StringTable Delphi ActiveX Reference Documentation

TChilkatStringTable

Current Version: 10.1.2

A memory efficient class for holding a large number of strings (accessible by index). The primary use is as a read-only table of strings that is built once and then used by the application.

This class is introduced in Chilkat v9.5.0.62.

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:

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.
See also: ActiveX Registration Tutorial
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:

In the Delphi RAD Studio, select the menu item "Component" --> "Import a Type Library".
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.
Check the "Generate Component Wrappers" checkbox.
Select a directory where the unit files (.pas and .dcr) should be generated.
Select "Create Unit" and then "Finish".
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: TChilkatStringTable;
...
begin
obj := TChilkatStringTable.Create(Self);
...
// When finished, free the object instance.
obj.Free();

Properties

Count

property Count: Integer readonly

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

The number of strings in the table.

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

Example showing how to use DebugLogFilePath.

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.

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.

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.

More Information and Examples

Concept of LastErrorText LastErrorText Standard Information

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.

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.

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.

More Information and Examples

Long Strings Returned by ActiveX Methods in SQL Server

LastStringResultLen

property LastStringResultLen: Integer readonly

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

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.

Version

property Version: WideString readonly

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

More Information and Examples

How to get the Chilkat version at runtime.

Methods

Append

function Append(value: WideString): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends a string to the table.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

AppendFromFile

function AppendFromFile(maxLineLen: Integer; charset: WideString; path: WideString): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends strings, one per line, from a file. Each line in the path should be no longer than the length specified in maxLineLen. The charset indicates the character encoding of the contents of the file, such as "utf-8", "iso-8859-1", "Shift_JIS", etc.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

AppendFromSb

function AppendFromSb(sb: TChilkatStringBuilder): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends strings, one per line, from the contents of a StringBuilder object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

More Information and Examples

Load StringTable from a StringBuilder

Clear

procedure Clear();

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Removes all the strings from the table.

FindSubstring

function FindSubstring(startIndex: Integer; substr: WideString; caseSensitive: Integer): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Return the index of the first string in the table containing substr. Begins searching strings starting at startIndex. If caseSensitive is 1, then the search is case sensitive. If caseSensitive is 0 then the search is case insensitive. Returns -1 if the substr is not found.

GetStrings

function GetStrings(startIdx: Integer; count: Integer; crlf: Integer): WideString;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.87

Return the number of strings specified by count, one per line, starting at startIdx. To return the entire table, pass 0 values for both startIdx and count. Set crlf equal to 1 to emit with CRLF line endings, or 0 to emit LF-only line endings. The last string is emitted includes the line ending.

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure

IntAt

function IntAt(index: Integer): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.63

Returns the Nth string in the table, converted to an integer value. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.) Returns -1 if no string is found at the specified index. Returns 0 if the string at the specified index exist, but is not an integer.

SaveToFile

function SaveToFile(charset: WideString; bCrlf: Integer; path: WideString): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Saves the string table to a file. The charset is the character encoding to use, such as "utf-8", "iso-8859-1", "windows-1252", "Shift_JIS", "gb2312", etc. If bCrlf is 1, then CRLF line endings are used, otherwise LF-only line endings are used.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

Sort

function Sort(ascending: Integer; caseSensitive: Integer): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.87

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.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

SplitAndAppend

function SplitAndAppend(inStr: WideString; delimiterChar: WideString; exceptDoubleQuoted: Integer; exceptEscaped: Integer): Integer;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Splits a string into parts based on a single character delimiterChar. If exceptDoubleQuoted is 1, then the delimiter char found between double quotes is not treated as a delimiter. If exceptEscaped is 1, then an escaped (with a backslash) delimiter char is not treated as a delimiter.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

More Information and Examples

StringTable SplitAndAppend Example

StringAt

function StringAt(index: Integer): WideString;

Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Returns the Nth string in the table. The index is 0-based. (The first string is at index 0.)

Returns a zero-length WideString on failure