diff --git a/treeshr/TreeAddNode.c b/treeshr/TreeAddNode.c
index e1794c484e..68cf46346e 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeAddNode.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeAddNode.c
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ int _TreeAddNode(void *dbid, char const *name, int *nid_out, char usage)
                                          &scratch_nci, &ncilocked);
           if (STATUS_OK)
           {
-            if (_TreeIsOn(dblist, *(int *)&parent_nid) & 1)
+            if (_TreeIsOn(dblist, parent_nid) & 1)
               new_nci.flags &= (unsigned)~NciM_PARENT_STATE;
             else
               new_nci.flags |= NciM_PARENT_STATE;
diff --git a/treeshr/TreeDeleteNode.c b/treeshr/TreeDeleteNode.c
index 2266864153..03f3bb8c98 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeDeleteNode.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeDeleteNode.c
@@ -223,8 +223,8 @@ extern void _TreeDeleteNodeExecute(void *dbid)
   while (_TreeDeleteNodeGetNid(dbid, (int *)&nid) & 1)
   {
     int found = 0;
-    _TreeRemoveNodesTags(dbid, *(int *)&nid);
-    _TreeSetNoSubtree(dbid, *(int *)&nid);
+    _TreeRemoveNodesTags(dbid, nid_to_int(&nid));
+    _TreeSetNoSubtree(dbid, nid_to_int(&nid));
     node = nid_to_node(dblist, &nid);
     parent = parent_of(0, node);
     if (child_of(0, parent) == node)
diff --git a/treeshr/TreeGetNci.c b/treeshr/TreeGetNci.c
index 9bc890389e..0297c51955 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeGetNci.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeGetNci.c
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ extern void **TreeCtx();
 static char *Treename(PINO_DATABASE *dblist, int nid_in)
 {
   TREE_INFO *info;
-  NID nid = *(NID *)&nid_in;
+  NID nid = int_to_nid(nid_in);
   unsigned int treenum;
   for (info = dblist->tree_info, treenum = 0; info && treenum < nid.tree;
        info = info->next_info)
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ int TreeGetNci(int nid_in, struct nci_itm *nci_itm)
   void *dbid = *TreeCtx();
   INIT_STATUS_AS TreeSUCCESS;
   PINO_DATABASE *dblist = (PINO_DATABASE *)dbid;
-  NID nid = *(NID *)&nid_in;
+  NID nid = int_to_nid(nid_in);
   int node_number;
   TREE_INFO *info;
   NCI_ITM *itm;
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ int TreeGetNci(int nid_in, struct nci_itm *nci_itm)
         for (node = child_of(dblist, node); node; count++,
             node = brother_of(dblist, node) ? brother_of(dblist, node) : 0)
           ;
-      *(int *)(itm->pointer) = count;
+      memcpy(itm->pointer, &count, sizeof(count));
       break;
     case NciNUMBER_OF_MEMBERS:
       break_on_no_node;
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ int TreeGetNci(int nid_in, struct nci_itm *nci_itm)
         for (node = member_of(node); node; count++,
             node = brother_of(dblist, node) ? brother_of(dblist, node) : 0)
           ;
-      *(int *)(itm->pointer) = count;
+      memcpy(itm->pointer, &count, sizeof(count));
       break;
     case NciNUMBER_OF_ELTS:
       break_on_no_node;
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ int TreeGetNci(int nid_in, struct nci_itm *nci_itm)
       for (count = 0; swapint16(&cng_node->conglomerate_elt) > count;
            count++, cng_node++)
         ;
-      *(int *)(itm->pointer) = count;
+      memcpy(itm->pointer, &count, sizeof(count));
       break;
     case NciCHILDREN_NIDS:
     {
@@ -665,7 +665,10 @@ int TreeGetNci(int nid_in, struct nci_itm *nci_itm)
         *(NID *)itm->pointer = out_nid;
       }
       else
-        *(int *)itm->pointer = 0;
+      {  
+        int zero = 0;  
+        memcpy(itm->pointer, &zero, sizeof(zero));  
+      } 
       break;
     }
     case NciDTYPE_STR:
@@ -766,7 +769,7 @@ static char *getPath(PINO_DATABASE *dblist, NODE *node, int remove_tree_refs)
     for (info = dblist->tree_info, i = 0; info && i < nid.tree;
          i++, info = info->next_info)
       ;
-    if ((tag = _TreeFindNodeTags((void *)dblist, *(int *)&nid, &ctx)) != NULL)
+    if ((tag = _TreeFindNodeTags((void *)dblist, nid_to_int(&nid), &ctx)) != NULL)
     {
       string[0] = '\\';
       string[1] = '\0';
diff --git a/treeshr/TreeGetRecord.c b/treeshr/TreeGetRecord.c
index a245eb28cd..4f442b92b2 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeGetRecord.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeGetRecord.c
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ typedef ARRAY(struct descriptor *) array_dsc;
 int TreeMakeNidsLocal(struct descriptor *dsc_ptr, int nid)
 {
   int status = 1;
-  unsigned char tree = ((NID *)&nid)->tree;
+  unsigned char tree = int_to_nid(nid).tree;
   if (dsc_ptr == NULL)
     status = 1;
   else
diff --git a/treeshr/TreeOpen.c b/treeshr/TreeOpen.c
index 07ae3bea5f..e063935d6d 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeOpen.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeOpen.c
@@ -1175,22 +1175,18 @@ static void SubtreeNodeConnect(PINO_DATABASE *dblist, NODE *parent,
                                NODE *subtreetop)
 {
   NID child_nid, parent_nid = {0, 0};
-  /*
-   * make brother_nid volatile so that the optimizer does not
-   * decide to optimize it out and replace it with a zero.
-   */
-  volatile NID brother_nid = {0,0};
+  NID brother_nid = {0,0};
   NODE *brother = brother_of(dblist, parent);
   parent->usage = TreeUSAGE_SUBTREE_REF;
   subtreetop->usage = TreeUSAGE_SUBTREE_TOP;
   node_to_nid(dblist, subtreetop, &child_nid);
   node_to_nid(dblist, parent_of(dblist, parent), &parent_nid);
-  parent->child = *(int *)&child_nid;
+  parent->child = nid_to_int(&child_nid);
   if (brother) {
     node_to_nid(dblist, brother_of(dblist, parent), &brother_nid);
   }
-  subtreetop->brother = *(int *)&brother_nid;
-  subtreetop->parent = *(int *)&parent_nid;
+  subtreetop->brother = nid_to_int(&brother_nid);
+  subtreetop->parent = nid_to_int(&parent_nid);
   memcpy(subtreetop->name, parent->name, sizeof(subtreetop->name));
   return;
 }
diff --git a/treeshr/TreeRenameNode.c b/treeshr/TreeRenameNode.c
index 8064cf2094..d79d0d0b6c 100644
--- a/treeshr/TreeRenameNode.c
+++ b/treeshr/TreeRenameNode.c
@@ -256,8 +256,8 @@ static int FixParentState(PINO_DATABASE *dblist, NODE *parent_ptr,
     in the flag longword and the parent state argument
     to SET_PARENT_STATE are negative boolean logic.
   ****************************************************/
-  parent_state = _TreeIsOn(dblist, *(int *)&parent_nid) & 1;
-  status = _TreeGetNci(dblist, *(int *)&child_nid, child_itm_list);
+  parent_state = _TreeIsOn(dblist, nid_to_int(&parent_nid)) & 1;
+  status = _TreeGetNci(dblist, nid_to_int(&child_nid), child_itm_list);
   if (STATUS_OK)
   {
     child_parent_state = ((child_flags & NciM_PARENT_STATE) == 0);
diff --git a/treeshr/treeshrp.h b/treeshr/treeshrp.h
index 44e278ac23..b02f8091de 100644
--- a/treeshr/treeshrp.h
+++ b/treeshr/treeshrp.h
@@ -396,17 +396,6 @@ typedef struct
   unsigned char rfa[6];
 } RFA;
 
