MEM_OPEN(3debug)						   Library calls						  MEM_OPEN(3debug)

NAME

       mem_open, mem_check, mem_alloc, mem_realloc, mem_free, mem_close - memory allocation routines for debugging

LIBRARIES

       Debug Library (-ldebug)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <debug/memory.h>

       void mem_open(void (*fail)(const char *fmt, ...));
       void mem_check(void);
       void *mem_alloc(size_t size);
       void *mem_realloc(void *ptr, size_t size);
       void mem_free(void *ptr);
       void mem_close(void);

DESCRIPTION

       mem_open()  initializes the memory debugging system. It should be called before any of the other routines. You can specify a callback func-
       tion which should be called whenever something bad happens, or NULL in which case the default error handler will be used. The default error
       handler logs error messages using the debug logging routines and exit.

       mem_check()  check all the allocated memory areas. This is called every time memory is allocated or freed. You can also call it anytime you
       think memory might be corrupted.

       mem_alloc() allocates size bytes and returns a pointer to the allocated memory. The memory is not cleared.

       mem_realloc() changes the size of the memory block pointed to by ptr to size bytes. The contents will be unchanged to the  minimum  of  the
       old  and  new  sizes;  newly  allocated memory will be uninitialized. If ptr is NULL, the call is equivalent to mem_alloc(size); if size is
       equal to zero, the call is equivalent to mem_free(ptr). Unless ptr is NULL, it must have been returned by an earlier call to mem_alloc() or
       mem_realloc().

       mem_free()  frees  the memory space pointed to by ptr, which must have been returned by a previous call to mem_alloc() or mem_realloc(). If
       ptr is NULL, no operation is performed.

       mem_close() checks for leaks and possible memory corruptions.

RETURN VALUE

       For mem_alloc(), the value returned is a pointer to the allocated memory, which is suitably aligned for any kind of variable,  or  NULL	if
       the request fails.

       mem_realloc() returns a pointer to the newly allocated memory, which is suitably aligned for any kind of variable and may be different from
       ptr, or NULL if the request fails or if size was equal to 0. If mem_realloc() fails the original block is left untouched - it is not  freed
       or moved.

       All other functions returns no value.

NOTES

       If  the	default  fail callback is used or if this routines are combined with the log routines, care should be taken to call open and close
       functions in the right order. The correct order is as follows:

	      mem_open (NULL);
	      log_open (NULL,LOG_NORMAL,LOG_HAVE_COLORS | LOG_PRINT_FUNCTION);
	      atexit (mem_close);
	      atexit (log_close);

       Of course, atexit(3) should only be used if the program will not forked.

       None of the libdebug routines are thread-safe. I'm not planning to change this either! For  more  information,  please  see  http://thread-
       ing.2038bug.com/

SEE ALSO

       log_open(3), atexit(3)

AUTHOR

       Written by Abraham vd Merwe <abz@blio.com>

Unix								    August 2004 						  MEM_OPEN(3debug)