IBM i pointer Types

The IBM® i pointer types are:

Open

Pointers that can hold any of the other pointer types

Space

Generic pointers to data objects.

Function

System pointers to *PGM objects or procedure pointers to bound ILE procedures.

System

Pointers to system objects such as queues, indexes, libraries, and *PGM objects.

Label

Pointers to fixed locations within the executable code of a procedure or function.

Invocation

Pointers to process objects for procedure (function) calls under ILE, or program calls under EPM or OPM.

Suspend

Pointer to the location in a procedure where control has been suspended.

These pointer types, as well as pointers to data objects and incomplete types, are not data-type compatible with each other. For example, a variable declared as a pointer to a data object cannot be assigned the value of a function pointer or system pointer. A system pointer cannot be compared for equality with an invocation pointer or pointer to a data object. The above is not true for open pointers.