 9-8
dlclose 9-2 loading statically 9-2
.DLL files 6-7, 9-1 long strings 9-9
DLL_PROCESS_DETACH 9-8 variables 9-1
DLL_THREAD_ATTACH 9-8 writing 9-4
DLL_THREAD_DETACH 9-8
DLLProc variable 9-8

I-4 Delphi Language Guide

E extended syntax 4-5, 4-19, 5-14, 6-1, 6-3
Extended type 4-7, 5-10, 5-29, 11-5
E (in numerals) 4-4 external (directive) 6-6, 9-1, 9-2
EAssertionFailed 7-28
else (reserved word) 4-24, 4-26, 7-30 F
empty set 5-18
end (reserved word) 3-2, 4-21, 4-25, 5-23, 5-24, 6-2, False 5-6, 11-3
6-3, 7-2, 7-30, 7-33, 9-10, 10-1, 10-11, 13-1 far (directive) 6-6
end-of-line character 4-1, 8-3 fields 5-23 to 5-26, 7-1, 7-7
enumerated types 5-6 to 5-8, 11-3 publishing 7-5
anonymous values 5-8, 7-5 file (reserved word) 5-26
publishing 7-5 file I/O 8-1 to 8-6
Eof function 8-6 exceptions 8-3
Eoln function 8-6 file variables 8-2
equality operator 4-11 FilePos function 8-2
ErrorAddr variable 12-6 files
EStackOverflow exception 11-2 as parameters 6-12
event handlers 2-7, 7-5 file types 5-26, 8-2
events 2-7, 7-5 generated 2-2, 2-3, 9-11, 9-13
example programs 2-3 to 2-5 initializing 5-41
except (reserved word) 7-30 memory 11-9
ExceptAddr function 7-34 source code 2-2
Exception class 7-28, 7-34 text 8-2, 8-3
exception firewalls 6-5 typed 5-26, 8-2
exception handlers 7-27, 7-30 untyped 5-27, 8-2, 8-4
identifiers in 7-31 variants and 5-33
ExceptionInformation variable 9-9 FileSize function 8-2
exceptions 4-21, 7-14, 7-15, 7-27 to 7-34 finalization section 3-3, 3-5, 12-5
constructors 7-29, 7-34 Finalize procedure 5-20
declaring 7-28 finally (reserved word) 7-33
destroying 7-29, 7-31 Flush function 8-4, 8-6
dynamically loadable libraries 9-7, 9-9 for statements 4-21, 4-27, 4-28
file I/O 8-3 form files 2-2, 2-6, 3-1, 7-5, 7-22
handling 7-29, 7-30, 7-31, 7-32, 7-34 formal parameters 6-20
in initialization section 7-29 forms 2-2
nested 7-33 forward declarations
propagation 7-30, 7-33, 7-34 classes 7-6
raising 7-29 default parameters 6-20
re-raising 7-32 interfaces 10-4
standard exceptions 7-34 overloading and 6-9
standard routines 7-34 routines 3-4, 6-6
ExceptObject function 7-34 Free method 7-15
executable files 2-3 FreeLibrary function 9-2
Exit procedure FreeMem procedure 5-42, 9-9, 11-1, 11-2
exception handlers 7-31 functions 3-4, 6-1 to 6-21
in try...finally block 7-34 assembler 13-18
exit procedures 9-7, 12-5 to 12-6 calling externally 6-6
packages and 12-5 declaring 6-3, 6-6
ExitCode variable 9-7, 12-6 function calls 4-14, 4-19, 6-1, 6-20 to 6-21
ExitProc variable 9-7, 12-5 nested 5-31, 6-11
export (directive) 6-6 overloading 6-6, 6-8
exports clause 4-30, 9-6 pointers 4-12, 5-31
overloaded routines 9-6 return type 6-3, 6-4
expressions 4-1, 4-6 return value 6-3, 6-4, 6-5
assembler 13-8 to 13-18 return values in registers 12-3, 13-19
fundamental types 5-1

