StringArray Delphi ActiveX Reference Documentation

TCkStringArray

Current Version: 10.1.2

Class/object for managing and manipulating collections of strings. Contains an ordered collection of strings.

Important: The Chilkat StringTable class is a better choice for a large number of strings.

Importing the Chilkat ActiveX into Delphi

Important: When upgrading to a new version of Chilkat, make sure to re-imported ActiveX DLL into Delphi to regenerate the files described below.


Chilkat v9.5.*: If using Chilkat v9.5.*, then use "Chilkat_v9_5_0_TLB" instead of "Chilkat_TLB", and the DLLs are named ChilkatAx-9.5.0-win32.dll (or ChilkatAx-9.5.0-x64.dll).


Two things are required to use an ActiveX in Delphi:

  1. The ActiveX DLL needs to be registered via regsvr32 on the system where the Delphi application runs. See How To Register ActiveX DLLs for detailed information.
  2. See also: ActiveX Registration Tutorial
  3. The ActiveX component needs to be "imported". Use the Delphi Import Component Wizard to import the Chilkat type library. This creates the following files: Chilkat_TLB.pas and Chilkat_TLB.dcr. The Chilkat_TLB.pas should be added to your project.

To import the Chilkat type library, do the following:

  1. In the Delphi RAD Studio, select the menu item "Component" --> "Import a Type Library".
  2. Find "Chilkat ActiveX" in the list and select it. This will only appear in the list if the ChilkatAx-win32.dll (or ChilkatAx-x64.dll) has been registered w/ regsvr32.
  3. Check the "Generate Component Wrappers" checkbox.
  4. Select a directory where the unit files (.pas and .dcr) should be generated.
  5. Select "Create Unit" and then "Finish".
  6. Add the .pas to your Delphi project.

To use a Chilkat ActiveX object in your Delphi code, add "Chilkat_TLB" to the "uses" statement. For example:

uses
  Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics,
  Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls, Chilkat_TLB;

Object Creation

var
obj: TCkStringArray;
...
begin
obj := TCkStringArray.Create(Self);
...
// When finished, free the object instance.
obj.Free();

Properties

Count
property Count: Integer readonly

The number of strings contained within the object's internal array (i.e. ordered collection).

Important: This is an object that contains a collection of strings. Although the class/object name includes the word "Array", it should not be confused with an array in the sense of the primitive array type used in a given programming language.

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Crlf
property Crlf: Integer

If 1, strings are always automatically converted to use CRLF line endings. If 0, strings are automatically converted to use bare LF line endings.

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DebugLogFilePath
property DebugLogFilePath: WideString

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

More Information and Examples
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LastBinaryResult
property LastBinaryResult: OleVariant readonly

This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.

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LastErrorHtml
property LastErrorHtml: WideString readonly

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
property LastErrorText: WideString readonly

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
property LastErrorXml: WideString readonly

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
property LastMethodSuccess: Integer

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1 means success, 0 means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages.

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LastStringResult
property LastStringResult: WideString readonly

In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.

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LastStringResultLen
property LastStringResultLen: Integer readonly

The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.

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Length
property Length: Integer readonly

The number of strings contained within the internal collection. (Identical to the Count property.)

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Trim
property Trim: Integer

If 1, whitespace, including carriage-returns and linefeeds, are automatically removed from the beginning and end of a string when added to the collection.

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Unique
property Unique: Integer

If 1, then duplicates are not allowed. When an attempt is made to insert a string that already exists, the duplicate insertion is silently suppressed and no error is returned. The default value is 0.

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VerboseLogging
property VerboseLogging: Integer

If set to 1, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
property Version: WideString readonly

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

More Information and Examples
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Methods

Append
function Append(str: WideString): Integer;

Appends a string to the end of the internal ordered collection.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendSerialized
function AppendSerialized(encodedStr: WideString): Integer;

Appends multiple strings to the end of the internal ordered collection. The encodedStr is what is returned from the Serialize method (see below).

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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Clear
procedure Clear();

Remove all strings from the internal collection.

