String Table Resources

String tables are resources (embedded configuration data) edited with WorkBench.

• A string table is a list of items identified by a name and referring to one or more character strings.
• String tables are typically used for defining static texts to be used in the application.
• These functions can be used for getting access to string tables in the programs:
  • StringTable: selects the active string table.
  • LoadString: Load a string from the active table.
• Each string table may contain several columns of texts for each item, and thus ease the localization of application, simply by defining a column for each language.
  • This way, the language can be selected dynamically at runtime by specifying the active language (as a column) in the StringTable() function.

The name entered in the string table as an ID is automatically declared for the compiler.

• The name:
  • Can directly be passed to the LoadString() function without re-declaring it.
  • Must conform to IEC standard naming rules.

You could do the same by declaring an array of STRING variables and enter some initial values for all items in the array.

• String tables provide significant advantages compared to arrays:
  • The editor provides a comfortable view of multiple columns at editing.
  • String tables are loaded in the application code and does not require any further RAM memory unlike declared arrays.
  • The string table editor automatically declares readable IDs for any string item to be used in programs instead of working with hard-coded index values.

If the text is too long for the STRING variable when used at runtime, it is truncated.

Use special $ sequences in strings to specify non printable characters, according to the IEC standard:

Code	Meaning
$'	A Single quote.
$$	A "$" character.
$L	A line feed character (ASCII code 10).
$N	Carriage return plus line feed characters (ASCII codes 13 and 10).
$P	A page break character (ASCII code 12).
$R	A carriage return character (ASCII code 13).
$T	A tab stop (ASCII code 9).
$xx	Any character (xx is the ASCII code expressed on two hexadecimal digits.