linux man page for erl_malloc

erl_malloc(3erl)						C Library Functions						  erl_malloc(3erl)

NAME
       erl_malloc - Memory Allocation Functions

DESCRIPTION
       This module provides functions for allocating and deallocating memory.

EXPORTS
       ETERM * erl_alloc_eterm(etype)

	      Types  unsigned char etype;

	      This function allocates an (ETERM) structure. Specify etype as one of the following constants:

		* ERL_INTEGER

		* ERL_U_INTEGER /* unsigned integer */

		* ERL_ATOM

		* ERL_PID /* Erlang process identifier */

		* ERL_PORT

		* ERL_REF /* Erlang reference */

		* ERL_LIST

		* ERL_EMPTY_LIST

		* ERL_TUPLE

		* ERL_BINARY

		* ERL_FLOAT

		* ERL_VARIABLE

		* ERL_SMALL_BIG /* bignum */

		* ERL_U_SMALL_BIG /* bignum */

	      ERL_SMALL_BIG  and  ERL_U_SMALL_BIG  are	for creating Erlang bignums , which can contain integers of arbitrary size. The size of an
	      integer in Erlang is machine dependent, but in general any integer larger than 2^28 requires a bignum.

       void erl_eterm_release(void)

	      Clears the freelist, where blocks are placed when they are released by erl_free_term() and erl_free_compound() .

       void erl_eterm_statistics(allocated, freed)

	      Types  long *allocated;
		     long *freed;

	      allocated and freed are initialized to contain information about the fix-allocator used to allocate ETERM components.  allocated	is
	      the  number  of  blocks currently allocated to ETERM objects. freed is the length of the freelist, where blocks are placed when they
	      are released by erl_free_term() and erl_free_compound() .

       void erl_free_array(array, size)

	      Types  ETERM **array;
		     int size;

	      This function frees an array of Erlang terms.

	      array is an array of ETERM* objects.

	      size is the number of terms in the array.

       void erl_free_term(t)

	      Types  ETERM *t;

	      Use this function to free an Erlang term.

       void erl_free_compound(t)

	      Types  ETERM *t;

	      Normally it is the programmer's responsibility to free each Erlang term that has been returned from any of the  erl_interface  func-
	      tions.  However  since  many of the functions that build new Erlang terms in fact share objects with other existing terms, it may be
	      difficult for the programmer to maintain pointers to all such terms in order to free them individually.

	      erl_free_compound() will recursively free all of the sub-terms associated with a given Erlang term, regardless  of  whether  we  are
	      still holding pointers to the sub-terms.

	      There is an example in the User Manual under "Building Terms and Patterns"

       void erl_malloc(size)

	      Types  long size;

	      This function calls the standard malloc() function.

       void erl_free(ptr)

	      Types  void *ptr;

	      This function calls the standard free() function.

Ericsson AB							erl_interface 3.7.3						  erl_malloc(3erl)