Delphi giving syntax errors: . expected but ; found error

Question

I am toying around in Delphi XE6, and add this procedure on a button:

procedure TTabbedForm.btnLoadingClick(Sender: TObject);
var
  dlg: Unit2;

begin

  dlg := Form2.Create(nil);
  Form2.ShowModal();

end;

Delphi gives me the following error while compiling:

[DCC Error] TabbedTemplate.pas(53): E2029 '.' expected but ';' found
[DCC Error] TabbedTemplate.pas(55): E2029 ';' expected but 'BEGIN' found
[DCC Fatal Error] Speelpleintjes.dpr(7): F2063 Could not compile used unit 'TabbedTemplate.pas'

Line 53 being: dlg: Unit2;

Honestly i'm quite puzzled, the syntax seems correct, the procedure is auto generated from the events tab.

Any suggestions?

Is Unit2 a class or a unit? Is Form2 a class or an object? There seems to be a lot of confusion in those few lines of code. If dlg is an object of class Form2, then maybe you want to do dlg.ShowModal()... not Form2.ShowModal(). — Frazz
You should work on some basic tutorials ... this piece of source is wrong at all (except the autogenerated parts) — Sir Rufo
I removed everything and re-added the form with normal names. Now the error is gone, but i'm having some other issues.. Thanks for the help, i need to RTFM some more i think ;) @SirRufo It was copied from an embarcadero wiki item, but i think i missed a few steps. — Michel Bijlsma

Stijn Sanders Stijn Sanders · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-25T06:41:08

If Unit2 is another unit in your project (judging by it's name it probably is), it can't be used as a type directly. Units only declare things. That's why the compiler is expecting a . since you can prefix an identifier with the unit's name to direct to a declaration in that specific unit.

To correct this, write dlg: TForm2;

Also it's common practice to call constructors from the class declaration, not a variable so change it to:

dlg := TForm2.Create(nil);

Or use the Form2 variable, which typically will hold an instance of TForm2 already. By default extra forms added to a Delphi project are created hidden, ready for Show or ShowModal.

Delphi giving syntax errors: . expected but ; found error

1 Answers