Question about using pointer with reference

[lordelf2004]

Hi everyone!

I have problems in using pointer with reference. So, I make simple program to clarify them.

First of all, this is my code and its output. Please notice line (*) and (**):

My code:
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
void RefFunc(int*& a){
int q = 888;
a = &q; //PROPLEM HERE (*) - //*a = q
cout << "address of a after assign= " << &a << endl;
cout << "value of a after assign= " << *a << endl;
}
int main ()
{
int * ptr;
int p = 777;
ptr = &p;
RefFunc((int*&)ptr); //PROPLEM HERE(**) - ptr
cout << "address of ptr after RefFunc function = " << &ptr << endl;
cout << "value of ptr after RefFunc function = " << *ptr << endl;
getch();
return 0;
}
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Output:
address of a after assign = 0012FF28
value of a after assign = 888
address of ptr after RefFunc function = 0012FF28
value of ptr after RefFunc function = 1730693832
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


These are what I tried:
1- I think "value of ptr after RefFunc function" should be the same with the value of variable 'a' in RefFunc because I use pointer - reference (*&) in RefFunc function. But it is not...(see the output)

2- When I modified line (*) to "*a = q": this time, "value of ptr after RefFunc function" is the same with 'a' in RefFunc (888).

3- In line (**) - I used RefFunc((int*&)ptr) or RefFunc(ptr): these two ways have the same results to output.

Anyone can explain for me the difference between:

1- <a = &q> and <*a = q> in line (*) in this situation, why *ptr does not change its value when I use <a = &q> whereas it does when I used <*a = q>?

2- <RefFunc((int*&)ptr)> and <RefFunc(ptr)>: what does it means in this case?

Thanks everyone in advance!!

[Lindley]

The (int*&) cast is unnecessary. In general, try to avoid casting to make parameter passing work---it can produce very subtle bugs if you're trying to pass something that really *isn't* the right type.

1- <a = &q> and <*a = q> in line (*) in this situation, why *ptr does not change its value when I use <a = &q> whereas it does when I used <*a = q>?

Two different statements. Remember, ptr is a variable; its value is the address of a different variable, in this case p in main().

The statement a = &q modifies the value of a, which is a reference to ptr. ptr now has a value which is a reference to q, which is a local variable in the function. This is a bad idea, because that variable will no longer exist when the function returns.

the statement *a = q modifies the value of the variable pointed to by a, which is p in main(), and assigns it the value of the variable q in the function. This is fine.

[dexblack]

The key here is that RefFunc force p to point to the address of a local variable.
The contents of stack values (like q) cannot be counted on after the function returns.