[fpc-pascal] TStringHelper and Utf8String

[Thomas Kurz]

Hello,

I love the helper functions from SysUtils' `TStringHelper`. Unfortunately, they're only available for `String`, but not for other types like `Utf8String` or `RawByteString`.

Is it safe to cast to `String()` and then invoking the helper, e.g. `String(AUtf8String).IndexOf('foo')`? Or does this casting involve a codepage conversion?

I've tried with my FPC installation:

program Project1;
uses sysutils;
var S: Utf8string;
begin
  S := 'äfoo';
  writeln (String(S).IndexOf('f')); // prints "2", as expected
end.

But can I rely on it?

Are there any plans of making string helpers available for `Utf8String` and `RawByteString`?

Kind regards,
Thomas