The type cast operator changes the context in which a variable
or an expression of a certain data type can be used. The actual
representation of the object being cast is not altered by the
type cast operator. VSI Pascal overrides the type only for the
duration of one operation. It has one of the following forms:
variable-identifier :: type-identifier
(expression) :: type-identifier
The type cast operator (::) separates the name of the variable
or an expression in parentheses from its target type, the type
to which it is being cast.
Example:
TYPE
F_Float = PACKED RECORD
Frac1 : 0..127;
Expo : 0..255;
Sign : Boolean;
Frac2 : 0..65535;
END;
VAR
A : REAL;
{In the executable section:}
A :: F_Float.Expo := A :: F_Float.Expo + 1;
The record type 'F_Float' illustrates the layout of an
F_floating real number. The real variable 'A' is cast as a
record of this type, allowing access to the fields containing
the mantissa, exponent, sign, and fraction of 'A'. Adding 1 to
the field containing the exponent would give the same result as
multiplying 'A' by 2.0.