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CaseSensitive

property CaseSensitive: Boolean read write;

Example​

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: variant);
var
  Names: TStringList;
begin
  Names := TStringList.Create;
  try
    Names.CaseSensitive := True;
    Names.Sorted := True;
    Names.Add('alpha');
    Names.Add('Alpha');
    Value := Names.Count;  // the spellings compare separately
  finally
    Names.Free;
  end;
end;

Usage​

CaseSensitive controls whether list comparisons distinguish letter case and re-sorts an already sorted list when the mode changes.

Additional Technical Info​

CaseSensitive selects the comparator used by Find, Sort, sorted insertion and inherited searches such as IndexOf. It defaults to false.

With the hidden inherited UseLocale=True default, false selects Delphi AnsiCompareText and true selects AnsiCompareStr. Both are locale-aware. The importer does not expose UseLocale, so enabling case sensitivity does not make comparison ordinal or invariant; punctuation, accents and national characters can still follow process/operating-system collation rules.

Assigning the existing value is a no-op. On an unsorted list, changing it stores the field only: physical order is unchanged and neither OnChanging nor OnChange runs. Any previous one-time sort may now be invalid under the new comparator.

On a list with Sorted=True, the setter stores the new case mode, temporarily clears the sorted flag and restores it. Restoration invokes a re-sort when Count > 1, with the normal before/after events. Zero- and one-entry lists update the mode/flag without callbacks.

This transition is not transactional. If a sorting/event exception occurs, the case mode has already changed and the list can remain Sorted=False, partially reordered or fully reordered without successful completion. Re-read both properties after handling an exception.

Changing comparison can make previously distinct values equal or the reverse. Duplicates is not applied retroactively, so the re-sort retains every existing entry even under dupIgnore or dupError.

The source-reviewed example establishes case mode before sorted insertion. It was not executed by the documentation workflow.

External references

Created 2026-07-15