Using ANSI Strings to avoid exceeding string limit at compile
lazarus / 62-General

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tygraphics · 2020-09-29 20:36

When I try to compile my pascal code that has a string longer than 255
char I get the following error:
VeryLongNames_G.p(24,250) Fatal: String exceeds line

Is there a setting or flag that allows the compiler to accommodate
strings that are greater than 255 char?

Thanks!

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Handoko · 2020-09-29 20:37

Use {$H+}:
https://www.freepascal.org/docs-html/prog/progsu25.html

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tygraphics · 2020-09-29 20:49

I placed the {$H+} on the main program but got the same error. Does it
have to be added to any units that have long strings?
After adding {$H+} to the unit with the long strings and it compiled!
Thanks for the help!

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jwdietrich · 2020-09-29 20:52

Quote from: tygraphics on September 29, 2020, 10:49:02 pmI placed the
{$H+} on the main program but got the same error. Does it have to be
added to any units that have long strings?

Yes, in the beginning before declaring or using any strings (but after
mode directives).

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tygraphics · 2020-09-29 21:01

I'm generating the unit files as I parse through a collection of
hundreds of components.
Is there any harm in adding the {$H+} as a standard part of all my
unit files?

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jwdietrich · 2020-09-29 21:07

Quote from: tygraphics on September 29, 2020, 11:01:00 pmI'm
generating the unit files as I parse through a collection of hundreds
of components.
Is there any harm in adding the {$H+} as a standard part of all my
unit files?

Probably not, but if your code contains mode directives {$H+} may be
deactivated again (with the exception of {$MODE DELPHI}, which implies
{$H+}).

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Kays · 2020-09-29 22:43

Quote from: tygraphics on September 29, 2020, 11:01:00 pm[…] Is there
any harm in adding the {$H+} as a standard part of all my unit files?
You can write your own fpc.cfg and place -Sh (the command line option
to enable ANSI strings by default) in it.

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lucamar · 2020-09-30 10:51

Quote from: tygraphics on September 29, 2020, 10:36:01 pmWhen I try to
compile my pascal code that has a string longer than 255 char I get
the following error:
VeryLongNames_G.p(24,250) Fatal: String exceeds line

For completeness sake, note also that the error doesn't normally mean
that the string is too long but that it is not terminated in the same
line, usually meaning that you have code like:
Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i somestring
:= 'This string isn't well formed';instead of:
Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]window.onload = function(){var x1 =
document.getElementById("main_content_section"); if (x1) { var x =
document.getElementsByClassName("geshi");for (var i = 0; i somestring
:= 'This string isn''t well formed';(note the doubled single quotes in
"isn''t") or that you forgot  to close the string (i.e. the last
single quote is missing).

HTH

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tygraphics · 2020-09-30 12:29

Yes, the string was malformed and that caused the error. It was
malformed because of a hack I wrote many years ago that breaks long
writeln statements into as many write statements as necessary to keep
them under 250 char. Unfortunately in this case the chop point was in
a bad location. Yesterday I fixed my code and it handled the 367 char
string without error due to adding the {$H+} to the top of my
generated units that could likely have a long string.

Thank you to everyone who answered!