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  • What is UNICODE
  • Managing UNICODE
  • Implicit conversions
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Stored procedures
What is UNICODE
UNICODE is an encoding system that assigns a unique number to each character:
  • This system uses a 16-bit encoding.
  • This number can be read regardless of the platform, software or language used.
Unicode supports most of the world's writing systems.
Unicode is used:
  • for character strings
  • for data files
  • for controls that display data from character strings or data files.
Managing UNICODE
To use the UNICODE standard, WINDEV includes:
  • an option to define the string format at runtime in the project configuration description.
    To change the string format in the current configuration:
    1. Open the project description window: on the "Project" tab, in the "Project configuration" group, click "Current configuration".
    2. In the window that appears, go to the "Unicode" tab and select the desired mode: "Use ANSI strings at runtime" or "Use UNICODE strings at runtime".
  • the UNICODE String type.
  • conversion functions:
    These functions convert ANSI characters to Unicode and vice versa. Character strings are automatically converted (see paragraph below).
    AnsiToUnicodeConverts:
    • an ANSI string (Windows) to a UNICODE string.
    • a buffer containing an ANSI string (Windows) to a buffer containing a UNICODE string.
    StringToUTF8Converts an ANSI or UNICODE string to UTF-8.
    UnicodeToAnsiConverts:
    • a UNICODE string to ANSI (Windows).
    • a buffer containing a UNICODE string to a buffer containing an ANSI string (Windows).
    UTF8ToStringConverts a UTF-8 string to ANSI or UNICODE.
  • functions to handle character strings:
    CompleteReturns a character string of a specified length.
    CompleteDirAdds a backslash to the end of a string, if necessary.
    ExtractStringAllows you to:
    • extract a substring from a string based on a specified string separator.
    • search for substrings in a string based on a specified string separator.
    LeftExtracts the left part (i.e., the first characters) from a string or buffer.
    LengthReturns:
    • the length of a string, i.e., the number of characters in the string (including spaces and binary zeros).
    • the size of a buffer, i.e., the number of bytes in the buffer.
    MiddleExtracts:
    • a substring from a string starting at a specified position.
    • part of a buffer starting at a specified position.
    NoAccentConverts accented characters in a string to non-accented characters.
    NoSpaceReturns a string after removing the spaces:
    • from the left and right side of the initial string.
    • within the string.
    PositionFinds the position of a specified string within another string.
    PositionOccurrenceFinds the Xth position of a string within another string.
    RepeatStringConcatenates N number of copies of the same specified string or buffer.
    ReplaceReplaces all occurrences of a specified substring in a string with another specified substring.
    ReverseReturns the character that corresponds to the difference between the ASCII code of a specific character in a string and 255.
    RightExtracts the last characters from a string or string buffer.
    StringCompareCompares two strings character by character:
    • according to the sequence of ASCII characters.
    • according to the alphabetical order.
    StringCountCalculates:
    • the number of occurrences of a specific character string (by respecting the search criteria) in another character string.
    • the number of occurrences of a set of strings in an array.
    StringFormatFormats a character string according to the selected options.
    TypeVarIdentifies the type of an expression, a variable (during a call to a procedure for example) or a control.
    ValReturns the numeric value of a character string.
  • operators to handle character strings:
  • operators to iterate over character strings:
  • functions to handle text files:
    fOpenOpens an external file (ANSI or Unicode) to handle it programmatically.
    fReadReads a block of bytes (characters) from an external file (ANSI or UNICODE).
    fReadLineReads a line from an external file (ANSI or UNICODE).
    fWriteWrites a string to an external file (ANSI or UNICODE).
    fWriteLineWrites a line into a text file (ANSI or UNICODE).

Implicit conversions

Starting with version 12, ANSI and Unicode strings are automatically converted. These conversions are performed using the current character set (defined with ChangeCharset).
Starting with version 15, UNICODE strings are automatically converted when one of the following types is assigned to an HFSQL item: boolean, integer (any size, signed or unsigned), currency, numeric or real.
Use cases:
// With the conversion functions
ResU is UNICODE string = AnsiToUnicode("Test of a string")
// Implicit conversion
ResU is UNICODE string = "Test of a string"
Res is string
ResU is UNICODE string
// With the conversion functions
ResU = AnsiToUnicode(Res)
Res = UnicodeToAnsi(ResU)
// Implicit conversion
ResU = Res
Res = ResU
Res is string
ResU is UNICODE string
// With the conversion functions
IF ResU <> AnsiToUnicode("") THEN ...
IF ResU <> AnsiToUnicode(Res) THEN ...
// Implicit conversion
IF ResU <> "" THEN ...
IF ResU <> Res THEN...
nFil is int = fOpen("E:\temp\Unicode.txt", foRead + foUnicode)
ResU is UNICODE string
ResU = fReadLine(nFile)
WHILE ResU <> EOT
Trace(ResU)
ResU = fReadLine(nFile)
END
Minimum version required
  • Version 9
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Last update: 07/03/2023

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