Compile Error : [dcc32 Error] E2064 Left side cannot be assigned to

Question

I an new to Delphi and tried to compile Inno Setup's Setup.e32 file using Inno Setup's Source Code with Delphi 10.1 Berlin.

But the problem is when I try to compile, I keeps getting Error [dcc32 Error] uPSUtils.pas(944): E2064 Left side cannot be assigned to.

I don't know how to resolve this and also read questions in this site which asked about that Error but even can't determine what is wrong in this code.

The Parts of the Code:

function FastUpperCase(const s: String): string;
{Fast uppercase}
var
  I: Integer;
  C: Char;
begin
  Result := S;
  I := Length(Result);
  while I > 0 do
  begin
    C := Result[I];
    if c in [#97..#122] then
      Dec (Byte(Result[I]), 32);  <<<Error E2064 HERE>>>
    Dec(I);
  end;
end;

function FastLowerCase(const s: String): string;
{Fast lowercase}
var
  I: Integer;
  C: Char;
begin
  Result := S;
  I := Length(Result);
  while I > 0 do
  begin
    C := Result[I];
    if C in [#65..#90] then
      Inc(Byte(Result[I]), 32);  <<<ERROR E2064 HERE>>>
    Dec(I);
  end;
end;

 function ParseToken(var CurrTokenPos, CurrTokenLen: Cardinal; var  CurrTokenId: TPSPasToken): TPSParserErrorKind;
  {Parse the token}
  var
    ct, ci: Cardinal;
    hs: Boolean;
    p: PChar;
  begin
    ParseToken := iNoError;
    ct := CurrTokenPos;
     case FText[ct] of
      #0:
         begin
          CurrTokenId := CSTI_EOF;
          CurrTokenLen := 0;
         end;
      'A'..'Z', 'a'..'z', '_':
         begin
           ci := ct + 1;
          while (FText[ci] in ['_', '0'..'9', 'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z']) do begin
            Inc(ci);
            end;
              CurrTokenLen := ci - ct;

           FLastUpToken := GetToken(CurrTokenPos, CurrtokenLen);
          p := pchar(FLastUpToken);
           while p^<>#0 do
          begin
            if p^ in [#97..#122] then
              Dec ((Byte(p^)), 32);  <<<ERROR E2064 HERE>>>
            inc(p);
          end;
          if not CheckReserved(FLastUpToken, CurrTokenId) then
          begin
            CurrTokenId := CSTI_Identifier;
          end;
        end;

What is wrong in these codes?

After I created compilesettings.bat and Clicked on compile.bat to Compile non Unicode Inno Setup (As now I installed Delphi 7.............) , this is what happened.

Answer 1

This code is written for a pre-Unicode version of Delphi where Char is an alias for the 8 bit AnsiChar. The cast to Byte reflects that. Since Delphi 2009 Char is aliased to the 16 bit WideChar.

Assuming that you are compiling the correct code (you are not - see below), the solution is to compile this code with the intended compiler. To determine what that is, read the documentation: https://github.com/jrsoftware/issrc/blob/master/README.md. My reading of this is that you should be able to compile the non-Unicode version of Inno with Delphi 7 or Delphi 2007.

Of course it may just be easier for you to compile the Unicode version. Again the instructions for doing so are very clearly laid out in the readme.

---

It transpires from comments that you are not compiling the intended versions of the PascalScript source. You say you downloaded some files with the same names. Don't do that. Use the source linked from the Inno repository. Use the compilers recommended there. Since you have Delphi 10.1 Berlin compile Unicode Inno.

It looks like you've got into quite a pickle with a confusion of source files. If I were you I would start again with a clean download from the Inno repository.

1. Remove your existing mishmash of files.
2. Fetch the latest source from the Inno repository.
3. Compile the Unicode version of Inno following the instructions from the readme.

Answer 2

The Readme specifically states that there is a Unicode version of Inno:

• Install Borland Delphi

  Unicode Inno Setup:

  We compile all of Inno Setup's projects under Delphi 2009 with Update 3.

  Newer Delphi versions should also work but will lead to significantly larger files.

  To work with the Delphi 2009 IDE under Windows 8.1 you need these two things to make it work well:

  http://www.jrsoftware.org/files/Delphi_2007_2009_WOW64_Debugger_Fix.exe (md5sum: 545fc506c0614cf7a3339a7acb5217dc)

  http://www.jrsoftware.org/files/dzEditorLineEndsFix.exe (md5sum: c9598cf14452dd08987c5aec23d04f7d)

  ...

• Building

  To build all files run build.bat and follow the instructions.

  To just compile Inno Setup run compile-unicode.bat for Unicode Inno Setup or compile.bat for Non Unicode Inno Setup and follow the instructions.

  ...

When using Delphi 2009 or later (including 10.1 Berlin), make sure you are compiling a Unicode version of Inno, not an Ansi version.

That being said, the troublesome lines of code can be re-written to be compatible with Unicode versions of Delphi:

if c in [#97..#122] then
  Result[I] := Char(Ord(c) - 32);
  // or: Dec(c, 32); Result[I] := c;

if C in [#65..#90] then
  Result[I] := Char(Ord(c) + 32);
  // or: Inc(c, 32); Result[I] := c;

if p^ in [#97..#122] then
  Dec(p^, 32);

However, this should not be necessary if you are using the correct Unicode-enabled version of the code to begin with.