Page 91 of 229 Start Back Next End ZBasic Language Reference 81 ZBasic Microcontrollers One interesting use for an alias is when your application requires that a series of data items be arranged in a particular order in memory. Consider a situation where, for whatever reason, it would be convenient to have an Integer value, a Byte value and a Single value that are guaranteed to be arranged in sequence in memory. This can be accomplished with the definitions shown below. Dim host(1 to 7) As Byte Dim ival As Integer Alias host(1) Dim bval As Byte Alias host(3) Dim fval As Single Alias host(4) This technique may be useful, for example, for reading and writing data packets to an external device. One aspect of using aliases that requires careful thought and possibly some experimentation is that an alias of a fundamental type (e.g. Byte, Integer, etc.) must be defined so that it aligns on a byte boundary. If the target variable for the alias is also a fundamental type this will not be an issue because the fundamental types are always byte-aligned. On the other hand, sub-byte types may or may not be byte-aligned so defining an alias to a sub-byte type may result in a compiler error message indicating that it is not byte-aligned. See Section 3.24 for more information on this topic. BasicX Compatibility Note Aliases are not available in BasicX compatibility mode. 3.21 Based Variables Based variables are a very powerful tool and their use is recommended for advanced programmers only. If used carelessly or without a complete understanding of their characteristics they may cause your program to malfunction in ways that are quite difficult to diagnose. A based variable is similar to a procedure parameter that is passed ByRef in the respect that no space is allocated for the data item. Rather, the location (i.e. the addess) of the based variable is specified using an integral expression that can be constant or computed at run-time. The effect that can be achieved using a based variable is similar to using an alias but a based variable is even more powerful because of the ability of the address to change at run time. The syntax for defining a based variable at the module level is shown below. {Public | Private | Dim} <name>[(<dim-list>)] As <type> Based <base-expr> As with normal variables, Dim has exactly the same effect as Private. Within a subroutine, a function or any block structure, a local based variable may be defined using the syntax shown below. Dim <name>[(<dim-list>)] As <type> Based <base-expr> In both cases the <base-expr> element is an integral expression that gives the base address of the variable. Some examples will help clarify the concept. Dim bv as Byte Based &H100 This defines a Byte variable whose address is a constant value. Dim addr as Integer Dim bv as Byte Based addr This defines a Byte variable whose address is given by the value of the Integer variable addr.