.\" Copyright (c) 2003 Andries Brouwer (aeb@cwi.nl)
.\"
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.TH CFREE 3 2016-03-15  "" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
.SH NAME
cfree \- free allocated memory
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.sp
.B "#include <stdlib.h>"
.sp
/* In SunOS 4 */
.BI "int cfree(void *" ptr );
.sp
/* In glibc or FreeBSD libcompat */
.BI "void cfree(void *" ptr );
.sp
/* In SCO OpenServer */
.BI "void cfree(char *" ptr ", unsigned " num ", unsigned " size );
.sp
/* In Solaris watchmalloc.so.1 */
.BI "void cfree(void *" ptr ", size_t " nelem ", size_t " elsize );
.fi
.sp
.in -4n
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
.BR feature_test_macros (7)):
.in
.sp
.BR cfree ():
    Since glibc 2.19:
        _DEFAULT_SOURCE
    Glibc 2.19 and earlier:
        _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE
.SH DESCRIPTION
This function should never be used.
Use
.BR free (3)
instead.
.SS 1-arg cfree
In glibc, the function
.BR cfree ()
is a synonym for
.BR free (3),
"added for compatibility with SunOS".
.LP
Other systems have other functions with this name.
The declaration is sometimes in
.I <stdlib.h>
and sometimes in
.IR <malloc.h> .
.SS 3-arg cfree
Some SCO and Solaris versions have malloc libraries with a 3-argument
.BR cfree (),
apparently as an analog to
.BR calloc (3).
.LP
If you need it while porting something, add
.sp
.in +4n
#define cfree(p, n, s) free((p))
.in
.sp
to your file.
.LP
A frequently asked question is "Can I use
.BR free (3)
to free memory allocated with
.BR calloc (3),
or do I need
.BR cfree ()?"
Answer: use
.BR free (3).
.LP
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."
.SH RETURN VALUE
The SunOS version of
.BR cfree ()
(which is a synonym for
.BR free (3))
returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.
In case of error,
.I errno
is set to
.BR EINVAL :
the value of
.I ptr
was not a pointer to a block previously allocated by
one of the routines in the
.BR malloc (3)
family.
.SH ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
.BR attributes (7).
.TS
allbox;
lb lb lb
l l l.
Interface	Attribute	Value
T{
.BR cfree ()
T}	Thread safety	MT-Safe /* In glibc */
.TE
.SH CONFORMING TO
The 3-argument version of
.BR cfree ()
as used by SCO conforms to the iBCSe2 standard:
Intel386 Binary Compatibility Specification, Edition 2.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR malloc (3)
.SH COLOPHON
This page is part of release 4.10 of the Linux
.I man-pages
project.
A description of the project,
information about reporting bugs,
and the latest version of this page,
can be found at
\%https://www.kernel.org/doc/man\-pages/.