Skip to main content

DelimitedText

property DelimitedText: string read write;

Example​

procedure ParsePipeValues(const Items: TStringList);
begin
  Items.Delimiter := '|';
  Items.QuoteChar := '"';
  Items.StrictDelimiter := True;
  Items.DelimitedText := 'A|"B|C"|';
end;

Usage​

DelimitedText gets or replaces the list as one delimiter-separated record under configurable delimiter, quote and whitespace rules.

  • Choose Delimiter, QuoteChar and StrictDelimiter before assigning.
  • Do not use Delimiter=#0; null is also the parser terminator. With QuoteChar=#0, delimiter-containing values cannot round-trip safely.
  • This is not a multi-row CSV, escape-policy or schema-validation API.

Additional Technical Info​

DelimitedText is declared by hidden ancestor TStrings and is normally used through a concrete visible descendant such as TStringList. It is a low-level single-record format whose exact output depends on three other properties.

Source-backed behaviour​

The getter joins every entry with Delimiter. When QuoteChar is nonzero it quotes values containing the delimiter, quote, or—in non-strict mode—any character #1..space, doubling embedded quote characters. A list containing one empty string emits a pair of quote characters; with QuoteChar=#0, quoting is disabled and that distinction is lost.

The setter begins an update, clears the list, skips #1..space around fields when StrictDelimiter is false, decodes quoted fields, and adds unquoted text up to the delimiter. Repeated delimiters create empty entries and a trailing delimiter adds a final empty entry. Parsing ends at #0.

CommaText temporarily fixes comma/double quote. Delimiter, QuoteChar and StrictDelimiter define this format.

Official RTL references​

Created 2026-07-15