Delphi: Use of Text Files in Procedures

procedure BoldIt(s:string;PF:textfile);
begin
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsBold,fsItalic];
Write(PF,s);
end;

[Error] Unit1.pas(655): File type not allowed here

Does anyone know why this causes an error? I don't understand why I can't pass the text file through the procedure as I would any other variable?

Rob

 

Hi Rob,

Can you give me an idea of what you are trying to accomplish? Here's how I read your code:

s = string is passed in, PF is delcared as TextFile
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style has the value [fsBold,fsItalic] to it
You write s that is passed in to PF.

Has PF been assigned? Are you trying to write the Printer value to the file assigned to PF?

I can probably help you through this, as I'm an intermediate delphi programmer. Let me know and I'll try my best.

 

Here is the rest of my code which uses this... you may have guessed I'm not an expert...

procedure BoldIt(s:string;PF:textfile);
begin
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsBold,fsItalic];
Write(PF,s);
end;

procedure TForm1.PrintNoPayClick(Sender: TObject);
var
PrintFile:TextFile;
oid:integer;
dte:Tdate;
tp:currency;
ap:currency;
owd:currency;
cid:integer;
nme:string;
sch:string;
email:string;
begin
pd.Execute;
AssignPrn(PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Name:='Times New Roman';
Printer.Canvas.Font.Size:=14;
Rewrite (PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[];
Writeln(PrintFile,' ');
Writeln(PrintFile,' ');
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsBold, fsItalic, fsUnderline];
Writeln(PrintFile,'Non Payers Report - Unpaid Orders On Or Before: '+(NoPayDate.Text));
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[];
Writeln(PrintFile,' ');
Writeln(PrintFile,' ');

with DM.Order do begin
first;
while not eof do begin
if ((FieldByName('Date').AsDateTime)<=strtodate(NoPayDate.Text)) and (FieldByName('Paid').AsBoolean=false) then begin
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsBold, fsItalic];
oid:=FieldByName('OrderID').AsInteger;
dte:=FieldByName('Date').AsDateTime;
tp:=FieldByName('TotalPrice').AsCurrency;
ap:=FieldByName('AmountPaid').AsCurrency;
owd:=(tp-ap);
cid:=FieldByName('CustomerID').AsInteger;

with DM.Customer do begin
first;
while not eof do begin
if (FieldByName('CustomerID').AsInteger=cid) then begin
sch:=FieldByName('SchoolName').AsString;
nme:=FieldByName('ContactName').AsString;
email:=FieldByName('Email').AsString;
end;
next;
end;
end;

BoldIt('Customer ID: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,cid);

BoldIt('Customer Name: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,nme);

BoldIt('School Name: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,sch);

BoldIt('Email Address: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,email);

BoldIt(' Order ID: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,oid);

BoldIt(' Date Of Order: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,datetostr(dte));

BoldIt(' Total Price: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,'£'+currtostr(tp));

BoldIt(' Amount Already Paid: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,'£'+currtostr(ap));

BoldIt(' Balance Outstanding: ',PrintFile);
Printer.Canvas.Font.Style:=[fsItalic];
Writeln(PrintFile,'£'+currtostr(owd));

Writeln(PrintFile,' ');
Writeln(PrintFile,' ');

end;
next;
end;
end;
CloseFile(PrintFile); // close printfile
end;

 

I'm taking a stab here, but have two suggestions (without cracking D7 open):

WriteLn is being used in the TForm1.procedure, but in the BoldIt procedure, it is using Write(). Try changing that to WriteLn.

And/or...

procedure BoldIt(s:string;PF:var);

I'm taking a stab there, but try passing PF as a Var.

and finally, if those don't work, put a stop/trace point on the line: Write(PF,s); in the BoldIt procedure and run your program. When it stops there, hold your cursor over PF and see what the value is. I guess worst case, you could define PF globally (outside of the procedure) to make it available for both procedures.

Hope that helps.

 

Write is definitely what I require, as writeln writes, then moves the pointer to a new line, whereas write writes to wherever the pointer is.

It works when I don't use the boldit procedure, and just have two lines for every
BoldIt('LABEL HERE',PrintFile);, as well, so I don't think it's the fact it says write.

Changing PF from textfile to var causes the following error:
[Error] Unit1.pas(655): Identifier expected but 'VAR' found

And I can't even get to that stage of the program, as it won't let me get past the procedure BoldIt(s:string;PF:textfile); line...
[Error] Unit1.pas(655): File type not allowed here

Thanks for your help GTech... still very confused

 

Not sure how familiar you are with break points, but I took a screen shot:



You can click in the area where the red dot is in the photo, next to a line of code, and it will highlight red. You can then run your program and when it gets to that line of code, it will stop. Then you can hold your cursor over variables and see their values. In this case, you could check the value of PF in the BoldIt procedure.

I'm off to run some errands, thought I would post this last bit to try and help. Good luck!

 

Should be
procedure BoldIt(s:string;var PF:Textfile);

Never thought I'd be answering a Delphi question here

 

That works!

Thank you so much!

Rob

 

No problem, nice to need my Delphi head for a change, makes a change from C++

 

Glad you got it sorted!