Re: Pointer Reset operation?

[Scott Klement <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dave,

To deallocate the memory (i.e. tell the OS you're done with it so it can 
be reused) call the DEALLOC opcode.

dealloc myPointer;

If you just want to set it to null (so its not pointing anywhere) or 
compare it against null (to see if its been set to something) you can 
use the special value *NULL.

if myPointer <> *NULL;
  myPointer = *NULL;
endif;

However, please remember that this does NOT deallocate the memory -- the 
memory is still in use, and the OS doesn't know that it can be reused.   
You just aren't pointing to it anymore.   So if this is memory that you 
are expected to deallocate, make sure you call DEALLOC before you set it 
to *NULL.

-SK

On 7/23/2021 3:59 AM, Dave wrote:
> So what's the recommended way of "unpointing" the pointer or knowing if a
> pointer has been set?
>
> I'm checking for a null value simply by comparing the pointer with one that
> is never used in the program.
> myPointer          *
> NullPointer         *   inz(*null)
>
> If myPointer <> NullPointer
>          myPointer = NullPointer
> endif
>
> But this doesn't seem right to me