String variables are variables with a name starting with S or gS (for a local or global string variable, respectively), and can store any string with a maximum length defined by the -+max_str_len command line flag (255 characters by default). These variables can be used as input argument to any opcode that exepcts a quoted string constant, and can be manipulated at initialization or performance time with the opcodes listed below.

It is also possible to use string p-fields. The string p-field can be used by many orchestra opcodes directly, or it can be copied to a string variable first:

a1    diskin2 p5, 1

Sname strget  p5
a1    diskin2 Sname, 1

Strings within Csound can be expressed using traditional double quotes (" "), an also using {{ }}. The second method is useful to allow ';' and '$' characters within the string without having to used ASCII codes.

Strings can also be linked to a number using strset and strget.

Csound 5 also has improvements in parsing string constants. It is possible to specify a multi-line string by enclosing it within {{ and }} instead of the usual double quote characters (note that the length of string constants is not limited, and is not affected by the -+max_str_len option), and the following escape sequences are automatically converted:

It can be useful together with the system opcode:

instr 1
 ; csound5 lets you make a string with line returns inside double brackets
    system {{     ps
            date
            cd ~/Desktop
            pwd
            ls -l
            whois csounds.com
        }}
endin

And the python opcodes, among others:

pyruni {{
import random

pool = [(1 + i/10.0) ** 1.2 for i in range(100)]

def get_number_from_pool(n, p):
    if random.random() < p:
        i = int(random.random() * len(pool))
        pool[i] = n
    return random.choice(pool)
}}