Index I-5
G implementation section 3-3, 3-4, 3-7
and forward declarations 6-6
-$G- compiler switch 9-14 methods 7-8
$G directive 9-13 scope 4-31
generic types 5-1 uses clause 3-8
GetHeapStatus function 11-2 implements (directive) 7-23, 10-7
GetMem procedure 5-28, 5-42, 9-9, 11-1, 11-2 $IMPLICITBUILD directive 9-13
GetMemoryManager procedure 11-2 $IMPORTEDDATA directive 9-13
GetProcAddress function 9-2 importing routines from libraries 9-1
global identifiers 4-30 in (reserved word) 3-6, 4-11, 5-18, 5-35, 9-11
global variables 5-41 Inc procedure 5-3
dynamically loadable libraries 9-8 incrementing ordinals 5-3, 5-5
interfaces 10-10 index (directive) 6-8
memory management 11-2 index specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-21
GlobalAlloc 11-1 index specifier (Windows only) 9-6
goto statements 4-20 indexes 4-15
grammar (formal) A-1 to A-7 array 5-19, 5-20, 5-22
GUIDs 10-1, 10-3, 10-10 array properties 7-20
generating 10-3 in var parameters 5-36, 6-13
string 5-11
H string variants 5-33
variant arrays 5-36
$H directive 5-11, 6-15 indirect unit references 3-7
Halt procedure 12-5, 12-6 inequality operator 4-11
heading inheritance 7-2, 7-3, 7-5
program 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 interfaces 10-2
routine 6-2 inherited (reserved word) 7-9, 7-14
unit 3-3 calling conventions 12-4
heap memory 5-42, 11-2 message handlers 7-16
Hello world! 2-3 InheritsFrom method 7-25
HelpContext property 7-34 initialization
hexadecimal numerals 4-4 dynamically loadable libraries 9-7
hiding class members 7-8, 7-12, 7-23 files 5-41
reintroduce 7-12 objects 7-13
hiding interface implementations 10-6 units 3-4
High function 5-3, 5-12, 5-19, 5-21, 6-17 variables 5-41
HInstance variable 9-8 variants 5-33, 5-41
hint directives 4-18 initialization section 3-3, 3-4
$HINTS directive 4-18 exceptions 7-29
Initialize procedure 5-42
I inline (reserved word) 13-1
$I directive 8-3 inline assembler code 13-1 to 13-19
identifiers 4-1, 4-2, 4-4 inner block 4-31
global and local 4-30 InOut function 8-4, 8-6
in exception handlers 7-31 input (program parameter) 3-2
qualified 3-7 Input variable 8-3
scope 4-29 to 4-32 Int64 type 4-7, 5-3, 5-4, 5-10, 11-3
IDispatch 10-10, 10-11 variants and 5-33
dual interfaces 10-13 integer operators 4-7
if...then statements 4-23 Integer type 4-7, 5-4
nested 4-24 integer types 5-4
IInterface 10-2 comparison 4-12
immediate values (assembler) 13-13 constants 5-43
conversion 4-16
data formats 11-3

I-6 Delphi Language Guide

interface declarations 3-4 local directive (Linux only) 9-5
default paramters 6-20 local identifiers 4-30
interface section 3-3, 3-4, 3-7 local variables 5-41, 6-11
forward declarations and 6-6 memory management 11-2
methods 7-8 LocalAlloc 11-1
scope 4-31 locales 5-14
uses clause 3-8 logical operators 4-9
interfaces 7-2, 10-1 to 10-13 long strings 4-10, 5-11, 5-13
accessing 10-9 to 10-11 files and 5-26
Automation 10-11 in dynamically loadable libraries 9-9
calling conventions 10-3 memory management 11-2, 11-6
compatibility 10-10 records and 5-25
delegation 10-7 LongBool type 5-6, 11-3
dispatch interface types 10-11 Longint type 5-4, 11-3
dual interfaces 10-13 Longword type 5-4, 11-3
freeing 5-42 loop statements 4-21, 4-27
GUIDs 10-1, 10-3, 10-10 Low function 5-3, 5-12, 5-19, 5-21, 6-17
implementing 10-4 to 10-8 -$LU- compiler switch 9-14
interface references 10-9 to 10-11
interface types 10-1 to 10-4 M
memory management 11-2
method resolution clauses 10-5, 10-6 $M directive 7-4, 7-6
properties 10-1, 10-4, 10-7 main form 2-6
querying 10-10 $MAXSTACKSIZE directive 11-2
records and 5-25 members, of classes 7-1
internal data formats 11-3 to 11-12 interfaces 10-2
intersection (sets) 4-11 visibility 7-4
Invoke method 10-11 memory 4-1, 5-2, 5-27, 5-28, 5-33, 5-41, 7-15
IOResult function 8-3, 8-4 dynamically loadable libraries 9-8
is 4-12, 5-35, 7-25, 7-26 heap 5-42
IsLibrary variable 9-8 management 11-1 to 11-12
italics 1-2 overlays (in records) 5-25
IUnknown 10-2, 10-5, 10-10, 10-13 shared memory manager 9-9
memory references (assembler) 13-13
J message (directive) 7-15
interfaces 10-7
$J directive 5-45 message dispatching 7-17
Java 10-1 message handlers 7-15
jump instructions (assembler) 13-3 inherited 7-16
overriding 7-16
K Message property 7-34
Messages unit 7-16
.kof files 2-2 metaclasses 7-24
method directives, order 7-9
L method pointers 4-13, 5-31
method resolution clauses 10-5, 10-6
labels 4-1, 4-5, 4-20
methods 7-1, 7-2, 7-8 to 7-17
assembler 13-2
abstract 7-12
-$LE- compiler switch 9-14
Automation 7-6, 10-12
Length function 5-11, 5-19, 5-21
binding 7-10
library (directive) 4-18
calling conventions 12-4
library (reserved word) 9-4
class methods 7-1, 7-26
line-feed 4-5
constructors 7-13, 12-4
-$LN- compiler switch 9-14
destructors 7-15, 12-4
LoadLibrary function 9-2
dispatch interface 10-11, 10-12
local (directive) 9-5
dispatching calls 7-11

