[edit] About String Types
A string represents a sequence of characters. Delphi supports the following predefined string types.
String types
Type Maximum length Memory required Used for
ShortString
255 characters
2 to 256 bytes
Backward compatibility
AnsiString
~2^31 characters
4 bytes to 2GB
8-bit (
ANSI) characters, DBCS
ANSI, MBCS
ANSI,
Unicode characters, etc.
UnicodeString
~2^30 characters
4 bytes to 2GB
Unicode characters, 8-bit (
ANSI) characters, multi-user servers and multi-language applications
WideString
~2^30 characters
4 bytes to 2GB
Unicode characters; multi-user servers and multi-language applications. UnicodeString is generally preferred to WideString, except for
COM applications.