CFREE
Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (3)
Updated: 2007-07-26
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NAME
cfree - free allocated memory
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
/* In SunOS 4 */
int cfree(void *ptr);
/* In glibc or FreeBSD libcompat */
void cfree(void *ptr);
/* In SCO OpenServer */
void cfree(char *ptr, unsigned num, unsigned size);
/* In Solaris watchmalloc.so.1 */
void cfree(void *ptr, size_t nelem, size_t elsize);
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
feature_test_macros(7)):
cfree():
_BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
This function should never be used.
Use
free(3)
instead.
1-arg cfree
In glibc, the function
cfree()
is a synonym for
free(3),
"added for compatibility with SunOS".
Other systems have other functions with this name.
The declaration is sometimes in
<stdlib.h>
and sometimes in
<malloc.h>.
3-arg cfree
Some SCO and Solaris versions have malloc libraries with a 3-argument
cfree(),
apparently as an analog to
calloc(3).
If you need it while porting something, add
#define cfree(p, n, s) free((p))
to your file.
A frequently asked question is "Can I use
free(3)
to free memory allocated with
calloc(3),
or do I need
cfree()?
Answer: use
free(3).
An SCO manual writes: "The cfree routine is provided for compliance
to the iBCSe2 standard and simply calls free.
The num and size
arguments to cfree are not used."
RETURN VALUE
The SunOS version of
cfree()
(which is a synonym for
free(3))
returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.
In case of error,
errno
is set to
EINVAL:
the value of
ptr
was not a pointer to a block previously allocated by
one of the routines in the
malloc(3)
family.
CONFORMING TO
The 3-argument version of
cfree()
as used by SCO conforms to the iBCSe2 standard:
Intel386 Binary Compatibility Specification, Edition 2.
SEE ALSO
malloc(3)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.22 of the Linux
man-pages
project.
A description of the project,
and information about reporting bugs,
can be found at
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.