'\" te
.\" Copyright (c) 2005, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
.TH bsdmalloc 3MALLOC "21 Mar 2005" "SunOS 5.11" "Memory Allocation Library Functions"
.SH NAME
bsdmalloc \- memory allocator
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
\fBcc\fR [ \fIflag\fR ... ] \fIfile\fR ... \fB-lbsdmalloc\fR [ \fIlibrary\fR ... ]

\fBchar *\fR\fBmalloc\fR(\fB\fR\fIsize\fRunsigned \fIsize\fR;
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBint\fR \fBfree\fR(\fB\fR \fIptr\fRchar *\fIptr\fR;
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBchar *\fR\fBrealloc\fR(\fB\fR \fIptr\fR, \fB\fR\fIsize\fRchar *\fIptr\fR;
unsigned \fIsize\fR;
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
These routines provide a general-purpose memory allocation package. They maintain a table of free blocks for efficient allocation and coalescing of free storage. When there is no suitable space already free, the allocation routines call \fBsbrk\fR(2) to get more memory from the system. Each of the allocation routines returns a pointer  to  space suitably aligned for storage of any type of object. Each returns a null pointer if the request cannot be completed.
.sp
.LP
The \fBmalloc()\fR function returns a pointer to  a block of at least \fIsize\fR bytes, which is appropriately aligned.
.sp
.LP
The \fBfree()\fR function releases a previously allocated block. Its argument is a pointer to a block previously allocated by \fBmalloc()\fR or \fBrealloc()\fR. The \fBfree()\fR function does not set \fBerrno\fR.
.sp
.LP
The \fBrealloc()\fR function changes the size of the block pointed to by \fIptr\fR to \fIsize\fR bytes and returns a pointer to the (possibly moved) block. The contents will be unchanged up to the lesser of the new and old sizes. If the new size of the block requires movement of the block, the space for the previous instantiation of the block is freed. If the new size is larger, the contents of the newly allocated portion of the block are unspecified. If \fIptr\fR is \fINULL\fR, \fBrealloc()\fR behaves like \fBmalloc()\fR for the specified size. If \fIsize\fR is 0 and \fIptr\fR is not a null pointer, the space pointed to is freed.
.SH RETURN VALUES
.sp
.LP
The \fBmalloc()\fR and \fBrealloc()\fR functions return a null pointer if there is not enough available memory. They  return a non-null pointer if \fIsize\fR is 0. These pointers should not be dereferenced. When \fBrealloc()\fR returns \fINULL\fR, the block pointed to by \fIptr\fR is left intact. Always cast the value returned by \fBmalloc()\fR and \fBrealloc()\fR.
.SH ERRORS
.sp
.LP
If \fBmalloc()\fR or \fBrealloc()\fR returns  unsuccessfully, \fBerrno\fR will be set to indicate the following:
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fBENOMEM\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
.rt  
\fIsize\fR bytes of memory cannot be allocated because it exceeds the physical limits of the system.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fBEAGAIN\fR\fR
.ad
.RS 10n
.rt  
There is not enough memory available at this point in time to allocate \fIsize\fR bytes of memory; but the application could try again later.
.RE

.SH USAGE
.sp
.LP
Using \fBrealloc()\fR with a block freed before the most recent call to \fBmalloc()\fR or \fBrealloc()\fR results in an error.
.sp
.LP
Comparative features of the various allocation libraries can be found in the \fBumem_alloc\fR(3MALLOC) manual page.
.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
\fBbrk\fR(2), \fBmalloc\fR(3C), \fBmalloc\fR(3MALLOC), \fBmapmalloc\fR(3MALLOC), \fBumem_alloc\fR(3MALLOC)
.SH WARNINGS
.sp
.LP
Use of \fBlibbsdmalloc\fR renders an application non-SCD compliant.
.sp
.LP
The \fBlibbsdmalloc\fR routines are incompatible with the memory allocation routines in the standard C-library (libc): \fBmalloc\fR(3C), \fBalloca\fR(3C), \fBcalloc\fR(3C), \fBfree\fR(3C), \fBmemalign\fR(3C), \fBrealloc\fR(3C), and  \fBvalloc\fR(3C).