cfree(3) — Linux manual page

NAME | LIBRARY | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ATTRIBUTES | VERSIONS | STANDARDS | HISTORY | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

cfree(3)                Library Functions Manual                cfree(3)

NAME         top

       cfree - free allocated memory

LIBRARY         top

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS         top

       #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[.size * .num], unsigned int num, unsigned int size);

       /* In Solaris watchmalloc.so.1 */
       void cfree(void ptr[.elsize * .nelem], size_t nelem, size_t elsize);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
   feature_test_macros(7)):

       cfree():
           Since glibc 2.19:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE
           glibc 2.19 and earlier:
               _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION         top

       This function should never be used.  Use free(3) instead.
       Starting with glibc 2.26, it has been removed from glibc.

   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         top

       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.

ATTRIBUTES         top

       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
       attributes(7).
       ┌──────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────────────┐
       │ Interface            Attribute     Value                  │
       ├──────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────┤
       │ cfree()              │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe /* In glibc */ │
       └──────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────────────┘

VERSIONS         top

       The 3-argument version of cfree() as used by SCO conforms to the
       iBCSe2 standard: Intel386 Binary Compatibility Specification,
       Edition 2.

STANDARDS         top

       None.

HISTORY         top

       Removed in glibc 2.26.

SEE ALSO         top

       malloc(3)

COLOPHON         top

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Linux man-pages 6.9.1          2024-05-02                       cfree(3)