Index I-7
 dual-interface 6-5
dynamic 7-10, 7-11
O
implementation 7-8 object files
overloading 7-12 calling routines in 6-7
overriding 7-11, 7-12, 10-6 Object Inspector 7-5
pointers 4-13, 5-31 object types 7-4
publishing 7-5 objects 4-22, 7-1
static 7-10 ’of object’ 5-31
virtual 7-6, 7-10, 7-11 comparison 4-12
$MINSTACKSIZE directive 11-2 files and 5-26
mod 4-7 memory 11-10
multibyte character sets 5-13 of (reserved word) 4-25, 5-18, 5-20, 5-26, 5-31, 6-16,
string-handling routines 8-7 6-18, 7-24
multidimensional arrays 5-19, 5-22, 5-45 of object (method pointers) 5-31
multiple unit references 3-7 OleVariant 5-37
multiplication 4-7 OleVariant type 5-29, 5-36
multithreaded applications 5-42 on (reserved word) 7-30
dynamically loadable libraries 9-8 opcodes (assembler) 13-2, 13-3
mutually dependent classes 7-7 open array constructors 6-18, 6-21
mutually dependent units 3-8 open array parameters 6-16, 6-21
and dynamic arrays 6-17
N Open function 8-4, 8-5
OpenString 6-15
name (directive) 6-7, 6-8, 9-6 operands 4-6
named parameters 10-12 operators 4-6 to 4-14
names assembler 13-16
exported routines 9-6 class 7-25
functions 6-3, 6-4 precedence 4-13, 7-26
identifiers 4-17 or 4-8, 4-9
packages 9-11 Ord function 5-3
programs 3-1, 3-2 order of method directives 7-9
units 3-3, 3-7 ordinal types 5-3 to 5-9
naming conflicts 3-6, 4-31 ordinality 5-3
near (directive) 6-6 enumerated types 5-7, 5-8
negation 4-8 out (output) parameters 6-12, 6-14, 6-20
bitwse 4-9 out (reserved word) 6-12, 6-14
nested conditionals 4-24 outer block 4-31
nested exceptions 7-33 OutlineError 7-34
nested routines 5-31, 6-11 output (program parameter) 3-2
New procedure 5-20, 5-28, 5-42, 7-4, 9-9, 11-1, 11-2 Output variable 8-3
nil 5-28, 5-33, 5-42, 11-5 overloaded methods 7-12
nodefault specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-22 access specifiers 7-13, 7-18
not 4-7, 4-8 publishing 7-5
Null (variants) 5-33, 5-35 overloaded procedures and functions 6-6, 6-8
null character 5-14, 11-6, 11-7, 11-10 default parameters 6-10, 6-20
null string 4-5 dynamically loadable libraries 9-6
null-terminated strings 5-14 to 5-17, 5-29, 11-6, forward declarations 6-9
11-7 overriding interface implementations 10-6
mixing with Pascal strings 5-16 overriding methods 7-11, 10-6
standard routines 8-6, 8-7 hiding and 7-12
numerals 4-1, 4-4 overriding properties 7-23
as labels 4-5, 4-20 access specifiers and 7-23
assembler 13-9 Automation 7-6
type 5-43, 6-9 hiding and 7-23

