calloc(3p) — Linux manual page

PROLOG | NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ERRORS | EXAMPLES | APPLICATION USAGE | RATIONALE | FUTURE DIRECTIONS | SEE ALSO | COPYRIGHT

CALLOC(3P)              POSIX Programmer's Manual             CALLOC(3P)

PROLOG         top

       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The
       Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
       corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
       or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME         top

       calloc — a memory allocator

SYNOPSIS         top

       #include <stdlib.h>

       void *calloc(size_t nelem, size_t elsize);

DESCRIPTION         top

       The functionality described on this reference page is aligned
       with the ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements
       described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This
       volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard.

       The calloc() function shall allocate unused space for an array of
       nelem elements each of whose size in bytes is elsize.  The space
       shall be initialized to all bits 0.

       The order and contiguity of storage allocated by successive calls
       to calloc() is unspecified. The pointer returned if the
       allocation succeeds shall be suitably aligned so that it may be
       assigned to a pointer to any type of object and then used to
       access such an object or an array of such objects in the space
       allocated (until the space is explicitly freed or reallocated).
       Each such allocation shall yield a pointer to an object disjoint
       from any other object. The pointer returned shall point to the
       start (lowest byte address) of the allocated space. If the space
       cannot be allocated, a null pointer shall be returned. If the
       size of the space requested is 0, the behavior is implementation-
       defined: either a null pointer shall be returned, or the behavior
       shall be as if the size were some non-zero value, except that the
       behavior is undefined if the returned pointer is used to access
       an object.

RETURN VALUE         top

       Upon successful completion with both nelem and elsize non-zero,
       calloc() shall return a pointer to the allocated space. If either
       nelem or elsize is 0, then either:

        *  A null pointer shall be returned and errno may be set to an
           implementation-defined value, or

        *  A pointer to the allocated space shall be returned. The
           application shall ensure that the pointer is not used to
           access an object.

       Otherwise, it shall return a null pointer and set errno to
       indicate the error.

ERRORS         top

       The calloc() function shall fail if:

       ENOMEM Insufficient memory is available.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES         top

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE         top

       There is now no requirement for the implementation to support the
       inclusion of <malloc.h>.

RATIONALE         top

       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS         top

       None.

SEE ALSO         top

       free(3p), malloc(3p), realloc(3p)

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, stdlib.h(0p)

COPYRIGHT         top

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
       form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
       Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
       Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
       (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
       Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.  In the event of any
       discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The
       Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be
       obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page
       are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of
       the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

IEEE/The Open Group               2017                        CALLOC(3P)

Pages that refer to this page: stdlib.h(0p)free(3p)malloc(3p)realloc(3p)