Editing Pointer (computer programming) (section)

=== Kinds defined by structure ===

==== Autorelative pointer ====
An '''autorelative pointer''' is a pointer whose value is interpreted as an offset from the address of the pointer itself; thus, if a data structure has an autorelative pointer member that points to some portion of the data structure itself, then the data structure may be relocated in memory without having to update the value of the auto relative pointer.<ref>{{cite patent
 |country=us
 |number=6625718
 |status=patent
 |title=Pointers that are relative to their own present locations
 |gdate=2003-09-23
 |fdate=1998-02-05
 |inventor=Steiner, Robert C. (Broomfield, CO)
 |invent1=Steiner, Robert
 |assign1=Avaya Technology Corp. (Basking Ridge, NJ)
}}
</ref>

The cited patent<!-- This "patent" cannot be valid as this is simply an attempt to essentially rename the meaning of the word "offset" that has been in constant use since the dawn of computers!--> also uses the term '''self-relative pointer''' to mean the same thing. However, the meaning of that term has been used in other ways:
* to mean an offset from the address of a structure rather than from the address of the pointer itself;{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}
* to mean a pointer containing its own address, which can be useful for reconstructing in any arbitrary region of memory a collection of data structures that point to each other.<ref>{{cite patent
 |country=us
 |number=6115721
 |status=patent
 |title=System and method for database save and restore using self-pointers
 |gdate=2000-09-05
 |fdate=1998-06-23
 |inventor=Nagy, Michael (Tampa, FL)
 |invent1=Nagy, Michael
 |assign1=IBM (Armonk, NY)
}}
</ref>

==== Based pointer ====
A '''based pointer''' is a pointer whose value is an offset from the value of another pointer. This can be used to store and load blocks of data, assigning the address of the beginning of the block to the base pointer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/57a97k4e.aspx |title=Based Pointers |publisher=Msdn.microsoft.com |access-date=2018-04-13}}</ref>