-#ifdef RFA_MACROS
-#define RfaToSeek(rfa)                  \
-  (((*(unsigned int *)rfa - 1) * 512) + \
-   (*(unsigned short *)&((char *)rfa)[4] & 0x1ff))
-#define SeekToRfa(seek, rfa)                                               \
-  {                                                                        \
-    *(unsigned int *)rfa = (unsigned int)(seek / 512 + 1);                 \
-    *(unsigned short *)&(((char *)rfa)[4]) = (unsigned short)(seek % 512); \
-  }
-#endif
-
 /****************************************
 RECORD_HEADER
 VFC portion of file.
@@ -642,6 +631,20 @@ typedef struct pino_database
   void *dispatch_table; /* pointer to dispatch table generated by dispatch/build */
 } PINO_DATABASE;
 
+static inline int nid_to_int(NID *nid)
+{
+  int result;
+  memcpy(&result, nid, sizeof(int));
+  return result;
+}
+
+static inline NID int_to_nid(int nid_int)
+{
+  NID nid;
+  memcpy(&nid, &nid_int, sizeof(int));
+  return nid;
+}  
+
 static inline NODE *nid_to_node(PINO_DATABASE *dbid, NID *nid)
 {
   TREE_INFO *info;
@@ -793,7 +796,7 @@ static inline int node_to_nid(PINO_DATABASE *dbid, NODE *node, NID *nid_out)
     nid.tree = 0;
   if (nid_out)
     *nid_out = nid;
-  return *(int *)&nid;
+  return nid_to_int(&nid);
 }
 
 /******************************************