Operator * (Value Of)

Dereferences a pointer

Syntax
	KeyPgDeclareDeclare KeyPgOperatorOperator * ( KeyPgByrefByRef rhs KeyPgAsAs T KeyPgPtrPointer ) KeyPgByrefFunctionByRef KeyPgAsAs T

Usage
		result = * rhs
	or
		* rhs = value

Parameters
	rhs
		The address to dereference.
	T
		Any CatPgStdDataTypesstandard, CatPgUserDefTypesuser-defined or procedure type.

Return Value
	Returns a reference to the value stored at the address rhs.

Description
	Operator * (Value of) returns a reference to the value stored at an 
	address, and is often called the dereference operator. The operand is 
	not modified in any way.
	Any type of KeyPgPtrPointer can be dereferenced except for an KeyPgAnyAny KeyPgPtrPointer.

	As a reference, the result of this operator can be used on the left-hand 
	side of assignments.

	This operator must not be used in case of null pointer because reference 
	is undefined (inducing runtime error).
	Otherwise, the user must ensure that the pointer value induces access to 
	a valid memory. Otherwise, results are undefined.

	This operator can be overloaded for user-defined types.

Example
	'This program demonstrates the use of * to utilize the value a pointer points to.
	Dim a As Integer
	Dim pa As Integer Ptr

	pa=@a 'Here, we use the @ operator to point our integer ptr at 'a'.
	' 'a' is, in this case, a standard integer variable.

	a=9     'Here we give 'a' a value of 9.

	Print "The value of 'a' is";*pa 'Here, we display the value of 'a' using a pointer. 

	*pa = 1 'Here we use our pointer to change the value of 'a'
	Print "The new value of 'a' is";a 'Here we display the new value of 'a'.

Output:

	The value of 'a' is 9
	The New value of 'a' is 1

Dialect Differences
	* In the CompilerOptlang-lang qb dialect, this operator cannot be overloaded.

Differences from QB
	* New to FreeBASIC

See also
	* KeyPgOpAtOperator @ (Address Of)
	* KeyPgOpPtrIndexOperator [] (Pointer Index)
	* ProPgPointersPointers

