Pointer Operations (LuaPointer)

LuaPointer is the core object in NativeHook, used to encapsulate and manipulate memory addresses. It is safer than simple Lua numbers, supports chained calls, and maintains 64-bit precision.

Create Pointer

Using native.ptr

local p = native.ptr(0x12345678)
local p2 = native.ptr("0x1A2B3C")

Using native.memory.alloc

local p3 = native.memory.alloc(32)

---

Basic Operations

Null Check

p.is_null()  -- Check if Null (0)
p.not_null() -- Check if not Null

Conversion

p.to_hex()  -- Convert to uppercase HEX string (without 0x prefix)
p.to_int()  -- Convert to number (may lose 64-bit precision)
p.to_long() -- Return self (compatibility interface)

---

Pointer Arithmetic

All operations return a new LuaPointer object, the original object remains unchanged.

Offset Calculation

local p2 = p.add(0x10) -- Addition
local p3 = p.sub(0x04) -- Subtraction

Bitwise Operations

p.and(mask) -- Bitwise AND
p.or(mask)  -- Bitwise OR
p.xor(mask) -- Bitwise XOR
p.shl(bits) -- Left Shift
p.shr(bits) -- Right Shift

Comparison

if p.equals(other_ptr) then
    log("Same address")
end

Assignment (Set)

-- Create a pointer object pointing to a new address
local new_ptr = p.set(0x5566)

---

Chained Read/Write

LuaPointer objects themselves carry all native.memory.* read/write methods. When calling, the default address is the pointer itself, and the offset parameter is still available.

local p = native.memory.alloc(64)

-- Equivalent to native.memory.write_u32(p, 100, 0)
p.write_u32(100) 

-- Support offset: Equivalent to native.memory.write_u32(p, 200, 4)
p.write_u32(200, 4) 

-- Chained dereference
-- Read pointer at p, then offset 0x10, then read a u32
local val = p.read_ptr().add(0x10).read_u32()

Common Shortcuts

Method	Description
p.deref([offset])	Dereference. Read pointer value at p. Equivalent to p.read_ptr(offset)
p.hexdump([size])	Print memory Hex Dump for debugging. Default size=256