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Contains
function Contains(str: WideString): Integer;

Returns 1 if the string is present in the internal collection. The string comparisons are case sensitive.

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Find
function Find(findStr: WideString; startIndex: Integer): Integer;

Finds the index of the first string equal to findStr. The search begins at startIndex. If the string is not found, -1 is returned. The first string in the array is at index 0.

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FindFirstMatch
function FindFirstMatch(matchPattern: WideString; startIndex: Integer): Integer;

Finds the first string that matches the matchPattern. The search begins at startIndex. If the string is not found, -1 is returned. The first string in the array is at index 0.

The matchPattern may contain zero or more asterisk chars, each of which matches 0 or more of any character.

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GetString
function GetString(index: Integer): WideString;

Returns the string at an indexed location within the internal collection. The first string is located at index 0.

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

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InsertAt
procedure InsertAt(index: Integer; str: WideString);

Inserts a string into the internal collection at a specified index. Using index 0 will insert at the beginning.

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LastString
function LastString(): WideString;

Returns the last string in the internal collection.

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

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LoadFromFile
function LoadFromFile(path: WideString): Integer;

Loads strings from a file (one per line) into the internal collection. It is assumed the file contains ANSI strings. To load from a file containing non-ANSI strings (such as utf-8), call LoadFromFile2 instead.

Note: This method appends the strings in path to the existing collection of strings contained in this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFromFile2
function LoadFromFile2(path: WideString; charset: WideString): Integer;

Loads strings from a file (one per line) into the internal collection. The charset specifies the character encoding (such as utf-8) of the strings contained in the file.

Note: This method appends the strings in path to the existing collection of strings contained in this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadFromText
procedure LoadFromText(str: WideString);

Loads strings from an in-memory string (one per line) into the internal collection.

Note: This method appends the strings in str to the existing collection of strings contained in this object.

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LoadTaskResult
function LoadTaskResult(task: TChilkatTask): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.52

Loads the string collection from a completed asynchronous task.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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Pop
function Pop(): WideString;

Returns the last string and removes it from the internal collection.

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

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Prepend
procedure Prepend(str: WideString);

Adds a string to the beginning of the internal collection.

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Remove
procedure Remove(str: WideString);

Removes all strings equal to the string argument from the internal collection.

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RemoveAt
function RemoveAt(index: Integer): Integer;

Removes the string at a particular index.

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ReplaceAt
procedure ReplaceAt(index: Integer; str: WideString);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.52

Replaces the string at a specified index.

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SaveNthToFile
function SaveNthToFile(index: Integer; saveToPath: WideString): Integer;

Saves the Nth string in the collection to a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SaveToFile
function SaveToFile(path: WideString): Integer;

Saves the collection of strings to a file, one string per line. Strings are saved using the ANSI charset. (Call SaveToFile2 to specify a charset, such as "utf-8")

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SaveToFile2
function SaveToFile2(saveToPath: WideString; charset: WideString): Integer;

Saves the collection of strings to a file, one string per line. Strings are saved using the specified charset.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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SaveToText
function SaveToText(): WideString;

Writes the collection of strings to a single string, one per line (separated by CRLF line endings).

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

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Serialize
function Serialize(): WideString;

Returns an string which is an encoded representation of all the strings in the collection. The string collection can be re-created by calling the AppendSerialized method.

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

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Sort
procedure Sort(ascending: Integer);

Sorts the strings in the collection in ascending or descending order. To sort in ascending order, set ascending to 1, otherwise set ascending equal to 0.

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SplitAndAppend
procedure SplitAndAppend(str: WideString; boundary: WideString);

Splits a string at a character or substring boundary and adds each resulting string to the internal collection.

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Subtract
procedure Subtract(stringArrayObj: TCkStringArray);

Subtracts the strings contained within stringArrayObj from the caller's internal collection.

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Union
procedure Union(stringArrayObj: TCkStringArray);

Performs the union set-operator. The result is that the caller will have a string collection that is the union of itself and stringArrayObj.

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