function leftstr(s:string; n:Integer):string;
var
i:integer;
t:string;
begin
//init var t
t := '';
for i := 0 to n do
begin
//main loop
t := t + s[i];
end;
//return results
Result:=t;
end;
So when I run this function and use ShowMessage to get the value of t in each increment of i, t is always blank. Can someone tell me the problem? This is compiled using Delphi XE6
The problem is that strings use 1-based indexing and you are accessing out of bounds. Your loop should be:
for i := 1 to n do
Probably what happens is that s[0] refers to some part of the string's meta data (length or reference count, I cannot remember which) that happens to contain a zero byte. This is then interpreted as a null terminator when the string is passed to ShowMessage.
If you had enabled the range checking feature in your compiler options, the compiler would have inserted code that would have found the error for you. This range checking feature is an astonishingly neglected and overlooked feature.
Of course, the function is a little pointless, as well as rather inefficient. You can use LeftStr from the StrUtils unit. Or plain old Copy from the System unit.
s[0] is an out of range error. Remember that we are talking about string and not about short strings, which are a completely different type. There is absolutely no reserved element 0 in a string. You are very much mistaken in thinking so.[]. Why would you try to do that?