I-8 Delphi Language Guide

P PByteArray type 5-29
PChar type 4-5, 4-10, 5-14, 5-16, 5-29, 5-47
$P directive 6-15 comparison 4-12
package files 2-2, 2-3, 9-10, 9-13 PCurrency type 5-29
packages 9-10 to 9-14 PDouble type 5-29
compiler directives 9-13 PExtended type 5-29
compiler switches 9-14 PGUID 10-3
compiling 9-13 PInteger type 5-29
declaring 9-10 platform (directive) 4-18
loading dynamically 9-10 Pointer type 5-27, 5-28, 5-29, 11-5
loading statically 9-10 pointers 5-27 to 5-30
thread variables 9-11 arithmetic 4-10
uses clause and 9-10 character 5-29
packed (reserved word) 5-17, 11-8 constants 5-47
packed arrays 4-5, 4-10, 5-19 files and 5-26
packed records 11-8 functions 4-12, 5-31
packed strings 5-19 in var parameters 6-13
comparison 4-12 in variant open array parameters 6-18
pairs of symbols 4-2 long strings 5-17
PAnsiChar type 5-14, 5-29 memory 11-5
PAnsiString type 5-29 method pointers 5-31
parameters 5-31, 6-3, 6-11 to 6-20 nil 5-28, 11-5
actual 6-20 null-terminated strings 5-14, 5-17
array 6-12, 6-16 operators 4-10
array property indexes 7-20 overview 5-27
Automation method calls 10-12 pointer types 4-12, 5-28, 5-29 to 5-30, 11-5
calling conventions 6-5 procedural types 4-12, 5-30 to 5-33
constant 6-13, 12-1 records and 5-25
default 6-19 to 6-20, 10-13 standard types 5-29
file 6-12 variants and 5-33
formal 6-20 POleVariant type 5-29
names 10-12 polymorphism 7-9, 7-11, 7-14
open array 6-16 positional parameters 10-12
output (out) 6-14 precedence of operators 4-13, 7-26
overloading and 6-6, 6-8, 6-9 Pred function 5-3
parameter list 6-11 predecessor 5-3
passing 12-1 predefined types 5-1
positional 10-12 private class members 7-4, 7-5
program control 12-1 procedural constants 5-46
properties as 7-18 procedural types 4-16, 5-30 to 5-33
registers 6-5, 12-2 calling dynamically loadable libraries 9-2
short strings 6-15 calling routines with 5-32
typed 6-12 compatibility 5-31
untyped 6-14, 6-20 default parameters 6-19
value 6-12, 12-1 in assignments 5-32
variable (var) 6-12, 12-1 memory 11-10
variable number 6-7 procedure pointers 4-12, 5-31
variant open arrray 6-18 procedures 3-4, 6-1 to 6-21
partial evaluation 4-8 assembler 13-18
.pas files 2-3, 3-1, 3-3, 3-7 calling externally 6-6
pascal declaring 6-2, 6-6
(calling convention) 12-2 nested 5-31, 6-11
pascal (calling convention) overloading 6-6, 6-8
constructors and destructors 12-4 pointers 4-12, 5-31
Self 12-4 procedure calls 4-19, 6-1, 6-2, 6-20 to 6-21

