a simple method for ByRef in procedure calls (non-strings)

[BorisTheOld]

This method modifies the recommended PB technique for ByRef calls, so that two simple macros can be used for all data types.

The problem with PB's built-in structures, such as String and Integer, is that the variable names are the same as the data type. This means that the code in the called procedure requires the data type to be attached to every variable reference. For example:

Code: Select all

Structure String
  s.s
EndStructure

Structure Integer
  i.i
EndStructure

*VariableName\s = *VariableName\s + ....
*VariableName\i = *VariableName\i + ....

An alternative is to create your own structures for each of the data types that you use, and create two macros to wrap the parm definition and the variable references.

Code: Select all

Macro ByRef (Name, Type)
  *Name.ref_#Type
EndMacro

Macro Ref (Name)
; the "x" variable name allows all data types to be handled by the "Ref" macro
  *Name\x          
EndMacro

Structure ref_i
; the structure variable is named "x" in all data type structures
  x.i              
EndStructure

;-------

Procedure TestRef(ByRef(Value1, i), Value2.i)
  Ref(Value1) = Ref(Value1) + Value2
EndProcedure

Define Value1.i = 55
Define Value2.i = 44

TestRef(@Value1, Value2)

Debug Value1