.emacs

(defun ptr-to-ref (symbol)
  (interactive "sConvert local pointer variable to reference: ")
  (save-excursion
    (narrow-to-defun)
    (unwind-protect
        (dolist (replacement (list (cons (concat "\\b" symbol "\\b\\([^*&_-]\\)")
                                         (concat "&" symbol "\\1"))
                                   (cons (concat "\\b" symbol "->")
                                         (concat symbol "."))
                                   (cons (concat "\\*&" symbol)
                                         symbol)))
          (beginning-of-buffer)
          (search-forward ")")
          (while (re-search-forward (car replacement) nil t)
            (replace-match (cdr replacement))))
      (widen))))

ptr-to-ref.sh

#!/bin/bash

for fname in $@
do
    find . -name '*.cc' | xargs perl -pi -e "s/(\\b$fname\\()/\$1*/g unless (m/^\w+\[*&]* $fname/m);"
    find . -name '*.cc' | xargs perl -pi -e "s/(\\b$fname\\()\*&/\$1/g;"
done