Index I-9
program, control 6-20
program (reserved word) 3-2
R
program control ?? to 12-6 raise (reserved word) 4-21, 7-29, 7-30, 7-32
programs 2-1 to 2-5, 3-1 to 3-8 range-checking 5-5, 5-9
examples 2-3 to 2-5 Read procedure 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-6
syntax 3-1 to 3-3 read specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-18
project files 2-2, 3-1, 3-2, 3-6 array properties 7-20
Project Manager 2-1 index specifier and 7-21
project options files 2-2 object interfaces 10-1, 10-4, 10-7
projects 2-6, 3-6 overloading 7-13, 7-18
properties 7-1, 7-17 to 7-24 Readln procedure 8-6
access specifiers 7-18 readonly (directive) 10-2, 10-12
array 7-5, 7-20 read-only properties 7-19
as parameters 7-18 real (floating-point) operators 4-7
declaring 7-17, 7-20 Real type 5-10
default 7-21, 10-2 real types 5-10, 11-4
interfaces 10-4 comparison 4-12
overriding 7-6, 7-23 conversion 4-16
read-only 7-19 publishing 7-5
record 7-5 Real48 type 5-10, 7-5, 11-4
write-only 7-19 $REALCOMPATIBILITY directive 5-10
protected class members 7-4, 7-5 ReallocMem procedure 5-42, 11-1
prototypes 6-2 records 4-22, 5-23 to 5-26
PShortString type 5-30 constants 5-46
PSingle type 5-29 in properties 7-5
PString type 5-29, 5-30 memory 11-8
PTextBuf type 5-30 record types 5-23
Ptr function 5-28 scope 4-31, 5-24
public class members 7-4, 7-5 variant parts 5-24 to 5-26
public identifiers (interface section) 3-4 variants and 5-33
published class members 7-4, 7-5 recursive procedure and function calls 6-1, 6-4
$M directive 7-6 reference-counting 5-13, 10-10, 11-6, 11-7
restrictions 7-5 register (calling convention) 6-5, 7-6, 7-13, 7-15,
PVariant type 5-30 12-2
PVarRec type 5-30 constructors and destructors 12-4
PWideChar type 5-14, 5-29 dynamically loadable libraries 9-4
PWideString type 5-30 interfaces 10-3, 10-7
PWordArray type 5-30 Self 12-4
registers 6-5, 12-2, 12-3
Q assembler 13-2, 13-11, 13-13, 13-19
storing sets 11-7
qualified identifiers 3-7, 4-3, 4-32, 5-23 reintroduce (directive) 7-12, 7-13
in typecasts 4-15, 4-16 relational operators 4-11
pointers 5-28 _Release method 10-2, 10-5, 10-10
with Self 7-10 relocatable expressions (assembler) 13-14
querying (interfaces) 10-10 Rename procedure 8-6
QueryInterface method 10-2, 10-5, 10-11 repeat statements 4-21, 4-27
quoted strings 4-5, 5-47 requires clause 9-10, 9-11, 9-12
assembler 13-10 .RES files 2-2, 3-2
QWORD type (assembler) 13-16 reserved words 4-1, 4-2, 4-3
assembler 13-7
list 4-3
Reset procedure 8-2, 8-4, 8-5, 8-6
resident (directive) 9-6
resource files 2-2, 2-3, 3-2

I-10 Delphi Language Guide

resource strings 5-45 Shortint type 5-4, 11-3
resourcestring (reserved word) 5-45 ShortString type 5-11, 5-12, 5-30, 11-5
Result variable 6-3, 6-4 parameters 6-15
RET instruction 13-3 variant arrays and 5-36
return type (functions) 6-3, 6-4 ShowException procedure 7-34
return value (functions) 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 shr 4-9
constructors 7-13 sign
Rewrite procedure 8-2, 8-4, 8-5, 8-6 in typecasts 4-15
routines 6-1 to 6-21 numerals 4-4
exporting 9-6 simple statements 4-19
standard 8-1 to 8-10 simple types 5-3
RTTI 7-5, 7-13 Single type 5-10, 11-4
$RUNONLY directive 9-13 16-bit applications (backward compatibility) 6-6
runtime packages 9-10 SizeOf function 5-2, 5-5, 6-17
Smallint type 5-4, 11-3
S .so files 9-1
source-code files 2-2
$S directive 11-2 spaces 4-1
safecall (calling convention) 6-5, 12-2 special symbols 4-1, 4-2
constructors and destructors 12-4 stack size 11-2
dual interfaces 10-13 standard routines 8-1 to 8-10
interfaces 10-3 null-terminated strings 8-6, 8-7
Self 12-4 wide-character strings 8-7
scope 4-29 to 4-32 statements 4-1, 4-18 to 4-29, 4-30, 6-1
classes 7-3 static arrays 5-19, 11-7
records 5-24 variants and 5-33
type identifiers 5-39 static methods 7-10
Seek procedure 8-2 statically loaded libraries 9-2
SeekEof function 8-6 stdcall (calling convention) 6-5, 12-2
SeekEoln function 8-6 constructors and destructors 12-4
Self 7-9 interfaces 10-3
calling conventions 12-4 Self 12-4
class methods 7-27 shared libraries 9-4
separators 4-1, 4-6 storage specifiers 7-22
SetLength procedure 5-11, 5-17, 5-20, 5-21, 5-22, array properties and 7-22
6-17 stored specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-22
SetMemoryManager procedure 11-2 Str procedure 8-6
sets StrAlloc function 5-42
empty 5-18 StrDispose procedure 5-42
memory 11-7 streaming (data) 5-2, 7-5
operators 4-11 string
publishing 7-5 comparison 4-12, 5-11
set constructors 4-14 constants 4-5, 5-47, 13-10
set types 5-18 in variant open array parameters 6-18
variants and 5-33 indexes 4-15
SetString procedure 5-17 literals 4-5, 5-47
shared object files 2-3, 9-1 memory management 11-5, 11-6
dynamically loadable 9-2 null-terminated 5-14 to 5-17, 5-29
exceptions 9-9 operators 4-9, 5-16
importing functions 6-7 parameters 6-15
ShareMem unit 9-9 types 5-11 to 5-17
shift-left (bitwise operator) 4-9 variant arrays 5-36
shift-right (bitwise operator) 4-9 variants 5-33
shl 4-9 wide 5-13, 8-7, 11-2
short strings 5-3, 5-11, 5-12 string (reserved word) 5-11
short-circuit evaluation 4-8

