malloc (Windows CE 5.0)

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Developing an Application > Microsoft C Run-time Library for Windows CE > Run-time Library Reference

Allocates memory blocks.

void *malloc(    size_tsize);

Parameters

  • size
    Bytes to allocate.

Return Values

malloc returns a void pointer to the allocated space, or NULL if there is insufficient memory available.

To return a pointer to a type other than void, use a type cast on the return value. The storage space pointed to by the return value is guaranteed to be suitably aligned for storage of any type of object.

If size is 0, malloc allocates a zero-length item in the heap and returns a valid pointer to that item.

Always check the return from malloc, even if the amount of memory requested is small.

Remarks

The malloc function allocates a memory block of at least size bytes. The malloc function guarantees alignment in Windows CE in the same way as LocalAlloc in the Win32 API.

The block can be larger than size bytes because of space required for alignment and maintenance information.

The startup code uses malloc to allocate storage for the _environ, envp, and argv variables.

The following functions and their wide-character counterparts also call malloc:

calloc fgetc fgets fprintf
fputc fputs fread free
fscanf fseek fsetpos fwrite
getchar gets printf putchar
puts realloc scanf ungetc
vfprintf vprintf    

The _set_new_mode function sets the new handler mode for malloc.

The new handler mode indicates whether, on failure, malloc is to call the new handler routine as set by _set_new_handler.

By default, malloc does not call the new handler routine on failure to allocate memory.

You can override this default behavior so that, when malloc fails to allocate memory, malloc calls the new handler routine in the same way that the new operator does when it fails for the same reason.

To override the default, call

_set_new_mode(1)

early in your program, or link with Newmode.obj.

When the application is linked with a debug version of the C run-time libraries, malloc resolves to _malloc_dbg.

Example

/* MALLOC.C: This program allocates memory with
 * malloc, then frees the memory with free.
 */

#include <stdlib.h>         /* For _MAX_PATH definition */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <malloc.h>

void main( void )
{
   char *string;

   /* Allocate space for a path name */
   string = malloc( _MAX_PATH );

   // In a C++ file, explicitly cast malloc's return.  For example, 
   // string = (char *)malloc( _MAX_PATH );

   if( string == NULL )
      printf( "Insufficient memory available\n" );
   else
   {
      printf( "Memory space allocated for path name\n" );
      free( string );
      printf( "Memory freed\n" );
   }
}

Output

Memory space allocated for path name
Memory freed

Requirements

OS Versions: Windows CE 2.0 and later.
Header: stdlib.h.
Link Library: coredll.dll.

See Also

free | realloc

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