Declaring an array containing constant strings

give this a go

Const
EntryCount =4;
Labels : array [1..EntryCount] of string = ('label1','label2','label3','label4');

You can also use dynamic arrays, as in this example:

var
  CachedLabels: TArray<string>;

function ReadLabels: TArray<string>;
begin
  if Length(CachedLabels) = 0 then
    CachedLabels := TArray<string>.Create('Alpha', 'Beta', 'Gamma');
  Result := CachedLabels;
end;

Although it initializes a heap-allocated dynamic array at run-time, this demonstrates Delphi's dynamic-array "pseudo-constructor", which permits initialization right where it is used. (NOTE: this example is not thread-safe).

To obtain the array's length, simply call the standard Length() function, or call the standard Low() and High() functions to determine the valid range of indices.

For older Delphi versions, substitute your own dynamic string-array type for TArray, for example:

type
  TLabelArray = array of string;

XE7 lets you define a constant dynamic array as follows:

const
  Labels: TArray<String> = ['Alpha', 'Beta', 'Gamma'];

There is also an indirect route. Write a function such as:

procedure copyLabels(var destination: ArrayOfString; const source: Array Of String);
var
  count, index: Integer;
begin
  count := Length(source);
  SetLength(destination, count);
  for index := count-1 downto 0 do
    destination[index] := source[index];
end;

then invoke that function this way:

copyLabels(labels, ['LabelA', 'LabelB', 'LabelC']);

with:

labels: ArrayOfString;