Index I-11
StringToWideChar function 8-7 to (reserved word) 4-28
strong typing 5-1 TObject 7-3, 7-17, 7-25
structured statements 4-21 tokens 4-1
structured types 5-17 TPersistent 7-6
files and 5-26 True 5-6, 11-3
records and 5-25 true constants 5-43
variants and 5-33 try...except statements 4-21, 7-29, 7-30
structures 5-23 try...finally statements 4-21, 7-33
StrUpper function 5-16 TTextBuf type 5-30
subrange types 4-7, 4-25, 5-8 TTextRec type 5-30
subset operator 4-11 TVarData 5-34, 11-12
subtraction 4-7 TVarRec 5-30
pointers 4-10 TVarRec type 6-18
Succ function 5-3 TWordArray 5-30
successor 5-3 type identifiers 5-2
superset operator 4-11 Type Library editor 10-3
symbol pairs 4-2 typecasts 4-15 to 4-17, 7-8
symbols 4-1, 4-2 checked 7-26, 10-10
assembler 13-11 enumerated types 5-8
syntax in constant declarations 5-43
descriptions 1-2 untyped parameters 6-14
formal A-1 to A-7 variants 5-34
System unit 3-1, 3-5, 5-29, 5-34, 5-35, 6-18, 7-3, 7-29, type-checking (objects) 7-26
8-1, 8-7, 10-2, 10-3, 10-5, 10-11, 11-12 types 5-1 to 5-40
dynamically loadable libraries 9-7, 9-8 array 5-19 to 5-23, 11-7
memory management 11-2 assembler 13-15
modifying 8-1 assignment-compatibility 5-38
scope 4-32 automatable 7-6, 10-11
uses clause and 8-1 Boolean 5-6, 11-3
SysUtils unit 3-5, 5-29, 6-11, 6-18, 7-27, 7-28, 7-29, built-in 5-1
7-34 character 5-5, 11-3
dynamically loadable libraries 9-9 class 7-1, 7-2, 7-4, 7-6, 7-7, 7-8, 7-17, 11-10
uses clause and 8-1 classification 5-1
class-reference 7-24, 11-11
T compatibility 5-17, 5-31, 5-38
constants 5-43
$T directive 4-12 declared 5-1
tag (records) 5-24 declaring 5-39
TAggregatedObject 10-7 dispatch interface 10-11
TBYTE type (assembler) 13-16 enumerated 5-6 to 5-8, 11-3
TByteArray type 5-29 exception 7-28
TClass 7-3, 7-24, 7-25 file 5-26, 11-9
TCollection 7-24 fundamental 5-1
Add method 7-9 generic 5-1
TCollectionItem 7-25 integer 5-4, 11-3
TDateTime 5-35 interface 10-1 to 10-4
text files 8-2, 8-3 internal data formats 11-3 to 11-12
Text type 5-26, 8-3 object 7-4
text-file device drivers 8-4 ordinal 5-3 to 5-9
TextFile type 5-26 pointer 5-29 to 5-30
TGUID 10-3 predefined 5-1
then (reserved word) 4-23 procedural 5-30 to 5-33, 11-10
thread variables 5-42 real 5-10, 11-4
in packages 9-11 record 5-23 to 5-26, 11-8
threadvar 5-42 scope 5-39
TInterfacedObject 10-2, 10-5

