Delphi Basics : AnsiIndexStr command

DelphiBasics

AnsiIndexStr
Function

Compares a string with a list of strings - returns match index

StrUtils unit

function AnsiIndexStr(const Source string; const StringList array of string):Integer;

Description

The AnsiIndexStr function checks to see if any of the strings in StringList exactly match the Source string.

When a match is found, its (0 based) index is returned. Otherwise, -1 is returned.

The string list can be specified as a square bracket delimited list, as in the example, or as an array of strings.

It is a Case sensitive command.

Related commands

AnsiMatchStr		Returns true if a string exactly matches one of a list of strings
AnsiPos		Find the position of one string in another
StrScan		Searches for a specific character in a constant string

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Example code : A simple example

var
  source : AnsiString;
  position : Integer;
begin
  source := 'Henry';  // The string to match

  // Note that AnsiIndexStr is case sensitive
  // We use a hard coded constant string array
  position := AnsiIndexStr(source, ['BRIAN', 'JIM', 'HENRY']);
  ShowMessageFmt('Index of first match attempt = %d',[position]);

  // Note that arrays start at 0
  position := AnsiIndexStr(source, ['Brian', 'Jim', 'Henry']);
  ShowMessageFmt('Index of second match attempt = %d',[position]);
end;

Show full unit code

Index of first match attempt = -1
Index of second match attempt = 2