AnsiStringBase Class

System::AnsiStringBase is the base class for the C++ analog of the Delphi long string type.

Pascal

AnsiStringBase = class;

C++

class AnsiStringBase;

File

dstring.h

Description

System::AnsiStringBase exists to provide a place for methods/members that are common to all instantiations of the template class AnsiStringT<CodePage>. AnsiString itself is a typedef that is equivalent to AnsiStringT<0>. You should never deal directly with System::AnsiStringBase.

System::AnsiStringT is a template class that you use when handling a Delphi AnsiString that has a code page specified with it.

Delphi uses several string types. One important long string type is commonly known as System::AnsiString. Support for this type includes the following features:

strings can be as large as available memory
efficient use of memory is ensured through shared references
routines and operators evaluate strings based on the current locale

Despite its name, System::AnsiStringBase is not restricted to the ANSI character set, and can use any character set supported by the current locale definition, including multi-byte and Unicode character sets.

System::AnsiStringBase variables that have not been assigned an initial value contain a zero-length string.

To use the C++ streaming operators (<< and >>) with System::AnsiStringBase, you must iostream before including system.hpp and use AnsiStringT::c_str() to return the internal string representation. The following example demonstrates the usage of AnsiString with stream operators:

Copy Code

#include <iostream>
#include <system.hpp>
int main() {
  AnsiString HelloStr = "hello";
  std::cout << HelloStr.c_str();
}

Note: Delphi also supports System::AnsiString, but implements it as a primitive type rather than a class.

UnicodeString has become the default string type. By default, variables declared as type String are System::UnicodeString.