[Overview][Constants][Types][Classes][Procedures and functions][Variables] | Reference for unit 'Classes' (#fcl)

# TList

[Properties (by Name)] [Methods (by Name)] [Events (by Name)]

Class to manage collections of pointers.

## Declaration

`type TList = class(TObject)`
`protected`
`function Get();`
`procedure Grow; virtual;`
`procedure Put();`
`procedure Notify(); virtual;`
`procedure SetCapacity();`
`procedure SetCount();`
`public`
`destructor Destroy; override;` |  | Destroys the list and releases the memory used to store the list elements.
`function Add();` |  | Adds a new pointer to the list.
`procedure Clear; dynamic;` |  | Clears the pointer list.
`procedure Delete();` |  | Removes a pointer from the list.
`procedure Error(); virtual;` |  | Raises an EListError exception.
`procedure Exchange();` |  | Exchanges two pointers in the list.
`function Expand;` |  | Increases the capacity of the list if needed.
`function Extract();`
`function First;` |  | Returns the first non-nil pointer in the list.
`function IndexOf();` |  | Returns the index of a given pointer.
`procedure Insert();` |  | Inserts a new pointer in the list at a given position.
`function Last;` |  | Returns the last non-nil pointer in the list.
`procedure Move();` |  | Moves a pointer from one position in the list to another.
`function Remove();` |  | Removes a value from the list.
`procedure Pack;` |  | Removes Nil pointers from the list and frees unused memory.
`procedure Sort();` |  | Sorts the pointers in the list.
`property Capacity: Integer; [rw]` |  | Current capacity (i.e. number of pointers that can be stored) of the list.
`property Count: Integer; [rw]` |  | Current number of pointers in the list.
`property Items: Pointer; default; [rw]` |  | Probides access to the pointers in the list.
`property List: PPointerList; [r]` |  | Memory array where pointers are stored.
`end;`

## Inheritance

`TList` |  | Class to manage collections of pointers.
`TObject`

## Description

TList is a class that can be used to manage collections of pointers. It introduces methods and properties to store the pointers, search in the list of pointers, sort them. It manages its memory by itself, no intervention for that is needed.

To manage collections of strings, it is better to use a TStrings descendent such as TStringList. To manage general objects, a TCollection class exists, from which a descendent can be made to manage collections of various kinds.

## See also

TStrings |  | Class to manage arrays or collections of strings
TCollection |  | Base class to manage collections of named objects.