TChilkatBinData Delphi ActiveX Reference Documentation

TChilkatBinData

Current Version: 10.1.0

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:

  1. 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.
  2. See also: ActiveX Registration Tutorial
  3. 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:

  1. In the Delphi RAD Studio, select the menu item "Component" --> "Import a Type Library".
  2. 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.
  3. Check the "Generate Component Wrappers" checkbox.
  4. Select a directory where the unit files (.pas and .dcr) should be generated.
  5. Select "Create Unit" and then "Finish".
  6. 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

LastBinaryResult
property LastBinaryResult: OleVariant readonly

The binary data returned by the last (binary data returning) method called. Only available if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This provides a means for obtaining large varbinary results in the SQL Server environment (where limitations exist in getting large amounts of data returned by method calls, but where temp tables can be used for binary properties).

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LastMethodSuccess
property LastMethodSuccess: Integer

Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of 1 indicates success, a value of 0 indicates failure. This property is automatically set for method calls. It is not modified by property accesses. The property is automatically set to indicate success for the following types of method calls:

  • Any method that returns a string.
  • Any method returning a Chilkat object, binary bytes, or a date/time.
  • Any method returning a standard boolean status value where success = 1 and failure = 0.
  • Any method returning an integer where failure is defined by a return value less than zero.

Note: Methods that do not fit the above requirements will always set this property equal to 1. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.

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LastStringResult
property LastStringResult: WideString readonly

The string return value of the last (string returning) method called. Only available if Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to 1. This provides a means for obtaining large string results in the SQL Server environment (where limitations exist in getting long strings returned by method calls, but where temp tables can be used for string properties).

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LastStringResultLen
property LastStringResultLen: Integer readonly

The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.

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NumBytes
property NumBytes: Integer readonly
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

The number of bytes contained within the object.

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Methods

AppendBd
function AppendBd(binData: TChilkatBinData): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends the contents of another BinData to this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendBinary
function AppendBinary(data: OleVariant): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Appends binary data to the current contents, if any.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendBom
function AppendBom(charset: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

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.

More Information and Examples
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AppendByte
function AppendByte(byteValue: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

Appends a single byte. The byteValue should be a value from 0 to 255.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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AppendCountedString
function AppendCountedString(numCountBytes: Integer; bigEndian: Integer; str: WideString; charset: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

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.

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AppendEncoded
function AppendEncoded(encData: WideString; encoding: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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.

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AppendEncodedSb
function AppendEncodedSb(sb: TChilkatStringBuilder; encoding: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

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.

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AppendInt2
function AppendInt2(value: Integer; littleEndian: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

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.

More Information and Examples
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AppendInt4
function AppendInt4(value: Integer; littleEndian: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.77

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.

More Information and Examples
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AppendPadded
function AppendPadded(str: WideString; charset: WideString; padWithSpace: Integer; fieldLen: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.80

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.

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AppendSb
function AppendSb(sb: TChilkatStringBuilder; charset: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Appends the contents of a StringBuilder to this object.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

More Information and Examples
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AppendString
function AppendString(str: WideString; charset: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

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.

More Information and Examples
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Clear
function Clear(): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Clears the contents.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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ContentsEqual
function ContentsEqual(binData: TChilkatBinData): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Return 1 if the contents of this object equals the contents of binData.

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FindString
function FindString(str: WideString; startIdx: Integer; charset: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

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.

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GetBinary
function GetBinary(): OleVariant;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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.

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GetBinaryChunk
function GetBinaryChunk(offset: Integer; numBytes: Integer): OleVariant;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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.

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GetByte
function GetByte(index: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.92

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.

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GetEncoded
function GetEncoded(encoding: WideString): WideString;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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

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GetEncodedChunk
function GetEncodedChunk(offset: Integer; numBytes: Integer; encoding: WideString): WideString;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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

More Information and Examples
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GetEncodedSb
function GetEncodedSb(encoding: WideString; sb: TChilkatStringBuilder): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.64

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.

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GetHash
function GetHash(algorithm: WideString; encoding: WideString): WideString;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

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

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GetInt2
function GetInt2(index: Integer; littleEndian: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.88

Returns the value of the 16-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.

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GetInt4
function GetInt4(index: Integer; littleEndian: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.88

Returns the value of the 32-bit signed integer stored in big-endian or little-endian byte ordering at the given index.

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GetString
function GetString(charset: WideString): WideString;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

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

More Information and Examples
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GetTextChunk
function GetTextChunk(startIdx: Integer; numBytes: Integer; charset: WideString): WideString;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.85

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

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IsValidUtf8
function IsValidUtf8(): Integer;
Introduced in version 10.1.0

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.

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LoadBinary
function LoadBinary(data: OleVariant): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Loads binary data and replaces the current contents, if any.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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LoadEncoded
function LoadEncoded(encData: WideString; encoding: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

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.

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LoadFile
function LoadFile(path: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Loads data from a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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RemoveByteVal
procedure RemoveByteVal(value: Integer);
Introduced in version 9.5.0.90

Removes bytes having a specified value (0-255). For example, to remove all null bytes, pass 0 in value.

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RemoveChunk
function RemoveChunk(offset: Integer; numBytes: Integer): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.51

Removes a chunk of bytes from the binary data.

More Information and Examples
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SecureClear
function SecureClear(): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

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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WriteAppendFile
function WriteAppendFile(path: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.91

Appends the contents of this object to a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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WriteFile
function WriteFile(path: WideString): Integer;
Introduced in version 9.5.0.62

Writes the contents to a file.

Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.

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