BinData Delphi ActiveX Reference Documentation
TChilkatBinData
Current Version: 11.0.0
Container for binary data. Provides methods for getting, setting, appending, etc. in binary and string encoded formats.
Importing the Chilkat ActiveX into Delphi
Important: When upgrading to a new version of Chilkat, make sure to re-imported ActiveX DLL into Delphi to regenerate the files described below.
Chilkat v9.5.*: If using Chilkat v9.5.*, then use "Chilkat_v9_5_0_TLB" instead of "Chilkat_TLB", and the DLLs are named ChilkatAx-9.5.0-win32.dll (or ChilkatAx-9.5.0-x64.dll).
Two things are required to use an ActiveX in Delphi:
- The ActiveX DLL needs to be registered via regsvr32 on the system where the Delphi application runs. See How To Register ActiveX DLLs for detailed information.
- See also: ActiveX Registration Tutorial
- The ActiveX component needs to be "imported". Use the Delphi Import Component Wizard to import the Chilkat type library. This creates the following files: Chilkat_TLB.pas and Chilkat_TLB.dcr. The Chilkat_TLB.pas should be added to your project.
To import the Chilkat type library, do the following:
- In the Delphi RAD Studio, select the menu item "Component" --> "Import a Type Library".
- Find "Chilkat ActiveX" in the list and select it. This will only appear in the list if the ChilkatAx-win32.dll (or ChilkatAx-x64.dll) has been registered w/ regsvr32.
- Check the "Generate Component Wrappers" checkbox.
- Select a directory where the unit files (.pas and .dcr) should be generated.
- Select "Create Unit" and then "Finish".
- Add the .pas to your Delphi project.
To use a Chilkat ActiveX object in your Delphi code, add "Chilkat_TLB" to the "uses" statement. For example:
uses Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics, Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls, Chilkat_TLB;
Object Creation
var obj: TChilkatBinData; ... begin obj := TChilkatBinData.Create(Self); ... // When finished, free the object instance. obj.Free();
Properties
DebugLogFilePath
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
LastBinaryResult
This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1
. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.
LastErrorHtml
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1
means success, 0
means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages.
LastStringResult
In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.
LastStringResultLen
The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.
topNumBytes
The number of bytes contained within the object.
topVerboseLogging
If set to 1
, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0
. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
Methods
AppendBd
AppendBinary
AppendBom
Appends the appropriate BOM (byte order mark), also known as a "preamble", for the given charset. If the charset has no defined BOM, then nothing is appended. An application would typically call this to append the utf-8, utf-16, or utf-32 BOM.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAppendByte
Appends a single byte. The byteValue should be a value from 0 to 255.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAppendCountedString
Appends a byte count followed by the string in the desired character encoding, such as "utf-8". The numCountBytes is the size in bytes of the integer to represent the byte count. If 0, then a minimal number of bytes is used. If bigEndian is 1
, the byte count is appended in big endian byte ordering, otherwise little-ending byte ordering. The str is the string to be appended. The charset is the character encoding, such as "utf-8", "utf-16", "windows-1252", etc.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAppendData
AppendEncoded
Appends encoded binary data to the current data. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
AppendEncodedSb
Decodes the contents of sb and appends the decoded bytes to this object. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
AppendInt2
Appends a 16-bit integer (2 bytes). If littleEndian is 1
, then the integer bytes are appended in little-endian byte order, otherwise big-endian byte order is used.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
AppendInt4
Appends a 32-bit integer (4 bytes). If littleEndian is 1
, then the integer bytes are appended in little-endian byte order, otherwise big-endian byte order is used.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
AppendPadded
Appends a string to this object, padded to the fieldLen with NULL or SPACE chars. If padWithSpace is 1
, then SPACE chars are used and the string is not null-terminated. If fieldLen is 0
, then null bytes are used. The charset controls the byte representation to use, such as "utf-8".
Note: This call will always append a total number of bytes equal to fieldLen. If the str is longer than fieldLen, the method returns 0
to indicate failure and nothing is appended.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
AppendSb
AppendString
Appends a string to this object. (This does not append the BOM. If a BOM is required, the AppendBom method can be called to append the appropriate BOM.)
