posix_memalign.3   [plain text]


.\" Copyright (c) 2006 Apple Computer, Inc.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" @APPLE_LICENSE_HEADER_START@
.\"
.\" The contents of this file constitute Original Code as defined in and
.\" are subject to the Apple Public Source License Version 1.1 (the
.\" "License").  You may not use this file except in compliance with the
.\" License.  Please obtain a copy of the License at
.\" http://www.apple.com/publicsource and read it before using this file.
.\"
.\" This Original Code and all software distributed under the License are
.\" distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER
.\" EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND APPLE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES,
.\" INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
.\" FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.  Please see the
.\" License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
.\" under the License.
.\"
.\" @APPLE_LICENSE_HEADER_END@
.\"
.Dd April 9, 2008
.Dt POSIX_MEMALIGN 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm posix_memalign
.Nd aligned memory allocation
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In stdlib.h
.Ft int
.Fo posix_memalign
.Fa "void **memptr"
.Fa "size_t alignment"
.Fa "size_t size"
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn posix_memalign
function allocates
.Fa size
bytes of memory such that the allocation's base address is an exact multiple of
.Fa alignment ,
and returns the allocation in the value pointed to by
.Fa memptr .
.Pp
The requested
.Fa alignment
must be a power of 2 at least as large as
.Fn sizeof "void *" .
.Pp
Memory that is allocated via
.Fn posix_memalign
can be used as an argument in subsequent calls to
.Xr realloc 3 ,
.Xr reallocf 3 ,
and
.Xr free 3 .
(Note however, that the allocation returned by
.Xr realloc 3 
or
.Xr reallocf 3 
is not guaranteed to preserve the original
.Fa alignment ) .
.Sh NOTES
.Fn posix_memalign
should be used judiciously as the algorithm that realizes the
.Fa alignment
constraint can incur significant memory overhead.
.Sh RETURN VALUES
The
.Fn posix_memalign
function returns the value 0 if successful; otherwise it returns an error value.
.Sh ERRORS
The
.Fn posix_memalign
function will fail if:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Bq Er EINVAL
The
.Fa alignment
parameter is not a power of 2 at least as large as
.Fn sizeof "void *" .
.It Bq Er ENOMEM
Memory allocation error.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr free 3 ,
.Xr malloc 3 ,
.Xr realloc 3 ,
.Xr reallocf 3 ,
.Xr valloc 3 ,
.Xr malloc_zone_memalign 3
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Fn posix_memalign
function conforms to
.St -p1003.1-2001 .