memalign()

aligns memory block 

Function


SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>

void *memalign(size_t blocksize, size_t bytes);


DESCRIPTION

The memalign() function returns a block of memory of size bytes aligned to blocksize. The blocksize must be given as a power of two. It sets errno and returns a null pointer upon failure.

Pointers returned by memalign() may be passed to free(). Pointers passed to realloc() are checked and if not aligned to the system, the realloc() fails and returns NULL.


PARAMETERS

blocksize 

Is the size of the aligned block.

bytes 

Is the number of bytes to be allocated.


RETURN VALUES

If successful, the memalign() function returns the pointer to the start of the aligned memory. If an error occurs, it returns a null pointer and sets errno to one of the following:

EINVAL 

The blocksize parameter is not a power of two.


CONFORMANCE

4.4 BSD.


MULTITHREAD SAFETY LEVEL

MT-Safe.


PORTING ISSUES

memalign() is a wrapper around malloc(). The memalign() function allocates from a private heap. Do not mix with Win32 heap allocation functions. Memory allocated with memalign() should only be freed with free().

Unlike many UNIX platforms, the heap that is used by malloc(), memalign(), calloc(), and realloc() is not guaranteed to be one contiguous piece of memory. Thus it is invalid to assume that all memory between two pointers returned by these functions are accessible, and it is invalid to compare pointers returned by these functions to determine the total size of the heap.

It is recommended that new code not use this function and it is further recommended that its use in older code be reconsidered. It is only included to allow older code to recompile. The UNIX 98 specification does not have this function. Most modern operating systems memory allocation routines return aligned memory.


AVAILABILITY

PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers 64-Bit Edition
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition


SEE ALSO

Functions:
free(), malloc(), realloc(), valloc()


PTC MKS Toolkit 10.5 Documentation Build 40.