1erl_malloc(3)                 C Library Functions                erl_malloc(3)
2
3
4

NAME

6       erl_malloc - Memory allocation functions.
7

DESCRIPTION

9   Note:
10       The support for VxWorks is deprecated as of OTP 22, and will be removed
11       in OTP 23.
12
13
14   Note:
15       The old legacy erl_interface library (functions with  prefix  erl_)  is
16       deprecated  as  of OTP 22, and will be removed in OTP 23. This does not
17       apply to the ei library. Reasonably new gcc compilers will issue depre‐
18       cation  warnings.  In order to disable these warnings, define the macro
19       EI_NO_DEPR_WARN.
20
21
22       This module provides functions for allocating and deallocating memory.
23

EXPORTS

25       ETERM *erl_alloc_eterm(etype)
26
27              Types:
28
29                 unsigned char etype;
30
31              Allocates an (ETERM) structure.
32
33              Specify etype as one of the following constants:
34
35                * ERL_INTEGER
36
37                * ERL_U_INTEGER (unsigned integer)
38
39                * ERL_ATOM
40
41                * ERL_PID (Erlang process identifier)
42
43                * ERL_PORT
44
45                * ERL_REF (Erlang reference)
46
47                * ERL_LIST
48
49                * ERL_EMPTY_LIST
50
51                * ERL_TUPLE
52
53                * ERL_BINARY
54
55                * ERL_FLOAT
56
57                * ERL_VARIABLE
58
59                * ERL_SMALL_BIG (bignum)
60
61                * ERL_U_SMALL_BIG (bignum)
62
63              ERL_SMALL_BIG  and  ERL_U_SMALL_BIG  are  for  creating   Erlang
64              bignums,  which can contain integers of any size. The size of an
65              integer in Erlang is machine-dependent, but any integer  >  2^28
66              requires a bignum.
67
68       void erl_eterm_release(void)
69
70              Clears  the  freelist,  where  blocks  are  placed when they are
71              released by erl_free_term() and erl_free_compound().
72
73       void erl_eterm_statistics(allocated, freed)
74
75              Types:
76
77                 long *allocated;
78                 long *freed;
79
80              Reports term allocation statistics.
81
82              allocated and freed are initialized to contain information about
83              the fix-allocator used to allocate ETERM components.
84
85                * allocated  is  the  number  of blocks currently allocated to
86                  ETERM objects.
87
88                * freed is the length of the freelist, where blocks are placed
89                  when  they are released by erl_free_term() and erl_free_com‐
90                  pound().
91
92       void erl_free(ptr)
93
94              Types:
95
96                 void *ptr;
97
98              Calls the standard free() function.
99
100       void erl_free_array(array, size)
101
102              Types:
103
104                 ETERM **array;
105                 int size;
106
107              Frees an array of Erlang terms.
108
109                * array is an array of ETERM* objects.
110
111                * size is the number of terms in the array.
112
113       void erl_free_compound(t)
114
115              Types:
116
117                 ETERM *t;
118
119              Normally it is the  programmer's  responsibility  to  free  each
120              Erlang term that has been returned from any of the Erl_Interface
121              functions. However, as many of  the  functions  that  build  new
122              Erlang terms in fact share objects with other existing terms, it
123              can be difficult for the programmer to maintain pointers to  all
124              such terms to free them individually.
125
126              erl_free_compound()  recursively frees all of the subterms asso‐
127              ciated with a specified Erlang term, regardless  of  whether  we
128              are still holding pointers to the subterms.
129
130              For  an  example, see section Building Terms and Patterns in the
131              User's Guide.
132
133       void erl_free_term(t)
134
135              Types:
136
137                 ETERM *t;
138
139              Frees an Erlang term.
140
141       void erl_malloc(size)
142
143              Types:
144
145                 long size;
146
147              Calls the standard malloc() function.
148
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151Ericsson AB                   erl_interface 3.13                 erl_malloc(3)