ByREF

ByRef is a modifier used in function parameters to specify that the parameters is passed by reference (that is, the original variable is passed to the FUNCTION or SUB).

Syntax

It’s used in function parameter declaration as in this example:

FUNCTION plusOne(ByRef a As Ubyte) As UByte
  LET a = a + 1
  RETURN a
END FUNCTION

LET a = 0
PRINT plusOne(a): REM prints 1
PRINT a: REM prints 1; original value of A has been *modified* within the function

Here the variable a is being modified within the function, and this modification persist upon return. Except for arrays, when ByRef or ByVAL is not specified in FUNCTION or SUB parameters, ByVAL will be used by default. On the other hand, if the parameter is an array, and no access is specified, it’s supposed to be ByRef (arrays cannot be passed by value).

ByRef allows us to pass arrays to FUNCTION or SUB:

REM arrays passed to functions can be of *any dimensions*.
REM Use LBOUND and UBOUND to detect dimensions!

FUNCTION maxValue(ByRef a() as Ubyte) As UByte
  DIM i as UInteger
  DIM result As UByte = 0
  FOR i = LBOUND(a, 1) TO UBOUND(a, 1)
    IF a(i) > result THEN result = a(i)
  NEXT i
  RETURN result
END FUNCTION

DIM myArray(4) As UByte = {4, 3, 1, 2, 5}
PRINT "Max value is "; maxValue(myArray)

When passing arrays like in this example, if ByRef can be omitted. Arrays parameters cannot be passed to a function using ByVAL.

ByRef is also useful to return values in the parameters. RETURN allows to return a single value from a FUNCTION, but we can return several values by storing the result in those parameters.

ByRef requires the parameter to be an lvalue, that is, a variable, an array or an array cell. You cannot use ByRef with expressions (i.e. numbers) because you cannot store a value in them.

Example of wrong usage:

FUNCTION plusOne(ByRef a As Ubyte) As UByte
  LET a = a + 1
  RETURN a
END FUNCTION


DIM i as UByte = 7
DIM myArray(5) as Ubyte

PRINT plusOne(5): REM syntax error, 5 is not a variable or an array element.
PRINT plusOne(i): REM Ok. Will change i value to 8, and print 8)
PRINT plusOne(i + 1): REM syntax error, i + 1 is not a variable
PRINT plusOne(myArray(3)): REM Ok. Will increase myArray(3) by 1 and print the result