Character	Character coded on 1, 2 or 4 bytes according to the management mode of character strings and the runtime platform. In Windows: in Ansi mode, a character is coded on 1 byte, in Unicode mode, a character is coded on 2 bytes. In Linux: in Ansi mode, a character is coded on 1 byte, in Unicode mode, a character is coded on 4 bytes. In iOS, in Unicode, a character is coded on 4 bytes. When a character is empty, its value corresponds to Charact(0). When a character is empty, its value corresponds to empty string. Versions 17 and later Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the Character variables will be ANSI characters (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the Character variables will be Unicode characters. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. New in version 17 Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the Character variables will be ANSI characters (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the Character variables will be Unicode characters. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the Character variables will be ANSI characters (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the Character variables will be Unicode characters. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. The Character type is not supported. It is replaced by the String type.
Versions 17 and later Ansi string New in version 17 Ansi string Ansi string	Dynamic-size string containing characters in ANSI format only. This format is required to handle: XML files RTF files PDF files functions that use UTF8 format, etc. Remarks: Ansi strings can only be used if "Use ANSI strings at run time" is checked. To modify the management mode of character strings in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab. Select "Use ANSI strings at run time".
Unicode string	Dynamic-size string containing characters in UNICODE format only. In a configuration that uses Ansi strings at runtime, this type of string can be returned by AnsiToUnicode or by one of the functions for managing Unicode strings. See Managing the Unicode format for more details. Versions 17 and later This type of character string is used by default if the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime. New in version 17 This type of character string is used by default if the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime. This type of character string is used by default if the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime. This type of character string is equivalent to the String type. This type of character string is not supported. It is replaced by the String type. This type of character string is not supported.
String	Dynamic-size string. The "string" type is specific to the WLanguage. With this type, there is no need to declare the length of the string. This one can freely change when using the variable. Versions 17 and later Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the String variables will be ANSI strings (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the String variables will be Unicode strings. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. New in version 17 Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the String variables will be ANSI strings (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the String variables will be Unicode strings. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. Remark: If the current configuration uses ANSI strings at runtime, the String variables will be ANSI strings (default behavior). If the current configuration uses Unicode strings at runtime, the String variables will be Unicode strings. Reminder: To change the string management in the current configuration: Open the project description window: on the "Project" pane, in the "Project" group, click "Description". In the "Project" tab, click "Description of current configuration". In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode. This type of character string is in Unicode format.
Buffer	Binary memory zone. Used to write a code that can be shared between WINDEV and WINDEV Mobile regarding the use of raw data. See The "Buffer" type for more details. The Buffer type is not supported.

String on	Fixed-length string, ending with a binary 0 (as in C). The specified size corresponds to the maximum number of characters in the string. This type of character string is used to create compatible WINDEV/WINDEV Mobile code when calling APIs from both platforms. This type of character string is in ANSI format. This type of character string is in Unicode format.
ASCIIZ string on	String ending with a binary 0 (as in C). The size of an ASCIIZ string cannot exceed 2 GB. The length given to the ASCIIZ string must be equal to its current length plus 1 (for the binary zero). This type of character string is not available. We recommend that you use the String On type. The ASCIIZ String type is not supported. It is replaced by the String type.
Fixed string on	Fixed-length string. The size of a fixed string cannot exceed 2 GB. The character string is completed: with 0 if the variable is not assigned yet. with space characters if necessary if the variable is assigned (similar to the "string" type of Basic). This type of character string is not available. We recommend that you use the String On type. The Fixed String type is not supported. It is replaced by the String type.
Pascal string on	String preceded by a byte that specifies the length (like in Pascal). This byte is not accessible. For example, string[1] represents the first character of the string and not its length. The length of a Pascal string cannot exceed 255 characters. The length given to the Pascal string must be equal to the length of the string. This type of character string is not available. We recommend that you use the String On type. The Pascal String type is not supported. It is replaced by the String type.
Unicode string on	Fixed-length string containing characters in UNICODE format. This type of character string is equivalent to the type String on. This type of character string is not supported. It is replaced by the String type. This type of character string is not supported.

• The "String on" type must be used to send input/output parameters to a Windows API.
• All the advanced types (other than "String") are available for compatibility with the other programming languages (Turbo Pascal Windows, C, Visual Basic Windows, etc.) or to receive the result of a Windows API.
• WINDEV Mobile and WINDEV do not propose the same types of character strings. For more details on the different types of character strings available, see the Notes section.

Default value

• A "String" or "String on" variable that is declared but not initialized corresponds to an empty string ("").
• A "Buffer" variable that is declared but not initialized is empty.
• A "Buffer on" variable that is declared but not initialized is filled with 0.

Passing a character string as a parameter to a procedure

Using quotes in a character string