[fpc-devel] new string - question on usage

[Hans-Peter Diettrich]

Luiz Americo Pereira Camara schrieb:

> When this time comes, this is what i see:
> 
> 1- Most of LCL must be code page agnostic, so not use 
> UTF8String/AnsiString directly (keep String)

I'd use another type, e.g. LCLstring, which can be set independently 
from any other automatisms.

> 2- It should have (dont know if currently has) a compiler switch to 
> change the default code page to UTF8 or whatever, so all variables with 
> type String will map to UTF8String.

What if a user has a different opinion, and changes the type to his 
local codepage, or to UTF-16?

A boundary could be established, where strings are encoded as the *user* 
specifies (i.e. generic "string"), and where the *LCL* requires a 
specific (implemented) encoding.

> 3- The UTF8String/AnsiString type should be reserved where strictly 
> necessary like libraries that require UTF8 or RTL interfacing

Concrete types are required when strings are manipulated (parsed...), 
and the implementation assumes a certain encoding. This should not 
happen often in the LCL, but will be vital for the IDE (CodeTools...).

Properties like SelLength deserve considerations, when they currently 
mean the number of logical (UTF-8) characters.

DoDi