MUMPS Programming/indirection

MUMPS allows for self-modifying code and indirection of variables. The @ symbol is used as a prefix to indicate that the variable is actually a pointer to another variable. EXAMPLE: > S X=1,Y="X" ; Create the initial two variables, X and Y > W X ; Send the value of X to the current device 1 > W Y ; Send the value of Y to the current device X > W @Y ; Send the value of the pointed-to variable (X) to the current device 1 > The pointer reference can contain any string that evaluates to a valid variable name, whether a LOCAL or a GLOBAL variable. The pointer reference itself can be either type of variable. NOTE: This is not the same as code indirection, which is covered under a different article.