NAME

       FFI::Platypus::Memory - Memory functions for FFI

VERSION

       version 0.47

SYNOPSIS

        use FFI::Platypus::Memory;

        # allocate 64 bytes of memory using the
        # libc malloc function.
        my $pointer = malloc 64;

        # use that memory wisely
        ...

        # free the memory when you are done.
        free $pointer;

DESCRIPTION

       This module provides an interface to common memory functions provided by the standard C
       library.  They may be useful when constructing interfaces to C libraries with FFI.

FUNCTIONS

   calloc
        my $pointer = calloc $count, $size;

       The "calloc" function contiguously allocates enough space for $count objects that are
       $size bytes of memory each.

   free
        free $pointer;

       The "free" function frees the memory allocated by "malloc", "calloc", "realloc" or
       "strdup".  It is important to only free memory that you yourself have allocated.  A good
       way to crash your program is to try and free a pointer that some C library has returned to
       you.

   malloc
        my $pointer = malloc $size;

       The "malloc" function allocates $size bytes of memory.

   memcpy
        memcpy $dst_pointer, $src_pointer, $size;

       The "memcpy" function copies $size bytes from $src_pointer to $dst_pointer.  It also
       returns $dst_pointer.

   memset
        memset $buffer, $value, $length;

       The "memset" function writes $length bytes of $value to the address specified by $buffer.

   realloc
        my $new_pointer = realloc $old_pointer, $size;

       The "realloc" function reallocates enough memory to fit $size bytes.  It copies the
       existing data and frees $old_pointer.

       If you pass "undef" in as $old_pointer, then it behaves exactly like "malloc":

        my $pointer = realloc undef, 64; # same as malloc 64

   strdup
        my $pointer = strdup $string;

       The "strdup" function allocates enough memory to contain $string and then copies it to
       that newly allocated memory.  This version of "strdup" returns an opaque pointer type, not
       a string type.  This may seem a little strange, but returning a string type would not be
       very useful in Perl.

       Platforms that do not support "strdup" will be provided with an equivalent using "malloc"
       and "memcpy" written in Perl.  This version is slower.

ENVIRONMENT

   FFI_PLATYPUS_MEMORY_STRDUP_IMPL
       "strdup" isn't always supported by all platforms.  On platforms that do not support it, it
       is emulated using calls to "malloc" and "memcpy" which are part of the standard C library.
       Because this requires two function calls it is probably not as fast on most platforms.

       If you experience problems with the "strdup" provided by your platform, you can force the
       emulated implementation using the FFI_PLATYPUS_MEMORY_STRDUP_IMPL environment variable.

        # bash:
        $ export FFI_PLATYPUS_MEMORY_STRDUP_IMPL=perl

        # tcsh:
        % setenv FFI_PLATYPUS_MEMORY_STRDUP_IMPL perl

        # Windows:
        > SET FFI_PLATYPUS_MEMORY_STRDUP_IMPL=perl

SEE ALSO

       FFI::Platypus
           Main Platypus documentation.

AUTHOR

       Author: Graham Ollis <plicease@cpan.org>

       Contributors:

       Bakkiaraj Murugesan (bakkiaraj)

       Dylan Cali (calid)

       pipcet

       Zaki Mughal (zmughal)

       Fitz Elliott (felliott)

       Vickenty Fesunov (vyf)

       Gregor Herrmann (gregoa)

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

       This software is copyright (c) 2015 by Graham Ollis.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as
       the Perl 5 programming language system itself.