title: What does this Delphi PAnsiChar code mean?
body: <p>We all use Delphi for one project and have for years.
  But we have never seen the following syntax used with a PAnsiChar and do not know what it means:</p>
  
  <pre><code>buffer       : PAnsiChar
  recInstance  : Byte
  recX         : smallint
  num_info     : integer
  
  // buffer loaded from a file...
  
  num_info := 0;
  // next two lines are a mystery
  recInstance := Byte(buffer[num_info*5]);
  recX := Byte(buffer[num_info*5+1])+256*Byte(buffer[num_info*5+2]);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In the debugger it looks like recX is just loading 2 bytes, but the syntax does not seem to match.</p>