minix/lib/libc/stdlib/alloca.3
Lionel Sambuc f14fb60209 Libraries updates and cleanup
* Updating common/lib
 * Updating lib/csu
 * Updating lib/libc
 * Updating libexec/ld.elf_so
 * Corrected test on __minix in featuretest to actually follow the
   meaning of the comment.
 * Cleaned up _REENTRANT-related defintions.
 * Disabled -D_REENTRANT for libfetch
 * Removing some unneeded __NBSD_LIBC defines and tests

Change-Id: Ic1394baef74d11b9f86b312f5ff4bbc3cbf72ce2
2013-01-14 11:36:26 +01:00

102 lines
3.1 KiB
Groff

.\" $NetBSD: alloca.3,v 1.14 2011/03/21 04:42:50 jruoho Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
.\"
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\" without specific prior written permission.
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
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.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
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.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
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.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" from: @(#)alloca.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
.\"
.Dd March 21, 2011
.Dt ALLOCA 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm alloca
.Nd memory allocator
.Sh LIBRARY
.Lb libc
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In stdlib.h
.Ft void *
.Fn alloca "size_t size"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn alloca
function
allocates
.Fa size
bytes of space in the stack frame of the caller.
This temporary space is automatically freed on
return.
.Sh RETURN VALUES
The
.Fn alloca
function returns a pointer to the beginning of the allocated space.
If the allocation failed, a
.Dv NULL
pointer is returned.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr brk 2 ,
.Xr calloc 3 ,
.Xr getpagesize 3 ,
.Xr malloc 3 ,
.Xr realloc 3
.Sh CAVEATS
Few limitations can be mentioned:
.Bl -bullet
.It
The
.Fn alloca
function
is machine dependent; its use is discouraged.
.It
The
.Fn alloca
function is slightly unsafe because it cannot ensure that the pointer
returned points to a valid and usable block of memory.
The allocation made may exceed the bounds of the stack, or even go
further into other objects in memory, and
.Fn alloca
cannot determine such an error.
Avoid
.Fn alloca
with large unbounded allocations.
.It
Since
.Fn alloca
modifies the stack at runtime,
it causes problems to certain security features.
See
.Xr security 7
for a discussion.
.El
.\" .Sh HISTORY
.\" The
.\" .Fn alloca
.\" function appeared in
.\" .Bx ?? .
.\" The function appeared in 32v, pwb and pwb.2 and in 3bsd 4bsd
.\" The first man page (or link to a man page that I can find at the
.\" moment is 4.3...