TObjectList E2003 Undeclared identifier TObjectList<>

Question

I've been introduced to TObjectList, and I would like to make use of it, except that I can't seem to get even the sample code from Embarcadero's web site to work for me. Here is my code:

unit Test03Unit1;

interface

uses
  Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics,
  Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls;

type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
    Button1: TButton;
    procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
  private
    { Private declarations }
  public
    { Public declarations }
  end;

type
  { Declare a new object type. }
  TNewObject = class
  private
    FName: String;

  public
    constructor Create(const AName: String);
    destructor Destroy(); override;
  end;

{ TNewObject }

var
  Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.dfm}

constructor TNewObject.Create(const AName: String);
begin
  FName := AName;
end;

destructor TNewObject.Destroy;
begin
  { Show a message whenever an object is destroyed. }
  MessageDlg('Object "' + FName + '" was destroyed!', mtInformation, [mbOK], 0);
  inherited;
end;

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
  List: TObjectList<TNewObject>;
  Obj: TNewObject;
begin
  { Create a new List. }
  { The OwnsObjects property is set by default to true -- the list will free the owned objects automatically. }
  List := TObjectList<TNewObject>.Create();

  { Add some items to the List. }
  List.Add(TNewObject.Create('One'));
  List.Add(TNewObject.Create('Two'));

  { Add a new item, but keep the reference. }
  Obj := TNewObject.Create('Three');
  List.Add(Obj);

  {
    Remove an instance of the TNewObject class. Destructor
    is called for the owned objects, because you have set the OwnsObjects
    to true.
  }
  List.Delete(0);
  List.Extract(Obj);

  { Destroy the List completely--more message boxes will be shown. }
  List.Free;

end;

end.

When trying to compile this, I get the error [DCC Error] Test03Unit1.pas(51): E2003 Undeclared identifier: 'TObjectList<>'. Line 51 is the line which says:

List: TObjectList<TNewObject>;

I have never seen < > used in the Pascal language before, so this is completely new territory for me. Doing a google search for "Delphi and < >" doesn't seem to tell me what I need to know about this. From other examples I can find on the internet it seems to be the correct way to use it.

Using Delphi XE2.

What am I doing wrong?

David Heffernan David Heffernan · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-19T16:21:38

You must add System.Generics.Collections to your uses clause. That is the unit which declares TObjectList<T>.

I've added documentation links to the answer. When you cannot find a class, look for it in the documentation. That will tell you which unit you need to use.

As well as TObjectList<T> there is TList<T>. It makes sense to use TObjectList<T> when you want the list to own its members. Otherwise, there is no benefit in using TObjectList<T> and you may as well use TList<T>. As well as the built-in Delphi generic containers, there are many excellent third-party containers that are often superior. For instance, the Delphi Spring Framework has a fine collection of containers.

TObjectList E2003 Undeclared identifier TObjectList<>

1 Answers