osf1 man page for dlclose

dlclose(3)						     Library Functions Manual							dlclose(3)

NAME
       dlclose - Close a dlopen() object

SYNOPSIS
       #include <dlfcn.h>

       int dlclose(void *handle)

PARAMETERS
       A pointer to a global symbol object that is returned from a call to dlopen().

DESCRIPTION
       The dlclose function is used to inform the system that the object referenced by a handle returned from a previous dlopen() invocation is no
       longer needed by the application.

       The use of dlclose() reflects a statement of intent on the part of the process, but does not create any requirements on the dynamic library
       loader,	such as removal of the code or symbols referenced by handle. Once an object has been closed using dlclose(), an application should
       assume that its symbols are no longer available to dlsym(). All objects loaded automatically as a result of invoking dlopen() on the refer-
       enced object are also closed.

       The dlclose function deallocates the address space for the library corresponding to handle.  The results are undefined if any user function
       continues to call a symbol resolved in the address space of a library that has since been deallocated by dlclose.

       The dlclose operation will not remove an object to which references have been relocated, until or unless all such references  are  removed.
       For  instance,  an object that had been loaded with a dlopen() operation specifying the RTLD_GLOBAL flag might provide a target for dynamic
       relocations performed in the processing of other objects - in such environments, an application may assume that no relocation,  once  made,
       will be undone or remade unless the object requiring the relocation has itself been removed.

RETURN VALUE
       If  the referenced object was successfully closed, dlclose() returns 0. If the object could not be closed or if handle does not refer to an
       open object, dlclose() returns a non-zero value.  More detailed diagnostic information will be available through dlerror().

ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

NOTES
       The dlopen and dlclose routines might dynamically change the resolution of certain symbols referenced by a program or  its  shared  library
       dependencies.  The dlopen routine might resolve symbols that were previously unresolved, and dlclose might cause resolved symbols to become
       unresolved or to be reresolved to a different symbol definition.

       A portable application will employ a handle returned from a dlopen() invocation only within a given scope bracketed  by	the  dlopen()  and
       dlclose()  operations.	The  dynamic  library  loader  is  free  to use reference counting or other techniques such that multiple calls to
       dlopen() referencing the same object may return the same object for handle. The dynamic library loader is also free to re-use a handle. For
       these reasons, the value of a handle must be treated as an opaque object by the application, used only in calls to dlsym() and dlclose().

RELATED INFORMATION
       dlerror(3), dlopen(3), dlsym(3).  delim off

																	dlclose(3)