Hacktoberfest 2026: the issues maintainers tagged for October, open and beginner-friendly. Browse Hacktoberfest issues

Delphi parser drops every class member after a `const [ref]` parameter

Open
  • Is something wrong?
#2,545 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Maintainers usually reply within 1 day

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
60/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Domain
tooling

Research direction

Start by reproducing with the Min.pas file from the issue in an empty directory, running codegraph init -y . then codegraph node TMin and codegraph query ''. The payload does not name the parser source files, so locate the Delphi class-declaration parsing and how it reads method parameter lists, then compare the const [ref] case with the control that has the decoration removed. Done means TMin lists Before, WithRef and After, TMin.After resolves, and no AValue field is indexed.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Summary

In a Delphi (Object Pascal) unit, a method declared with a const [ref] parameter followed by another
parameter ends the class declaration for the parser: the [ref] method is lost, the parameter after it
is recorded as a field of the class, every member declared after it is missing from the index, and the
qualified names of those members (node TClass.Method) answer "not found". Parsing resumes at the next
class declaration.

Versions

  • codegraph --version: 1.6.0 (global install).
  • npx -y @colbymchenry/[email protected]: same result on the same file.
  • Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045; Node from the global npm install.

Minimal reproduction

Min.pas:

unit Min;

interface

type
  TMin = class
  public
    procedure Before;
    procedure WithRef(const [ref] AValue: Integer; const AOther: string);
    procedure After;
  end;

  TNext = class
  public
    procedure Other;
  end;

const
  CAfterClass = 1;

implementation

procedure TMin.Before;
begin
end;

procedure TMin.WithRef(const [ref] AValue: Integer; const AOther: string);
begin
end;

procedure TMin.After;
begin
  Before;
end;

procedure TNext.Other;
begin
end;

end.

Steps, in a directory holding only that file:

codegraph init -y .
codegraph node TMin
codegraph node TMin.After
codegraph node TNext
codegraph query '' --limit 50

Observed (1.6.0):

●  8 nodes, 7 edges
**Members (2):**
- Before (method):8
- AValue (field):9
Symbol "TMin.After" not found in the codebase

TNext lists Other (method):15, so parsing resumes at the next class. query '' lists AValue as a
field at :9, Before, CAfterClass, Other, TMin, TNext — no WithRef, no After.

Expected: TMin with three methods Before, WithRef, After; TMin.After resolving; no field AValue.

Control: the same file with [ref] removed (procedure WithRef(const AValue: Integer; const AOther: string);)
indexes with TMin listing all three methods and TMin.After resolving.

A [ref] parameter that is the last one in its list (procedure WithRef(const [ref] AValue: Integer);)
loses only that method and shifts the next member's recorded line by one (After (method):9 for a
declaration at line 10).

Note on the syntax

const [ref] is Delphi's "pass by reference even for small types" parameter decoration (documented under
Parameters (Delphi) — constant parameters, the [Ref] attribute). It appears in interface and
implementation declarations alike.

Dominant language
C
Stars
73.2k
Forks
4.7k
Avg merge
2h 13m
Merged PRs (30d)
418

Getting set up

This project ships no dev container, Dockerfile or contributing guide, so setting up is up to you: start from its README, and see our first-contribution guide for the general steps.

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

More from colbymchenry/codegraph

All issues in colbymchenry/codegraph

Similar issues

More C issues

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.