Variant::Type Method

Returns type code of a System::Variant instance.

Pascal

function Type: Integer;

C++

__fastcall int Type() const;

Description

System::Variant::Type returns the type code of the given variant. The return value is constructed from the constants declared in the system.hpp header file.

The lower twelve bits of a variant type code (the bits defined by the varSystem::Variant::TypeMask bit mask) define the type of the variant. The varArray bit is set if the variant is an array of the given type. The varByRef bit is set if the variant is a reference to a value of the given type as opposed to an actual value.

The following table describes each of the variant type codes.

System::Variant typeReturn valueContents of variant

Variant type	Return value	Contents of variant
varEmpty	0x0000	The variant is Unassigned.
varNull	0x0001	The variant is Null.
varSmallint	0x0002	16-bit signed integer (type short int)
varInteger	0x0003	32-bit signed integer (type int).
varSingle	0x0004	Single-precision floating-point value (type float)
varDouble	0x0005	Double-precision floating-point value (type double).
varCurrency	0x0006	Currency floating-point value (type Currency).
varDate	0x0007	Date and time value (type TDateTime).
varOleStr	0x0008	Reference to a dynamically allocated Unicode string.
varDispatch	0x0009	Reference to an OLE automation object (an IDispatch interface pointer).
varError	0x000A	Operating system error code.
varBoolean	0x000B	16-bit boolean (type WordBool).
varVariant	0x000C	Indicates another Variant.
varUnknown	0x000D	Reference to an unknown OLE object (an IUnknown interface pointer).
varByte	0x0011	Indicates an unsigned char.
varString	0x0100	Reference to a dynamically allocated string (type AnsiString).
varTypeMask	0x0FFF	Indicates the type of each array element.
varArray	0x2000	Indicates a Variant array.
varByRef	0x4000	Indicates that the variant contains a reference as opposed to a value.

The type of a System::Variant can be changed using the ChangeSystem::Variant::Type member function.