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;

              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
              any size. The size of an integer in Erlang is machine-dependent, but any integer > 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;

              Reports term allocation statistics.

              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(ptr)

              Types:

                 void *ptr;

              Calls the standard free() function.

       void erl_free_array(array, size)

              Types:

                 ETERM **array;
                 int size;

              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_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 functions. However, as many of the functions that build  new  Erlang
              terms  in  fact share objects with other existing terms, it can be difficult for the programmer to
              maintain pointers to all such terms to free them individually.

              erl_free_compound() recursively frees all of the subterms associated with a specified Erlang term,
              regardless of whether we are still holding pointers to the subterms.

              For an example, see section Building Terms and Patterns in the User's Guide.

       void erl_free_term(t)

              Types:

                 ETERM *t;

              Frees an Erlang term.

       void erl_malloc(size)

              Types:

                 long size;

              Calls the standard malloc() function.

Ericsson AB                                   erl_interface 3.10.1                              erl_malloc(3erl)