cfree - free allocated memory
Contents
Attributes
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────────────┤
│ cfree() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe /* In glibc */ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────────────┘
Description
This function should never be used. Use free(3) instead. Starting with glibc 2.26, it has been removed
from glibc.
1-argcfree
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-argcfree
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."
History
Removed in glibc 2.26.
Library
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
Name
cfree - free allocated memory
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.
See Also
malloc(3) Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-05-02 cfree(3)
Standards
None.
Synopsis
#include<stdlib.h> /* In SunOS 4 */ intcfree(void*ptr); /* In glibc or FreeBSD libcompat */ voidcfree(void*ptr); /* In SCO OpenServer */ voidcfree(charptr[.size*.num],unsignedintnum,unsignedintsize); /* In Solaris watchmalloc.so.1 */ voidcfree(voidptr[.elsize*.nelem],size_tnelem,size_telsize); 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
Versions
The 3-argument version of cfree() as used by SCO conforms to the iBCSe2 standard: Intel386 Binary
Compatibility Specification, Edition 2.
See Also
✳️
Eight Spoked Asterisk 