Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!bigelow
From: bigelow@hpfcso.HP.COM (Jim Bigelow)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Re: initialization of a string
Message-ID: <9110015@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 9 Apr 90 15:33:55 GMT
References: <7198@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 40

To write a string (either a packed array of char or the String data
type) to a file that is not of type text, may require you to use a
variant record.  For instance, writing to a file of bytes can be done
as follows:

  const
   sizeofstring := <n>;
  type
   varRec = packed record 
              case boolean of 
		true: (str : string);
		false: (byte : packed array[1..sizeofstring] of char); 
	      end;
	{ for this to work the variants *MUST* have same size and alignment }
  var
    strng : varRec
    i: integer;
    f : file of char;
  .
  .
  .
  begin
  .
  .
  .
   strng.str :=  'string less than or equal to <n>';
   for i := 1 to sizeofstring do
       write(f,string.byte[i]);
  .
  .
  .
  

Hope this is helpful.

Jim Bigelow
HP9000/S300 Pascal
Colorado Language Lab.
HP
Ft. Collins, CO