For shared library parameter definitions, ABL provides a special set of data types to match the standard C data types used in shared library calling sequences. These are the only data types you can specify for the AS date-type option in shared library parameter definitions:

  • BYTE
  • CHARACTER
  • DOUBLE
  • FLOAT
  • INT64
  • LONG
  • MEMPTR
  • SHORT
  • UNSIGNED-LONG
  • UNSIGNED-SHORT

CHARACTER and MEMPTR are standard ABL variable data types available for other uses. You can only use the remaining listed data types for shared library parameter definitions.

The MEMPTR data type specifies a pointer to a region of memory. It lets you define and pass C-compatible structures to shared library routines. For more information on using the MEMPTR data type, see Using structure parameters.