Delphi - deferring assignment to an out parameter - delphi

Question

In Delphi, suppose I have a method with a (much simplified) signature like this:
procedure abc( const prop1:string; const arg1:TValue; const prop2:string;
out arg2:TValue );
I'm building a TList<PPropValPair> of records like this using the parameters provided:
type
TPVPType = (ptIn, ptOut);
PPropValPair = ^TPropValPair;
TPropValPair = record
io : TPVPType;
prop : string; // property name
iVal : TValue; // input value
oVar : Variant; // <-- how to save for later use??? Variant? TValue?
end;
(On the face of it, this example looks silly. Again, it's quite simplified just to communicate the problem.)
At run-time, I want to stuff all of the input values ival (where io=ptIn) into each public property 'prop' in a class, call a class method, then extract the values of all public properites 'prop' (where io=ptOut) into oVar.
The input side is working fine using RTTI.
However, I need to somehow save a REFERENCE to the output vars in oVar so I can save the value of the associated properties after the class method has been called.
I'm not assigning anything to arg2 directly. Rather, I'm saving a reference to arg2 and assigning the value indirectly later on.
The trick is ... I don't want to have to do any additional annotations of the output parameters in abc(...).
In C++, you can declare a parameter as a 'reference' by prepending it with '&'. So in C++ terms this might be defined roughly as:
procedure abc( arg1 : TValue; &arg2 : TValue );
Later, you can refer to &arg2 and it's using a POINTER to the object. But in calling the function, you just say:
abc( somevar1, somevar2 );
somevar1 is passed by value, and somevar2 is passed by reference. Inside the function, I can save somevar2 in a reference var, then later on assign a value to it via the pointer (if it's a string) by saying &arg2ref = 'abc'.
I'm guessing there's a way to do this in Delphi, either with a Variant as the oVar type, or using RTTI, or something else. I just haven't figured out the magic combination of pieces yet. (I just don't use pointers very often in Delphi.)
Maybe I need to save a raw pointer in oVar along with the type (say, oType), and cast a value through the pointer to save the property's value?
I'm hoping someone here might have some clear ideas.
BTW, I'm using Delphi XE3.

Answer 1

Use a pointer. It doesn't have to (and indeed shouldn't) be a "raw" pointer. Use a typed pointer, PValue. Pass in a PValue to your function, and then store that in oVal, which you should also declare a a PValue. Use # to create a pointer, and ^ to dereference.
I would not recommend passing arg2 by reference. Although you can still use # on it to get a pointer to the original variable passed to abc, the reference parameter disguises the fact that the variable needs to remain available indefinitely. Instead, declare arg2 as PValue so it's more obvious to the caller that indirection is involved.
// declaration
procedure abc(...; arg2: PValue);
// call
abc(..., #somevar2);