CFREE(3)                                            Linux Programmer's Manual                                           CFREE(3)



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 <mal-
       loc.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  Specifi-
       cation, Edition 2.

SEE ALSO
       malloc(3)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 3.25 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/.



                                                           2007-07-26                                                   CFREE(3)