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 * .n], unsigned int n, unsigned int size);

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

   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 n
       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 6.10            2024-11-17                       cfree(3)