Operator overload in record helper?

[Zoë]

Is it possible to overload an operator for a record type after the record is declared in {$MODE DELPHI}?

This code works in Delphi:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. program Main;
2.  
3. {$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
4.  
5. uses
6.   SysUtils;
7.  
8. type
9.   timespec = record
10.     tv_sec: Integer;
11.     tv_nsec: Integer;
12.   end;
13.  
14.   TTimespecHelper = record helper for timespec
15.     class operator LessThan(A, B: timespec): Boolean;
16.   end;
17.  
18. class operator TTimespecHelper.LessThan(A, B: timespec): Boolean;
19. begin
20.   Result := (A.tv_sec < B.tv_sec) or ((A.tv_sec = B.tv_sec) and (A.tv_nsec < B.tv_nsec))
21. end;
22.  
23. const
24.   A: timespec = (tv_sec: 2; tv_nsec: 123);
25.   B: timespec = (tv_sec: 3; tv_nsec: 123);
26. begin
27.   WriteLn(A < B);
28. end.

If I try to compile it with FPC 3.3.1 using {$MODE DELPHI}, it fails with the errors:

main.pp(15,11) Error: Procedure or Function expected
main.pp(15,11) Error: An interface, helper or Objective-C protocol or category cannot contain fields
main.pp(15,20) Fatal: Syntax error, ":" expected but "identifier LESSTHAN" found

I can get the same effect in {$MODE OBJFPC} by switching from a class helper to a global overload declared like so:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. operator < (A, B: timespec): Boolean;

But that doesn't compile in {$MODE DELPHI} even if I switch from "operator <" to "operator LessThan".

Am I missing something / is there a way to make this work, or is "Support operator overloading in class helpers" just a feature request?  I can make it work by moving the OBJFPC variant into its own unit so I can switch the {$MODE} for just that, or wrapping the record, but I'd like to avoid it if possible.

[Thaddy]

No

[ASerge]

Create a separate unit where you use OBJFPC. In OBJFPC you can use operator:

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. unit Unit1;
2.  
3. {$mode ObjFPC}
4.  
5. interface
6.  
7. type
8.   TimeSpec = record
9.     tv_sec: Integer;
10.     tv_nsec: Integer;
11.   end;
12.  
13. operator < (const A, B: TimeSpec): Boolean;
14.  
15. implementation
16.  
17. operator < (const A, B: TimeSpec): Boolean;
18. begin
19.   Result := (A.tv_sec < B.tv_sec) or ((A.tv_sec = B.tv_sec) and (A.tv_nsec < B.tv_nsec))
20. end;
21.  
22. end.
23.  

Code: Pascal  [Select][+][-]

1. {$MODE DELPHI}
2. {$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
3.  
4. uses unit1;
5.  
6. const
7.   A: TimeSpec = (tv_sec: 2; tv_nsec: 123);
8.   B: TimeSpec = (tv_sec: 3; tv_nsec: 123);
9. begin
10.   WriteLn(A < B);
11.   Readln;
12. end.

[Zoë]

Create a separate unit where you use OBJFPC. In OBJFPC you can use operator:

Thanks.  I did mention that option in my original post; I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

My use is simple enough that I opted for the wrapper instead so I wouldn't need to use the second unit everywhere, but I did open a feature request for it in case anyone else needs it:

https://gitlab.com/freepascal.org/fpc/source/-/issues/40788