tcl7.6 C API - Alloc






NAME

     Tcl_Alloc, Tcl_Free, Tcl_Realloc -  allocate  or  free  heap
     memory


SYNOPSIS

     #include <tcl.h>

     char *
     Tcl_Alloc(size)

     Tcl_Free(ptr)

     char *
     Tcl_Realloc(ptr, size)


ARGUMENTS

     int    size    (in)      Size in bytes of the  memory  block
                              to allocate.

     char   *ptr    (in)      Pointer to memory block to free  or
                              realloc.





DESCRIPTION

     These procedures provide a platform and compiler independent
     interface  for  memory  allocation.   Programs  that need to
     transfer ownership of memory blocks between  Tcl  and  other
     modules  should  use  these  routines rather than the native
     malloc() and free() routines  provided  by  the  C  run-time
     library.

     Tcl_Alloc returns a pointer to a  block  of  at  least  size
     bytes suitably aligned for any use.

     Tcl_Free makes the space referred to by  ptr  available  for
     further allocation.

     Tcl_Realloc changes the size of the block pointed to by  ptr
     to  size  bytes and returns a pointer to the new block.  The
     contents will be unchanged up to the lesser of the  new  and
     old sizes.  The returned location may be different from ptr.


KEYWORDS

     alloc, allocation, free, malloc, memory, realloc