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varArray

varArray = 8192

Example​

function IsIntegerArray(const Value: Variant): Boolean;
var
  Code: TVarType;
begin
  Code := VarType(Value);
  Result := ((Code and varArray) <> 0) and
            ((Code and varTypeMask) = varInteger);
end;

Usage​

varArray marks a Variant as Automation array storage whose element base code remains in the low 12 type bits.

Additional Technical Info​

varArray is the TVarType flag $2000. It indicates that a Variant owns or references Automation SAFEARRAY storage. The low 12 bits identify the element base type, so an Integer array normally reports varArray or varInteger, not varArray by itself.

Test the flag with and; do not compare the complete VarType result to varArray. Velox's VarArrayCreate wrapper creates one zero-based dimension and returns the requested element code combined with this flag.

What the flag does not tell you

  • It does not provide dimension count, lower/upper bounds, element count or allocation size.
  • It does not say whether varByRef is also present or whether another Variant aliases the array.
  • It does not validate an index, element conversion or the array's current lock state.
  • It is not a TBytes dynamic array. varArray or varByte is the preferred Automation representation for binary octets.

Pass only an allowed base code—not varArray or varByRef—as the element type to VarArrayCreate. Use varOleStr for Automation-compatible string arrays and varVariant when elements must have different types. Fixed-type arrays convert each assigned value and can raise conversion, range, allocation, lock or bounds exceptions.

Arrays are managed mutable storage. Copying an ordinary Variant array follows Delphi/Automation ownership rules; by-reference forms can share a live array. Bound externally supplied lengths, avoid concurrent mutation and never infer safe memory usage from this bit alone.

The example is source-reviewed only; no array was allocated or read.

External references

Created 2026-07-15