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
ByteSwap
Does either 16-bit or 32-bit byte swapping of the entire contents. If size equals 16, then swaps in 2 bytes (e.g., 0x1234 → 0x3412). If size equals 32, then swaps 4 bytes (e.g., 0x12345678 → 0x78563412)
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topCharsetConvert
This method converts the character encoding of an object's contents from one format to another, such as from Windows-1252 to UTF-8. The allOrNone parameter determines error handling for unrepresentable bytes. If allOrNone is 1
, the object's contents remain unchanged when errors occur. If 0
, error bytes are discarded. The method returns 1
if successful and 0
if errors occur.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topClear
ContentsEqual
Return 1
if the contents of this object equals the contents of binData.
FindString
Return the index where the first occurrence of str is found. Return -1 if not found. The startIdx indicates the byte index where the search begins. The charset specifies the byte representation of str that is to be searched. For example, it can be "utf-8", "windows-1252", "ansi", "utf-16", etc.
topGetBinary
Retrieves the binary data contained within the object.
Returns a zero-length byte array (as an OleVariant) on failure.
An empty array will have a VarArrayHighBound of -1 meaning 0 elements.
GetBinaryChunk
Retrieves a chunk of the binary data contained within the object.
Returns a zero-length byte array (as an OleVariant) on failure.
An empty array will have a VarArrayHighBound of -1 meaning 0 elements.
GetByte
Returns the value of the byte at the given index. The returned value is an integer from 0 to 255.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topGetData
Retrieves the binary data contained within the object.
Returns a zero-length byte array (as an OleVariant) on failure.
An empty array will have a VarArrayHighBound of -1 meaning 0 elements.
GetDataChunk
Retrieves a chunk of the binary data contained within the object.
Returns a zero-length byte array (as an OleVariant) on failure.
An empty array will have a VarArrayHighBound of -1 meaning 0 elements.
GetEncoded
Retrieves the binary data as an encoded string. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns a zero-length WideString on failure
GetEncodedChunk
Retrieves a chunk of the binary data and returns it in encoded form. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns a zero-length WideString on failure
GetEncodedSb
Writes the encoded data to a StringBuilder. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
GetHash
Returns the hash of the contents of this object. The algorithm is the hash algorithm, and can be "sha1", "sha256", "sha384", "sha512", "sha3-224", "sha3-256", "sha3-384", "sha3-512", "md2", "md5", "ripemd128", "ripemd160","ripemd256", or "ripemd320". The encoding can be "base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "base32", "base58", "qp" (for quoted-printable), "url" (for url-encoding), "hex", "hexLower", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns a zero-length WideString on failure
topGetInt2
Returns the value of the 16-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.
topGetInt4
Returns the value of the 32-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.
topGetString
Interprets the bytes according to charset and returns the string. The charset can be "utf-8", "utf-16", "ansi", "iso-8859-*", "windows-125*", or any of the supported character encodings listed in the link below.
Returns a zero-length WideString on failure
GetTextChunk
Returns numBytes bytes starting at startIdx. The bytes are interpreted according to charset (for example, "utf-8", "ansi", "utf-16", "windows-1252", etc.)
Returns a zero-length WideString on failure
topIsValidUtf8
Returns 1
if this object contains valid utf-8 byte sequences. Any invalid byte sequence that is not valid utf-8 will cause this function to return 0
.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topLoadBinary
Loads binary data and replaces the current contents, if any.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topLoadEncoded
Loads binary data from an encoded string, replacing the current contents, if any. The encoding may be "Base64", "modBase64", "base64Url", "Base32", "Base58", "QP" (for quoted-printable), "URL" (for url-encoding), "Hex", or any of the encodings found at Chilkat Binary Encodings List.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topLoadFile
RemoveByteVal
Removes bytes having a specified value (0-255). For example, to remove all null bytes, pass 0 in value.
topRemoveChunk
SecureClear
Securely clears the contents by writing 0 bytes to the memory prior to deallocating the internal memory.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
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