I have a function that tests for a series of different conditions according to a value in a 'case...of' block.

Result:=false;
mylist:=TStringlist.Create;
case i of
  1:
   begin
      if condition1 then
      begin
         Result:=true;
         break;
      end;
      if condition2 then
      begin
         Result:=true;
         break;
      end;
      if condition3 then
      begin
         Result:=true;
      end;
   end;
   2:....;
   3:....;
end;
mylist.free;

The above does not work as the 'case...of' is not considered to be a loop. Error: BREAK not allowed.

I could just exit the function, using 'exit' instead of 'break' but I think I need to free the mylist TStrings.

Is there a way of doing this or is my best way just to replace 'break' with 'mylist.free' and 'exit'?

You can do several thins:

1. use Else !!
2. Surround (I hope that the proper spelling) everything in try finally and then in the finally place the free statement.
3. Make a shorter code:

Result := (condition1) OR (condition2) OR (condition3)
Will be the same as your if statment, but shorter.

Ido

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You should use Else. But if you insist on break, you can insert a dummy repeat/until loop:

Result:=false;
mylist:=TStringlist.Create;
repeat
case i of
   1:
    begin
       if condition1 then
       begin
          Result:=true;
          break;
       end;
       if condition2 then
       begin
          Result:=true;
          break;
       end;
       if condition3 then
       begin
          Result:=true;
       end;
    end;
    2:....;
    3:....;
end;
until true
mylist.free;

You should use Else. But if you insist on break, you can insert a dummy repeat/until loop:

One more thing, since you are creating a TStringList, it is recommended to enclose your code anyway in a try/finally block irrespective whether you use the dummy loop or not. This guarantees the freeing of the list in case of an exception.

If you use a try/finally block (and you always should when allocating resources) then an exit will go through the finally block. So you can simply use exit.

mylist:=TStringlist.Create;
try
   Case i of
     // Use exit
   end;
finally
   MyList.Free;
end;

Great answers!

Thanks, guys! :)