function ReadCharFromStream(
    AStream: TIdStream; 
    var AChar: Char
): Integer;

Integer - Number of characters read in the operation.

ReadCharFromStream is an Integer function used to read a character value from a Stream. ReadCharFromStream isolates the differences between platform- or operating system-specific stream implementations required to perform the operation using a Char value. 

AStream is the stream used as the source of values for the read operation. 

AChar is the buffer used to store the character read from the stream. 

The return value for the function is the number of bytes read from the stream, and will contain 1 under normal circumstances. 

Use ReadBytesArrayFromStream to read an array of Byte values from a stream implementation. 

Use ReadStringFromStream to read a string data type from a stream implementation.