When you use an HLC library function to write data to an ABL shared buffer or shared variable, the HLC library function converts the C language data type passed to the function to the appropriate ABL data type.

For example, the prowtbd() HLC library function allows you to write to a date field in a shared buffer. Among the parameters you pass to prowtbd() are year, month, and day, all defined as integer in your C code. The prowtbd() function converts these separate C language integer values into a single ABL date value.