TStringList

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A TStringList is a datatype that can hold an arbitrary length list of strings. The strings in a TStringList are accessible as concatenated plain text or as a series of strings. Functionality is also provided for key-value pair access.

Inheritance

• TObject - Base class of all classes.
  • TPersistent, IFPObserved - Base class for streaming system and persistent properties - Interface implemented by an object that can be observed.
    • TStrings - Class to manage arrays or collections of strings
      • TStringList - Standard implementation of the TStrings class.

TStringList adds sorting functionality to TStrings by adding properties Sorted, Duplicates and CaseSensitive and methods like Find to facilitate speeded search within a list.

Example

  // get a value from file FILNAM filled with key=value pairs 
function GetValueFromFile( filnam: string, key: string ): string;
var
  lst: TStringList;
  v: String;
begin
  lst := TStringList.Create();
  lst.CaseSensitive := false;
  lst.Duplicates := dupIgnore; // do not add duplicates
  lst.Sorted := true;
  lst.LoadFromFile( filnam );
  v := lst.Values[ key ];
  lst.Free();
  result := v;
end;

TStringlist also has a 'builtin' data dictionary mode, here is an example provided by forum user Remy Lebeau

   uses
     ..., Classes;
    
   var
     SL: TStringList;
     Value: Integer;
   begin
     SL := TStringList.Create;
     try
       SL.Add('VarName=99');
       ...
       Value := StrToInt(SL.Values['VarName']);
       ...
     finally
       SL.Free;
     end;
   end;

See also

• TStringList doc
• TStringList-TStrings Tutorial
• example of saving a TStringList to disk faster than the SaveToFile method can