Vector Basic Interpreter Basic 80, Reference Manual, Page: 135 / 190

Format 1: Returns the address of the first byte
of data identified with <variable name>. A
value must be assigned to <variable name> prior
to execution of VARPTR. Otherwise an "Illegal
function call" error results. Any type variable
name may be used (numeric, string, array), and
the address returned will be an integer in the
range 32767 to -32768. If a negative address is
returned, add it to 65536 to obtain the actual
address.
VARPTR is usually used to obtain the.address of
a variable or array so it may be passed to an
assembly language subroutine. A function call
of the form VARPTR(A(O» is usually specified
when passing an array, so that the
lowest-addressed element of the array is
returned.
All simple variables should be assigned before
calling VARPTR for an array, because the
addresses of the arrays change whenever a new
simple variable is assigned.
Format 2: Returns the starting address of the
disk I/O buffer assigned to <file number>.
In Standalone Dis~ BASIC, VARPTR(i<file number»
returns the first byte of the file block. See
Appendix H.