Storage control built-in functions

The storage control built-in functions allow you to determine the storage requirements and location of variables, to assign special values to area and locator variables, to perform conversion between offset and pointer values, to obtain the number of generations of a controlled variable, and to reference data and methods of objects and classes.

Table 1 lists the storage control built-in functions.

Table 1. Storage control built-in functions
Function	Description
ADDR	Returns the address of a variable
ADDRDATA	Returns the address of the first data byte of a string when applied to a varying string
ALLOC31	Allocates storage of the specified size in below-the-bar heap
ALLOCATE	Allocates storage of the specified size in the heap
ALLOCATION	Returns the current number of generations of a controlled variable
ALLOCNEXT	Allocates storage of the specified size in an AREA if there is enough space in the first available chunk
ALLOCSIZE	Returns a FIXED BIN(N,0) value giving the amount of storage allocated with a specific pointer
AUTOMATIC	Allocates storage of the specified size in the stack
AVAILABLEAREA	Returns the size of the largest single allocation that can be made in an area
BINARYVALUE	Converts a pointer, offset, or ordinal to an integer
BITLOCATION	Returns the bit offset of a variable within a byte
CHECKSTG	Returns a bit(1) value determining whether allocated storage is uncorrupted
CURRENTSIZE	Returns the current size of a variable
CURRENTSTORAGE	Synonym for CURRENTSIZE
EMPTY	Returns an "empty" area
ENTRYADDR	Returns the address of the routine associated with an entry
HANDLE	Returns a handle to a typed structure or union
LOCATION	Returns the byte offset of a variable within a structure
LOCSTG	Returns the number of bytes needed to hold all the allocated storage that is needed to hold all the values that can be held indirectly by using LOCATES.
LOCVAL	Returns the value at the offset that is specified in an area with the type specified in the LOCATES description
NULL	Returns a null pointer value
NULLENTRY	Returns a limited entry value with a null value
OFFSET	Converts a pointer to an offset
OFFSETADD	Adds an integer to an offset
OFFSETDIFF	Subtracts two offsets
OFFSETSUBTRACT	Subtracts an integer from an offset
OFFSETVALUE	Converts an integer to an offset
POINTER	Converts an offset to a pointer
POINTERADD	Adds an integer to a pointer
POINTERDIFF	Subtracts two pointers
POINTERSUBTRACT	Subtracts an integer from a pointer
POINTERVALUE	Converts an integer or handle to a pointer
SIZE	Returns the maximum size of a variable
STORAGE	Synonym for SIZE
SYSNULL	Returns a system null pointer value
TYPE	Returns the typed structure or union located by a handle
UNALLOCATED	Returns a bit(1) value indicating if a specified pointer value is the start of allocated storage
VARGLIST	Returns the address of the first optional parameter passed to a procedure
VARGSIZE	Returns the number of bytes occupied by a byvalue parameter

Published: 23 December 2018