I-12 Delphi Language Guide

 set 5-18, 11-7 VarAsType function 5-34
simple 5-3 VarCast procedure 5-34
string 5-11 to 5-17, 11-5, 11-6 variable (var) parameters 6-12, 6-20, 12-1
structured 5-17 variable parameters 6-20
subrange 5-8 variable typecasts 4-15, 4-16
type identity 5-37 variables 4-6, 5-40 to 5-42
user-defined 5-1 absolute addresses 5-41
variant 5-33 to 5-37 declaring 5-40
typographical conventions 1-2 dynamic 5-42
file 8-2
U from dynamically loadable libraries 9-1
global 5-41, 10-10
UCS-2 5-14 heap-allocated 5-42
UCS-4 5-14 initializing 5-41
unary operators 4-7 local 5-41, 6-11
Unassigned (variants) 5-33, 5-35 memory management 11-2
underscores 4-2 thread 5-42
Unicode 5-5, 5-13 variant arrays 5-33, 5-36
union (sets) 4-11 variant open array parameters 6-18, 6-21
UniqueString procedure 5-17 variant parts (records) 5-24 to 5-26
unit files 3-1, 3-3 variants 5-33 to 5-37, 11-12
case-sensitivity 4-2 and Automation 11-12
units 2-1, 3-1 to 3-8 complete evaluation 4-9
scope 4-31 conversions 5-33, 5-34 to 5-35, 5-36
syntax 3-3 to 3-8 files and 5-26
until (reserved word) 4-27 freeing 5-42
untyped files 5-27, 8-2, 8-4 initializing 5-33, 5-41
untyped parameters 6-14 interfaces and 10-10
UpCase function 5-11 memory management 11-2, 11-12
uses clause 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 3-4, 3-5 to 3-8 OleVariant 5-36
interface section 3-8 operators 4-7, 5-35
ShareMem 9-9 records and 5-25
syntax 3-6 short-circuit evaluation 4-9
System unit and 8-1 typecasts 5-34
SysUtils unit and 8-1 variant arrays 5-36
variant arrays and strings 5-36
V Variant type 5-30, 5-33
variant types 5-33 to 5-37
Val procedure 8-6
varOleString constant 5-36
value parameters 6-12, 6-20, 12-1
varString constant 5-36
open array constructors 6-21
VarType function 5-34
value typecasts 4-15
varTypeMask constant 5-34
var (reserved word) 5-40, 6-12, 12-1
virtual method table 11-10
varargs (directive) 6-7
virtual methods 7-10, 7-11
VarArrayCreate function 5-36
Automation 7-6
VarArrayDimCount function 5-36
constructors 7-14
VarArrayHighBound function 5-36
overloading 7-13
VarArrayLock function 5-36, 10-12
VirtualAlloc function 11-1
VarArrayLowBound function 5-36
VirtualFree function 11-1
VarArrayOf function 5-36
visibility (class members) 7-4
VarArrayRedim function 5-36
interfaces 10-2
VarArrayRef function 5-36
VMT 11-10
VarArrayUnlock procedure 5-36, 10-12
VMTOFFSET 13-6

Index I-13
W wrap-around (ordinal types) 5-5
Write procedure 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-6
$WARNINGS directive 4-18 write procedures 5-3
$WEAKPACKAGEUNIT directive 9-13 write specifier 7-6, 7-17, 7-18
while statements 4-21, 4-27 array properties 7-20
wide characters and strings 5-13 index specifier and 7-21
memory management 11-2 object interfaces 10-1, 10-4
standard routines 8-7 overloading 7-13, 7-18
WideChar type 4-10, 5-5, 5-11, 5-14, 5-29, 11-3 Writeln procedure 2-4, 8-6
WideCharLenToString function 8-7 writeonly (directive) 10-2, 10-12
WideCharToString function 8-7 write-only properties 7-19
WideString type 5-11, 5-13, 5-14, 5-30
memory management 11-6 X
Windows 7-17
memory management 11-1, 11-2 $X directive 4-5, 4-19, 5-14, 6-1, 6-3
messages 7-15 .xfm files 2-2, 2-7, 7-5
variants and 11-12 xor 4-8, 4-9
Windows unit 9-2
with statements 4-21, 4-22, 5-24 Z
Word type 5-4, 11-3
-$Z- compiler switch 9-14
assembler 13-16
$Z directive 11-3
WordBool type 5-6, 11-3

I-14 Delphi Language Guide