Skip to main content

'BEGIN' expected

Velox reports 'BEGIN' expected when the compiler has finished reading declarations and requires the executable body of a procedure, function or structured source unit to start with begin.

Required form​

procedure DoWork;
var
  Count: Integer;
begin
  Count := 1;
end;

Declarations such as var, const, nested routines and type definitions appear before begin. Executable statements appear after it.

Example​

This routine starts executing statements without opening its body:

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: Variant);
  Value := 'Ready'; // Error: 'BEGIN' expected
end;

Add the required compound statement:

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: Variant);
begin
  Value := 'Ready';
end;

How Velox detects it​

The modified PascalScript compiler's routine and source-unit parsers emit ecBeginExpected when the next token cannot begin the required body. Velox records the parser's current module, row and column and renders the result with Error severity.

Velox enables the compiler option icAllowNoBegin, so a top-level event script may omit a conventional outer program wrapper. That option does not make begin optional in a declared procedure or function, nor where several statements must be grouped into one compound statement.

Common causes​

  • Omitting begin between a routine's declaration section and its first statement.
  • Placing an executable statement among var, const or type declarations.
  • Ending a routine heading incorrectly, so the parser continues treating following text as declarations.
  • Missing end; for a preceding nested routine, which changes the context in which the next begin is expected.
  • Copying a top-level wrapper-free script pattern into a procedure or function body.

Correction procedure​

  1. Find the procedure, function or source-unit heading that owns the reported location.
  2. Complete all declarations before the executable body.
  3. Insert begin before the first executable statement and ensure there is a matching end.
  4. Check nearby nested routines and block terminators if begin is already present.
  5. Recompile from the first diagnostic; structural errors commonly produce follow-on messages.
  • begin..end — compound statements, separators and the top-level Velox exception.
  • 'END' expected — locating a missing closing keyword.
  • Semicolon (';') expected — routine headings and statement separation.

External references​