Passing data by reference (indirect) between C and COBOL
A parameter can be passed by reference (indirect) between C and COBOL, which means the actual address of the argument is passed to the called function or procedure; any changes to the parameter made by the called routine can alter the original parameter passed by the calling routine.
void FROMCOB(int *)
The C function must dereference the pointer to access the actual value. If the value of the pointer is modified by the C function, as opposed to modifying the value that the pointer points to, the results on return to COBOL are unpredictable. Therefore, passing values by reference (indirect) from COBOL to C should be used with caution, and only in cases where the exact behavior of the C function is known.
Table 1 shows the supported data types for passing by reference (indirect).